Baseball in Fort Wayne

Posts Tagged ‘Jack Cassel’

• Jack Cassel (Indians) was sent to minor league camp
• Paul McAnulty (Red Sox) still has a shot of making the opening day roster
• The Padres will NEVER get over not protecting Joakim Soria

I’ve got a lot to catch up on. Here’s some Fort fragments on the Wizards that might interest you:

Baseball America thinks former Wizard Jon Link will emerge as a one of those guys who was drafted late and then go on to become servicable big leaguers. In other words, he was a steal. Sadly for the Padres, Link is now within the White Sox organization.

Link, 24, was excellent last season for Double-A Birmingham, finishing with a 3.02 ERA in 56 2/3 innings as the Barons’ closer. Link struck out 66 batters, averaging 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings. Link throws three pitches for strikes: a 90-92 mph fastball with some sink, a slider and a changeup. Link goes to his above-average slider for strikeouts, but his changeup is more than a show-me pitch and is an effective third weapon. There was some talk of moving Link to the starting rotation because of his three-pitch mix, but the White Sox will leave him in the bullpen. He still has to learn to harness his control, as he walked 27 batters (4.3 per nine) last year, though he was better in 2007 in high Class A when he walked just 15 batters in 58 2/3 innings (2.3 per nine).

Speaking of Baseball America, Justin Cassel the brother of former Wizards pitcher, Jack Cassel, and New England Patriots Quarterback, Matt Cassel, didn’t make it into the prospect handbook, but he did make the 32nd team.

Keeper League GM disagrees with Baseball America’s selection of Kyle Blanks as the Padres top prospect. I think I  disagree with Keeper League GM, but I’ve been a fan of Blanks since he played in Fort Wayne so I am a little biased. Porter’s Prospects calls Blanks the sixth best MLB first base prospect of 2009. There’s a lot of talk that Blanks is blocked because of Adrian Gonzalez’s presence at first base, but Blanks will get an extended audition this spring while Gonzalez is plaing in the WBC. There’s also the possibility that Blanks could play outfield. I doubt it IMHO.

Former Wizard, Freddy Guzman will be in Mariner’s camp as a non roster invitee.

Speaking of Spring Taining, the Padres will have several positions up for grabs. Some former Wizards who are likely candidates for winning spots include; Matt Antonelli, Mike Ekstrom, Josh Geer, Wade LeBlanc, Drew Macias and Will Venable. Other former Wizards who will be in camp include; Kyle Blanks, Greg Burke, Matt Bush, Mitch Canham, Peter Ciofrone, Luis Durango, Ernesto Frieri, Chad Huffman, Mat Latos, Jose Lobaton, Jackson Quezada and Nick Schmidt.

Burke and Quezada are profiled with other Padres relievers over at Friar Forecast. Bryan Oland is also in that list.

SignOnSanDiego is projecting Cedric Hunter to been roaming Petco’s center field as a 22-year-old next season. Mabye, but the competition is fierce. They’re also counting on Nick Hundley to continue his progress this season and shore up a weak catching crop.

MadFriars recently gathered 2008 reflections from Wizards radio guy, Mike Maahs.

The Start Kyle Orton blog has a profile of two former Wizards, Luis Rivas and Bobby Scales, who are non-roster invtees of the Cubs.

The Fort Wayne Wizards came to Fort Wayne from Kenosha, Wisconsin. Looks like they’ll have baseball again in a couple years. According to ESPN, “Kevin Costner says he’s chosen the northeastern Illinois town of Zion as the location for a new team, which will be part of the Northern League in 2010.” Looks like it’s just a 20 minute drive. But heck, for all I know, they may have plenty of baseball in that area already.

Jake Peavy won the Clyde McCullough Award as the team’s top pitcher on Thursday at the Padres-UCP of San Diego County Awards Dinner.  First baseman Kyle Blanks won Minor League Player of the Year. Jeremy Hefner won Pitcher of the Year. BaseballinFortWayne.com was honered with . . . nothing. It wasn’t even mentioned.

January 14 at 11:27 pm – Baseball America is reporting that Jack Cassel has signed a minor league deal with the Cleveland Indians (h/t MLBTraderumors). I have not yet seen this reported anywhere else, but I trust BA. Hopefully we’ll hear a little more ove rthe next couple days.

Update: January 16 – The Indians’ website has finally confirmed Cassel’s signing:

Two more invitees were announced on Friday, as right-handers Matt Herges and Jack Cassel have been signed to Minor League contracts. As previously reported, right-handed reliever Vinnie Chulk was signed to a Minor League deal with an invite to big league camp on Thursday, though that deal hasn’t been officially announced by the club yet.

Best of luck with the Tribe Jack.

Here is an update to a previous story about former Wizards pitcher, Jack Cassel’s endeavor, We Play Green. The site has officially launched, and additional players have been added to the roster. Those additional players include former Wizards Josh Barfield and Nick Hundley as well as Cassel’s brother, New England Patriots Quarterback, Matt Cassel.

According to the site:

We Play Green is a call to action throughout all of professional sports to provide stadiums, locker rooms and playing fields with the proper recycling receptacles and outlets to help corral the amount of plastic that is used during the extent of the season. We need our players, front office and managerial personnel to help in this fight to clean up the environment. We will call upon team officials to cooperate with city officials as well as local recycling outlets to help provide the necessary equipment. In addition, our call to action extends to the millions of sports fans on how they can play green in their every day lives.

For more about We Play Green, visit their site at WePlayGreen.org.

Burried in an article about Cincinnati Reds’ outfield up-and-comer, Chris Dickerson, is a Wizards Alumni nugget. Jack Cassel has joined with Dickerson to found a program called WePlayGreen. It’s aim is “bring pro athletes together and create more environmental conservation”.

Reportedly, other players, like Jon Garland, James Shields, Reid Brignac and Conor Jackson are also getting involved. A website should be ready for launch soon. For now, there’s a splash page at WePlayGreen.org. I’ve added it ot the links on the right sidebar and definately encourage everyone to check in on it once in while.

Former Wizards pitcher, Jack Cassel, had an up and down season from Triple-A RoundRock and Houston after signing a one-year deal wiht the Astros. Houston outrighted him back to Triple-A, and he is now a free agent due to his MiLB service time.

Cassel, 28, was 1-1 with a 5.64 ERA over nine games (three starts) for the Astros this year. In 15 career big league games — including seven starts — over two seasons with San Diego (2007) and Houston (2008), Cassel is 2-2 with a 4.92 ERA.

As evidenced by the recent call-ups of Antonelli and LaBlanc and some other recent player additions, the September callup period is in full swing. Thought I would take a moment to look into those with Fort Wayne Wizards ties:

• P Dirk Hayhurst (SD) – Has made two starts since being called up. Is 0-1.
• P Josh Geer (SD) – Made his debut on 8/31/08 – Got the win.
• 3B Matt Antonelli (SD) – Made his debut on 9/1/08
• P Wade LeBlanc (SD) – Set to start (MLB Debut) on Wednesday 9/3/08
• SS Luis Cruz (PIT) – Made his Debut on 9/2/08 (4-1)
• P Jack Cassel (HOU) -Returns for another round with the big club
• 2B Josh Barfield (CLE) – Returns after a real up-and-down season. This might be a final shot.
• P Jared Wells (SEA) – Called up yet again. Is there an All-Star roster they can cheat him out of this time?
• P David Pauley (BOS) – Called up on 8/24. Had a chance to start, but they called up Michael Bowden instead and put Pauley int he pen. Finally pitched on 9/2. Pitched two innings. Gave up one run on two hits.
• C Luke Carlin (SD) – Called up for his third stint with the Friars this season.
• C Chad Moeller (NYY) -Adding depth to their catching corp.
• Portland Manager Randy Ready – The rest of the team is there, and it’s starting to fill with former Wizards, so I guess you might as well call up the skipper who last got the Wizards into the playoffs.

It’s been and up and down year for former Wizards pitcher, right hander Jack Cassel.

The Astros have announced he’s being recalled from Triple-A Round Rock to start Tuesday’s game against the Pirates, the team he collected his first career win against. Cassel has appeared in four games for Houston this season, going 1-0 with a 6.28 ERA in 14 1/3 innings.

The Houston Astros have called up former Fort Wayne Wizards pitcher, Jack Cassel from Triple-A Round Rock. He is 4-1 with a 2.17 ERA in seven starts for the Express and takes the spot of Wandy Rodriguez, who has been on the disabled list since April 19 with a strained groin muscle. That being the case, it may be a short stint with the parent club since Rodriguez is currently doing rehab work through minor league assignments.

He had been up between April 24th and 30th. On the season with the Astros, he is 1-0 with a 5.59 ERA, three strikeouts and 2 walks having started and appeared in two games.

Cassel was drafted in the 25th round of the 2000 draft and was released in 2006 before resigning with the Friars as a free agent. He appeared in Fort Wayne over three seasons (2000-2002), playing in 74 games and logging over 200 total innings pitched while compiling 148 strikeouts.

• 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?