Archive for the 'General Baseball' Category

#41

Tuesday, April 10th, 2012

The Shore the Show club has a new member. 2011 BlueClaws RHP Lendy Castillo made his major league debut for the Cubs last night after getting selected in December’s Rule-5 Draft. Castillo, who was an infielder before being converted to a pitcher, had a 2.54 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 46 innings with the BlueClaws last year.

He’s also the fastest player ever to reach the big leagues from Lakewood, doing so in his team’s fourth game of the year after finishing the previous season with the BlueClaws. The previous record belonged to Mike Zagurski, who finished 2006 with the BlueClaws and made his big league debut on May 25, 2007.

Castillo gave up a run in 2/3 of an inning.

Congrats to Lendy and here is the full Shore to the Show list.

Matt Rizzotti Traded to Twins

Saturday, March 31st, 2012

2008 BlueClaws first baseman Matt Rizzotti was traded to Twins yesterday for cash considerations.

Blocked in this organization by Ryan Howard and in the big picture by Chub Feeney*, he’s a better fit with Minnesota.

* Pat your self on the back if you know Chub Feeney – he was the National League president from 1969-1986 who was one of the main reasons there is no DH in the National League.

Rizzotti, a 6th round pick in 2007 from Manhattan College, has a career .870 OPS in the minors, .903 last year with Reading, and figures to go to Triple-A Rochester this year. He could always hit and now has a better chance to reach the big leagues with Minnesota in the American League.

We wish him the best.

The photo shown above is one of our favorites from the archives and actually hangs on the wall outside BlueClaws GM Geoff Brown’s office.

Stop! Thief!

Friday, March 30th, 2012

Every year, when the players arrive they fill out a little survey. Some of the questions are basic – who is the best player you’ve ever played with and against? What would you like to be called (as in Matt or Matthew)?

One of those questions is “Who is your favorite player?’ Gose answered Willie Mays Hayes.

There is more in this interview.

“Obviously, Willie Mays Hayes is a fictional character, but that’s my favorite baseball player. I just really like Willie Mays Hayes, he’s a great guy.”

We bring this up today because yesterday Gose, now with the Blue Jays, stole second, third, and home in the 8th inning of a game against the Red Sox.

“I never saw anybody steal second, third and home in the same inning in my career,” Blue Jays manager John Farrell said. “He is obviously exciting. He can take over on the basepaths. He has a combination of pure speed, plus the ability to read some things. You just turn him loose. He’s a pure basestealer.”

Here’s what Bobby Valentine said, via the Boston Herald:

“Real fast runner being a young daring guy,” Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said, adding that catch Jarrod Saltalamacchia “checked him four times. The fifth time he didn’t check him. He lobbed it and Justin got it stuck in his glove, I guess. If he gets the ball out. He’s out. … He’s a fast runner that kid.”

Gose and Travis d’Arnaud, both teammates with Lakewood in 2009 and New Hampshire last year, winning titles both years, will probably open in Triple-A Las Vegas and we’d expect to see both make their big league debuts this year.

Dave Schofield: On the Way Home From Spring Training

Wednesday, March 28th, 2012

We’ve had several Dave Schofield blog posts up here over the last few weeks (here, here, and here) that originated from Florida. This one originates from the Jersey Shore, talking about one of the best and worst parts of spring training – coming home.

After a month of beautiful weather and brilliant sunshine, my time in Florida was drawing to a close. I had photographed college baseball and college softball and Major League and minor league games and headshots.  Twenty college baseball and sortball games, seven major league games and 9 minor league games. I shot over 250 headshots for the Yankees, over 200 for the Philies and  65 for the New Hampshire FisherCats. It has been a busy spring and I was tired.

Before rest though I had to drive the nearly 1500 miles from  Clearwater to Belmar. I had done it many times and knew the way.

As I looked at the map, I realized that this drive would take me through many of the towns I have worked in during my 40+ years of photographing Major and Minor league baseball. I found this exciting and thought provoking.

The road from Clearwater to Loganville, GA where I would visit with my daughter for a few days before resuming my journey home, is I-75 North.

Throughout Florida, I was  impressed  by the way the terrain changes as the road goes north.  Leaving Florida and entering Georgia the land becomes more fertile and the pine trees  higher.

The first old stomping ground I passed was Albany, GA. The home of the Albany Polecats in 1994. I passed through there to photograph them for their baseball cards for the Fleer Company. It was in Albany that I met lefty pitcher Shane Hale. I saw and photographed Shane throughout his rise through the Baltimore Orioles farm system. Sadly Albany no longer has a minor league team.

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Dave Schofield From Spring Training

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

BlueClaws team photographer Dave Schofield is down in Florida for spring training and is doing some blogging for us at BlueClaws Blog. Click here to read his first entry and here for his second. Below, find the latest installment.

There is a distinct air in a minor league complex as spring training winds down. Players start to get an indication of where they will be when camp breaks at the beginning of April. By this time players have been in games against other opponents than themselves for about a week and a half. For the Phillies, the regular competition consists of the Yankees, who train in Tampa only 20 minutes away,tThe BlueJays who train in Dunedin which is only 15 minutes away and the Pirates who train in Bradenton which is about an hour away.

BlueClaws manager Mickey Morandini (pictured with Phillies owner David Montgomery), who Phillies fans will remember from his days as second baseman for the 1993 National League Champion Phils, and his staff, Pitching Coach Les Lancaster who pitched in the big leagues for seven years for the Chicago Cubs and later the Tigers and Cards and long time hitting coach Greg Legg have been putting the 2012 Lakewood BlueClaws thorough their workouts and watching them carefully in these preseason games.

BlueClaws fans have been very fortunate through the years to have top class managers and coaches. This year will prove no exception, as Morandini, Lancaster and Legg, rejoined this year by Athletic Trainer Mickey Koszak will put a competitive team on the field in Lakewood.

Some of the players to watch will be outfielders Aaron Altherr, Kyrell Hudson (pictured) and Brian Pointer. While we will not know until the first of April who will join the BlueClaws these are some of the player who have been playing games with the BlueClaws group. Altherr and Hudson are fleet outfielders who are high quality defensive players who are also a threat when they run the bases. Altherr has shown some power this spring as well. Brian Pointer had 6 home runs last year in the Gulf Coast league.

Infielders to watch include Tyler Greene and Mitch Walding. Greene out of Boca Raton, FL was an 11th round pick of the Phils in 2011 and made only  6 errors last year in the GCL. Walding a 5th round pick last year, signed late and did not play in 2011. Pitchers Lino Martinez, Colton Murray and James Birmingham look set for service in Lakewood. Birmingham, a New Jersey native pitched for Williamsport in the NY Penn league last year, as well as the GCL team, the lefty was 3-1 combined for 2011.

A lot of these names could certainly change by the time the BlueClaws break camp in Clearwater. We will surely keep BlueClaws fans on top of the news.

LOOKING FOR THOSE FLORIDAYS
The Phillies could not have had a better spring for getting their work in. Not one day was rained out, nor was any time lost to rain during the day. Temperatures were in the 70s and 80s every day. While I know the weather in Lakewood was good as well, I like everyone else am hoping that trend continues for opening day and the whole 2012 season.

WHAT’S THE SCORE IN BIG LEAGUE CAMP?
Lots of former BlueClaws are making a splash in big league camp. The most notable of these is Freddy Galvis, who continues to shine both in the field at 2B and at the plate. With Chase Utley still not at 100% The Phillies worked Freddy at second and he has not disappointed. Domonic Brown gets time in right field and lots of at bats Dom has 20 ABs in 7 games and is hitting at .300 so far for the spring. Galvis is hitting .273 and has made no errors and turned 8 double plays in 11 games. Former BlueClaw Ryan Howard continues his recovery and rehab from off season surgery.

WHAT IS OLD AND WHAT IS NEW?
As I shoot college games I am impressed by the number of scouts in the stands. While shooting the Fairfield University vs University of Maine game at Chain O Lakes Park in Winter Haven, there were probably 30 pro scouts there to see Jeffrey Gibbs, the Maine righthander. At 6’6” and possessing a fastball that is the envy of many (One scout told me that he liked his stamina and pitch quality and, “you just cannot teach 95 mph.”

The most interesting thing I saw was the difference between the older scouts and the younger scouts. The older scouts had radar guns and stopwatches, the younger scouts had the radar guns, but instead of a stopwatch, most of them were using video cameras.  Technology again!

Checking In With Lendy Castillo

Monday, March 19th, 2012

Bob Brookover has a piece on Philly.com today that checks in on 2011 BlueClaws RHP Lendy Castillo. Castillo joined the BlueClaws in June and went 4-2, 2.54 with 46 strikeouts in 46 innings. It was just his second year as a pitcher after three years as a position player.

One of the tricky parts with the conversion players is that their time at their previous position counts towards their service time and Rule-5 eligibility. So Castillo, who had only been a pitcher for two seasons, was five years in at the end of 2011 and thus Rule-5 eligible. The Phillies did not protect him, and the Cubs took him.

He’ll have to be with the Cubs, the big league Cubs, for the full season to stay there, and if he doesn’t last the full year, he’ll be offered back to the Phillies, but for a rebuilding team, it might well be worth the risk.

“He’s been able to throw strikes. His poise on the mound and the way he handles PFPs [pitchers' fielding practice] and athleticism and competitiveness has been far and above a lot of other Rule 5 guys I’ve been around over the years,” said Cubs manager Dale Sveum.

One of the things that led the Phillies to believe Castillo could make the conversion to the mound was the natural tail on his throws to first base from the left side of the infield.

If Castillo does make the Cubs, he could be the 40th player to go From the Shore to the Show. We’re at 39 alums right now but Castillo and Jake Diekman, who is in Phillies camp. both have good shots to become #40. Diekman saw his chances improve when the Phillies cut Dontrelle Willis over the weekend.

Minor League Games Start Today

Tuesday, March 13th, 2012

As the descriptive headline clearly indicates, minor league spring training games start today. Today, the Lehigh Valley and Reading clubs will play at the Carpenter Complex in Clearwater, while the Clearwater and Lakewood clubs will make the 6.1 mile drive to Dunedin to play the Blue Jays squad.

We plan on having coverage of these games right here.

As Larry Shenk notes in Phillies Insider, there will be two games each day at the Carpenter Complex, either the AAA/AA combo or the A/A+ combo.

It appears this is the only game until Friday. This is the schedule that Lehigh Valley has for their games. For the most part, if Lehigh Valley is at Dunedin, then Lakewood will be at home to face the Blue Jays Low-A club. Obviously most of the games will be played against teams from the Blue Jays, Yankees, Tigers, and Pirates.

Jiwan James, a 2010 BlueClaw, is excited to get the games going.

Jiwan James ‏ @Jiwan23

Showing up to the field, under the lights!!! #GoodStuff! pic.twitter.com/MoHJSPOD

(Insert name of famous photographer here) he is not, but obviously these guys have been itching to face some real opponents, not future teammates, and that is certainly a good thing.

Good article here on 2010 BlueClaws manager (managed Jiwan James when he was here) Mark Parent, now the bench coach with the White Sox.

That bond — a friendship developed over the years at a number of charity golf tournaments — put Parent at the top of Ventura’s list of needs when the White Sox came calling last winter after Ozzie Guillen resigned.

“Robin called and asked me if I thought he should take the White Sox job. I said ‘Yeah.’” Then he says ‘I’m not taking it unless you come with me.’ I thought he was having fun with me. He said he was dead serious.”

We’ll have a new podcast later today and some cool stuff related to the upcoming 5-millionth fan milestone.

Two Good Reads

Friday, March 2nd, 2012

Two articles that we suggest reading, especially since it’s Friday morning and you’re not doing anything important at work anyway:

The first is this one, from Bob Brookover on Philly.com: Who Needs Sabermetrics? Next week, we will unveil the annual BlueClaws Alumni Fantasy Baseball Guide, and there will be some Sabermetric tools used in evaluating those players for fantasy purposes. But for the Phillies and their front office? It’s not a big deal.

The man in charge of number-crunching for the Phillies is baseball information analyst Jay McLaughlin, and he is often assisted by baseball operations representative Chris Cashman. All the sabermetric equations are available to Amaro and his assistants, but they are just not that enamored with a player’s WAR, PERA, or BABIP.

“I honestly can’t tell you the last time WAR or VORP or any of those things were brought up in a conversation,” assistant GM Scott Proefrock said. “We’re aware of them, and we understand what they are. It’s just not something we find relevant.”

Proefrock said the Phillies’ primary use for sabermetrics is in determining how other teams may view players.

[snip]

Amaro agrees that the human element of the game cannot be measured by numbers.

“I believe you can break down and analyze statistics any way you really want, but when it comes to scouting heart and head, you can’t do it with sabermetrics,” the general manager said. “In our current situation, I feel like talent and production is very important, but I want a player who has a championship-caliber outlook on how to go about his business.”

That’s something that can’t be measured by a number. And one more quote from Amaro on the movie Moneyball, a point with which we agree.

“I understand Hollywood is Hollywood, but there were a lot of unrealistic things that occurred in that movie,” he said. “The thing that bothered me most is I think the fact of the matter was that Oakland had so much success because they had three of the best starting pitchers in the game. I don’t know if that was mentioned more than once, if that. A lot of the movie was based around Scott Hatteberg moving to first base, and I don’t think that was the reason why they had so much success.”

Whichever side you fall on, read Bob’s article. Very well done.

The other article we found isn’t from today. It’s from February 21st (it’s March by the way) in the Corpus Christi Times. Corpus Christi is the city in which the Astros have their Double-A team, and the writer, Joel Roza, makes the case that Jonathan Singleton, a former BlueClaw and likely CC Hook this year, is the most important player in the Astros system.

Sure you can contend that, because pitching is always the key ingredient to a consistent winner, that guys like Jarred Cosart, Brett Oberholtzer, Paul Clemens, Mike Foltynewicz or any other young, potential pitching stud in Houston’s farm system are for more important to the future of the team, and you’d have a valid point, but rarely does a team come across a talent like Singleton – a guy who’s coming up and is already hitting for average and power at every level. The scary thing is, he’s only beginning to tap into his power.

While any team is going to need pitching to contend long-term, it’s easy to see why many scouts think Singleton can be a .300-30-100 guy in the big leagues. The one comment we’d have on the article is that it’s a bit pre-mature, and not fair to Singleton, to compare him to Jeff Bagwell, maybe the best player in team history and a guy who should be in the Hall of Fame.

A Happy Birthday

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

We’d like to wish a very Happy Birthday to BlueClaws head groundskeeper Ryan Radcliffe, who today turns eight.

A tweet from us this morning awknowleding this returned two responses, both pretty good:

@1tomato2 That’s why there are always crayons on the infield.

And the more classy @OhHeyItsKevin He ages gracefully.

We appreciate both responses of course.

But regarding the first one, sometimes crayons are very good, especially when they do this:

In this case, “crayons” shares a meaning with “stencil” and “spray-paint,” but you get the point.

In looking up some famous people who share a Leap Day birthday, we found John “Pepper” Martin (born 1904), who played for the Gashouse Gang Cardinals of the 1930s and three times led the National League in steals. He also managed an International League franchise named the, of all names, Miami Marlins.

Former BlueClaws in Spring Training Sites

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

With spring training underway in both Florida and Arizona, it’s time to take a look at the former BlueClaws that are down in these camps. Obviously, the Phillies are the most populated camp with former BlueClaws but there are a number of other camps with several former BlueClaws. Take a look below, and enjoy!

As I type this it’s over 50 degrees at 10:30 am, and we’re headed for 59 today and 61 tomorrow.

Year the player was with Lakewood is in parentheses and NRI denotes a non-roster invitee. MiLC is minor league camp (for players in non-Phillies organizations only). Thanks to John with HomeSide News for his help compiling this.

See below the fold. We came up with 44 players in 14 different organizations 47 players in 18 different organizations, and I’m sure we missed someone (if you want to add to the list, send an email to radio @ blueclaws dot com or use the comments section).

UPDATE (1:32 pm): We added RHP Lendy Castillo (2011), who was taken by the Cubs in the Rule 5 Draft, and 3B Travis Mattair (2008-09, 11), taken by the Reds in the minor league Rule 5 Draft, bringing the total to 46 players with 15 teams.

UPDATE (Friday, 9:14 am): Added RHP Will Savage (2006 to the Dodgers) and LHP Josh Outman (2006) to the Rockies.

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Good Luck to Adrian Cardenas

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

The Phillies supplemental first round pick in 2006, who played with Lakewood in 2007 and was traded to the A’s in 2008, was claimed by the Cubs yesterday on waivers.

He hit .295-9-79 with Lakewood that season and was traded a year later in the deal that brought Joe Blanton to the Phillies.

Here is an old Q&A we did with Cardenas 38 months ago and here is a valuable interview he did with the Sacramento radio broadcaster, Johnny Doskow.

Seven ‘Claws in MLB Top 100

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

mlbtop100full

MLB.com put out their annual top 100 prospect listing (link here) and there are seven former BlueClaws on the list, all from the last three years, and six of those players helped the BlueClaws win at least one South Atlantic League title.

Below, find bios and notes on these players:

25. Travis d’Arnaud, Catcher, Blue Jays – MLB Says – The Blue Jays got d’Arnaud in the Roy Halladay deal and he has steadily improved into one of the better all-around catching prospects. Agile and fairly athletic, he also has an above-average arm, giving him all he needs to be a fine defensive catcher, especially as he learns more of the nuances of the craft. He has excellent makeup and leadership skills. His excellent bat speed should continue to allow him to hit for average and power, which really started happening in 2011. If things continue to progress, he could give J.P. Arencibia a run for his money in Toronto soon.

With Lakewood – He hit .255 – 13 – 71 in 2009, helping the BlueClaws to the Sally League title, before being included in the Roy Halladay trade that December. This year, with AA New Hampshire, he was the Eastern League MVP and won another championship with OF Anthony Gose.

44. Jonathan Singleton, First Baseman, Astros – MLB Says – Singleton has a special bat from the left side of the plate. He should hit for plenty of average, and the power started to come in 2011, with much more on the way. He has a good game plan at the plate with excellent discipline. The Phillies moved him to left field to avoid the Ryan Howard roadblock but put him back at first after a while, where he is much more comfortable defensively. The trade to Houston in the Hunter Pence deal erases that issue.

With Lakewood – He hit .290 – 14 – 77 after joining the BlueClaws from extended spring training on May 13th of 2010. He homered in his first at bat, hit two on the day the BlueClaws clinched the first-half title, and hit cleanup on Lakewood’s second straight championship team. He was traded to Houston in the Hunter Pence trade in July of 2011.

54. Trevor May, Starting Pitcher, Phillies – MLB Says – May is starting to develop into a more complete pitcher and not just a thrower. The fastball is up to 95 mph and it has plenty of sink. May has no trouble maintaining velocity deep into his starts. He complements his fastball with an above-average curve and a changeup that shows glimpses of being above-average as well. While he still walks a good number of hitters, he lowered his walk rate considerably and showed better overall command.

With Lakewood – He went 4-1, 2.56 in 2009 and returned on July 4th, 2010 to go 7-3, 2.91 down the stretch and was the workhorse starter on two different BlueClaws championship teams. This year, he was third in the minors with 208 strikeouts while pitching for Clearwater.

57. Anthony Gose, Outfielder, Blue Jays – MLB Says – Gose is an exciting player to watch thanks to his considerable tools. The best one, of course, is his plus plus speed, which he uses to be a major basestealing threat and to be an outstanding defensive center fielder. He also has one of the best outfield arms in the Minors as a former high-school pitcher who could dial it up into the mid-90s. He did draw more walks in 2011 and started turning his raw power into production, but his strikeout rate is still too high, especially if he’s going to be a top-of-the-order catalyst.

With Lakewood – He set the franchise stolen base record with 76 in 2009, stole 45 in the Florida State League in 2010 and 70 more this year with New Hampshire. Gose hit over .400 in the 2009 Sally League postseason at Lakewood’s leadoff hitter and catalyst. He was traded to Houston in the 2010 Roy Oswalt trade and was immediately flipped to the Blue Jays where he was re-united with Travis d’Arnaud.

61. Jarred Cosart, Starting Pitcher, Astros – MLB Says – Cosart shook off the injury bug that hampered him in 2009 and 2010 to have a fully healthy 2011 season, albeit one interrupted by the trade. He has electric stuff, with a plus fastball that touches the upper 90s. His curve, while inconsistent at times, can be nasty, and he’ll even show glimpses of an excellent changeup. He’s lean and projectable.

With Lakewood – Went 7-3, 3.79 in the first half of 2010 with Lakewood before getting hurt, though he did help the BlueClaws to a first-half title. The hard-thrower was traded to the Astros in the Hunter Pence trade at the deadline in 2011.

78. Jesse Biddle, Starting Pitcher, Phillies – MLB Says – A strong and durable southpaw, Biddle has the makings of three above-average to plus pitches in his arsenal. He’s shown the ability to run his fastball in the low 90s. He has a changeup that could be plus when all is said and done, and although his curve is inconsistent, it’s tighter and has a harder break than when he was in high school. He needs to improve his command, not rare for such a young arm, but he did lower his walk rate in the second half of 2011.

With Lakewood – Biddle had a 1.97 ERA after the all-star break and went 7-8, 2.98 on the year, his first full season after being drafted the previous June. He was also named the South Atlantic League All-Star Left-Handed Pitcher at the conclusion of the season.

80. Brody Colvin, Starting Pitcher, Phillies – MLB Says – Despite the rough 2011 season, Colvin still has pure stuff, and a projectable pitcher’s body, that would be the envy of many a pitching prospect. His fastball is plus at times, up into the mid-90s with good sink that generates ground balls. Both his curve and his changeup have the chance to be very good secondary pitches, and he’s shown a better feel for the offspeed pitch in the past then many his age. His command suffered in 2011, something that will have to improve for him to move forward.

With Lakewood – He was 6-8 with the BlueClaws in 2010 but had an ERA of just 3.38 and was the only Lakewood starter to make every turn that year. His ERA after May 15th was below 2.50.

Schrenk’s Calvary In Mix For Playoff Spot

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

Good luck to Steve Schrenk, who BlueClaws fans know was the pitching coach here in 2005-06, and 2010-11. Schrenk is now managing the Canberra Calvary in the Australian Baseball League.

After missing the playoffs in his first year (the 2010-11 season), they are in the mix to the end this year. With five games left, the Calvary are 18-22, in a three-way tie for third place, one game out of second, and one game ahead of sixth place. The top four teams will qualify for the post-season.

Perth, at 30-10, have an 11 game lead and have already clinched first place. They’re led by former BlueClaw and Australian native Tim Kennelly, who is 3rd in the league hitting .369 and tops in the league with 36 RBIs.

Canberra, who has won six of their last 10 games, will have Mike McGuire, the 2010 Lakewood closer who made a few appearances for the BlueClaws in 2011, pitch one of the last five games. McGuire is 4-4 and 4th in the league with a 2.92 ERA.

Melbourne has Brad Harman, an infielder on the 2006 BlueClaws team that Schrenk was a coach for. He’s batting .283 with a league leading 11 home runs.

Here is a pretty good rundown from the Canberra site. Go Calvary!

1-2 in 3 Organizations

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012

oneinthreefullFormer 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).