NEED A BIG BAT? COREY SMITH SEEMS AVAILABLE

Does anyone need a strong bat?

The Chicago White Sox released third baseman (and sometimes first baseman) Corey Smith from their Double-A team in Birmingham, AL, even though the 13-year veteran minor leaguer is only 30 and hit .341 (14-for-41) in his last 10 games in the Southern League.

Smith, a right-handed hitter, was at .286 overall for 65 games this season with 19 doubles, a triple, eight homers and 39 runs batted in. He had a solid .359 on-base percentage.

The New Jersey native helped the Newark Bears capture the Atlantic League title in '07 when he drove in 72 runs in 119 games while collecting 58 extra-base hits and batting .274. He has been largely in Double-A since 2003 with some AAA experience and major league spring training time with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

LOCKE COOLS OFF FROM BACK-TO-BACK SLAMS

Outfielder Drew Locke made a huge early impact after Houston purchased his contract from neighboring Sugar Land, TX of the Atlantic League and placed the 29-year-old with their Texas League franchise in Corpus Christi.

Locke, who signed out of Boston College and played in the Dodgers and Astros systems for seven seasons before joining Sugar Land this year, hit grand slam home runs in back-to-back games and batted .381 with three homers and 12 RBI in his first five games with Corpus Christi, but he has tailed off to .219-4-15 for a 17-game run so far.

KINTZLER DESIGNATED FOR ASSIGNMENT

Brandon Kintzler had been solid in Milwaukee's pitching plans until injuries started hitting the right-hander. He had gotten into 16 games with the parent Brewers over a two-year stretch, and was on the 40-man roster.

But now he has been designated for assignment which means Milwaukee has 10 days to trade, release or re-sign him to a minor league deal. Kintzler, whose Independent time was with St. Paul, MN in the American Association and Winnipeg before the Goldeyes moved to that league from the Northern League, had gone 0-1, 3.00 in six games with Class A Brevard County and 0-2, 6.06 in 13 contests with Double-A Huntsville this season in an effort to get back into top form.

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JUSTIN HAMPSON IS LATEST TO MAKE CLIMB FROM INDY TO MAJORS WHILE TWO OTHERS ARE RELEASED

How nice to have still one more first-time major leaguer who has played in the Independent ranks. Southpaw Justin Hampson, now with the New York Mets, is the 168th player on this impressive list.

Hampson played for both York, PA and Long Island, NY of the Atlantic League in 2010.

He is the fourth player added to the list this season, joining infielder Mike Costanzo with Cincinnati and pitchers Stu Pomeranz with Baltimore and Tanner Scheppers with Texas. Costanzo is back in Triple-A and Pomeranz is on the disabled list.

THIS PAIR HANDED WALKING PAPERS

Pitchers Travis Schlichting and Clay Zavada, who made the climb from Independent Baseball to the majors, have been released in recent days.

Schlichting, who played for the Kansas City (KS) T-Bones and got to the majors with the Los Angeles Dodgers, was released out of Triple-A by Oakland. Zavada spent his Indy time in the Frontier League (Southern Illinois) and got to the majors with Arizona. His last stop was with St. Louis's top farm club in Memphis.

Both are young enough they could get more opportunities to pitch.

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RUMOR FLOATED, BUT NO SIGN OF SCOTT KAZMIR IN SUGAR LAND SO FAR

The heavily rumored story that onetime major league all-star Scott Kazmir would be signing to play with Sugar Land, TX still was without confirmation late Friday afternoon from either the Atlantic League or on the Skeeters' website.

The left-hander won at least 10 games for Tampa Bay every season from 2005-08 before his power pitches started falling off. The Los Angeles Angels released Kazmir last season, and if he intends to try getting his career back on track Sugar Land would be an ideal location since it is right next to his Houston home. He is only 28 or prime time for many players.

The Skeeters, struggling at 22-31 and in last place in the Freedom Division, recently added two-time Atlantic League all-star outfielder Steve Moss, but he is off to a dreadfully slow start (0-for-10, seven strikeouts) even though he had been playing in Mexico. Moss was an all-star the last two seasons with Bridgeport, CT.

ALL-STAR RESULTS

We could not get this week's affiliated all-star results into yesterday's Independent Baseball Insider, but it was a space issue.

First baseman Chris Garcia doubled, scored and drove in a run in his only at-bat in the California League-Carolina League classic. He is an Atlanta minor leaguer who formerly played for the New Jersey Jackals in the Can-Am League and Shreveport, LA in the American Association.

C. J. Retherford, a star at Fargo, ND (American Association) last season, went 0-for-2. He now is in the Los Angeles Dodgers system. Righty Ryan Kussmaul, who started his pro career in the Frontier League (Southern Illinois), hurled a scoreless inning (one strikeout) in the Double-A Southern League all-star game. He is under contract to the Chicago White Sox.

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MATT WRIGHT AMONG THOSE SHOWING WELL IN TRIPLE-A; CHRISTIAN, COELLO BACK IN MAJORS

Justin Christian (Giants) and Robert Coello (Blue Jays) are the two most recent players with Independent Baseball experience to return to the major leagues, and still others are making minor league headlines on virtually an every day basis.

Consider the case of Matt Wright, a 30-year-old pitcher still trying for his first major league opportunity in his 13th professional season.

Wright, whose contract was purchased by Philadelphia for its Triple-A Lehigh Valley, PA farm club recently from the Atlantic League's Lancaster Barnstormers in the same state, has made two starts for the Iron Pigs so far. He does not not have any wins, primarily for a lack of offensive support, but the big (6-4, 270) right-hander has given up only six hits and three runs in 12.2 innings (0-1, 2.13).

Wright has earned praise from his manager, Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg, and from re-habbing Evan Longoria (partially torn hamstring), Tampa Bay's all-star third baseman.

"I thought Wright threw the ball pretty well for them tonight," Longoria told TheMorningCall.com after he had fanned against the hurler's 95-mile per hour fastball, fouled out to the catcher and skied to right as Durham handed Lehigh Valley a 3-0 loss. "He had some good stuff, and that's good for me to see some good pitching and start to feel comfortable at the plate." Wright gave up only one run and three hits in 6.2 innings.

"It was a good start for him," Sandberg told the online publication. "I think the hitters had a hard time gearing up on his fastball with the variations of his speeds--91 to 95 miles-an-hour--and he threw some change-ups and enough breaking pitches."

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'FIVE TOOL' DE LOME SIDELINED WITH TORN ACL

Talk about tough breaks.

Collin DeLome, a 26-year-old lefty-swinging outfielder, seemed to be coming into his own, then, in a flash, he tore his ACL and his season is over.

Houston gave up on its fifth round draft choice from 2007 early this season even though the former Lamar University star had hit 72 home runs in less than six years. He joined the Bridgeport (CT) Bluefish, and in short order was tearing up the Atlantic League with a .368 average, five homers, 14 extra base hits and 22 RBI in only 23 games when Atlanta purchased his contract and sent him to its top farm club in Gwinnett, GA. Six games into his fresh start--really, four significant appearances--and he has to wait until 2013 to prove himself to Braves brass. DeLome's 2-for-16 start with four runs scored were barely a chance to show his skills which Bridgeport Manager Willie Upshaw describes as the ultimate: "Five tools".

"He's a good player" and "a very respectful kid" praised Upshaw. He should know. The respected manager/hitting guru had watched as DeLome went 9-for-16 in his last four Bluefish games. Three of those were victories, which have not come as easily since the 6-foot-2 Texan departed.

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RANGERS HUSTLE SCHEPPERS INTO A GAME WHILE COELLO GOES BACK TO MINORS

It did not take long for Texas Manager Ron Washington to get Tanner Scheppers into a game after the Rangers summoned the right-hander for his first trip to the major leagues Thursday.

Scheppers was eased into his first major league box score with Texas trailing Oakland 6-1 in the sixth inning. The onetime American Association hurler (St. Paul Saints) got the final two outs in a scoreless inning, but did give up a solo home run to Brandon Moss in the seventh. He struck out two.

Scheppers is the 36th player whose very first professional game was in an Independent league to make it to the majors and the first since Kansas City reliever Aaron Crow last year. Two other Indy vets have made their major league debut this season, infielder Mike Costanzo (Camden, NJ, Atlantic League) with Cincinnati and righty Stu Pomeranz (New Jersey, Can-Am League) with Baltimore.

COELLO OPTIONED

I could not blame Robert Coello if he was perplexed when Toronto optioned him back to Triple-A Las Vegas Thursday. The reasoning, Manager John Farrell explained, was that they wanted a pitcher who had worked more recently and was, therefore, fresher. Coello's only appearance with the Blue Jays was for two scoreless innings against Boston June 1. Coello's Independent experience came with the Canadian teams based in Calgary and Edmonton in the Golden League.

NO GAMES IN ATLANTIC CITY THIS SEASON

Onetime Atlantic City (NJ) Surf General Manager Mario Perrucci had hoped to stage one or more Atlantic League games between Camden, NJ and Sugar Land, TX in the boardwalk city this September, but he told Baseball Digest any games would not be possible because he was fearful improvements to Surf Stadium would not be completed in time.

Nevertheless, Perrucci still hopes Atlantic City can re-join the league next season, the online news service reported.

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COELLO GETS SECOND MAJOR LEAGUE CHANCE, THIS TIME WITH BLUE JAYS

It is nice to see Robert Coello getting another chance in the majors, this time with Toronto.

The 27-year-old split the 2008 season between the Canadian cities of Calgary and Edmonton when they were in the Golden League, and two years later the right-hander got his initial major league opportunity when he relieved six times (0-0, 4.76) for Boston.

No, Coello is not Canadian. He was born in Bayonne, NJ, and went to high school and college in Florida.

While the move sounds like it could serve as temporary relief for the bullpen, one never knows. Coello was 3-1, 3.22 this season at Triple-A Las Vegas, with the last two of his 17 appearances as a starter. He was striking out an impressive 9.4 hitters for every nine innings of work. Coello had been a non-roster invitee to the major league spring training camp this year.

ALL-STAR RE-JOINS KANSAS CITY T-BONES

American Association RBI king Ray Sadler, who drove in 100 runs while earning all-star outfield honors last season, is returning to the Kansas City (KS) T-Bones, and likely will be in the lineup against Amarillo when a weekend series gets under way at Community America Ballpark tonight (Friday). Sadler had been playing in Italy.

"He's a constant reminder of how to do the little things to help your team win," Manager Kenny Hook said. "He embodies all that you hear about veteran leadership."

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