June 24, 2007

Recent Transactions...Cleveland Indians optioned RHP Edward Mujica to Triple-A Buffalo. Los Angeles Angels optioned LHP Joe Saunders to Triple-A Salt Lake and recalled 1B Kendry Morales from Salt Lake. Philadelphia Phillies recalled RHP Clay Condrey from Triple-A Ottawa. Baltimore Orioles recalled OF Jon Knott from Triple-A Norfolk. Boston Red Sox recalled OF David Murphy from Triple-A Pawtucket. New York Yankees Recalled LHP Kei Igawa from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and optioned LHP Sean Henn to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Pittsburgh Pirates optioned 1B Brad Eldred to Triple-A Indianapolis.

Minor League News

- Doug Laumann has been named director of amateur scouting, Chicago White Sox General Manager Ken Williams announced today. Laumann, who originally joined the White Sox in September 1990, has served the organization in a variety of capacities, including as an area scout, scouting supervisor, national crosschecker, director of scouting (2001-03) and professional scout.

- The old reliable, Top Prospect Alert, has your minor league performances for Saturday...Washington's Chris Marrero (High-A) 3-5, 2RBI, R, (.333avg)...Atlanta's Eric Campbell (High-A) 4-5, 2B, RBI, R, (.234avg)...Anaheim's Brandon Wood (AAA) 3-4, 2(2B), HR, 3RBI, 2R, (.258avg)

- MILB.com has their latest edition of "Peek at the Week" online.

- The Washington Nationals today acquired right-handed pitcher Levale Speigner from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for outfielder Darnell McDonald.

College World Series

- Check out BDD's Charting of the Game for a detailed inning-by-inning recap of last night game 1 of the CWS Finals from Omaha, Nebraska.

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June 23, 2007

College Baseball Finals!

- The College Baseball Blog leads off with their CWS Finals preview

- Rivals.com has the Omaha Diary to bring you up to speed behind the scenes. But don't forget to check out their comparison preview.

- BDD has its own links to various previews and statistics of both teams' regular players.

- In case you forgot, the Cape Cod League is underway! Check out what Baseball America has to say about who's hot and who's not.

Minor League News

- Top Prospect Alert has your daily stats from around the minor leagues...Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria (AA) 2-4, HR, 3RBI, 2R, BB, (.291avg)...Seattle's Jeff Clement (AAA) 2-4, 2B, HR, RBI, 2R, (.276avg)...Arizona's Max Scherzer (AA) 5IP, 3ER, 5H, 1BB, 4K, LOSS (5.40ERA)

- If minor league all-star games are your thing, check out MILB.com's event page with links to all the mid-season all-star matchups.

- The San Diego Padres announced today that the club has signed outfielder Kellen Kulbacki, the team’s first pick in the compensation round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft.  San Diego also signed outfielder Bradley Chalk, the club’s second selection in the second round.  Additionally, the Padres have agreed to terms with left-handed pitcher Cory Luebke, selected with the team’s fourth pick in the compensation round of this year’s Draft.

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June 22, 2007

Transactions...Chicago Cubs optioned RHP Sean Gallagher to Triple-A Iowa. Oakland Athletics optioned RHP Shane Komine to Triple-A Sacramento.Pittsburgh Pirates designated RHP Dan Kolb for assignment and recalled 1B Brad Eldred from Triple-A Indianapolis. Washington Nationals activated RHP Jerome Williams from the 15-day disabled list and sent him outright to Double-A Harrisburg.

Minor League News

- Top Prospect Alert and First Inning have your performance stats from yesterday...Arizona's Carlos Gonzalez (AA) 2-4, HR, 3RBI, R, (.259avg)...Milwaukee's Jeremy Jeffress (Low-A) 5IP, No Runs, 2H, 2BB, 5K, WIN (1.14ERA...Cincinnati's Jay Bruce (AA) 0-5, 4K, (.000avg), and New York Mets Fernando Martinez (AA) 2-4, HR, 3RBI, R, BB, (.269avg).

- By the way, First Inning is also providing some videos now on their player pages.

- Patrick Sullivan over at Baseball Analysts dives into the Red Sox minor league system. On 1B Lars Anderson..."The Sox selected the California native in the 18th round of the 2006 Amateur draft thanks to their deep pockets. He had only slipped that far because he figured to have high bonus demands. At this point, it looks like the Sox may have a real gem on their hands."

- Minor League Ball has a Prospect Retro on Jeremy Guthrie.

- As reported by Baseball America the other day..."The same day the Reds signed first-round pick Devin Mesoraco, they also promoted 2006 first-round pick Jay Bruce and righthander Johnny Cueto, the team’s highest-ranked pitcher in the minors.

- The Cincinnati Reds signed top draft pick C Devin Mesoraco (6-2, 200, R-R) of Punxsutawney (PA) Area High School. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. Mesoraco, 18, was selected by the Reds with the 15th pick overall in the opening round of Major League Baseball’s June first-year player draft. He will be assigned to the Gulf Coast League's Sarasota Reds. "Devin is a little better athlete than you normally get at that position. It is a hard position to fill in the majors and in the minors, so we're pleased to find a catcher who is such a good athlete with such good makeup," said senior director of scouting Chris Buckley. "He runs well, and he's a good thrower. We're very thrilled to have him."

College Baseball News

- River Ave. Blues has their preview up of the College World Series Finals. It's a very good read..."...the matchup isn’t close at all on paper - UNC should win in a landslide. They’ve got a better lineup and better pitching, your basic recipe for winning. However, dig a little deeper and OSU doesn’t match up all that bad. UNC has a lefty heavy lineup with the likes of Tim Federoff, Reid Fronk and Josh Horton (left), but OSU has a nice core of LHP to matchup."

- Brian at The College Baseball Blog has his usual recap of the day with a look at UNC's victory over Rice.

- If you missed out on any of the scores, boxscores, or recaps of the CWS, Baseball America has you covered in a nice neat little package.

- Boyd's World has its annual top 10 stories of the year column up...here's #6..."We're going to have an interesting champion. Neither of them is the best team in the country, but both of them got here fairly."

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June 21, 2007

Minor League News

- Today's big news is the announcement of the 2007 Futures Game rosters. Head over here to see the rosters.

- Top Prospect Alert has your performances around the league for yesterday...Boston's Clay Buchholz (AA) 5IP, No Runs, 6H, 1BB, 6K, WIN (1.82ERA)...Kansas City's Luke Hochevar (AA) 7IP, 0ER, 5H, 5K, (4.63ERA)...Oakland's Sean Doolittle (Short-A) 3-5, 2B, 2R, (.600avg)...Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen (AA) DblHead 0-8, R, (.229avg)

- Project Prospect compares Andrew Miller to David Price...On Miller..."In his brief professional career, Andrew Miller has already gone back and forth from minor league bus lines to chartered big league flights. Until Miller can control his changeup – until he develops into a starter, not a reliever – a few more pit stops are to be made before his world of talent lands a fulltime gig with the Tigers."

- Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (subscription required) brings us up close and personal with the Midwest League All-Stars...on the Reds Drew Stubbs..."Dayton (Reds) center fielder Drew Stubbs came in the game during the sixth inning, but still got three plate appearances, going 0-for-3 with a strikeout"..."I mean, you just look at him, and that’s a Rocco Baldelli body,” lamented one scout. “But he just has no bat speed.”

- The Seattle Mariners Vice President of Scouting Bob Fontaine announced today that the Mariners have signed infielder Matt Mangini, the club's supplemental first round selection (52nd overall) in the 2007 June Daft. "He is a big strong kid with power at a premium position," said Fontaine. "We saw him throughout the college season and in the Cape Cod League and put a lot of stock in how he performed last summer ('06) with a wood bat."

- The San Francisco Giants have signed 31 players from their 2007 First-Year Player Draft class, highlighted by sandwich picks shortstop Nick Noonan (32nd overall selection), catcher Jackson Williams (43rd) and shortstop Charlie Culberson (51st), the club announced today.

- First Inning also has their usual roundup of top performances from yesterday's action...Alberto Callaspo (AAA Tucson) went 5-for-6, connecting for rare extra base hits (a triple and home run)...Franklin Morales (AA Tulsa) allowed a single run in 7 innings pitched...In his first AA start, Wade Davis (AA Montgomery) struck out 9, walked nobody, and gave up 7 hits in 6 innings.

College Baseball News

- Photos from the BDD trip to Omaha are now online. Check out the photo gallery and be sure to click the "next" link to view all the pictures.

- The College Baseball Blog has the recap of Oregon State's victory over UC Irvine.

- If you checked out the BDD blog yesterday, we posted some impressive stat splits for participants in yesterday's UNC-Rice game.

- College Baseball Insider also recaps the UNC-Rice and Oregon St.-UC Irvine games.

- According to Rivals.com, Tennessee has announced the signing of new head coach Todd Raleigh.

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June 20, 2007

Transactions...Atlanta Braves recalled RHP Joey Devine from Double-A Mississippi. Cleveland Indians recalled OF Ben Francisco and RHP Ed Mujica from Triple-A Buffalo. Oakland Athletics optioned INF J.J. Furmaniak to Triple-A Sacramento. Chicago White Sox optioned outfielder Jerry Owens to Class AAA Charlotte. Washington Nationals today recalled from rehab and reinstated right-handed pitcher Luis Ayala from the 60-Day Disabled List, selected the contract of outfielder Brandon Watson from Columbus of the Triple-A International League, recalled right-handed pitcher Chris Schroder from Columbus, and designated right-handed pitchers Winston Abreu and Levale Speigner for assignment.

Minor League News

- The St. Louis Cardinals today announced that 10 more players that the club drafted in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft have agreed to terms. This brings the total number of players signed so far from the draft to 36 out of 52 selected. Included in the signings are both second-round picks of the Cardinals, pitchers David Kopp (71st overall selection) and Jess Todd (82nd overall). Third-round pick Daniel Descalso (112th overall) also agreed to terms. To date, eight of the Cardinals top 12 picks have agreed to contract terms.

- PG Crosschecker reports that "righthander Michael Palazzone, ranked by Perfect Game as the nation’s top high school player in the 2008 class after his sophomore year at Lassiter High in Marietta, Ga. , re-established himself as one of the nation’s top pitching prospects at PG’s National Showcase after his prospect status faltered a year ago amid concerns he had arm problems."

- First Inning again has the performances around the minors from yesterday...Atlanta's Matt Harrison (AA Mississippi) allowed no runs in 6 innings...Colorado's Joseph Koshansky (AAA Colorado Springs) was 3-for-4 with a double and walk...Anaheim's Brandon Wood (AAA Salt Lake) was 2-for-5 and hit his second home run in as many days.

- Carlos Gomez at The Hardball Times breaks down the first 10 picks of the 2007 draft and then the next 10 picks. On Joe Savery, the pitcher, who I just happened to see hit today..."I can't overlook this position at release when it comes to Savery's mechanics. Unfortunately, I don't like his chances of staying healthy. Not wanting to end on a negative, Savery has a pretty good swing the last time I saw it."

- Top Prospect Alert has their always intensive look at yesterday's action.

- Max Scherzer was promoted to Double-A Mobile on Wednesday. In three games with Visalia, Scherzer was 2-0 with a 0.53 ERA, striking out 30 batters in 17 innings.

- In Monday's Hot Sheet Baseball America awards top honors for the week to Adam Jones, Max Scherzer, and Brandon Watson. On Jones..."Jones has been steadily climbing the charts, ranking 15th and then third on our last two Hot Sheets. Not happy with his ranking, Jones took it up another level last week, hitting .387 with three homers, three doubles and seven RBIs in seven games for Tacoma."

- Rotoworld looks at draft picks 16-30 (with an eye to their fantasy value) this week. On the Giants Madison Bumgarner..."I typically don't like pitchers that are all velocity, but Bumgarner separates himself from the rest of the pack of similar pitchers due to his above average command. A 6'5" left-hander out of a North Carolina high school, Bumgarner consistently hits 92-95 MPH with his fastball and walked just eight batters in his senior season."

- Seattle Mariners Director of International Operations Bob Engle announced that the Mariners have signed a pair of Chinese players to minor league contracts. Yu Bing Jia and Wei Wang are both members of the Chinese National Baseball Team and will report to Seattle’s Australian Summer League Team when not fulfilling National Team commitments this summer.

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June 20, 2007

College Baseball News

- Baseball America has the scores, boxscores, summaries and links for the College World Series

- Become an Anteater fan...visit the official site of UC Irvine

- And if you become an Anteater fan, you will immediately become a fan of 6' 3", 270 lb. Zach Robinson...aka "The Whammer"

- CSTV.com has the best Game Tracker ever...sorry MLB.com. It's graphical, informative, intuitive, and very pleasing to the eye

- The College Baseball Blog recaps the game of the series so far...UC Irvine vs. Arizona State

- Here's the latest tournament bracket with your final four teams ready to go tomorrow. 

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June 19, 2007

Transactions...Kansas City Royals recalled 1B Billy Butler from Triple-A Omaha. St. Louis Cardinals signed RHP Tomo Ohka to a Minor League contract. Toronto Blue Jays recalled RHP Ty Taubenheim from Triple-A Syracuse. Detroit Tigers optioned RHP Yorman Bazardo to Triple-A Toledo and recalled RHP Eulogio De La Cruz from Toledo. Milwaukee Brewers optioned OF Tony Gwynn to Triple-A Nashville. Oakland Athletics recalled RHP Shane Komine from Triple-A Sacramento and optioned RHP Ruddy Lugo to Triple-A Sacramento. Washington Nationals reinstated LHP Mike O'Connor from the 60-day disabled list and optioned him to Double-A Harrisburg. Boston Red Sox recalled RHP Manny Delcarmen from Triple-A Pawtucket.

Minor League News

- RHP Michael Main from DeLand, Fla., and INF Matt West from Bellaire, Texas , signed with the Rangers today. Main was the second of two first round selections by Texas and the 24th overall pick in the draft. West was drafted in the second round, No. 80 overall.

- The Oakland Athletics today announced that they have agreed to terms with three more players from the 2007 First-Year Player Draft held on June 7 and 8.  The players are RHP James Simmons (1^st round, UC Riverside), OF Corey Brown (compensation pick, Oklahoma State ) and OF Raymond Rodriguez (24^th, Puerto Rico Baseball Academy ).

- Columbus Clippers OF Brandon Watson established an International League record on Sunday by hitting safely in his 43rd straight game, surpassing the old mark of 42 held by Rochester Hustler Jack Lelivelt in 1912…Watson went 0-for-5 yesterday at Rochester (Twins) to end his record-breaking streak.

- First Inning has the performances from around the league yesterday. Chicago Cubs Tyler Colvin (A+ Daytona) went 3-for-4 with a double and 2 home runs...Nick Adenhart (AA Arkansas) gave up 2 home runs (3 earned runs) over 6 innings to win against Springfield...Edinson Volquez strikes out 10 batters in 5 innings pitched, allowing 2 earned runs in the AA Frisco win against Midland.

- Project Prospect has their weekly top 25 prospect list up...Clayton Kershaw jumps 2 spots from 15 to 13 - "Responded well to 9 days of rest (6/3-6/13): 7.0 IP, 8 K, 2 BB, 4 H, and 0 ER."

- In yesterday's "Monday Morning Ten Pack," Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus talks about Atlanta's Elvis Andrus and St. Louis' Rick Ankiel.On Andrus..."The much-hyped Andrus is batting just .225/.313/.317 in 65 games for the Pelicans, and there are concerns. Some bring up his age (Andrus is still just 18) and tools (which are undeniable), but at some point the results have to show up no mattter what the mitigating factors are."...and Ankiel..."Friday night, Ankiel hit his 16^th home run of the year, and then on Saturday, he smacked numbers 17, 18, and 19, upping his slugging percentage to .606...If (the Cardinals) want to make a run, Ankiel could help.

- MLB.com will announces the rosters for the 2007 XM Satellite Radio All-Star Futures Game in an exclusive webcast at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday. The 60-minute show will air live on BaseballChannel.TV and will be hosted by Vinny Micucci, co-host of MLB.com's Leading Off, along with Jonathan Mayo and Lisa Winston from Around the Minors.

- Marc Hulet at Baseball Analysts has a nice article on the major impact the 2007 draft will have on 5 specific teams...Texas, Toronto, Arizona, Cincinnati, and Washington. 

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June 16, 2007

Transactions...Oakland Athletics called up IF J.J. Furmaniak from Triple-A Sacramento and designated LHP Erasmo Ramirez for assignment. New York Yankees optioned RHP Tyler Clippard to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and recalled OF Kevin Thompson. Colorado Rockies recalled OF Cory Sullivan from Triple-A Colorado Springs and optioned OF Sean Barker to Triple-A Colorado Spring. Arizona Diamondbacks promoted RHP Enrique Gonzalez from Triple-A Tucson. Texas Rangers optioned RHP Wes Littleton to Triple-A Oklahoma and recalled RHP Josh Rupe from Oklahoma and placed him on the 60-day disabled list.

Minor League News

- As usual, Top Prospect Alert has your daily performances from around the league. Boston's Jon Lester (AAA) 7IP, 2ER, 8H, 1BB, 3K, LOSS (2.11ERA)...San Diego's Matt Antonelli (High-A) 2-4, 3B, RBI, R, BB, (.320avg)...Atlanta's Eric Campbell (High-A) 4-6, 2B, R, (.195avg)...Kansas City's Billy Butler (AAA) 1-1, 2RBI, R, 3BB, (.284avg).

- The Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms with left-handed pitcher Aaron Poreda, the club’s 2007 first-round choice (25th overall) from the University of San Francisco. Poreda, 20, was named First-Team All-West Coast Conference for the second consecutive year in 2007 after going 7-6 with a 2.89 ERA (32 ER/99.2 IP), two complete games and 66 strikeouts in 14 starts during his junior season with the Dons.  The left-hander limited opponents to a .252 (93-369) average and issued 18 walks.

- Rotoworld reviewed the first fifteen draft picks of this past June based on fantasy value. David Price, Matt Wieters, Rick Porcello, and Matt LaPorta are your top 4.

College Baseball News

- Arizona State rallies to defeat UC Irvine in game 3 of the College World Series.

- Baseball America named their All-American team yesterday. Brett Wallace, Casey Weathers, and Matt LaPorta are all familiar names you can find on the 1st team.

- The College Baseball Blog has recaps as they happen. Check back frequently.

- Baseball Analysts has posted their mini College World Series preview and picks Arizona State to win it all.

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June 15, 2007

Transactions...Chicago White Sox recalled RHP Mike MacDougal from Triple-A Charlotte and designated RHP Bret Prinz for assignment. Cincinnati Reds optioned RHP Gary Majewski to Triple-A Louisville and recalled RHP Brad Salmon from Louisville. Pittsburgh Pirates recalled RHP John Van Benschoten from Triple-A Indianapolis and optioned RHP Josh Sharpless to Indianapolis. San Diego Padres purchased the contract of INF Chase Headley from Double-A San Antonio and optioned INF/OF Paul McAnulty to Triple-A Portland. Seattle Mariners recalled LHP Ryan Feierabend from Triple-A Tacoma and optioned LHP Jake Woods to Triple-A Tacoma. Texas Rangers optioned RHP Scott Feldman to Triple-A Oklahoma. Arizona Diamondbacks purchased the contract of INF Augie Ojeda from Triple-A Tucson and optioned INF Alberto Callaspo to Tucson.

Yesterday's Performances