Baseball in Fort Wayne

Archive for April, 2008

• South Bend Silverhawks (Diamondbacks) and Norwell standout Jarrod Parker earned his first professional win over the Beloit Snappers (Twins) 7-1. Parker allowed nine runs over his first three starts, but all but two were unearned. Parker righted the ship with this latest start though. He worked five innings and allowed just one run on two hits. [source: Baseball America]
• Former Wizards pitcher, Jack Cassel has been optioned to Round Rock, the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. Cassel, 27, was 1-0 with a 5.59 ERA over two starts. On Tuesday, Cassel threw 4 2/3 innings and gave up three runs on four hits to take a no-decision. The move comes as the Astros prepare to bring some players off the disabled list.
  

  “I knew I was limited in my time here pretty much, coming up on Wandy’s injury, and I know Wiggy’s down doing his rehab assignment, so essentially it was going to be a numbers game,” he said. “I was pleased with how I threw the ball in two outings and very happy that I was able to get that opportunity. I’ll go down and [have] the same plan — be the first guy they call” [source: MLB.com].

• Turns out, Chad Moeller wasn’t on the move at all. Literally. The 33-year-old veteran (an former Wizards) catcher “returned to the Yankees under a strange set of circumstances, passing through waivers before briefly becoming a free agent before the Yankees signed him to a Major League contract on Wednesday.” Moeller batted .350 (7-for-20) with one home run and three RBIs in six games for New York. [source: MLB.com].
• The Padres opened two spots on their 40-man roster on Tuesday. Infielder Oscar Robles was claimed off waivers by the Phillies and Mauro Zarate was outrighted to Portland. Might this mean spots for a couple former Wizards? Say . . .Headley? Antonelli? LeBlanc? Hundley?

While the Colorado Rockies were playing in the 2007 World Series, the Padres hired Felix Feliz away from the Rox with the hope that he would help them emulate their success in locating and signing talent in Latin America. As a player, Feliz, 40, was a career minor-league second baseman in Pittsburgh’s farm system. He later managed a Dodgers club in the Dominican Summer League and he was a top aide to Rolando Fernandez, Colorado’s director of international operations while with the Rox.

The Padres don’t have any Dominicans on their 25- or 40-man rosters and have just one Latin American player who is on their 40-man roster that began his professional career within the organization.

But the Padres are serious about their efforts in Latin America. In addition to hiring Feliz, they built an $8.5 million 15-acre facility, which opened this month in the city of Najayo, San Cristobal. Feliz says it is better than any other complex in the country. It can host up to 70 players, but they are currently at about half that with others there for tryouts. In addition to Dominican players, there are plans to house players from Mexico, Panama, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Colombia.

Acquiring international talent is different from the typical draft that occurs throughout Major League Baseball. June 2nd is the international signing day for players who have turned 16 during the previous year. According to Grady Fuson, the Padres’ Vice President of Scouting and Player Development, players can expect to spend about 1-3 years at the complex before coming to the Unites States.

“It’s very important for a player to spend at least one year at the complex. Coming to the United States early can be an ordeal. And just because a player might spend two or three years at the complex doesn’t mean he’s not a prospect. The six-year clock (for minor leaguers) doesn’t start ticking until they come to the United States. While most players are gifted skillwise, a lot of them are raw when it comes to mechanics. And remember, they’re very young” [source: SignOnSanDiego].

Players started moving into the facility on April 6 and began working out two days later. Instruction began April 12. It will operate 8 1/2 to nine months a year. Tomorrow, the complex will celebrate its grand opening.

n addition to setting new standards for Major League Baseball facilities and their operation in the Dominican Republic, the Padres have already made a significant commitment to the local Najayo community. The club entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with ENTRENA, a Dominican education company, along with USAID (United States Agency for International Development) and the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic to work collaboratively to improve the quality of basic primary school education in the country.

This year’s Wizards squad sees some solid Latin prospects, like Luis Durango and Yefri Carvajal. Over the next couple years, provided the Wizards remain a Padres affiliate, we can probably expect to see more on the field in Fort Wayne.

Further Reading: SignOnSanDiego | ESPN | MadFriars

Last summer, I watched with a lot of interest when Michael Barrett was traded from the Cubs to the Padres. However, that was the least interesting part of it. The other components of that trade saw Fort Wayne native, Rob Bowen traded to the Cubs (only to be traded to the A’s for Jason Kendall a short time later). Also in that deal was Kyler Burke, who was a member of the Fort Wayne Wizards at the time.

This past weekend, his former team came to Peoria where – as a member of the Peoria Chiefs – they faced Burke. Burke sat out of Sunday’s series finale, but he hit .429 against his former team during the first two games of the series.

Said Peoria Chief’s manager, Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg: “I see him hitting for power. I don’t see why he can’t hit for average also. He brings a lot of tools he just needs to find a way to deliver it every day” [source: PJStar.com]

Burke currently ranks as the number 13 prospect in the Chicago Cubs’ system according to Baseball America. He was 14th in the Padres system last year.

Peoria doesn’t come to Fort Wayne until July 26th, which begins a three game series. Provided Burke is still on the team, I believe that will be his first return to Fort Wayne.

Photo by Chad Gramling

• Former Wizard – the one who got away from the Padres – Joakim Soria finally showed signs of vulnerability. David Eckstein’s one-out single ended Soria’s streak of retiring 24 batters in a row. But he still has no ERA to accompany his six saves and 11 strikeouts.
• Matt Latos made his first start of the season for the Wizards and pitched very well. Some see him moving up to Lake Elsinore before the season is out. While I hope Latos pitches well (and I believe he will), I hope those folks are wrong.
• Wade LeBlanc picked up his first loss this year. He allowed seven earned runs on 10 hits and five walks over 3.1 innings. It was the worst outing of his career. It follows another bad start that saw him giving up six runs on eight hits. (hat tip to Denis Savage at MadFriars) Wonder what’s going on there. Speaking of LeBlanc, it appears that the Cubs had tried to get him in return for Matt Murton. As much as I would love to see Murton get a chance with a team willing to give him one, and as much as I would have loved to see LeBlanc with the Cubs, I don’t blame the Padres for turning that one down.
• Angel Mercado homered in his first game off the disabled list. Mercado had been out the last nine games but the hit extended his on-base streak to eight games. He also homered on Opening Night.
• It appears that Jake Peavy has pitched the idea of brining veteran outfielder, Kenny Loften, in to help shore up the Padres offense. But it seems that Padres’ GM, Kevin Towers would rather give some of the former Wizards now playing in Portland a shot.
  

  . . . some of the players Towers is most eager to promote would warrant demotion if judged solely on their Triple-A statistics. Chase Headley, the left fielder of tomorrow, is hitting a soft .236. Matt Antonelli, the heir to second base, has been hovering near the Mendoza line. Though Antonelli has drawn 12 walks in 16 games, his batting average is .212. Closest to a call-up, Towers said, is probably catcher Nick Hundley, who has hit four home runs in 11 games and whose arm would represent an improvement on Padres’ regular Josh Bard.

  “Hundley’s a guy I think our pitching staff felt fairly comfortable with in spring training,” Towers said. “He’s got a chance to be an offensive catcher and he’s somebody we feel comfortable enough to where we could put him back there (as much as 40 percent of the time) and not kill Bard.”

• Michael Cuddyer has returned to the Twins’ lineup.

As expected, Chad Moeller was sent back to Triple-A after filling in for Posada and Molina while they were injured. But that’s not to indicate he didn’t show the team – and other teams – something during his brief stay.

In fact, was impressive. Over his six games this season, he’s hitting well over his career .226 average at .350. He’s produced 5 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks while driving in 3 runs. He even hit a home run and had a .425 OBP during his stint.

True, one week does not a season make, but Moeller flashed some signs that he can get the job done given the right situation. They Yankees may have even kept him up for a longer stint if their bullpen wasn’t in dire need of help. With the pressing need for extra relievers, there was no longer a spot for Moeller.

However, Moeller is out of minor league options so another team can claim him off waivers. I don’t know that there are many teams out there that would provide a more ideal situation than where he currently is, but I gotta think there are some who are at least considering it.

All that said, Moeller has said he would accept an assignment back to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) if he clears waivers. “They’ve treated me way to well here to go somewhere else,” Moeller said [source: NJ.com].

I stumbled onto a new blog today. The blogger, listed only as “FW Citizen” has just two posts as of this writing, so who knows where it will go from here. It can be found at http://accountw331.blogspot.com.

The catalyst for the idea is the re-location of the Fort Wayne Wizards to a new stadium, which will be built in the new downtown Fort Wayne area. This is where the first concerns about the project are visible. The idea is to build around the new stadium and use it as the main attraction for the downtown area. However, the new stadium is costing 30 million and holds the same capacity as the current baseball stadium. This is just the first of several things that will be analyzed in this blog, as we try to look at Harrison Square and the reasoning for the mega million dollar project.

I’ll continue to monitor this one.

Tune in Saturday morning at 10 to Talkin’ Sports on 100.1 FM 100, when the guests will include:

• Bishop Luers Assistant baseball coach Jeff Bunn who will talk about a charitable program the Knights players are working with off the field.
• Running coach and Boston marathon finisher Brett Hess will talk about his Boston experience.
• Mike McCaffrey, USF Athletics Marketing Director will tell us about his transition from the Ft. Wayne Fusion/Freedom front office to NAIA athletics at St. Francis.

Our Top-5 High School Athletes of the Week for April 19th included:

• Bishop Dwenger baseball player Steve Seculoff.
• Leo Softball Player Katie Claxton.
• Wayne track’s Jasmine Perry.
• Norwell golfer McCormick Clouser.
• Bishop Dwenger pole vaulter Kevin Schipper.

If you’d like to nominate a student-athlete for the Talkin’ Sports Top-5 High School Athlete of the Week, e-mail us at talkinsports@wnuy.com.

We’ll also keep you up to date on sports events taking place around the area this weekend, so join us Saturday morning at 10 for Talkin’ Sports on FM 100 Talks, 100.1 FM!

Steve Warden of The Journal Gazette waxes vicariously on the future and potential of 2007 Norwell graduate and MLB first round draft pick, Jarrod Parker.

“He was a lot better, and he’s going to keep getting better,” South Bend pitching coach Eric Sabel said of Parker’s performance. “Once he learns when he needs to get the off-speed over the plate and when he can go ahead and go get the 97, that’s just part of the learning process, because a year ago he was throwing fastballs past everybody.”

A couple nice photos of Parker in a Silverhawks’ uni accompany the article. Great read.

You knew it was going to happen. You just didn’t know exactly when.

Fort Wayne, IN – Right-hander Mat Latos, one of the San Diego Padres top prospects in their minor league system, will join the Fort Wayne Wizards pitching staff today . . . Latos entered the 2008 season as the third-best minor league prospect in the Padres organization, as ranked by Baseball America. He spent the 2007 season with the Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League, where he was ranked as the top prospect in the league, also by Baseball America.

Latos went 1-4 with a 3.83 earned run average last season after being drafted in 2006 by the Padres in the 11th round. In 16 games, including 13 starts, he allowed 58 hits, walked 22 and struck out 74 over the span of 56.1 innings. His 74 strikeouts were tied for third in the Northwest League.

source: OurSportsCentral

Torii Hunter’s joining of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim may have been the biggest signing of the off season. And his Spring Training success drew a lot of attention from fans, observers and his teammates. And so far, he’s been as advertised.

Despite an injury to his toe, Hunter has hasn’t slowed from a torrid start to the young season. Even after a minor traffic accident on Friday, Hunter found himself in lineup.

Hunter was smiling and joking during batting practice and preparing to play the Seattle Mariners on Friday night. He wasn’t grinning a few hours earlier, when his new car was rear-ended at a stop light near the ballpark.

Then he went and snagged a home run shot to preserve the Angels’ victory.

That was sweet, man,” Hunter said. “You can’t beat taking a home run away. That probably could have been the game-winner, so I’m pretty excited about that—winning the game with my glove. Things started off pretty rough today and it was pretty frustrating, so I went out there and tried to take it out on them in the game.”

Oh yeah, he also doubled in his his first at-bats to drive in three runs. All in a day’s work for the former Wizards center fielder.