Congratulations to 2009 BlueClaws RHP BJ Rosenberg, who had his contract selected today by the Phillies and will soon make his big league debut.

Rosenberg, a 13th round pick in 2008 from the University of Louisville, was a dynamite reliever with Lakewood in 2009, going 7-2, with a 0.89 ERA and throwing 28.1 straight innings without allowing an earned run from Memorial Day until August 6th when he was promoted straight to Double-A Reading.

Injuries slowed him down in 2010 and he bounced between the bullpen and starting rotation with Reading last year. This year, in 16 games between Reading and Lehigh Valley, he’s allowed just five ER in 28.2 innings pitched with 36 strikeouts and eight walks.

Here is a Q&A we did with Rosenberg after the 2009 season. That year, he pitched for Team USA in Pan-Am qualifying. One of his coaches there was Kannapolis manager Ernie Young. This was going on at the same time that Lakewood and Kannapolis were facing off in the first round of the 2009 SAL playoffs.

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Rosenberg will be the 45th Shore to the Show players and sixth BlueClaws alum to make his big league debut this year, following Freddy Galvis, Lendy Castillo, Adrian Cardenas, Jake Diekman, and and Quintin Berry.

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UPDATE: Rosenberg was added to this list after making his debut on Saturday. He threw a scoreless 11th inning before allowing a walk-off home run to Adam Jones. Despite the loss, he still called it “the greatest day of my life,” and who’s to say differently?

“This happened so quick,” Rosenberg said. “I was pitching really well, so you never really know. But if you told me at the beginning of the year that I would be here right now, I would have called them a liar. I’m just thankful for the opportunity.”

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We did want to share this tweet from Mark Zaiger, who was an intern with the BlueClaws in 2009 and is now with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.

Congrats to BJ Rosenberg for making it to the big leagues. He was awesome with the youth when I ran the 2009 @blueclaws kids baseball clinic

Another reason to root for Rosenberg.

Looking at Jake Diekman’s numbers with the BlueClaws in 2009, one might see a somewhat pedestrian season, a 2-0 record and a 4.09 ERA with an opponents batting average of .266. But you have to look a little deeper to see what was truly a remarkable turnaruond for the lefty.

After the first half was complete, Diekman, who appeared in just two games from May 22 through June 21, had an ERA of 7.09 and opponents were hitting .333 against him. During the break, he threw a bullpen session, which was typical, but this session had an atypical aspect to it. He threw sidearm. It changed his career.

Diekman came back a new pitcher in the second half, throwing 1.1 scoreless innings on June 28th and went on to allow just 4 ER in 29 innings (1.77) in the second half, holding opponents to a batting average of .186. After that June 28th game, Phillies adviser Dallas Green, after watching Diekman’s first game as a side-armer, said he thought Diekman could be a situational lefty in the big leagues.

He was right. Diekman was called up to the Phillies Friday. When he makes his debut, he’ll be come the 43rd player to go From the Shore to the Show, as we say here in Lakewood, and he might have had the bumpiest journey.

A rocky beginning for Diekman saw him start 2008 with Lakewood but finish with Williamsport. The beginning of his 2009 season didn’t go according to plan, but the change in arm angle catapulted him through the system: to Clearwater in 2010, Reading in 2011 (where lefties hit .090 against him) and Lehigh this year, where he gave up one run in 15.1 innings pitched.

Here is an interview we did with Dusty Wathan (then Lakewood’s manager) in August of 2009, about six weeks into the side-arming career of Diekman.

“He’s got a lot of confidence right now and thinks he can get anyone out, and that’s half the battle. When you’re throwing from the side at 90 mph and you can control a breaking ball and get it over the plate, you don’t see that every day, especially at this level.”

That was the one thing that was unanimous about Diekman when he dropped his arm angle: everyone was super-impressed that when he did that, no velocity was sacrificed. In fact, he’s now up to 93-94, so he’s throwing harder then he ever was before.

The Phillies had to make a decision on Diekman after last season so they sent him to face the game’s best prospects in the Arizona Fall League. He gave up one run in 11.1 innings with 14 strikeouts, enough for the Phillies to put him on their 40-man roster. He almost made the team out of spring training, and his pitching coach, Rich Dubee, loves him.

“I asked him first if he had an agent,” Dubee said. “He told me he did. I said, ‘Fire him. Because I’ll jump on and be your agent and hopefully I’ll be able to retire soon.’ I think he’s got tremendous upside. Seriously. That’s what I told him. I expect to see him this year. If the call comes, I expect him to be ready.”

The call has come. And Diekman is ready.

“It was probably the best feeling I ever felt in my entire life,” Diekman said hours before Friday’s game at Citizens Bank Park against the San Diego Padres. “When I found out I called my dad right away, and making him cry was pretty cool.”

Indeed, and the BlueClaws are ecstatic for Diekman too. Good luck!

Congrats to 2008 BlueClaws SS Freddy Galvis, who yesterday made his major league debut and became the 40th player to go From the Shore, to the Show. Click here for the full list of Shore to the Show players, which only increased by three last year.

Galvis became the first Phillies player in 42 years to make his big league debut on Opening Day.

“He did great in the field,” Roy Halladay said. “At the plate, it’s going to be the first couple times for a young guy, him getting in there and getting the first one out of the way is important. But he’s a tremendous fielder and that’s probably the biggest reason he’s with us. We need guys that can play defense and do the little things and I believe he can do that for us.”

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Lendy Castillo will likely be #41 at some point this week and Jacob Diekman nearly made the Phillies Opening Day roster and he’s on call from Lehigh Valley.

2008 BlueClaw Freddy Galvis has reportedly emerged as the leader to be the Phillies Opening Day second baseman with the injury to Chase Utley.

Yesterday, we speculated that Lendy Castillo, a Cubs Rule-5 pick and 2011 BlueClaw, could be the 40th BlueClaw to go From the Shore to the Show, but now it looks Galvis has the upper-hand in the race for #40.

Galvis is profiled here by Paul Hagen, now of MLB.com. Galvis says of his age (he’s 22):

“I played with older guys. I was always the younger guy. So if I wanted to play, I had to play good. I was always practicing around the house, but I think I got better because I played so much in the street.”

When he was with Lakewood in 2008, he was just 18 and the youngest player in team history until Domingo Santana opened up 2010 with the BlueClaws as a 17 year old.

Last year was his best year. He hit a career-high .278 split between Reading (104 games) and Lehigh Valley (33 games) and was penciled in as the IronPigs shortstop after Jimmy Rollins re-signed in the winter. But Utley’s situation has given Galvis a new opportunity at a new position, second base.

He played one game of third base with Clearwater in 2009 but has never played second, though considering he is thought to be the best defensive shortstop in the minors, everyone expects him to be able to handle the transition without much of a problem.

“The good thing about Freddy is that he’s such a heads-up player. He thinks in the game,” said Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg, who managed Galvis after he was promoted to the IronPigs on Aug. 2.

“He has very good instincts, and I think that’s what allows him to be ready for all the plays that do happen at second base. And he’s a very creative player. Very good at improvising and making a play. Those are good traits to have playing the middle infield. I think he’ll have no problem at second base.”

He’s ranked 6th in the system by Baseball America, his highest ranking, and they note that the Phillies were wowed by Galvis when they saw him as a 14-year old in 2004. They signed him when he turned 16.

There are a couple of guys who could break through early in the year to be the 40th Shore to the Show player, but Galvis probably heads the list.

A couple of good ones this morning – one on 2007 BlueClaws catcher Tuffy Gosewisch and another on some of the former BlueClaws that have been traded in the last few seasons.

First, this Philadelphia Daily News article on Gosewisch by David Murphy:

Turns out, everybody is rooting for Tuffy Gosewisch. Colin Curtis, a non-roster invitee in Yankees camp? Team Tuffy. Roy Halladay, a two-time Cy Young winner? Team Tuffy. And if you believe that a catcher’s value cannot be measured by batting lines and stolen base percentages, then you will end up on Team Tuffy, too.

“Honestly, I would take him any day of the week,” Halladay said. “I really would.”

You might know the name. Born James Benjamin Gosewisch, his parents decided on a more appropriate moniker during a toddler-hood in which he rained destruction upon everything he touched. For the past 5 years, he has been more Lenten resolution than catching prospect, appearing on the Phillies’ roster in February and lingering until sometime in March.

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But there is a reason Gosewisch was behind the plate yesterday for Halladay’s Grapefruit League debut.

The other is this from Bob Brookover in the Inquirer (by the way – thanks for the plug, Travis):

“When we made that trade, there was a comment made that this one is going to be the one that is the most painful,” assistant general manager Benny Looper said Sunday. “He’s at a premium spot, because catching is hard to find and we liked him.”

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“That was my second [championship],” d’Arnaud said. “I also won one at Lakewood [the Phillies' South Atlantic League affiliate]. It was kind of weird because both of them, Anthony Gose and I were on the same team. Maybe we’re both winners, who knows?”

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Gose described d’Arnaud as the “best catcher in the minor leagues,” and Looper and the Phillies probably wouldn’t argue with him.

I recommend you read both of the articles.

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.

Here are some of the best stories around Clearwater during the most recent week. Enjoy.

In the Inquirer, Matt Gelb on Sebastian Valle, who is getting a taste of big league camp.

“Can I say something to him? It doesn’t mean anything,” Ruiz said. “You need to watch the game. That’s what I learned from Jamie Moyer when he was here. I can say 100 things and it won’t work. If you watch the game, you’ll learn something.”

[snip]

Ruiz, defensively, was once the same way. He’s a converted second baseman, and the appreciation for calling a game didn’t come until later in his career. So while watching is important, Ruiz can bestow some of his lessons to Valle.

“Some guys have instincts,” Billmeyer said. “It can be taught. Chooch came a long way.”

Making it easier is that Valle speaks enough English to form relationships with the pitchers he’s catching.

“Chooch didn’t speak any English,” Billmeyer said. “There was a language barrier right away. That took a while.”

Matt Gelb on Vance Worley, who is preparing for his second season:

Fan mail comes in larger quantities now, just one adjustment for the 24-year-old righthander now firmly a member of the Phillies rotation. Last spring, Worley was sent to minor-league camp almost two weeks before opening day. By summer, a city was captivated by the bespectacled pitcher who hopped off the mound every time he recorded a strikeout.

David Murphy on the well-deserved promotion of scouting director Marti Wolever to assistant general manager:

Wolever led the drafts that landed Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels and Kyle Kendrick, among others. He also helped rebuild the farm system after the current crop of stars landed in the big leagues, putting together a robust talent base that enabled the Phillies to land Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Hunter Pence, among others.

In this Daily News notebook, Rich Dubee talks about former BlueClaws LHP Jake Diekman:

Pitching coach Rich Dubee clearly likes Diekman. He views him as having the potential to become a late-innings reliever, much the same as lefty Antonio Bastardo do last year. Diekman’s delivery makes him more deceptive than the average reliever.

“He’s a little tougher from where his arm slot is, but he’s got some thunder, too,” Dubee said. “That’s a nice combination.”

In Phillies Zone blog post, note that new farm director Joe Jordan was the first to draft Cliff Lee, when he worked for the Expos. They also work in a reference to an obscure 2002 BlueClaw (not Ryan Howard or Gavin Floyd).

Phillies Insider takes you behind the scenes, with some of the extra stuff the players have to take care of outside the diamond.

We’ll have some stuff here and there in the coming weeks on some of your favorite former BlueClaws as spring training nears and continues. Pitchers and catchers are set to report in less than two weeks and we’ve stumbled across some Freddy Galvis news and notes that are worth sharing here.

Last Year: Galvis split the season between Reading (where he played in 2010) and Lehigh Valley, hitting .273 in 104 games with the R-Phils and .298 in 33 games with the IronPigs, easily his best offensive seasons. In fact, it’s the only time he hit above .238 in any stop except for an 8-29 rehab stint with the GCL Phillies in 2009.

Baseball America: He was ranked 6th in the system, his highest ranking, and they note what everyone has always said – he is a defensive wizard.

In the Media: Todd Zolecki of MLB.com noted the following in a recent mailbag about Galvis.

Well, the good news for the Phillies is they don’t have to do anything with Galvis other than play him at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Galvis had a nice season last year, hitting a combined .278 with Double-A Reading and Lehigh Valley. But that’s also the first season he hit better than .240.

Galvis is far from a finished product, so more seasoning in the Minors should serve him well. And because Philadelphia traded Wilson Valdez to Cincinnati, Galvis could get an extended look in the big leagues this season should something happen to Rollins.

Trade Influence: The Phillies traded utility IF Wilson Valdez to the Reds the day of the Winter Tour stop in Lakewood and Ruben Amaro said the following:

“We’re keeping our minds and eyes and ears open,” Amaro said. “Freddy, we view him as a guy who will start off in Triple A and if we have any injury issues or things that will happen during the course of the year, we feel very comfortable that Freddy can come in and do a good job as a backup or a stopgap at this stage of his career.”

Sandberg Says: Sandberg will manage the 22 year old in Lehigh Valley this year.

“Freddy made a great stride last year. He turned out to be the best regular player we had on the whole field. He’s a very heads up player, he’s right there with the manager, thinking the game of baseball,” Sandberg said. “He does all the little things. That’s drag bunting, checking the defense, taking what the defense gives you, gap to gap hitting. He really stepped in and like I said, was probably our best regular player the last month of the season and into the playoffs. I think he’ll really get a serious look from the major league club.”

That’s number one. We’ll have more of these roundups as we go forward.

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.

Just cleaning out the notebook with some leftover quotes from the Winter Tour last Wednesday.

Mickey Morandini
“Lakewood is such a great environment. I know the players really enjoy playing in front of big crowds which we have here and I’m really looking forward to Opening Day.”

“I love everything about coaching. I love teaching the kids and I love seeing them grow into better and better players. I’ve been friends with Ruben for a while and now with my kids being older it made sense for me to start getting back into the game of baseball.”

“I’d love to manage in the bigs, but right now my job is to send Charlie the most polished players I can send him. People ask me what type of manager are you? I’ll say that I’m patient, and will be able to give the kids plenty of time to develop. The most gratifying part for me is to see the kids in April and see how much they’ve gotten better by September.”

Ruben Amaro
“We are very fortunate to have the support of all the people in this room and I applaud all of you for your support.”

“I believe Jimmy (Rollins) is the most consistent shortstop in baseball…If things didn’t work out with Jimmy we were ready for Freddy Galvis, who may still get an opportunity to play Major League Baseball this year.”

“We like to shoot for a guy that may be more high risk/high reward type of player than most teams.”

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You see some photos of the event on Facebook here.

Also within the next week or so we’ll start with our position by position looks at guys that might be with the BlueClaws in 2012.

Here are a couple of stories from the Winter Tour last night in Lakewood.

Mike McGarry of the Press of Atlantic City talked to Mickey Morandini and Jesse Biddle.

Morandini thought of becoming a coach or manager right after his retirement, but he had three young sons.

“When I retired, I told my wife I wanted to manage one day, but I had a 7-year-old, 4-year-old and 1-year-old,” he said. “I didn’t have time to go back on the road.”

Now, his boys are 17, 14 and 11, leaving him time to pursue a second baseball career.

(snip)

Biddle said Morandini is easy to get to know.

“He’s a really, really good baseball guy,” Biddle said. “He played the game the right way, so he can coach the game the right way.”

Biddle might have to sneak a favor from Morandini during the season. Biddle’s father, David, probably wouldn’t mind an autograph from his favorite player.

“I don’t know what the ethics are on that,” Biddle said with a laugh, “but my dad would be thrilled.”

Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Daily News talked to Charlie Manuel and Ruben Amaro about some of the spots open in the Phillies bullpen.

“If I was coming to spring training and I was a candidate for our bullpen,” Manuel said last night at the Phillies Winter Caravan, “I’d be hyped-up about making the team.”

Manuel offered the stories of Michael Stutes and Antonio Bastardo, key relievers from last season, who “came out of nowhere” and “were like icing on the cake.” He also mentioned how important it is for those two to continue progressing this season to prove that their reliability in 2011 was more than beginner’s luck.

(snip)

“Right now, we’re focusing on that low-hanging fruit, guys who haven’t signed yet, some guys who have some experience,” Amaro said. “We’re likely, probably not going to do a major-league deal, but it’s possible under the right circumstance. We do have some space on the roster. As far as our payroll’s concerned, we’re up against it, very close to being maxed out right now. We’ll see how it goes when we get closer to spring.”

Here is a Philly.com video talking to Manuel and Amaro. Look for some additional media later on and we’ll link it up here.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel was one of the guests at the Phillies Winter Tour stop in Lakewood last night. We had a chance to talk with Manuel, who last year became the Phillies all time winningest manager and will enter his 8th season at the helm this year.

“I look back and it’s going by too quick- it has all gone by too fast. Time just seems like it flies by especially when you get a little age on you. I’ve been in the game all my life, and I’ve been very fortunate with the talent I was able to work with and very fortunate to get back to the big leagues as a manager.”

“We had a great season last year that ended in a tough way. It was special and then all of a sudden it seemed like we were out. Our goal every year ever since we won was to get back to the World Series and win it. I was talking to Halladay and a few of our players and we still feel like we’re ready to go [in Spring Training] and get started.”

“I’ve been around Jimmy [Thome] for about the first 15 years of his career. When I look at him-for him to hit 600 home runs- I’d sit around and talk to [Cleveland Indians General Manager] John Hart and [Assistant General Manager] Danny O’Dowd about what he’s going to do and I’d say that he was going to hit close to 500 home runs. Everything about his career has been great and as good of a player he is, he might be a better person. Thome is a guy who can walk through our clubhouse and have a positive impact.”

If you missed this on the main site, I thought I’d re-post here for those of you that read this blog through your G

oogle RSS feeds (if you don’t but want to, you can sign up below).

We announced last week that new BlueClaws manager and former Phillies second baseman Mickey Morandini will be joining us on January 25th.

Then yesterday, we announced that 2011 BlueClaws LHP and top Phillies prospect Jesse Biddle will also be joining us.

Charlie Manuel and Ruben Amaro were in the original release. All the details can be found here. Hope to see you there.

The event is at Woodlake Country Club, $40/head. It’s a really fun night.

Austin Hyatt and BJ Rosenberg, both members of the 2009 BlueClaws, will head to spring training this year as non-roster invitees.

Both spent this year with AA Reading, where Hyatt went 12-6, 3.85 as a starter and Rosenberg went 5-7, 4.28 split between the bullpen and the starting rotation.

They were never formally teammates with Lakewood, as Rosenberg, who was drafted in the 13th round in 2008 from Louisville, was promoted (straight to Reading) in early August. He did not allow an earned run after Memorial Day (28.2 consecutive innings). He was also a non-roster invitee last year.

Hyatt, who was drafted that year from Alabama in the 15th round, joined Lakewood for the final five regular season games (he appeared in just one) and the playoffs. That post-season, he appeared in four games (four of the five BlueClaws wins) and threw six shutout innings.

Todd Zolecki of Phillies.com has the rest of the 15 non-roster invitees announced in November:

Right-handers Dave Bush, Scott Elarton and Brian Sanches; left-handers David Purcey, Pat Misch and Raul Valdes; catchers Steven Lerud and Tuffy Gosewisch; infielders Pete Orr, Kevin Frandsen and Hector Luna; and outfielders Scott Podsednik and Luis Montanez.

Gosewisch, of course, is another former BlueClaw, who was here in 2007. He hit .247 with 13 HRs and 66 RBIs this year with Reading.

Best of luck to those players.

By the way, Opening Day in Lakewood is just 98 days away and assuming a Valentine’s Day report date, you’re looking at just 40 days until pitchers and catchers (I say this as we got our first snow dusting here at the Shore this morning).