Monthly Archives: January 2016

14 Jan

managerial matters

Phillip Wellman, after a year out of the pro game, is a manager again. The former Mississippi Braves manager has been handed the reins of San Diego’s Double-A San Antonio club in the Texas League. Wellman managed the M-Braves from 2007-10 and won a Southern League pennant with the team in 2008. After leaving the Braves, he served as a hitting coach in the St. Louis system and then managed in Double-A in the Los Angeles Angels’ organization in 2014. … The Double-A Biloxi Shuckers have a new manager: Mike Guerrero, first-base coach in Milwaukee last year. A longtime minor league skipper, Guerrero replaces Carlos Subero, who was promoted to the Brewers’ big league staff. There are some familiar names in the Brewers’ system: Former Jackson Generals manager Rick Sweet will run the Triple-A team, Colorado Springs, and ex-Delta State star Edwin Maysonet is now a coach at Class A Brevard County, along with Ned Yost IV, a Jackson native and the son of the Kansas City manager.

14 Jan

whatever happened to …

Jordan Schafer, the former Mississippi Braves outfielder of some renown, has signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to various reports. Schafer, a lefty-hitting center fielder with plus speed, played 27 games for Minnesota in 2015, went on the disabled list in May and then was released, spending the rest of the year out of the game. Schafer arrived in Mississippi in 2008 as Atlanta’s No. 1 prospect and with a swagger to match. A few days into the season, he was slapped with a drug suspension. He struggled upon his return but bounced back to have a good last month and helped the club win a Southern League pennant. He hit .269 with 10 homers, 51 RBIs and 12 steals that season. He won the center field job in Atlanta the next spring and famously homered in his first at-bat. But then he slumped and got hurt and his career became a series of ups and downs. He wound up back in Pearl for a while in 2010, was traded to Houston, then reacquired by the Braves, then claimed off waivers by Minnesota. Schafer, 29, has 103 career MLB steals but has hit just .228 over parts of six seasons. P.S. Anthony Alford has received an invite to Toronto’s big league spring camp for a second straight year, and this time the former Petal High star will be joined on the non-roster list by Mississippi State alum Chad Girodo. Alford is the Blue Jays’ No. 1 prospect and figures to play in Double-A this season. Girodo, a lefty reliever who reached Triple-A last summer, has a 2.30 ERA over three seasons and was a standout in the 2015 Arizona Fall League.

12 Jan

from the stove

Having agreed to terms with free agent Gerardo Parra, Colorado may look to deal an outfielder, and Meridian Community College product Corey Dickerson is a candidate to be moved. Not only is Dickerson a quality left-handed bat, but he is four years from free agency. Baltimore, where Parra finished 2015, is a possible destination. … Ole Miss product Chris Coghlan, who figures to see limited playing time with the talent-laden Chicago Cubs, might be a fit in Baltimore, some have speculated. Coghlan has enjoyed a career resurgence with the Cubs the last two years. … Former Ole Miss standout Zack Cozart’s time in Cincinnati could be coming to an end soon. The Reds are in the process of signing 21-year-old Cuban shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez, the 2014-15 Serie Nacional rookie of the year. Rodriguez is labeled “a glove-first prospect with good speed” whose bat still needs some polish. He’ll likely start 2016 in the minors but could eventually push Cozart out of his starting role. There already had been rumors that Cozart might be dealt this season by the rebuilding Reds. … Southern Miss and William Carey alum Dan Jennings, the ex-Miami Marlins GM and manager, is now a special assistant to the president of baseball operations for the Washington Nationals. (Can he help concoct a trade involving closer Jonathan Papelbon, the controversial ex-Mississippi State standout? Probably not.) … Months of wheeling and dealing by Atlanta’s front office has left just 11 Mississippi Braves alumni on the Braves’ current 40-man roster. Only three of those are position players: Freddie Freeman, Daniel Castro and Mallex Smith. The latest to go was power-hitting outfielder Joey Terdoslavich, put on waivers last week and claimed by Baltimore, which really must have a need for outfielders.

11 Jan

tiger tales

There could be some Mississippi flavor coming to the Detroit Tigers’ roster in the near future. Richton’s JaCoby Jones and Madison’s Spencer Turnbull are rated among the top nine prospects in the Detroit system by both Baseball America and mlb.com. And not too far behind is Kade Scivicque, a Southwest Mississippi Community College product who has been labeled a “hidden gem” in the club’s 2015 draft crop. Jones, a shortstop acquired by the Tigers from Pittsburgh in a trade last summer, was rated the No. 5 prospect on Baseball America’s chart, released last week. The former Mr. Baseball, who played at LSU, batted .257 with 16 homers, 80 RBIs and 25 steals in 2015, finishing the season in Double-A. He also played well in the Arizona Fall League before getting slapped with a 50-game drug of abuse suspension that will carry into the 2016 season. That setback notwithstanding, Jones “has the raw tools to be an exciting difference-maker,” reports MLBPipeline, which rates Jones ninth in the Tigers’ organization. Former Madison Central star Turnbull, who pitched at Alabama, was pegged No. 9 by BA (and fifth by mlb.com). Turnbull, a 6-foot-3 right-hander, went 11-3 with a 3.01 ERA as a starter in low Class A last season. Wrote BA’s Ben Badler in a website chat, “I do think ultimately his best role will be in the bullpen. … (H)e has the two-pitch mix led by that wicked power fastball that would play well in that role.” Scivicque, an All-America catcher at LSU, was drafted in the fourth round and played at two levels of A-ball last summer, batting .269 with five homers. He is reputed to have outstanding defensive skills.

08 Jan

being there

Ex-Ole Miss star Chris Ellis is among the contingent (27, all told) of non-roster players invited to big league camp by the Atlanta Braves. Right-hander Ellis, acquired from the Los Angeles Angels in the Andrelton Simmons trade, went 7-4 with a 3.92 ERA in 15 Double-A starts in 2015. He was a third-round pick in 2014, one of the nine Rebels drafted that summer. Ellis likely will open 2016 at Triple-A Gwinnett, but when you check out the rotation candidates from the Braves’ 40-man roster – Julio Tehran, Bud Norris, Matt Wisler, Williams Perez, Ryan Weber – you have to think there are opportunities there. Also getting camp invites are 2015 Mississippi Braves Rio Ruiz, Lucas Sims and Ryan Kelly (who was in the big leagues for a period last year) and potential 2016 M-Braves Joseph Odom, Braxton Davidson, Ozzie Albies and Dansby Swanson. P.S. The lack of support Billy Wagner, the former Jackson Generals star, received in the Hall of Fame voting is hard to fathom. He was named on just 46 ballots, 10.5 percent, barely enough to stay on the ballot. Said Hall of Famer John Smoltz to mlb.com: “I was a little surprised by that. Billy was an incredible left-handed closer.” Wagner posted 422 saves, a 2.31 ERA, averaged 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings and made seven All-Star Games. Fellow closer Trevor Hoffman, also a first-timer on the ballot, was named on 67.3 percent; 75 percent is needed for induction. The third closer on the ballot, Lee Smith, was named on 34.1 percent. Little-known fact: Smith pitched in two games for the 1998 Generals during a comeback attempt at age 40. That was his final pro season.

05 Jan

on draft board

After two standout seasons at Ole Miss and an All-Star summer in the Cape Cod League, Errol Robinson has emerged as a top draft prospect for 2016. Baseball America rates the junior shortstop No. 21 among eligible college players. Robinson batted .297 with 31 runs and 30 RBIs in 58 games for the Rebels in 2015, then hit .312 with 15 steals in the Cape. He is the highest ranked shortstop on the college board. Mississippi State right-hander Dakota Hudson is rated No. 20 on BA’s recently released list, fellow Bulldogs pitcher Zac Houston is No. 67 and UM righty Chad Smith is No. 68. P.S. Former Mississippi State stars Ed Easley and Adam Frazier will be in Pittsburgh’s major league spring training camp next month, along with Mississippi Braves alumnus Antoan Richardson. Catcher Easley, 30, a former first-round pick, got six at-bats with St. Louis last summer. He spent most of the year at Triple-A Memphis, batting .251 with four homers. He is a career .264 hitter. The Pirates signed Easley as a minor league free agent on New Year’s Day. Frazier hit .324 in Double-A in 2015, his third pro season. The infielder also played in the Arizona Fall League and the Premier 12 international tournament in the off-season. Richardson, a fleet outfielder who was injured much of last season, is getting an opportunity with a seventh organization. He has some limited MLB time.

04 Jan

the road ahead

In the 2014 MLB draft, major league clubs plucked the likes of Jacob Lindgren, Chris Ellis, Bobby Bradley, Justin Steele, Auston Bousfield and Jonathan Holder out of the Magnolia State. Lindgren has already made it to The Show, and the others have shown nice progress. Blake Anderson, drafted ahead of all of them at 36th overall by Miami out of West Lauderdale High, has lagged. Anderson, a 6-foot-3, 180-pound catcher, spent his second pro summer in short-season A-ball and batted .220 with two homers and 16 RBIs in 31 games. The Marlins are very high on Anderson’s defense, especially his arm, and he is rated their No. 23 prospect by mlb.com. But he still has some things to figure out at the plate. To wit: He struck out 42 times and drew three walks in 118 at-bats. “Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.” Anderson tweeted that last summer. He turns 20 in January, still very young, but the 2016 season could be a pivotal one for him. P.S. Wonder how the New York Yankees’ acquisition of Aroldis Chapman will impact Lindgren’s future with the club. Lindgren, a lefty reliever out of Mississippi State, had a 5.14 ERA in seven games for the Yanks last year before having elbow surgery in June. He is healthy now, but there may not be a spot for him in a stacked bullpen. … Donnie Veal, the well-traveled Jackson native and big league veteran, has signed a minor league deal with Texas. Lefty Veal pitched for Atlanta briefly in 2015 and has been wintering in the Dominican Winter League (1.69 ERA in 17 appearances).