What better way to spend some of the pre-turkey portion of Thanksgiving pouring over hundreds of player transactions to see what is new among some of the prized Independent Baseball graduates.
The best news is seeing that two more former Indy pitchers have been added to 40-man major league rosters, which means that come spring training time they will get an opportunity to show they are ready for the big time.
Tom Wilhelmsen's promotion by Seattle was not such a major surprise, given some of the right-hander's performances last season and the fact he also got exposure recently in the Arizona Fall League.
But Tampa Bay also is giving Dane DeLaRosa the 40-man treatment. This hulking righty has truly traveled the Independent landscape, working in three different seasons in the Golden League (Orange County, which is in Fullerton, CA plus Long Beach, CA and Yuma, AZ. He was in both the American Association (El Paso, TX) and the Atlantic League (Southern Maryland in Waldorf) in 2009, and this season went 9-3 with four saves and a 1.97 earned run average for Class AA Montgomery, AL.
RE-SIGNINGS PICKING UP TEMPO
The signing of recently-released players is continuing. Tagg Bozied (Sioux Falls, SD), coming off a strong season in Double-A, has inked a new pact in the Philadelphia organization. This one is with Triple-A Lehigh Valley (Allentown, PA).
Reliever Scott Patterson, who like Bozied started his pro career in the Independent ranks, is getting another opportunity with Seattle's top farm club in Tacoma, WA. His Indy time was in Sauget, IL (Gateway Grizzlies) in the Frontier League and with Lancaster, PA of the Atlantic League. Another Lancaster product, RHP Jon Huber, has re-signed in the Los Angeles Dodgers chain despite recent struggles in Venezuala and southpaw Edwin Walker has gone up a level in the Houston organization, now residing on the Double-A Corpus Christi, TX roster. Walker pitched in three Indy leagues, the Northern (Gary, IN), United (San Angelo, TX) and Frontier (Chillicothe, OH), and he once was ticketed for the Atlantic League although he did not appear in any games for York, PA.
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Thursday, November 25, 2010
TWO MORE FORMER INDEPENDENT HURLERS GET MAJOR LEAGUE ROSTER SLOTS
Former chief spokesman for Major League Baseball Commissioners Bowie Kuhn and Peter Ueberroth.
Six years as publicity director for the Kansas City Royals, and a background in newspaper, radio and television.
Started Wirz & Associates, a sports PR and consulting firm, in 1985. Has written extensively on Independent Baseball since 2003.
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