Sounds like the entire eastern part of the country got soaked.
The hopes of signing Kyle Russell seem to be diminishing, according to Alan Trubow at the Austin-American Statesman.
Texas right fielder Kyle Russell, a fourth-round pick by the St. Louis Cardinals, still hasn’t decided where he’ll be playing baseball next year.
But it looks more and more like it could be in Austin, wearing a Longhorns jersey.
Russell, who led the nation with 28 home runs, plans to play summer ball in Santa Barbara, Calif., along with teammate Drew Bishop.
Maybe that’s some homer talk happening there, but if he doesn’t get signed…well, that would just plain make me MAD.
[edit 8:01 AM] per Steve Batterson of the QC Times, Brandon Buckman has been called up to Palm Beach. Hat tip, Whiteyball.
Here’s another blurb on Rick Ankiel on Kevin Goldstein’s latest 10 pack. (Subscription required)
In 2001, when things first started to really go wrong with Ankiel on the mound, the Cardinals organization sent him all the way down to Johnson City in the Appalachian League. Not only did he dominate as a pitcher, striking out 158 in 87 innings, but the team let him hit as well, and he put up a .286/.364/.638 mark in 41 games with 10 home runs in 105 at-bats. The former seemed like a sign of things to come, while the latter seemed more of an interesting lark. These days, strike that, and reverse it. Friday night, Ankiel hit his 16th home run of the year, and then on Saturday, he smacked numbers 17, 18, and 19, upping his slugging percentage to .606. The Cardinals are six games under .500, but of course by virtue of being in the National League Central, they’re also tied for second place and a reasonable 6 ½ games out. If they want to make a run, Ankiel could help.
Sadly, because Ankiel is out of options he won’t get a chance anytime soon unless all hell breaks loose. Let’s hope he stays healthy long enough to see some playing time come September.
As I’m sure you’ve all heard, Tomo Ohka was signed today to a minor league deal. He’ll get the start Wednesday for Memphis.
Here is an interesting article about the competitiveness of 9th round pick Mike Stutes.
Memphis was off tonight.
- Adam Daniels was roughed up in his AA debut, allowing 6 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 5 in 5.1 innings.
- Nick Webber went 1.2 innings and struck out 2 and allowed just a hit, but the hit was an RBI double that allowed his inherited runner to score.
- Michael Cooper should not be allowed in a ball game, ever. He gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and now has a 7.71 ERA. Over 28 innings, he allowed 22 runs, 20 walks to 21 strikeouts. And he’s given up 6 HR.
- Kevin Ool gave up a solo homer in his one inning of work. Looks like he’s been moved back to the bullpen.
- Bryan Anderson went 4 for 5 with a double. He’s now batting .326.
- Mark Hamilton also had a rough debut, he went 0 for 5 and he missed a catch.
- Colby Rasmus went 1 for 4 with a walk and a strikeout. He also stole his 11th base of the season.
- Jarrett Hoffpauir hit his 5th HR of the season, going 1 for 5.
- Juan Richardson homered, walked and struck out twice.
Palm Beach was rained out.
Midwest West All Stars 2, Midwest East All Stars 8
- Brandon Buckman hit a single and doubled off the wall to drive in a run. He went 2 for 3 overall.
- Christian Lopez went 0 for 1 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Elvis Hernandez struck out both batters he faced.
- Brandon Dickson and Kenny Maiques combined for an inning of scoreless relief.
Well, the short season teams got things started tonight. Well, maybe not. Batavia and Auburn were knotted up in the bottom of the 2nd before the rain came in and the game was suspended. Johnson City was rained out. Here’s a link to their roster to peruse in the meantime. Names to know on the roster: RF Jonathan Edwards, CF Beau Riportella, 3B Matt Arburr and draft and follow pitcher Mark Diapoules, to name a few. Arburr played for division II Pace University, a league that plays with wood bats. He hit 12 homers which was half his team’s total and he’s rather huge, 6-4, 260. Pete Kozma should be joining the team as soon as he’s signed.
The GCL team plays tomorrow at noon.
Filed under: '07 Rosters, Daily Farm Reports, Transactions
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
Ugh, forget the fact that Ankiel has no options, can they really justify having Skip, JuanEnc, and Ludwick in the majors over Ankiel right now?
And by the way, can Ankiel play center field? Because he should be starting in center while JEd is on the DL and then when he comes back we can use a So/Dunc left field combo and a Enc/Ankiel right field combo.
And a side note, i understand in the past that the “playing the matchups” strategy has worked out pretty well for LaRussa and these Cardinals teams, but don’t you think it is about time we start putting our best players on the field regardless of wether a righty or lefty is pitching and regardless of wether or not Miles is 5-9 off a pitcher and Kennedy is only 3-12.
Seems that was the last game for Buckman in a Swing uniform. According to the QC Times, he has been promoted to Palm Beach.
http://whiteyball.wordpress.com
Ankiel needs to play everyday. He could get a shot at that in St. Louis now, but only until Edmonds comes back. Juan still has this year and next on his contract and I don’t think any team will be willing to take him. Chris Duncan has earned the everyday job in LF, and So Taguchi is red hot now. I think they would’ve liked to bring up Ankiel in the interim, but there’s no way he clears waivers now.
He’s been playing mostly CF for Memphis.
Nice to see the Buckman promotion, expected as it was. Now that we’ve moved all the way down the ladder, who mans 1B for the Swing now? I assume Christian Reyes or Jared Schweitzer, though I really don’t like seeing guys moved from premium defensive positions at such a low level.
probably one of the catchers sees time at 1B. I’d peg Grossman as the more likely. He’s tall (6′5″) and he’s old (26). Doesn’t really matter if he sticks at catcher. He came over from an independent league and has hit decently.
Lopey,
I agree for the most part about all the “match-ups”, but where you lose me is in the Miles-Kennedy argument.
I simply don’t get all the Miles hate around here and over at VEB. The guy does nothing but play his ass off and whatever the team asks. He’s hitting .282, granted he never walks, but he doesn’t strike out either. Plus, he comes up big in big situations.
Frankly, I’d rather see him play than Kennedy.