Tuesday, December 06, 2011

HOW MANY INDY PLAYERS WILL BE TAKEN IN RULE 5 THIS YEAR; RE-SIGNINGS CONTINUE

With five former Independent players drafted to the Triple-A level (teams paid $12,500 apiece) last December, it will be interesting to see if more players are taken when the next Rule 5 selections are made on Thursday as part of the Winter Meetings under way in Dallas.

One of last year's draftees was infielder Jacob Blackwood, who was Most Valuable Player in the Northern League's final season (2010) and narrowly missed the triple crown. The Kansas City (KS) T-Bones star (the team now is in the American Association) had another productive season in '11 although he still was in Class A in the San Diego Padres system.

The now 26-year-old Blackwood, who recently was promoted to the Triple-A Tucson roster for the winter, hit 17 homers and drove in 76 runs in 131 games divided almost equally between Fort Wayne, IN and the higher-ranked Lake Elsinore (CA) Storm. He also had 36 doubles while hitting .269.

Blackwood had hammered a league-leading 31 homers for the 2010 T-Bones while also leading the Northern League in RBI (86) and finishing third in hitting at .331

PADRES RE-SIGN, PROMOTE CARLOS SOSA

San Diego also re-signed and promoted to Tucson free agent outfielder Carlos Sosa, a veteran of three Indy leagues.

The 30-year-old Dominican hit .312 (two homers, 13 RBI) in 28 games in Class AA after a powerhouse start with the Atlantic League's travel team, the Road Warriors, where he was hitting .330 with 17 homers and 55 RBI. Sosa had a .314-15-69 season with Worcester, MA of the Can-Am League in 2009 and also has played for New Jersey (Little Falls) of the Can-Am and St. George, UT of the Golden League.

BREWERS GIVE PAT ARLIS ANOTHER CONTRACT

Catcher Pat Arlis has been given a new Triple-A contract in the Milwaukee organization. He is another former Kansas City T-Bones product, and he has spent time with both Calgary and Orange County when they were part of the Golden League.

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