Keith Mitchell, manager of the Quad Cities, was fined $500 dollars for his ejection on 9/3.
Mitchell, who had been ejected just twice previously this season, pointed out that the fine handed down by [Midwest League president George] Spelius was $1 more than the maximum Major League Baseball can fine its managers, and he doesn’t believe it is consistent with other fines levied in the league this season.
Mitchell is understandably disgruntled about this. I’m not going to speculate on why Spelius would try and leverage a fine that seems so gregarious egregious. Kudos to Jeff Luhnow for sticking up for his manager.
Spelius did not return a phone call seeking comment late Wednesday night, but in a letter sent to Mitchell from the league office, Spelius indicated that he initially intended to suspend Mitchell for the opening round of the league playoffs but had been convinced not to do so by St. Louis vice president of amateur scouting and player development Jeff Luhnow.
I wonder if the major league club (or even the minor league club owners) pony up the cash for a fine like this. Nick Derba was also fined and you’d imagine that a fine for a 20-something in low-A could really sting even if it is just a hundred bucks or so.
Cody Haerther was excited about playing tonight. I’ve got to imagine that his days on the 40-man roster are numbered. With Ludwick and Duncan in LF, there just isn’t a real reason to keep him on there. Kary Booher reached back to 1997 for his nightly music choice - Semi-Charmed Kind of Life. That’s not a bad pick actually.
Colby Rasmus + HR = walk-off 9th inning victory. Sad news for the Swing as they fall in extra innings to Beloit. I glanced over at the Swing website and Talons is winning. If someone where to write a ‘bot to flood it with the Channel Cats (or if everyone voted when the visited the site — it’s linked on the right) maybe our choice would be winning.
- Rasmus went 1-for-5 but it was an important hit as in a walk-off HR.
- Jose Martinez went 1-for-3 with a BB.
- Allen Craig went 1-for-2 with a BB.
- The Springfleid team was putting the ball in play with 24 outs on BIP and only striking out twice. The BABIP was a paltry .172 for the game (6 hits - HR + 24 outs).
- PJ Walters threw 7 innings allowing 6 hits, 1 IBB and striking out 2. He had a 11-7 GO-AO ratio.
- Jason Motte allowed 2 runs in the 8th via the longball only retiring a single batter. Matthew Scherer retired the last 5 batters striking out 1.
Quad Cities 4, Beloit 5 (11 innings)
- Arnoldi Cruz went 2-for-5 with a double.
- Steve Hill went 1-for-5 with a HR and a BB.
- Jaime Landin went 2-for-5 with a BB.
- Daniel Descalso went 2-for-6 with a double.
- Tyler Henley hit a pinch hit HR in the 8th inning to tie the game.
- The Beloit starter racked up 11 Ks in 5.2 innings.
- Brandon Dickson allowed 6 hits, BB and 3Ks for 4 ER over 4.2 innings.
- Kenny Maiques had a uncharacteristically bad outing allowing 4 hits, a BB and 1 K while taking the loss. A pair of singles to LF followed by a double to RF drove in the walk-off run in the 11th.
- That’s it for the Quad Cities team as they lose the first 2 games in a best of 3 series.
- The second to the last game of the season was a rather forgettable one featuring a prospect that has been a big disappointment this year. Blake King has shown little, if any, improvement from his numbers last year in Johnson City and a just a slight uptick after being demoted to Batavia. He’s still striking out a fantastic number of batters but walks far too many batters. I’d recommend trying him out in a relief role, where his power fastball-slider combination could be lethal. His stuff remains above-average but his control is virtually non existent. He threw 3 innings allowing 4 hits, 3 BB and striking out 3 for 4 ER.
- Mike Folli went 2-for-4 with a double.
- Peter Kozma went 1-for-4 but recorded his 6th and 7th errors. Errors aren’t a reliable measurement of fielding prowess by any stretch of the imagination but 7 errors in so few games is not a good thing for someone who was billed as an above average SS.
Filed under: Daily Farm Reports
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
Didn’t rasmus have a few errors when he started his career….
I was never much on Cody Haerther until seeing him in person. The guy is pretty impressive and much more “toolsy” than I thought he was. It is just the guy can’t stay healthy. The guy has a lot of talent if only he could stay on the field.
http://www.whiteyball.com
I think you mean the fine was ‘egregious’, not ‘gregarious’. Although, the idea of the fine being extremely friendly and talkative is very interesting.
shoot - I always mix those two up. Thanks Baron. (Sometimes my vocab gets away from me. I read too much and the internal dictionary isn’t as good as I’d like.)
outrageous, egregious, preposterous!
I agree that King should try the bullpen.
Yesterday I pulled a Kozma and dropped my glass of water.
Any thoughts on Ankiel being directly linked to HGH? I’d say the national feel good story is over. However, he did at least quit once MLB banned HGH. However, I find it too hypocritical for me to defend him when I was openly disgusted when Bonds broker the HR record.
chris…i really don’t want to discuss ankiel here, you can go to veb or deadspin or about 100 other places. no offense, it’s just not a huge issue with me. maybe it should be, for my opinions check the thread at veb.
No offense taken. I know these topics can overtake a discussion thread and once started it is nearly impossible to stop. However, I just thought a small discussion on the topic was reasonable since he has been the most discussed “prospect” since he entered the organization. I will not bring it up again.
Why are you so down on Haerther? First, he would never clear waivers so if we remove him from the 40 man roster we will lose him. Second, I´d rather have him than Stavinoha (younger, probably more power in the long run) and even Marti (due to age). My guess is the last guy you are going to add to the 40 man roster is not going to be better than him.
you’re alright chris, sorry wasn’t meaning to come across snappish. i see where you are coming from, we discussed him all summer long until a few weeks ago. to me, the story is way over blown.
1. it was three years ago
2. he was a struggling pitcher trying to get healthy again
3. the circumstances around it are shady, but it was prescribed by a doctor for one reason or another.
4. hgh does little to nothing in terms of impact on performance.
5. it was not a banned subtance in 2004, and there’s nothing saying he’s done it since.
rick’s still got a great story, this changes absolutely nothing for me in my view of rick. i just think it’s unfortunate this is coming out, because uneducated, misinformed sportswriters and fans are going to treat him differently now.
feel free to discuss, the ankiel talk ban has been officially lifted
I’m “down” on Haerther for a few reasons. First, he has no defensive value. He’s at best an average left-fielder meaning his bat absolutely has to carry him.
Secondly, he’s a redundant part in our system. We have several LH power hitting outfielders who are in the majors and under our control for several years. There isn’t a place for him at the big league level unless you want to use him off the bench but we’d be better served by someone who can hit left-handers (Stavinoha?). Looking at his stats, I’m shocked by his walk rate this year. I think that it’s probably a mirage of < than 200 PAs rather than a real change in skillset although I could be wrong.
Lastly, he can’t seem to stay healthy.
I wouldn’t be displeased if they kept him on the 40-man but if we lose him it’s not a significant hit to the organization by any means. I think he could probably hit in the majors someday but I don’t expect him to be a superstar or an irreplaceable prospect.
Trust me I would rather read discussions based on our minor league system and the players we root for.
I agree with Cariocacardinal about Cody with one exception. I just don’t see him as a MLB starter. If the Cards did take him of the 40 man roster I don’t see us looking back at that 5 years later and saying ‘I can’t believe we didn’t protect him’. Granted he is better than Stavinoha and has a better long-term chance than Marti, but none of those guys are MLB impact players. I would be disappointed if we lost him because he does have talent, but we have a glut of outfielders with very similar ceilings. Anybody think Cody can be a starter?
Does anyone else have the same obsession I have with Tyler Henley? I watched him at Rice both in person and on TV and he has some serious grit and leadership. I can’t help but think of Lenny Dykstra when I have watched him. I don’t know if he has the same talent as Dykstra did, but he gives me that feel. I am really excited to see what he does next year with a full year under his belt. Anybody else have any thoughts on Henley?
Anybody know what the Lunhow and company are planning on as far as the minor league rosters will be or predictions of what they will be?