Offseason? NEVER

Your Toronto Blue Jays still have some affiliated prospects playing baseball. Right now.

As you might be aware, the ultra competitive Arizona Fall League is in it's second week. We have 8 players representing the Peoria Javelinas, 4 pitchers and 4 position players.

1B Mike McDade
OF Eric Thames
OF Adam Loewen
SS Adeiny Hechavarria
3B John Tolisano
SP Marc Rzepczynski
RP Danny Farquhar
RP Alan Farina
RP Matt Daly

If you wanna see a summary of their stats: Click here

If you wanna see the game boxscores: Click here

Notes:

Rzep was a late addition to the roster. At 25 years of age, he really is to old for this league. It was reported that the extra work "will assist in preparing him for a six-month season in 2011, whether he is starting or pitching in relief".

In the same report it mentions Hech has a tight hamstring and will miss a few games. He has yet to play.

Consequently Jose Iglesias, the Red Sox Cuban born prospect and childhood buddy/teammate of Hechavarria, has been taking a lot of reps at SS.

Mariner 2B prospect and number 2 overall pick in the 2009 Amateur draft, Dustin Ackley, has suffered a sprained left ring finger and will be back soon or in the next couple of weeks depending on who you ask.

Canadian born Jays prospect Adam Loewen has been a busy guy this offseason already. He played for Team Canada in the Pan Am qualifier in Puerto Rico. Finding boxscores for the tournament are pretty much impossible but I was able to dig this up.

From the looks of it Eric Thames and Mike McDade are hitting 4 and 5 in the order. That's good news.

Update:

Hech has been shut down after only 2 games and 4 at bats. Hammy issue. They scare me.

But wait, there's more.

The Carribean Leagues!

 

Venezuelan Winter League:

We have a number of players in this league albeit on different teams. Not all of them have appeared in a game yet. 

Darin Mastroianni He just had a massive 5 for 5 game last night in the 2 hole.
Henderson Alvarez He made 2 starts and has yet to give up a run.
Ronald Uviedo
Nestor Molina
Jesus Merchan 
Balbino Fuenmayor
Aaron Mathews
Steven Romero
Willie Collazo
Jonathan Jaspe

The Mexican Pacific League:

Jon Del Campo 

Dominican Winter League:

Ricardo Nanita
Manny Mayorson
Brad Emaus
Jonathan Diaz
Welinton Ramirez
Moises Sierra
Luis Perez
Joel Carreno

Puerto Rican League:

Dickie Thon
Robbie Alomar Yep. That Robbie Alomar. Check out his teammate listed as a switch hitting first baseman.....

And if anybody still gives a shit about former cult leader Randy Ruiz click here.

Game 9: Randy Ruiz Gets A Shot

Tonight's Lineup:

Bautista RF
Gonzalez SS
Lind LF
Wells CF
Overbay 1B
Buck C
E5 3B
Ruiz DH
McDonald 2B

Randy gets to hit in front of rally killer Johnny Mac.  He probably (definitely) won't get many pitches to hit tonight.....How many fastballs do you think he gets tonight in 4 AB?

Remembering: Baseball In Ottawa

Baseball in Ottawa is back and they named their new team the Ottawa Fat Cats. The name is a good one for a number of reasons, the likes of which I will allow your imaginations to conceive. But the thought of baseball in Ottawa brings me back to the summer of 2007, the last year for the Lynx in Ottawa. Myself, The Man With The Golden Arm and Last Row 500’s were traveling to Ottawa to compete in an annual Slo-Pitch event hosted by a government agency that may or may not take your tax money every cheque and every year in April. Hint: they do. We compete in this mess of a tournament almost every year, the year before we traveled to Prince Edward Island where a team member showed up drunk to every game and thought it would be hilarious to hit the ball and run to third. Worst. Game. Ever. The Ottawa Lynx had been the Triple-A International League (IL) affiliate for three clubs, The Montreal Expos from 1993-2002, the Baltimore Orioles from 2003-2006 and the Philadelphia Phillies for 2007. While at the ball tournament in Ottawa we had a scheduled off day and we decided to go to Lynx Stadium to catch a ball game. The Rochester Red Wings were in town to open a four game series starting on Friday July 20th 2007. Game time was 7:05 pm, and we roll up to the ticket window around 6:00 pm in search of seats. I believe there were around 8 of us, and as such didn’t really believe we would get great seats. We walk up to the ticket window and ask for the “best available” seats they have. The gentleman behind the window says, “sure, how does rows 1 and 2 sound?” So, let me get this straight. I wheel up, an hour before game time and I can sit right next to the Lynx dugout on the field? Yes, that’s correct. And it’s only going to cost me $10 a ticket? Yes, that’s correct. Done. We get to our seats and we have two rows of four seats, rows 1 and 2, literally a stone’s throw away from the Lynx dugout. The Lynx, a farm system club for the Philadelphia Phillies featured new Toronto hero, Randy Ruiz. Pitching for the Lynx was RHP Bubba Nelson and LHP Dave Gassner on the bump for Rochester. The game would go on and it was a close one. After the Rochester half of the third inning there was a fly out to the centrefielder. As he was running into the dugout he spotted a couple of young girls asking for the ball he had just caught. As he drew closer to the stands he underhand flipped the ball to the waiting girl and you can just see the joy in her eyes. On this day however, The Man With The Golden Arm had other plans. As the ball was mid-air, Golden Arm stood up, stuck his hand up over the young girl’s shoulder and snatched the ball from her waiting glove. She looked up at him in disbelief, almost expecting him to give her the ball. He looked down at her and said "life is tough kid, now beat it." There was a paltry 1,934 fans in attendance that day, I’m sure that anyone in the entire stadium could have got a ball. It’s actually quite funny to hear ALL 1,934 fans boo at the same time, together. And boo they did! One guy in the row behind us called it saying "they must be from the city." Yes it was a dick move, yes everyone booed him, but fuck it was a nice catch! Question: So what do you do when EVERY person in the stadium is booing you? Answer: The only thing you can do.....stand up, turn around, address the crowd and boo yourself. And that is exactly what Golden Arm did. As the game went on the kids continued to run down the aisle looking for caught baseballs from the players but at the same time, we had more to drink, so I’m unaware if the kids received their prize. Final score was 6-3 in favour of the Lynx pushing their record to 39-57 at the time. Bubba Nelson got the win, Gassner took the loss, with Gary Burnham and Joe Thurston added a big fly each. And yes, 4 of us got baseballs. But here is where the story gets interesting. I was wearing a very distinct shirt to the game. It was green and white and featured a horizontal striped pattern that was very noticeable. We were staying a hotel in Ottawa that, apparently, players on the Ottawa Lynx stayed. So after the game we head back to the hotel and we do whatever it is we do after a game. I remember getting into an elevator at the hotel and just as the door was closing, I heard a “hold the elevator please”, so I did. Two players from the Ottawa Lynx get into the elevator with me. They look at me, I look at them. No words are exchanged. Elevator is slowly moving up. Around the third floor, one of them turns around to me and asks “were you at the game today?” I respond “why, yes I was! We were right by the dugout.” After a slight pause he turns back around and says “aren’t you the dude who stole the ball from the little kid?” I laughed and said “what? What kind of person does that? Of course not.” He looked at me odd, and turn around. They exited on the 7th floor. They must have recognized the shirt. As soon as I got back to the room, I informed Golden Arm that not only did the fans notice he stole a ball from a little kid but also the players. I cursed him for putting me in that position of having to answer to ball players about stealing baseballs. Minor league baseball is fun, its intimate and allows for the actual baseball fan to see players developing and future stars. Players such as Randy Ruiz, along with Matt Stairs, Rondell White and Javier Vazquez all played for Ottawa. And I’m sure that they would have been equally agitated had they seen Golden Arm steal a ball from a kid. Note to all those who plan on attending a game with Golden Arm. He will yell. A lot. He will wear a helmet occasionally, and he will steal baseballs from children.

AAAA

Hey Mom, look what I found.....

I heard whisperings that Randy Ruiz had been playing a little outfield in the winter leagues.  I had already looked into his hitting and was pleasantly surprised.  He should arrive at camp next month in mid season form.  But the thought of him playing defense got my mind racing.  I had to see it for myself and was able to track down this boxscore.

Mayaguez
Player	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Torres CF	4	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.269
DeJesus CF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.083
Molina, F 2B	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	.194
Limonta RF	5	1	2	1	0	0	2	0	2	.288
Hernandez, J RF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.244
Ruiz, R LF	5	2	3	0	0	2	6	0	1	.346
Hernandez, M LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
Leon, D DH	5	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	.307
Valencia 3B	4	1	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	.207
Sanchez, An SS	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.331
Guzman 1B	5	2	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.239
Maldonado, M C	3	4	3	0	0	2	5	1	0	.192
Byrd P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Cepeda P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Merritt P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Garcia, A P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Rivera, M P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

BATTING
2B: Limonta (8, Matos, J), Leon, D (14, Matos, J), Valencia (2, Matos, J).
HR: Maldonado, M 2 (3, 3rd inning off Padilla, Ju, 2 on, 1 out; 5th inning off Flores, A, 1 on, 2 out), Ruiz, R 2 (6, 3rd inning off Padilla, Ju, 2 on, 2 out; 5th inning off Matos, J, 2 on, 1 out).
TB: Torres 2; Limonta 3; Ruiz, R 9; Leon, D 2; Valencia 2; Sanchez, An; Guzman; Maldonado, M 9.
RBI: Limonta 2 (25), Maldonado, M 5 (8), Ruiz, R 6 (26), Valencia (7), Guzman (20).
2-out RBI: Ruiz, R 3; Guzman; Maldonado, M 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Sanchez, An 2; Leon, D 2.
Team RISP: 8-for-19.
Team LOB: 8.

FIELDING
E: Ruiz, R (7, fielding), Hernandez, M (1, fielding).
DP: 2 (Molina, F-Sanchez, An-Guzman 2).

	Ponce
	Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
	Padilla, Ju (L, 5-3)	3.0	7	8	3	4	5	2	3.08
	Matos, J	1.1	5	6	6	1	1	1	12.08
	Flores, A	1.2	2	2	2	0	2	1	7.16
	Feliciano	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3.52
	Charry	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1.59

From it I can make a few observations:

• Randy Ruiz started in left field and hit clean up.  
• Huge day at the plate and was no doubt seeing the ball well.  
• Clutched up with a big three run shot with two out.  
• Charged with an error in the field, his SEVENTH in the 26 game season.  There is no way to tell how many of those games he was the DH.
  
• Was replaced defensively most likely in last inning.  
• Guy who replaced him also made an error in left so there is hope that maybe the lights were low or something.  ;) 
• The pitchers for the other team did not have a very good day.
  

Now I'm not going to sit here, blow smoke up your ass and say that he should play the field for us at the Major League level.  I have never seen him play in the outfield but based on his body type (6'1 / 240ish) and after seeing his graceful pictures above (his eyes are actually closed) and below, I have to assume it doesn't look pretty.  According to The Baseball Cube: In his ten years of professional ball he has played 435 games at 1st and 62 in the outfield.  He had only one start at the one bag for us last season.  Officially he is listed on the 40 man roster as a DH.

We all know what he can do with the stick:

Courtesy of The Mockingbird

From a truly amazing, must see website Hit Tracker.  Video of his 435 foot no doubter off Pettitte can be found here.  If he just got the elevation angle of the ball up a couple of degrees, this bomb easily would have been 450 feet plus.  He had a total of 10 home runs and 7 doubles in 115 at bats as well as a .385 on base percentage with the big club in 2009.

Analysis:

The Cito said late last season that he doesn't want Lind in LF when Snyder is in RF.  When asked this off season who his lead off guy would be, he said Bautista.  Unfortunately for The Human Rain Delay, Overbay is still employed and will play a lot (read not platoon) if we are trying to showcase him for a trade and/or beef up his Elias free agent ranking.

We have only 4 bench spots and you have to know that Johnny Mac and the back up catcher get two of them.  For the third spot we would need a 4th outfielder.  That only leaves one spot available.  I guess what I'm trying to say is if the season started tomorrow, Randy would be hard pressed to crack the 25 man active roster and would basically be auditioning for that final spot.  But if he can market himself as anything other than just a DH this spring, his chances go up substantially.

Jesus.....

Personally, I would like him get around 500 at bats only to see what he can really do.  The problem is I don't know who you take those at bats away from in order to give him the opportunity.