We had a chance to talk with 2010 BlueClaws RHP Jonathan Pettibone (follow him on Twitter @Jon_Pettibone) for a pre-spring training Q&A that you can read below.

Pettibone went 8-6, 3.49 with Lakewood in 2010 (2.41 ERA in the second half) and helped the BlueClaws win their second of two straight Sally League titles. Last year, he went 10-11 with Clearwater but only because of a lack of run support. He had a sparkling ERA of just 2.96, 5th best in the Florida State League. Baseball America ranked him 4th in the system, his highest ranking.

How would you assess your season last year? It seemed like you picked up right where you left off? It was the main goal going in, first making Clearwater, and staying healthy, that was a big key for me, but also just doing like I did in 2010 and continuing to attack the hitters and throw all three pitchers for strikes and let my defense do the work.

Were the hitters a lot different, a lot better, at that level? They’re more patient and they won’t chase your out pitch, slider in the dirt or whatever it is. For me, not being a strikeout pitcher, I kind of just went after hitters and made them put the ball in play and get the out from there.

So as you prepare to make the next jump to Double-A, what would you say would be the most important thing for you to do? It’s really just keeping the same approach. I would say I’ve gone after it harder in the weight room and running. For one, they’re going to expect a bunch of innings (he threw 161 last year, 131.1 in 2010), so I’m preparing myself to stay healthy and get through another full season. I’m excited for the new challenge. We’ve heard that’s the biggest jump (Hi-A to AA), and plus I get to hit.

Did you hit in high school? Early in HS I did, but later on just pitched.

Are you excited to hit? Right now I’m kind of scared (chuckle), but once I get a little comfortable, I’ll be ok.

What’s your offseason throwing plan been like? I picked up a baseball in mid-December and light tossed from there. Then I started throwing bullpens about two weeks ago.

What’s the workout regimen been like? At the end of the year, Shawn (Fscani – Phillies minor league strength and conditioning coordinator) gives us a pretty solid program. I’ll throw in a few of my own workouts but I stay on pace on what they want from me each week. The calendar helps guide you to where you need to be leading up to the end of February..

Two of your teammates, Jonathan Singleton and Jarred Cosart, were traded at the deadline. What was that like? It was different. We kind of had an idea it might be coming, at least someone from our team. It was a little easier because of that. But Cosart was my roommate on the road. We were down in Palm Beach, we got the call and then he left the next morning.

What’s your favorite thing to do in the offseason? Play a lot of golf – I play in the season too.

How have you hit them? Let’s not talk about that (laughter). Not that well lately. I’m about a bogey golfer.

Favorite part of your time in Lakewood? Winning the championship, of course. The whole year in general. Winning both halves, but to top it off on the championship, that was the best.

What’s your typical day like in the offseason? Now I’m pretty busy with throwing, running, hitting, lifting. But before, I enjoyed family and friends that I hadn’t seen in awhile, golfing, and a little ping pong.

Your dad played in the big leagues. Has he talked to you about what to expect as you move up? We haven’t really gotten to that point, but the majority of his career was in the minors. I talked to him a lot after my starts on how I feel or how things are going. But we really haven’t crossed the path of what to expect moving up.

You’ve been moving up a lot of the offseason prospect rankings lately. Is that something you pay attention to? I don’t pay attention to it but of course I hear about it. It’s something I try not to get too involved in. I’m not complaining though.

Twitter. How’d you get involved? Last spring training, a bunch of guys, (Jarred) Cosart, (Jiwan) James, were talking about it. And I gave in. I’m not as bad as Jiwan though (laughter).

Thanks to Jon for a few minutes and we wish him best of luck this season.

Former BlueClaws are ranked 1-2 in three different organizations among the recent Baseball America prospect lists released over the last few weeks.

We talked about the Phillies top ten prospects list awhile back with former BlueClaws in the one-through-four slots (Trevor May, Jesse Biddle, Sebastian Valle, and Jonathan Pettibone). May and Pettibone were in the BlueClaws 2010 championship rotation with Valle their catcher. Biddle, of course, was here this year. You can read more about those guys at the link.

The other two organizations where the BlueClaws go 1-2 are recent Phillies trading partners Houston and Toronto.

Houston (click here)
1. 1B Jonathan Singleton: Sent to Houston in the Hunter Pence trade in July, Singleton hit .290-14-77 with the BlueClaws in 2010, including a mammoth home run in his first at bat with the team, May 13th in Greenville. After the trade, Singleton was sent to Hi-A Lancaster (he was with Clearwater) and hit .333 with 4 HRs in 129 at bats. Baseball America says he is the best first base prospect in the minors.

2. RHP Jarred Cosart: Also in the Hunter Pence trade in July, Cosart went 7-3, 3.79 with Lakewood in 2010, pitching in the first half before an injury cost him the second half of the season. Cosart, unlike Singleton, was bumped straight up to Double-A Corpus Christi after the trade. He went 1-2, 4.79 in seven starts (though he did allow one earned run or less in five of those seven starts) and will likely go back there to open the 2012 campaign.

Toronto (click here)
1. C Travis d’Arnaud: He was traded to the Jays in the Roy Halladay in December of 2009. This year, he anchored the championship Eastern League Jays affiliate in New Hampshire, hitting .311-21-78 and was the league MVP. He hit 13 home runs and drove in 71 runs with the championship BlueClaws in 2009 under Dusty Wathan. d’Arnaud, who saw his brother Chase make his big league debut this year with Pittsburgh, is expected to go to Triple-A Las Vegas and could make his big league debut later in the season.

2. CF Anthony Gose: Gose has led his league in steals each of the last three years (including a franchise record 76 with the BlueClaws in 2009). This year, he was d’Arnaud’s teammate on the championship New Hampshire club. Gose stole 70 bases this year and hit 16 home runs, after hitting nine in his first three pro seasons. He’ll join d’Arnaud in Las Vegas this summer. He was actually sent to Houston in the Roy Oswalt deal in 2010 but was immediately flipped to Toronto for Brett Wallace. Toronto reportedly wanted him in the Halladay deal but the Phillies held onto him.

And that’s how you 1-2 in 3 organizations.

A few former BlueClaws (OF Michael Taylor and IF Adrian Cardenas) could appear on the Athletics top-ten list, which will be released on January 25th, though that list will not include the prospects the A’s have received this offseason in trading away Gio Gonzalez (Nationals), Andrew Bailey (Red Sox) and Trevor Cahill (Diamondbacks).

We had a chance to talk with 2010 BlueClaws CF Jiwan James earlier this week for a new interview with one of the stars to the BlueClaws 2010 South Atlantic League championship team.

James, a Florida native, spent the year with Clearwater, where he hit .268 with 4 home runs and 38 RBIs as well as 31 stolen bases, which ranked 5th in the Florida State League.

“I felt the season went OK,” he said. “I don’t think it was anything great. I could have done better. I’ll use it as a learning experience going into next year.”

Offensively, he said “I probably just need to focus on being more consistent.” He hit .236 in May, went up to .284 in June, .330 in July and then fell off to .229 in August, though he did have 11 stolen bases that month.

The jump from the South Atlantic League to the Florida State League is certainly a noteworthy one and one that forces the hitters to make some key adjustments. “The pitchers were a lot different and more consistent hitting the zone,” said James. “You can’t expect to get a fastball and get one, whereas in the Sally League, if you expected a fastball you got one.”

As for 2012, James is eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, since he, as a high school draftee, has now spent five years in the Phillies organization. He can be protected if the Phillies place him on the 40-man roster.

“I did know after the season that it was my time (Rule 5 eligible). It’s not my decision. After the World Series, we’ll see what happens and hope for the best.” He does know that if he is put on the 40-man, he coul dend up with an invite to spring training. “That would be cool. Hopefully it works out,” he said. “I’d try to watch as much and learn as much as I can.”

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July 29th was a big day in the Phillies organization. Three players (and later a fourth, Domingo Santana), were traded to the Astros for outfielder Hunter Pence. The three original Phillies in the deal were all teammates of Jiwan with the BlueClaws in 2010. Josh Zeid was with Reading at the time, but two were in Clearwater with James: Jonathan Singleton and Jared Cosart. As James described:

“It was pretty crazy. It was the 7th inning in Jupiter. We had just made the 3rd out and were getting ready to go on the field. Dusty told Singleton to stay in the dugout. That’s when I knew the trade went through. I was sick. I walked all the way to centerfield and didn’t even warm up. After the game I stayed behind with them on the late bus (to the hotel) and got up with them at 5 in the morning. We said our goodbyes and we’ll see them later. I didn’t talk to anyone for two days,” he chuckled, before adding “that’s part of the deal.”

The last two BlueClaws managers, Dusty Wathan from 2009 and Mark Parent from 2010, were recognized by Baseball America as Best Managerial Prospects in their respective leagues. Wathan is managing Clearwater this year in the Florida State League and Parent is in charge of Reading in the AA Eastern League.

Below, find the list of players/managers with a BlueClaws connection recognized by Baseball America.

Double-A

Eastern League
Anthony Gose (2009): Fastest baserunner, Best defensive outfielder, Most exciting player…Gose is playing with Double-A New Hampshire (Blue Jays) after being acquired as part of a three-way deal that netted the Phillies Roy Oswalt.

Travis d’Arnaud (2009): Best defensive catcher…Like Gose, with New Hampshire, though he was acquired in the Roy Halladay deal in 2009.

Mark Parent (2010)…Best managerial prospect.

Advanced-A

Florida State League
Jonathan Singleton (2010): Best power prospect…Traded last month to the Astros in the Hunter Pence deal.

Cesar Hernandez (na): Best defensive 2b…Williamsport’s 2b last year skipped Lakewood and went straight to Clearwater.

Dusty Wathan (2009): Best managerial prospect.

From the Sally League, Bryce Harper of Hagerstown (now of AA Harrisburg) was recognized as the Best batting and power prospect as well as the most exciting player. Jameson Taillon of WV was the Best pitching prospect and had the best fastball and breaking pitch.

A couple of quick notes from the pharm last night including a couple of nice debuts.

• Austin Wright gave up one run over six innings in his first start with Lakewood, earning the win and picking up right where David Buchanan left off. Speaking of…
• In his first start with Hi-A Clearwater, Buchanan gave up three runs (two earned) over six innings with Clearwater and got the win, his 12th of the year between Lakewood and Clearwater.
• In that game, Clearwater hit five home runs including one by Darin Ruf, Travis Mattair and Jeremy Barnes.
• One other Clearwater note we neglected to mention…Trevor May became the Threshers single-season strike-out leader over the weekend. Congrats to a two-year two-time-champion BlueClaw.
• Domonic Brown hit a home run off top Yankees prospect Manny Banuelos for Lehigh Valley (Brown had a 21 game AAA hitting streak snapped on Monday – a streak that spanned an off-season and three call-ups).
• In that game, Freddy Galvis (2008 BlueClaw) and Carlos Rivero each went 1-4 in their first games with Lehigh Valley.

And outside the Phillies organization…

• Jonathan Singleton hit his first Houston home run for Lancaster last night in Bakersfield. Unfortunately they lost 20-7 in a game that only took 3:04.
• Jarred Cosart threw six shutout innings in his Double-A debut with Corpus Christi in the Astros organization. Unfortunately, Josh Zeid gave up four runs in 1.2 innings and took the loss.

“I was mixing up all three pitches, but from the beginning, I was using my fastball,” Cosart said. “My fastball command was good — I was able to move it in and out, and they were swinging. It’s always good when you’re able to show one or two pitches early from a pitcher’s standpoint, so hitters don’t see it all.”

With LHP Austin Wright scheduled to make his BlueClaws debut tonight, and Ryan Duke having picked up his fourth save of the year on Sunday, we thought it would be instructive to take a look at some current year draftees and how they have helped the BlueClaws. By current year of course we mean they pitched with the BlueClaws the year they were drafted.

2007: RHP Brian Schlitter (17th round, College of Charleston)
- Went 0-1, 3.80 in 16 games with Lakewood that year and he ended up getting traded to the Cubs for Scott Eyre at the 2008 trading deadline
- He ended up making the big leagues in 2010 with Chicago, claimed by the Yankees and the Phillies on waivers and awarded back to the Cubs. He hasn’t pitched this year

2008: RHP Vance Worley (3rd round, Long Beach State)
- Went 3-2, 2.66 with Lakewood in 2008 as the team made a playoff run that fell just short
- Made his Phillies debut last year and this year is 7-1, 2.33 with the Phillies

2008: RHP Mike Stutes (11th round, Oregon State)
- Went 5-1, 1.48 in seven starts with Lakewood in 2008 forming a late-season 1-2 punch with Worley
- Both he and Worley made their 2009 debuts with Reading becoming the first players in 10 years to start their first full-seasons with Reading
- This year he made his Phillies debut and is 5-1, 3.18

2009: LHP Matt Way (5th round, Washington State)
- Went 4-1, 3.11 with Lakewood in 2009 plus started Game One in both the SAL Northern Division Championship Series and the SAL Championship Series
- Split last year between Lakewood & Clearwater
- Has missed all of 2011 with an injury

2010: RHP Eric Pettis (35th round, UC-Irvine)
- Joined Lakewood for the post-season after pitching to a 1.37 ERA with Williamsport
- This year, he opened with Lakewood and is now with Clearwater, where he has a 3.10 ERA and 3 saves in 25 games

2011: RHP Ryan Duke (25th round, Oklahoma)
- Threw seven shutout innings for Williamsport and has four saves in seven games with Lakewood, having allowed two runs in 7.1 innings pitched.

2011: LHP Austin Wright (8th round, Ole Miss)
- Went 2-1, 3.38 with Williamsport before joining the BlueClaws, where he will debut today.

Just a few more things this morning.

Jarred Cosart, part of the trade, is from League City, Texas, just 26 miles from Houston. This is a homecoming of sorts for Jarred, who will report to AA Corpus Christi. He Tweeted this:

Love Philly but no place like home! Thanks for the love and all the new opportunities that await. Will miss all my boys!

This from Jayson Stark on ESPN.com:

Sources told ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark that the Astros will select the player to be named later from a list of minor leaguers currently playing in Class A. That group does not consist of top prospects, those sources said.

Definitive BlueClaws moments for the three traded players?

• Cosart: He had a few dynamite starts but really jumped out by throwing six shutout innings with 10 strikeouts in his third start of the year. In mid-May, he threw six innings/one run/10 Ks in Greenville and Mark Parent said his stuff that night was good enough to get through a big league game.
• Singleton: One of two, either his first game, when he smacked a home run in his second at bat at Greenville on May 14th, or June 20th, when he hit a pair of long balls in a BlueClaws win on June 20th, the last day of the first half when they clinched the first half title.
• Zeid: He had a lot of great moments last year but two stand out. In the SAL Championship Series, he threw four shutout innings right after a bench-clearing brawl to seal game two and then he threw four shutout innings to seal game four, the clincher.

As for the current BlueClaws, no moves yet. LHP Ervis Manzanillo on the mound at 7:05 in West Virginia. We’ll have more later.

Here are some stories from the national media, Houston media and Philadelphia media about the trade last night that sent Hunter Pence to the Phillies in exchange for Jonathan Singleton, Jarred Cosart, Josh Zeid and a player to be named later.

Dave Murphy says The Future Is Now.

Matt Gelb’s story in the Inquirer in which he talks about the impact of Domonic Brown, who might be headed back to the minors to play every day:

“We believe Domonic Brown is going to be an outstanding major-league baseball player,” Amaro said. “He’s kind of learning on the job. He’s done a nice job for us here. This is not a knock on Domonic Brown by any stretch of the imagination. We believe and hope he’s going to be a Phillie for a long time.”

SI.com’s Cliff Corcoran says don’t underestimate the importance of having Pence under team control through 2013.

From the Houston Chronicle, comments from Astros GM Ed Wade.

“We kicked a lot of names around and obviously the two you mention (Domonic Brown and Vance Worley) are highly visible prospects with the Phillies, both of them playing at the big league level right now. We had to look at and determine whether now vs. future made the most sense. I’m not going to acknowledge that either of those guys were available. At the end of the day, what we had to do was make sure that the deal that we made had the most sense from the standpoint of contributions at a significant level for a significant period of time, and we felt the package we put together was the correct one for us.

Funny Chronicle blog post about Ed Wade being a secret agent:

Since Ed Wade, the former general manager of the Phillies, came to Houston as the Astros’ general manager, he has made 423 trades with his former organization. (Look it up.)

So there was little surprise that Hunter Pence was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies last night.

The Chronicle is working on a story that Wade might be a secret agent working for the Phillies.

We are not allowed to discuss this openly, and this blog entry will disappear five seconds after you finish reading it.

MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo says the Astros did well for themselves.

We’ll have a bit more tomorrow but here is the full BlueClaws release on the former BlueClaws that helped land Hunter Pence tonight for the Phillies.

Note that in the past two Julys, the Phillies have acquired Roy Oswalt and Hunter Pence from Houston for seven players, four of whom were 2010 BlueClaws: Jonathan Singleton, Jarred Cosart and Josh Zeid today for Pence and Jonathan Villar was in the deal last year for Roy Oswalt.
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In acquiring Astros OF Hunter Pence on Friday night, three players who helped the 2010 BlueClaws win the South Atlantic League title were traded to the Houston organization: 1B Jonathan Singleton, RHP Jarred Cosart and RHP Josh Zeid.

Singleton led the BlueClaws with 14 home runs in 2010 after joining the team on May 13th. This year, he was batting .284 with 9 home runs playing for Clearwater in the Florida State League. Singleton was an 8th round pick of the Phillies in 2009 from Lakewood, California.

Cosart, a 38th round pick in 2008, went 7-3, 3.79 with Lakewood in 2010 and was selected to the Futures Game, though he could not participate due to injury. He was picked again this year and went 9-8, 3.92 with Clearwater.

Zeid, drafted in the 10th round of the 2009 draft from Tulane, went 8-4, 2.93 with Lakewood last year. He threw eight shutout innings for the BlueClaws in the 2010 South Atlantic League Championship Series.

At the trade deadline in 2010, the Phillies acquired Roy Oswalt for a package that included 2010 BlueClaws SS Jonathan Villar, now playing with Double-A Corpus Christi, making four of the seven players traded to Houston for Oswalt and Pence were teammates on the 2010 BlueClaws.

Entering 2010, Singleton was ranked the 2nd best prospect in the system per Baseball America. Cosart was ranked 4th.

BlueClaws or former BlueClaws have been involved in trades in each of the last three years.

• July 2009: Jason Knapp (2009), Carlos Carrasco (2006), Lou Marson (2006) and Jason Donald (2006) traded to Cleveland for Cliff Lee.
• December 2009: Kyle Drabek (2007), Michael Taylor (2008), and Travis d’Arnaud traded to Toronto for Roy Halladay.
• July 2010: Jonathan Villar (2010), JA Happ (2005) and Anthony Gose (2009) traded to Houston for Roy Oswalt.
• July 2011: Jonathan Singleton (2010), Jarred Cosart (2010), and Josh Zeid (2010) traded to Houston for Hunter Pence.

The BlueClaws return to FirstEnergy Park on August 5th for a four-game series with West Virginia.

- BlueClaws -

Here are two really good articles you should read.

The first is in today’s New York Daily News on BlueClaws 2008 first baseman Matt Rizzotti (why the NY Daily News? He’s from Floral Park, went to Molloy and Manhattan College):

It didn’t take long for Reading coach Mark Parent to see that his fast-talking first baseman was unflappable.

“His approach to hitting is different than anyone I’ve ever seen,” says Parent, who has played and coached in professional baseball for 26 years. “He chooses to hit with two strikes. He almost likes hitting with two strikes.”

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The second is from Saturday’s Asbury Park Press on 2010 BlueClaws manager Mark Parent:

“You don’t have to constantly remind guys of different situations that come up,”’ said Parent last week while sitting in the dugout at Trenton prior to a game between the Thunder and the Reading Phillies.

The Phillies promoted Parent two managing levels in the wake of his leading the BlueClaws to the 2010 SAL championship, the second consecutive title for the franchise.

“These (Double-A) guys have more of a baseball I.Q. than at that (low-A) level, and they know more how to take care of themselves on a day in and day out basis,” Parent said.

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The BlueClaws will play a day game today in Kannapolis, an 11:05 start with LHP Ervis Manzanillo on the mound. You can read today’s game notes here.

Congratulations to 2010 BlueClaws Jarred Cosart and Sebastian Valle who are headed to the 2011 MLB Futures Game this year, to be held July 10th in Phoenix, two days before the MLB All-Star Game.

Cosart is 6-4, 3.16 with Clearwater this year. The 21 year old from League City, Texas was selected to play last year while with the BlueClaws, but was injured and could not participate, so this must be extra-special for Cosart this time around.

Valle, meanwhile, is batting .343 with three HRs and 22 RBIs and this is his first selection to the game. Valle, just 20 and from Los Mochis San Aloa, Mexico, spent the first half of 2009 and all of 2010 with Lakewood. His most memorable moment was hitting the game winning HR in the SAL Championship Series clincher (game four) for Lakewood last year at FirstEnergy Park.

Here are the former BlueClaws that have been selected (italics means they were selected the season they were with Lakewood):

• 2003-04: Gavin Floyd
• 2003: Ryan Howard
• 2005: Scott Mathieson
• 2006-08: Carlos Carrasco
• 2007: Adrian Cardenas
• 2008: Jason Donald
• 2008: Greg Golson
• 2008: Lou Marson
• 2009: Kyle Drabek
• 2010: Jarred Cosart, Domonic Brown

Here is the full story from MLB.com with the full rosters.

It’s 2010 BlueClaws manager Mark Parent!

On a day-off for Reading, where he is managing this year, Mark Parent, who led the 2010 BlueClaws to the SAL title, came down to Lakewood to enjoy last night’s game, and was named the Alan & Minisohn’s Sweetheart of the Game. Dave Schofield snapped this photo of Parent and Buster after he was presented with roses.

See what they did there? Paul Hagen wrote this piece in the Philadelphia Daily News that ran yesterday on the five starters for Clearwater (Thresh-ers), all of whom pitched for the BlueClaws last year. Of course, they’re talking about (stats this year):

• Brody Colvin (0-1, 4.96)
• Jarred Cosart (5-3, 2.87)
• Trevor May (3-2, 4.13)
• Jonathan Pettibone (4-3, 1.98)
• Julio Rodriguez (5-3, 2.50)

Said Cosart: “You always say you can’t really put a timetable on anything. You don’t know what’s going to happen with injuries and all that. But with all the big contracts and when they expire and when we’re expected to be ready, I guess you could say it looks like it could fall into place perfectly. We have no problem with that. We try not to look at it, but if it happens like that it’s pretty cool. And like we talk about, we’re going to be ready whenever they make that call, whenever they need our help.”

It was widely noted in spring training this year how the big-league rotation convened around a clubhouse table and held court every morning. The Threshers’ starters also have developed a bond. All were drafted out of high school. All were born within a calendar year of each other. Colvin and Cosart room together and all live in the same general vicinity.

Read the whole article, it’s a good one.

It’s hard to believe that Lakewood ran these guys out there last year one after another, though Cosart and May were never in the same rotation, with May coming back from Clearwater in July the week after Cosart made his final appearance of the season in June. However, it’s no wonder why the BlueClaws had a franchise-best, league leading, and MiLB leading team ERA of 3.04 ERA last year.

That was Taylor Buchholz, the Opening Day starter from 2001, who came in and threw two scoreless innings for the Mets in a 10-7 Phillies win at the Bank.

The other two? Kyle Kendrick (2006) with the Phillies and Carlos Monasterios (2007) with the Dodgers.

10:31: As @BriSmitty pointed out on Twitter, Monasterios is in fact in the minors to open 2011.

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On a side note, the BlueClaws are 0-10 all-time in home openers, which of course tomorrow falls under. They are 4-6 all-time on Opening Day.

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2010 BlueClaws pitcher Josh Zeid gets the ball for Reading tomorrow and 2008 BC pitcher Vance Worley starts for Clearwater.