Monthly Archives: December 2014

LANCASTER 2015 FIELD STAFF ANNOUNCED

lancasterjethawksnewThe Lancaster Jethawks have announced their 2015 field staff, with both new and familiar faces in the various roles. After winning his second California League championship in three seasons, Rodney Linares has moved up to AA Corpus Christi to take over the managerial position there.

Here is Lancaster’s staff for 2015:

Manager: OMAR LOPEZ
Pitching Coach: DON ALEXANDER
Hitting Coach: DARRYL ROBINSON
Developmental Assistant: RAMON VASQUEZ
Trainer: MICHAEL RENDON

TRADE PIECES

As the hot stove season has blazed this month, many of the deals that the big league clubs have been making have included Cal League players of note. When a prospect performs well in the minors, he might be getting closer to his parent club’s active roster…or he might be making himself a valuable commodity on the trade market.

Here are some of the recent deals and the California League players that were included:

Let’s start with the many moves the Padres have made, which pulled in Lake Elsinore players, and others.

JUSTIN UPTON TO SAN DIEGO

J-Up was dealt to the Padres with a minor leaguer for a package of prospects that included 2B JACE PETERSON (LE ’13) and OF MALLEX SMITH (LE ’14)

DEREK NORRIS TO SAN DIEGO

Norris also went to the Padres, along with RHP SETH STREICH (STK ’14), with Oakland receiving RHP R.J. ALVAREZ (IE ’13) and another pitcher, Jesse Hahn. Alvarez was with the Angels and included in the Huston Street trade in July. The Padres have now shipped him to Oakland in this deal.

MATT KEMP TO SAN DIEGO

As the Padres bulked up, Kemp was acquired in a trade with the Dodgers and San Diego sent three players to LA. C Yasmani Grandal and RHP ZACH EFLIN (LE ’14) went north along with RHP  JOE WIELAND (BAK ’10). More on Eflin in a minute, but Wieland was with the Rangers org when he was shipped to the Padres in a 2011 deadline deal that sent reliever Mike Adams to San Diego.

WIL MYERS, 3-TEAM DEAL WITH TB, SD, WASH

The Padres filled out their 2015 outfield by acquiring Myers in an 11-player, 3-team deal. RHP BURCH SMITH (LE ’12) went to Tampa Bay and RHP JOE ROSS (LE ’14) went to the Nationals

JIMMY ROLLINS TO LOS ANGELES

The Dodgers got their stop-gap shortstop to, hopefully, span the distance from Hanley Ramirez to Corey Seager. It cost them Eflin and LHP TOM WINDLE (RC ’14).

JUSTIN RUGGIANO TO MARINERS

The Mariners acquired OF Justin Ruggiano from the Mariners for RHP MATT BRAZIS (HD ’13)

CASEY MCGEHEE TO GIANTS

San Francisco filled the void left by 3B Pablo Sandoval’s departure with another veteran, Casey McGeheee. Going to the Marlins was RHP KENDRY FLORES (SJ ’14). (Joe Ritzo has a story up on Flores on the SJ Giants blog HERE)

MATT LONG GOES ANGELS-TO DODGERS-TO BREWERS

OF MATT LONG got to do the LA shuffle in a couple of minor deals. Long, who played for Rancho Cucamonga in 2009, was with Inland Empire in 2011 as part of the Angels organization. The Angels flipped him to the Dodgers for C Drew Butera, but the Dodgers then sent Long to the Brewers along with LHP JARRET MARTIN (RC ’12, ’13) for a minor league catcher.

 

 

RULE 5 DRAFT

The last day of the Winter Meetings is when the annual Rule 5 Draft is held and on Thursday there were eight recent California League players taken in the Major League and AAA phases. The Rule 5 Draft involves players who were unprotected by their parent clubs being eligible for selection by the other major league clubs. (Check MLB.com’s “About” page HERE)

According to the protocol, the players selected in the major league phase, four of them having played in the California League since 2012, will be on their new clubs’ major league active roster for the duration of the 2015 season. If not, they will be forfeited to their previous organizations.

If you’ve paid attention to the major league phase of the Rule 5 Draft, you know that the big-name success stories who have come out of this draft’s history include Johan Santana and Josh Hamilton. But, for the most part, these are players who weren’t placed on their organizations’ 40-man rosters within the stipulated four or five years of signing due to the fact that they haven’t had the hoped-for performance over time in the minors.

It’s another chance to get the career going for talented players who, for whatever reason, haven’t climbed their organizational ladder in a timely manner.

The major league phase of the draft included the following:

# NEW CLUB PLAYER OLD CLUB
3 RANGERS OF Delino DeShields Jr. Astros LAN ’12, ’13
7 CUBS SS Taylor Featherston Rockies MOD ’13
11 BRAVES RHP Daniel Winkler Rockies MOD ’13
12 MARINERS LHP David Rollins Astros LAN ’12, ’13

Players drafted in the AAA phase do not have to be placed on the active roster of the selecting club. Players with Cal League ties in this year’s AAA phase:

# NEW CLUB PLAYER OLD CLUB
1 DIAMONDBACKS RHP Timothy Crabbe Reds BAK ’11, ’12
6 WHITE SOX RHP Peter Tago Rockies MOD ’14
12 BRAVES C Steven Rodriguez D-Backs VIS ’13, ’14
22 MARLINS 1B Harold Riggins Reds MOD ’13, BAK ’14

BAKO TO SALINAS MOVE HITS SNAG

Bakersfield has long been a California League town, indeed, 73 years, but the outdated conditions of Sam Lynn Ballpark have put a great strain on the relationship between the city and the league.

Bakersfield is an ideal location for minor league baseball with the size of the city and the environment for baseball, basically warm weather all season long. But the stadium is a huge drag on attendance, both with its outdated design and its location in the metropolitan area.

A move to Salinas, a previous Cal League city, has been rumored, but any plans to move north have been put on hold. The familiar issues that arise in any talks of a new ballpark, like Salinas would need, have reared their head and any plans to move forward have stalled.

So the Blaze stay, for now.

SOURCES

BLAZE IN BAKERSFIELD- FOR NOW by Kevin Riechard at BallparkDigest.com
BLAZE EYE SALINAS… by John Harte at BakersfieldCalifornian.com