This week it was announced that Tampa Bay had traded Matt Garza to the Cubs for prospects. Who cares right? Well more prospects for Tampa Bay could translate to more prospects seen at Coca Cola Park by means of the Ray’s AAA team, the Durham Bulls.
Who Tampa got: Chris Archer, Brandon Guyer, Robinson Chirinos, and Hak-Ju Lee.
Chris Archer – Archer was drafted in the 5th round of the 2006 draft by the Indians. He made his first appearance at the AA level in 2010 posting an 8 win 2 loss record in 13 games with Tennessee boasting a 1.80 ERA. More likely he will start at AA this season but could be a late call up or even a possibility for 2012.
Brandon Guyer – Guyer was a 5th round pick in the 2007 draft for the Cubs. He hit .344 with 13 HR in 102 games with AA Tennessee in 2010. I would say a good possibility this guy shows up with the Bulls at some point this season.
Robinson Chirinos – Chirinos split time between AA Tennessee and AAA Iowa last year. He hit a combined .326 with 18 HR. Another possible addition to the Bulls 2011 roster.
Hak-Ju Lee – A native of Korea, Lee is a highly touted prospect at Shortstop. He is still in A ball and will most likely be there for 2011.
Someone had to go to make room for J.C. Romero on the 40 man roster and Escalona was the guy. It’s still possible he could be outrighted to the minors if no other team claims him.
“Yesterday, the Phillies signed veterans 1B/OF Robb Quinlan and INF/OF Delwyn Young to minor league contracts.”
Rob Quinlan is listed on Baseball-reference.com as a 1st baseman, 3rd baseman and left fielder. He was drafted by the Angels in the 10th round of the 1999 draft. Quinlan has played in 458 games over 8 seasons with the Angels, the high mark of 86 games coming in 2006. His Major League batting average over that time is .276.
Quinlin doesn’t look to have great speed or power, with a quick glance at his career stats, but can play the corners in the infield and outfield. In 2010, he made his first trip back to the minors for AAA Salt Lake hitting .258 in 34 games. The most intriguing information I found about Quinlan is that he bats and throws right-handed. It leads me to believe he could be a Duct Tape fix for the right field spot on the Phillies if Domonic Brown starts the season here in the Lehigh Valley. He could also serve as a right handed bat off the bench, something the Phillies have been looking for. Quinlan will be 34 by the beginning of the 2011 season.
Delwyn Young is a 28 yr old switch hitting left fielder and 2nd baseman. Drafted by the Dodgers in the 4th round of the 2002 draft, Young spent 3 seasons with the Dodgers and the past 2 years in Pittsburgh. Like Quinlan, Young appears to be another utility player who can play the infield and outfield. Being a 2nd baseman won’t come in handy to the Phillies, but he is an extra outfielder who can swing from the North side of the plate. One fun fact about Young is that he hit a 2 run home run against Steven Strasburg in Strasburg’s first major league start.
So my opinion time…
One of these guys is going to be on the Phillies bench. It’s very well known that the Phillies want a right handed bat on the bench. I find it highly unlikely that BOTH of these utility players will remain on the Phillies roster by opening day. I feel that Young holds a slight edge at the moment. All could change with a poor/good performance in spring training by either player but as I read more and more about Young, he seems to have the pinch hitter role in his portfolio more so than Quinlan does. Granted, neither players had an outstanding 2010 season and Young is 5 years younger than Quinlan, but one of these guys, if they hold together this spring, should make the Phillies roster and the other (if not released) will be standing tall at the Coke on April 7th.
Just saw a note on Twitter from Jon Heyman (@SI_JonHeyman) and learned that former major leaguer Super Joe McEwing will be the Charlotte Knights manager in the 2011 season.
McEwing, a native of Bristol, PA (Bucks County), spent time in the major leagues with the Cardinals, Mets, Royals and Astros. He had previously served as the Knight’s hitting coach and prior to that as manager of the Winston-Salem Dash (Class A for the White Sox).
So, he’s probably been to Coca Cola Park before, but this time in a more prominant role.
Not even close to the excitement as getting a Hall of Famer as the new manager.. but whenever local folks take the field at the Coke, you never know who you will meet in the stands.
How do you replace the man who was the face of the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs for the past 3 years? The answer is you don’t. You just hope you can find someone who can step up to adequately fill those shoes. I honestly feel there are any one of a number of players who can put up homerun/rbi numbers similar to Andy Tracy but it is his presence in the clubhouse where Andy may be irreplaceable. Whether it’s a first baseman or a player at another position, someone has to step up to become the new team leader. Looking at the AAA players currently under contract with the Phillies, there are several first basemen who have also played regularly at other positions. For that reason, you won’t see Jeff Larish in this category. With what is presently known, it appears to me that Larish is a better fit at third base although I’m sure he will see time at first base as well. The top rated first baseman in the Phillies farm system is Jonathan Singleton and he is only 19 years old. Singleton played for the Lakewood BlueClaws in 2010 and hit .290 with 14 homeruns. Plate discipline is rare for a player that young but he drew 62 walks to raise his onbase percentage to a very impressive .393. He has shown very good defensive skills at first base but is now learning how to play left field where his chances of advancing through the system are much better. He’ll likely start the year at Clearwater and possibly see some time at Reading. I’m not sure who will begin the season at first base in Reading since Kevin Mahar is a free agent and the other 2 guys who played first base there last year are hoping to move up. They are Matt Rizzotti and Tagg Bozied.
Matt Rizzotti
DOB: 12/24/85, Floral Park, NY. 6’5″ 235. Bats/Throws: L/L
Matt Rizzotti playing first base at CCP
Matt was drafted out of Manhattan College in the 6th round of the 2007 draft by the Phillies. It’s a dubious label but right now most Ironpigs fans only know Rizzotti as the guy who is expected to replace Andy Tracy at first base this year. He’s also the guy who “took out” Diggity and Chris P. Bacon, allowing Hambone to win the final pork race of the 2010 season.
Philadelphia sportswriter Marcus Hayes once described Rizzotti as “the 24 year old guy with a 44 year old’s hairline”. Early scouting reports also said Rizzotti had “feet of clay and hands of stone”. While he has been working on his defense in the Florida Instructional League the past 2 years, it’s his bat that got everyones attention in 2010. In his first 3 years in the Phillies minor league system his batting average ranged from the mid .260’s to the upper .270’s and his power numbers were only fair for a guy his size. His name wasn’t even mentioned among the top Phillies prospects by the major publications. Then came 2010. He began the 2010 season playing first base for the Clearwater Threshers. While the power numbers still weren’t there in Clearwater, he managed to hit .358 in 31 games which was good enough to earn him a promotion to Reading. He continued to build on those numbers in AA, playing in 77 games and hitting .361 (96-266). The power finally showed up in Reading as he hit 16 homeruns and had 62 RBI’s. In early August he arrived at Coca-Cola Park and took over at first base. Unfortunately, nagging injuries hampered his performance and he hit just .200 with 0 homeruns in 45 AAA at bats. His combined statistics at all 3 levels shows a solid .343 average (144-420) with 17 homeruns and 76 RBIs. He also played in the Arizona Fall League in October and hit .333 in 63 at bats but again the power was missing as he failed to hit a homerun. Rizzotti is the guy the organization wants to see at first base for the Ironpigs this year. However, if he struggles in spring training I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts the year at Reading until he starts hitting. Even if that happens, Matt Rizzotti will likely play more games at first base for the Ironpigs this year than anyone else on the roster. Is he a late bloomer or is he a one year flash in the pan? Only time will tell.
Robert Tanois Taggert “Tagg” Bozied
DOB: 7/24/79, Sioux Falls, SD. 6’3″ 215. Bats/Throws: Right/Right
Tagg Bozied was a 3rd round draft pick in 2001 by the San Diego Padres. He was primarily a third baseman in college at the University of San Francisco where he hit more homeruns than anyone else in the school’s history. He was recently inducted into the USF Hall of Fame and his #19 college jersey was retired. He is married to former USF and professional volleyball player Laura Tinetti. In 1999 at USF Tagg hit .412 with 30 homeruns and 82 RBIs, winning the Big West Conference Triple Crown and earning him “Player of the Year” honors. His .936 slugging percentage was the highest in Division I college baseball. He followed up that year with a .359 batting average in 2000 and .335 in 2001. As a professional at the AAA level he has a career average of .283 with 95 homeruns. He was signed as a free agent by the Phillies prior to the 2010 season and was assigned to AA Reading. At Reading in 2010 he hit .315 which was 10th best in the league, he hit 27 homeruns which was 2nd in the EL (he had over 150 fewer at bats than the league leader who hit 33), his 92 RBI’s ranked 4th in the league and his .631 slugging percentage was second to Matt Rizzotti. With the Reading Phillies he played 48 games at first base, 33 games at third base and 8 games in the outfield. He hit .327 with 12 homeruns in 98 at bats vs. left handed pitching. That’s a remarkable 1 homerun for every 8 at bats against a lefty. Did someone say the Phillies need a right handed bat? Tagg was also featured in a few humorous tv commercials for the Reading Phillies last summer. Tagg Bozied will turn 32 this year and has never played a game in the major leagues. Maybe this will be his year. Or maybe he ends up back in Reading. I’m just hoping that at least for a while we have a “Taggalicious” summer in the Lehigh Valley. His power right handed bat would look good between all the lefties.
Here’s a nice Reading Phillies promotional video of Tagg Bozied teaching Matt Rizzotti how to be the Arby’s RBI guy.
And just when I thought I was finished with first base the Phillies go out and sign one more. He’s worth listing here even though he stands a good chance of making the Phillies roster as a righty off the bench.
Robb was drafted by the Angels in the 10th round of the 1999 major league draft. He played his college baseball at the University of Minnesota where he was a 3-time Big Ten Conference allstar and Big Ten Player of the Year in 1999. He began his professional career i Low A ball and hit .322 with 9 homeruns in the 1999 season, playing just the second half of the season. In 2000 he hit .317 in the high A minors, then .295 with 14 homers in AA ball the following year. In 2002 he moved up to AAA and hit .333 with 20 homeruns winning the Pacific Coast League Rookie of the Year and MVP honors. His first major league came was on July 28, 2003 and he hit .287 for the Angels in limited playing time that year. He spent all or part of his time with the Angels from 2004 to 2010 mostly as a utility man. In addition to first base he also plays third base and left field. He has a lifetime major league batting average of .276 (307-1,112) and has 25 homeruns, all with the Angels. A notable highlight was Game 2 of the 2005 ALCS when he started the game at third base and homered off White Sox starting pitcher Mark Buehrle. It was the only run the Angels scored in a 2-1 loss. He was released by the Angels on September 7, 2010 and just recently signed with the Phillies. It’s difficult to say where he’ll wind up in 2011. He could be a right handed bat off the bench in Philadelphia or he could be spending time in the Lehigh Valley at any one of his 3 positions. His brother Tom Quinlan played briefly for the Phillies in 1994 and hit his only homerun that year off Doug Drabek, father of Kyle.
The Phillies invited free agent outfielder/second baseman Delwyn Young to spring training for a chance to make the Phillies. The 28 year old Young has a .258 lifetime average with the Dodgers and Pirates.
Other players invited to spring training are:
Robb Quinlan, a utility man who has played for the Angels in all or part of the past 6 seasons. He’ll be 34 years old by opening day.
Brian Bass, RHP who has pitched with the Twins, Orioles and Pirates in the past 4 seasons.
What was reported here on December 14th has now been made official. The Ironpigs will host the Reading Phillies in the annual 222 Showcase Game. It is scheduled for Tuesday, April 5th at 6:35 PM with gates opening 1 hour prior to start time. All tickets are general admission and all full season ticket holders are entitled to one complimentary ticket for each seat in their account. All other tickets are $6 and can be purchased beginning February 26th at 9 AM.
The Phillies have just 2 catchers on their 40 man roster, Carlos Ruiz and Brian Schneider and they will likely be the backstops with the Phillies on opening day. The highest rated catcher in the Phillies farm system is Sebastian Valle and Baseball America has him rated as the Phillies #6 minor league prospect while the John Sickels scouting reports currently have him #7. Valle is only 20 years old and spent the 2010 season as a member of the Lakewood Blue Claws where he hit .255 with 16 HR. He is likely to begin 2011 at Clearwater. Tim Kennelly is a 24 year old from Australia who split time between catcher and the outfield for the Clearwater Threshers in 2010. He hit .274 for the Threshers and was one of the Phillies players in the Arizona Fall League this year where he hit .293. Look for him to move up to Reading.
The guys most likely to see the majority of time behind the plate for the 2011 Lehigh Valley Ironpigs are Erik Kratz, Dane Sardinha and Tuffy Gosewisch. Since the Ironpigs usually carry just 2 catchers, one of these guys will likely be at Reading to start the season or they could be searching for a job with another team
Erik Kratz
DOB 6/15/80, Telford, PA. 6’4″ 255. Bats/Throws: R/R
2010 AAA Allstar Game
Erik was drafted out of Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia in the 29th round of the 2002 major league draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. He played in the Blue Jays minor league system for 7 years before becoming a free agent after the 2008 season. On 1/21/09 he was signed as a free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played for the Indianapolis Indians in 2009 and hit .273 with 11 HR. As a member of the 2009 International League allstar team he hit a double, a 2-run homer and added a walk and was named game MVP in the International League’s 6-5 win over the PCL. Ironpigs pitcher Drew Carpenter was the winning pitcher in that game. In 2010 he again played most of the year for Indianapolis and hit .274 with 9 HR. He was the starting catcher for the International League allstar team again in 2010 and during the July 14th game at Coca-Cola Park he was notified that he was being promoted to the Pirates, replacing former Ironpigs catcher Jason Jaramillo on the big league roster. Erik made his major league debut with the Pirates on July 17th at the age of 30 and went 2-5. However, he was sent back to AAA after playing in just 9 games and hitting .118. He did manage to show off his strong arm by throwing out 4 of 7 would be basestealers (57%) in the majors. On November 6th he became a free agent and on November 12, 2010 he was signed to a minor league contract by the Phillies with an invitation to major league spring training.
Dane Sardinha
DOB 4/8/79, Honolulu, Hawaii. 6’0″ 215. Bats/Throws: R/R
Dane was drafted in the 2nd round out of Pepperdine University by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2000 baseball draft. He spent 6 years in the Reds’ minor league system while playing in just 1 major league game with Cincinnati in 2003 and 1 game in 2005. He became a free agent on 10/2/06 and was signed as a free agent by the Detroit Tigers on 12/15/06. He spent 2007 in AAA with the Toledo Mud Hens and split time between Toledo and Detroit in 2008 and 2009. He was granted free agency following the 2009 season and was signed by the Phillies on 1/6/10. With the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs in 2010 he hit .207 with 5 HR while splitting time with Paul Hoover. He also played in 13 games for the Phillies hitting .205 while adding the first 3 homeruns of his big league career.
James Benjamin (Tuffy) Gosewisch
DOB 8/17/83, Freeport, IL. 5’11” 180. Bats/Throws: R/R
September, '09 with Ironpigs
Tuffy was drafted by the Phillies in the 11th round of the 2005 draft after he finished a solid 4 year career at Arizona State University where he hit .320 (203-634) with 10 HR and 166 RBIs. He was only the second catcher in Arizona State history to start for 3 years. After his senior year he was named one of the 10 semifinalists for the Johnny Bench Catcher of the Year Award. He has slowly progressed through the Phillies farm system spending the 2008 season with Clearwater and most of 2009 with Reading before being promoted to the Ironpigs for the final month of the season. In his 16 AAA games he had 11 hits in 55 at bats (.200). He played the entire 2010 season with the Reading Phillies hitting .241 with 9 HR.
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