Archive for the ‘Adrian Cardenas’ Category

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Former Claws at Other Camps

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

10springtraining1We’ve already looked at (here) the 16 former BlueClaws in Phillies big league camp, but there are 20 other former BlueClaws in 12 big league camps around baseball.

The most heavily populated team with former ‘Claws? No surprise, the Toronto Blue Jays.

  • Travis d’Arnaud (2009): starting catcher on the 2009 SAL champion BlueClaws (.255-13-71), and was sent to the Blue Jays as part of the Roy Halladay trade. A non-roster invitee for the 21 year old who had never been above Lo-A is significant and impressive.
  • Kyle Drabek (2007): more on Drabek here, but the 2007 BlueClaws pitcher is considered one of the top 20 prospects in the sport. He could debut in Toronto later this summer or early 2011. He is another non-roster invitee.
  • Jesus Merchan (2005): Now in his 6th organization, Merchan played 25 games with the BlueClaws in 2005 and is a non-roster invitee here. Hit .339 with Arizona in AAA durign the 2008 season.
  • Randy Ruiz (2004): Hit 27 home runs with the BlueClaws, debuted with the Twins in 2008 and is now on the Jays 40-man roster. He homered in Yankee Stadium last year.

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Posted in Adrian Cardenas, Carlos Carrasco, Gavin Floyd, General Baseball, Jason Donald, Josh Outman, Kyle Drabek, Lou Marson, Matt Maloney, Michael Bourn, Michael Taylor, Past BlueClaws, Travis d'Arnaud | 1 Comment »

Lakewood Athletics

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Two former BlueClaws, Michael Taylor (#2) and Adrian Cardenas (#9) have been ranked among the top ten Oakland Athletics prospects by Baseball America. Kind of like the Philadelphia Athletics re-incarnated.

Taylor, of course, was a BlueClaw in 2008, where he had probably the best half of any hitter in team history (.361/10/50). He finished 2008 with Clearwater (.329/9/38), began 2009 with Reading (.333/15/65) and finished it with Lehigh Valley (.282/5/19) before being sent to Toronto in the Roy Halladay trade. He was then immediately traded to Oakland for third base prospect Brett Wallace.

He turned 24 in December and has a chance to win an Opening Day roster spot with the Athletics, perhaps as their everyday leftfielder. It’s rare that you see a guy cover four levels in two years, but that’s what Taylor did, and we wish him luck now that he has a clear path to the big leagues.

Cardenas was here in 2007, when, as a 19 year old second baseman, he hit .295/9/79 with the BlueClaws and made the Futures Game. A piano and guitar specialist, Cardenas hit .326 at Double-A Midland and .256 with Triple-A Sacramento.

Oakland got him in the Joe Blanton trade in 2008, and logically Cardenas will get a full shot at Triple-A in 2010. He just turned 22 in October.

Posted in Adrian Cardenas, Baseball America, Michael Taylor, Past BlueClaws | 2 Comments »

Could Some Former ‘Claws Head to Phillies 40-Man Roster?

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

It’s that time of the year…free agency begins on Friday (first time players can be signed by other teams…they’ve been allowed to talk since the end of the World Series) and the Rule Five Draft (Shane Victorino anyone?) is less than a month away at the Winter Meetings in Indy.

Basically, any high school player drafted in 2005 or college player drafted in 2006 would have to be put in on their organization’s 40-man roster to protect them from being drafted. Of course, if they are selected, they must be on the new team’s 25-man roster for the entire season or be offered back. More on this below. Here’s our take:

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Posted in Adrian Cardenas, Around the Farm, Domonic Brown, Josh Outman, Kyle Drabek, Matt Maloney, Michael Taylor, Past BlueClaws, Phillies, Quintin Berry, Tuffy Gosewisch | 1 Comment »

BlueClaws and Friday the 13th

Friday, November 13th, 2009

Here’s a nice little Friday the 13th Fun Fact for you…the BlueClaws are 6-1 all-time on Friday the 13th, including a 2004 double-header sweep of the then-Greensboro Bats.

  • 2001: April, W 1-0 vs Hickory (11)…Two future big leaguers, Yoel Hernandez, six, and Eude Brito, three, helped pitch the shutout.
  • 2003: June, L 7-5 vs Delmarva…Led 5-1 but gave up six runs in the eighth inning.
  • 2004: August, W 7-3 and 11-0 vs Greensboro…Michael Buorn went 4-8 over the double-header and Randy Ruiz hit a home run in game two.
  • 2005: May, W 10-4 at Delmarva…Jason Jaramillo went 4-4.
  • 2007: April, W 9-5 at Hickory…’Claws pound out 14 hits including two from Quintin Berry, Adrian Cardenas, Tuffy Gosewisch, and three from Jay Miller.
  • 2008: June: W 4-0 at DEL…six shutout innings from Chance Chapman.

Mark the date: Friday August 13th, 2010. Lakewood vs Delmarva, FirstEnergy Park, 7:05.

Posted in Adrian Cardenas, Michael Bourn, Misc, Past BlueClaws, Quintin Berry, Tuffy Gosewisch | No Comments »

The Draft

Monday, November 9th, 2009

The MLB amateur draft sometimes gets lost in the shuffle (it’s in the middle of the season, you’ve never heard otf the guys getting drafted save one here or one there), but in reality it’s such an effective way to build your organization.

A quick glance at their highest ranked prospects over the last few years shows the importance the organization puts on the draft, and that they’ve gotten a lot out of the draft the last few years.

  • 2009: Nine of the top ten (save Carlos Carrasco) come out of the draft and three of those nine (plus Carrasco) land the Phillies Cliff Lee…Lou Marson’s trade elevates status of Travis d’Arnaud (another draft pick), plus big years from Anthony Gose and Trevor May from the 2008 draft class.
  • 2008: Nine of the top ten (again, save Carrasco) are draft picks. This top ten includes Adrian Cardenas and Josh Outman, traded later this year for Joe Blanton, and Greg Golson, traded after the season for John Mayberry, Jr.
  • 2007: Eight of the top ten (save Carrasco and Edgar Garcia) are draft picks. In here is Matt Maloney, traded this year for Kyle Lohse, and Michael Bourn, traded after the season for Brad Lidge.

So the Phillies have put a clear premium on the draft in recent years, compared to international free agency. We figure in the Baseball America list, released later today, there’s a decent chance eight of the top ten are draft picks (save Sebastian Valle and Yohan Flande) are draft picks.

Next, look at Phillies core players that were drafted by the team: Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Madson.

Jayson Werth was a bargain free agent, Shane Victorino was acquired in the Rule Five Draft

Posted in Adrian Cardenas, Around the Farm, Carlos Carrasco, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, JA Happ, Jason Donald, Jason Knapp, Matt Maloney, Michael Bourn, Phillies, Ryan Howard, Sebastian Valle, Travis d'Arnaud, Trevor May, Yohan Flande | 1 Comment »

Drabek to Play in All-Star Futures Game

Friday, June 26th, 2009

Former Lakewood BlueClaws pitcher Kyle Drabek has been named to the team representing the United States in the 2009 All-Star Futures game, a game that showcases the minor league talent in and pits a US-based team against a team of future stars from around the world.

The Futures game was started in 1999 as a way to highlight the future talent may one day shine in the Major Leagues. Currently the series is split, with the US team winning five games and the World winning five games. Past MVPs of the Futures Game have included Alfonso Soriano, Jose Reyes and Grady Sizemore.

Drabek joins a host of other former BlueClaws to be featured in the game.

Adrian Cardinas - 2007
Carlos Carrasco -  06-08
Jason Donald - 2008
Gavin Floyd - 03-04
Greg Golson - 2008
Ryan Howard - 2003
Scott Mathieson - 2005

Virtually every star in the Major Leagues has played in the game, and six of the seven BlueClaws players to play in the game have made it to the Show.

Drabek earns his entry into the game by how well he has pitched this season. With Single-A Clearwater, Drabek went 4-1 with a 2.48 ERA and struck out 74 in 62.1 innings. Since his promotion to Double-A Reading, the results have been largely the same, 4-0 with a 2.43 ERA and 26 Ks in 33 innings. Drabek spent 2007 with the BlueClaws and went 5-1 with a 4.33 ERA. He missed almost a full year from Tommy John’s Surgery.

The Phillies are also represented on the World team as Yohan Flande was selected to participate as well. Flande played with the GCL Phillies and earned a trip directly to Clearwater where he has been dominant. This season, Flande is 7-1 with a 2.52 ERA in 82 innings.

Posted in Adrian Cardenas, Around the Farm, Clearwater Threshers, Gavin Floyd, Jason Donald, Kyle Drabek, Lou Marson, Past BlueClaws, Reading Phillies, Ryan Howard, Yohan Flande | No Comments »

70 in 70: Number 27

Friday, March 13th, 2009

Just 27 days to go until the BlueClaws opener. Let’s look at those that have been BlueClaws All-Stars in the past, the 27 of them, in the team’s first eight years of operation.

2001: Hickory, NC…P Trevor Bullock, P George Rodriguez

2002: Lakewood, NJ…C Ben Margalski, IF Danny Gonzalez, IF Ryan Howard, Coach Jeff Manto

2003: Lexington, KY…C GG Sato, IF Jeremy Isenhower

2004: Charleston, SC…OF Jake Blalock

2005: Augusta, GA…C Jason Jaramillo, OF Ryan Frith, DH Samuel Orr

2006: Eastlake, OH…P Matt Maloney, P Carlos Carrasco

2007: Rome, GA…P Kyle Drabek, P Garet Hill, P Ben Pfinsgraff, C Tuffy Gosewisch, IF Jason Donald, IF Adrian Cardenas, OF Quintin Berry, Coach Steve Roadcap, Coach Ed Hodge

2008: Greensboro, NC…OF Michael Taylor, P Drew Naylor, C Joel Naughton, DH Mike Durant

Posted in 70 in 70, Adrian Cardenas, Drew Naylor, Jason Donald, Joel Naughton, Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, Past BlueClaws, Quintin Berry, Ryan Howard, Tuffy Gosewisch | No Comments »

Former BlueClaws Notebook

Thursday, March 12th, 2009

Some quick-hitters from around the baseball world as relating to some former BlueClaws…

JA Happ continued his strong spring today, allowing just a Gabe Kapler solo home run in three otherwise solid innings. His spring sits at 2.45.

Pitching coach Rich Dubee says that Happ needs to ”just keep doing what he’s doing.”

Meanwhile, Kyle Kendrick was forced to channel his inner-Bill Belichick after allowing six runs on ten hits last night. “It is what it is today,” Kendrick said afterward.

Dubee added “It’s easier to get up here than it is to get up here and stay here.”

Jason Donald, after a 2-15 start, has his average up to .355. John Mayberry, acquired in an off-season trade for Greg Golson, is also hitting the ball very well, with a team leading 10 RBIs to go with three home runs. The question, however, is what is best for the player and team, a big league reserve role or daily minor league games?

“When it comes right down to it, it’s how much they [Donald, Mayberry] are going to get to play,” Charlie Manuel said. “For them to be productive, they’ve got to play some. They never did that. I remember when I was 23 years old and I became a pinch-hitter, that was a tough job for me. That was real tough.”

Australia got routed last night in the WBC, losing to Mexico 16-1. Drew Naylor gave up three runs and got one out, while Joel Naughton went 0-1 after pinch-hitting. The Aussies have been eliminated.

In A’s camp, it appears Vin Mazzaro (of Rutherford, NJ) is the front-runner for their fifth-starter spot, a battle which Josh Outman is a part of. Also, Adrian Cardenas was sent to minor-league camp.

Posted in Adrian Cardenas, Drew Naylor, JA Happ, Jason Donald, Joel Naughton, Josh Outman, Kyle Kendrick, Past BlueClaws, Phillies, Spring Training | No Comments »

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