CLOSER TOSSES BOUQUET AT INDEPENDENT BASEBALL AS HE LEAVES TO JOIN ROYALS FARM SYSTEM

It has to make Independent Baseball officials feel good when a departing player heaps praise. Such was the case this week when Kansas City purchased left-handed closer Andrew Dobies from Somerset, NJ of the Atlantic League.

While admitting it was a two-edged issue to be leaving his teammates yet getting a renewed opportunity in a major league organization, the 27-year-old Dobies told Ryan Dunleavy of mycentraljersey.com< "playing for Somerset helped revive my career. This is the purest form of baseball I've played in a long time."

'Purest form of baseball' has to mean Independent Baseball where the No. 1 objective is to win. We hear this time and again from managers, coaches and players who have been in both the affiliated and Independent minor leagues in recent years. I heard it directly (well, via telephone) this week from longtime major league star Bill Buckner, who was featured in this week's subscriber-driven Independent Baseball Insider column. Buckner is in his first season as a manager, working at Brockton, MA in the Can-Am League.

Dobies went to the Royals' Double-A farm club in Springdale, AR. It is called Northwest Arkansas. A former third-round draft choice of the Red Sox, who also played in the Chicago White Sox system, did not allow an earned run in 18.1 innings from May 28-July 10. He was chosen for the Atlantic League All-Star Game, and left Somerset with a 2-3 record, five saves, a 2.81 ERA and 31 strikeouts (only three walks) in 32 innings.

R. J. SWINDLE RELEASED

I have not yet been able to track full details, but it was surprising to see that Tampa Bay gave up on reliever R. J. Swindle. He had been a lefty with considerable promise, reaching the majors with Philadelphia in 2008 and Milwaukee the next season (combined nine games).

Swindle's age wasn't the major factor because he only turned 28 earlier this month. He did give up three runs in his last three appearances at Triple-A Durham, NC, including a home run, walk and two runs in his last outing six days ago. Overall, he allowed only 26 hits in 34.2 innings and struck out 36 with a 2-0 record, one save and a 4.15 earned run average.

Presuming he is healthy as the 39 appearances would indicate, someone will grab the Canadian native, who spent his second pro season (2005) and the start of the next year in the Northern League (Schaumburg, IL).

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