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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That would be neat.

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

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

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

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

With Phillies pitchers and catchers now in Clearwater for Spring Training, we had the chance to talk with David Murphy, who covers the Phillies for the Philadelphia Daily News.

Question: How would you handicap the Phillies fifth starter competition?

David Murphy: I think JA Happ is the slight favorite. But really I think that any of the four can play himself into that role, though I would have doubts about Carrasco’s chances. I just think the Phillies want to see him down in AAA for another season, or at least a half season.

Chan-Ho Park pitched well last year, and quit the South Korean team to concentrate on winning a spot. The Phillies were sincere about letting him compete for a spot, but with Romero suspended, he is probably needed in the pen. If he proves he’s the most capable, they’ll put him in the rotation, but if it’s even, they’ll go to Happ or Kendrick.

Q: Do you think Jason Donald has a shot to make the team?

DM: I do. He’s been down here working out at second and third, which he hasn’t done except in the Arizona Fall League. It comes down to whether they can trust him in the field. I wouldn’t say he’s likely to make it, but the Phillies are taking him seriously at this point.

Q: How is Chase Utley progressing?

DM: He took grounders yesterday, and it sounds like he’ll start swinging in the near future, maybe two weeks or so. I think the biggest news is that there is no news. Everyone keeps waiting for a set-back. Opening Day is as realistic as it was a month ago.

Q: What did you make of Ryan Howard’s contract extension?

DM: It’s not as newsworthy as some made it out to be, they just avoided arbitration for three years. It was basically an insurance policy against Howard winning arbitration this year. If Howard had won this year for $18 million, then over the whole deal, they definately saved some money.

Q: Your thoughts on Ruben Amaro’s first offseason?

DM: I thought it went about as well as could be expected. It was a short offseason. Ruben was new, had to fill a staff, and they had so many arbitration guys. I think he did a real good job. Ultimately though, it will probably be judged based on how well Raul Ibanez does.

Q: Are the Phillies better prepared to get contributions from minor leaguers than in year’s past?

DM: While I don’t think the farm system is at a level they would like just yet, they can expect contributions a lot more than in year’s past. Last year, minor league depth was one of the glaring weaknesses of the organization. Beyond Donald and Carrasco, they still are a little short on prospects who are big league ready, but they did improve their depth significantly.

Q: Your thoughts on the Mets?

DM: They clearly tailored their offseason around the Phillies. Tim Redding, who beat the Phils a few times last year, resignign Oliver Perez, who beat the Phillies too, and getting a top notch closer. They still have concerns at second base and maybe left field. They’re better than they were last year but I still think the Phillies are better built for the long haul.

Thanks to commenter Evan who points out that 2006 BlueClaws second baseman Avelino Asprilla is on Panama’s roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic.

Asprilla hit .242 for the SAL Champion BlueClaws of 2006 and hit .263 in a six year minor league career with both the Pirates and Phillies organizations. He has not played affiliated baseball since 2006.

This brings the total of former BlueClaws on World Baseball Classic rosters to seven with Carlos Ruiz joining Asprilla on Panama’s roster, Joel Naughton, Drew Naylor and Brad Harman representing Australia, Carlos Carrasco on the roster of Venezuela, and Mike Spidale on the Italian roster.

Over on MiLB.com, they have a poll up asking which prospect is most likely to be on his country’s final WBC roster, which will not be determined for a few weeks. Carlos Carrasco is one of the choices, and the only former BlueClaw listed. He has 21% of the vote (second place) as of 6:55 pm.

  Sixty-four days to go until Opening Day. Let’s continue 70 in 70. Six players, four countries. 64. It’s the representation of former BlueClaws in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Three of the players will represent the nation of Australia, while others will play for Italy, Panama, and Venezuela.

• Joel Naughton, 2007-2008, Australia
• Drew Naylor, 2008, Australia
• Brad Harman, 2005, Australia
• Mike Spidale, 2006, Italy
• Carlos Ruiz, 2001, Panama
• Carlos Carrasco, 2006, Venezuela

Naughton, a native of Melbourne, Australia, played two seasons for the BlueClaws, 2007 and 2008. In his second year, Naughton was named to the mid-season All-Star team and finished the season with a .275 average. He was recently added to the Phillies 40-man roster.

Naylor, also a Melbourne native, spent part of 2008 in Lakewood where he made 14 starts as a pitcher. Naylor recorded five wins and a 2.99 ERA in 87 1/3 innings before being promoted to Clearwater.

Harman, another Melbourne native, spent 2005 in Lakewood where he hit .303 with 58 RBIs. Last season, Harman was promoted to the Major Leagues and collected his first career hit, a double.

Spidale shined in 2006 as he played 80 games for the BlueClaws. During that time he hit .345 with 29 stolen bases. He ended the 2008 season with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Spidale is a native of Illinois, but because he has ancestors from Italy, he is allowed to play for the Italian team as Mike Piazza did in 2006.

Ruiz, a native of Chiriqui, Panama, played 73 games for the BlueClaws in 2001 where he hit .261. This past season, Ruiz helped anchor the Phillies to a World Series title playing 117 games. Ruiz was originally on Panama’s roster before saying he wouldn’t play to focus on the regular season. However, a few days after that proclamation, he changed his mind and will represent Panama.

Carrasco, a native of Barquisimeto Lara, Venezuela, spent two seasons ni Lakewood, 2005 and 2006. In 2006, he started 26 games, winning 12, and had a 2.26 ERA. Recently, MLB.com ranked Carrasco the 28th best prospect in all of baseball. Carrasco was ranked the second-best prospect in the Phillies system by Baseball America (behind Dominic Brown).

It’s hard to fathom since we’ve had snow on the ground this week, but Phillies pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater in just two weeks, February 14th. If it seems like the World Series ended just a few minutes ago, think of it this way: the Phillies off-season this year, because of their October run, will be about 15.5 weeks. The NFL regular season runs 17 weeks.

Nonetheless, it’s exciting that the bats and cleats will be dusted off in just a couple of weeks.

Most of the spots on the Phillies roster are set, but keep an eye on a few former BlueClaws (JA Happ, Kyle Kendrick, Carlos Carrasco) as they battle with Chan-Ho Park for the fifth starter spot in the Phils rotation. Besides Ryan Howard’s upcoming arbitration case, it’s pretty quiet on the Phillies front; nobody has written any controversial books.

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Also, former BlueClaws catcher Carlos Ruiz has changed his mind, and will play for Panama in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.

“The reason is that Carlos, as Spring Training was starting to approach, was really focused on bringing another championship to Philadelphia, and he felt like the best way to do that was to be with the Phillies [this spring],” said Ruiz’s agent Marc Kligman, who has already notified Phillies GM Ruben Amaro about his client’s choice. “But since he made his decision, he had subsequent meetings with officials from Panama, and he reconsidered his decision. He felt it was important to the citizens of Panama that he’s ready to play for them.”

Ruiz joins former BlueClaws Brad Harman, Joel Naughton, Drew Naylor (Australia), Carlos Carrasco (Venezuela) and Mike Spidale (Italy) on the provisional rosters for the upcoming WBC.

MLB has released the provisional 45-man rosters for the World Baseball Classic and the list is filled with several former BlueClaws.

• Joel Naughton, 2007-2008, Australia
• Drew Naylor, 2008, Australia
• Brad Harman, 2005, Australia
• Mike Spidale, 2006, Italy
• Carlos Ruiz, 2001, Panama (will NOT play–UPDATED, WILL PLAY)
• Carlos Carrasco, 2006, Venezuela

Check below the fold for full bios.

(more…)

What do you think about the World Baseball Classic? Personally I think it’s a unique concept that is largely harmless. Every three years is not overkill. It’s just not that easy to work into the calendar, which leads to problems, especially with pitchers. But once you get into the knockout round, it’s fun. Only thing I might do is go from 16 countries down to eight. Highlight the best teams and don’t waste time with 16-1 games early on.

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Chan-Ho Park will skip the World Baseball Classic in order to focus on winning a rotation spot with the Phillies. Many assumed he would be a bullpen arm but Park is driving towards being their 5th starter behind Cole Hamels (BlueClaws 2003), Brett Myers, Joe Blanton, and Jamie Moyer. Park will compete with Kyle Kendrick (04-06), JA Happ (2005), and Carlos Carrasco (2006).

The most interesting part about this is Park breaking down into tears when making the announcement in his native South Korea. I don’t think one US player has broken down into tears when he announced his intentions to play or skip the WBC.

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We briefly mentioned this in our Winter Tour live blog, that we’ll be doing another live blog during FanFest, which we also mentioned is Saturday, March 7th, beginning at noon. So much more to come on this, but keep that day clear on your calendars.

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Part of FanFest will be a viewing of that day’s USA/Canada World Baseball Classic game on our video board. Canada’s 2006 WBC roster included former BlueClaw Scott Mathieson (2004), as well as Justin Morneau, Jason Bay, and Erik Bedard.