We mentioned the big three starters of the 2006 BlueClaws SAL title team in a post the other day. Let’s look at some other former BlueClaws around baseball. Some good news, some not so much.

We’ll start in Oakland with Adrian Cardenas (BlueClaws 2007). He was acquired along with Josh Outman in the Joe Blanton trade in July. Lisa Winston of MLB.com catches up with Cardenas, now at his first big league camp in Arizona. It’s a great story, because Cardenas didn’t grow up, like so many others, with baseball as the focus of his life.

“To this day, my parents don’t know anything about baseball. The only reason I’m playing is because I worked so hard at it, not because I had some psycho father or mother bombarding me with demands to get out there and play,” recalled Cardenas, who grew up in Miami. “They were more like that with piano and that’s where I learned discipline. There were many times I wanted to quit and they made me stick with it.”

–

Winston also writes about former BlueClaw Scott Mitchinson (2006-07), now with the Athletics.

Mitchinson, who was acquired in the Minor League portion of the Rule 5 draft, December 2007, went 5-3 with a 1.74 ERA with Kane County in the Midwest League. He’ll be given a shot to reach Double-A this year with the Athletics. In 2004, Mitchinson won the Paul Owens Award as the Phillies Minor League pitcher of the year. He went 7-0 with 60 Ks and 1 BB with the GCL Phillies.

He’s always had talent, it’s a matter of staying healthy. We wish him luck.

–

Drew Naylor (2008) and Joel Naughton (2007-08), both in big league camp with the Phillies, could be a battery combination, as they were in Queensland and Lakewood, for Australia in the World Baseball Classic.

That would be neat.

–

Phillies Director of Minor Leagues Steve Noworyta tells Baseball America that 2008 BlueClaws pitchers and Phillies draft picks Vance Worley and Michael Stutes (pictured) both have a chance to start the year in Double-A.

“A lot will be determined by what they did in the offseason, how they come into camp, and how they pitch this spring,” he said.

Worley was a Phillies draft pick in 2005, but he went to Long Beach State before the Phils got him again in last year’s third round. Stutes won two national titles at Oregon State and was a ninth round pick.

–

Two former BlueClaws were released this week. The Phillies said goodbye to Welinson Baez (2006-07), who was a former third baseman they tried to convert to a pitcher. The Twins released Bobby Korecky (2002), who appeared in 16 games with the Twins last year.

Share This Post!

This entry was posted on Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at 12:01 pm and is filed under Around the Farm, Baseball America, General Baseball, Spring Training, World Baseball Classic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.