Notes From The Nat

I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while, but the urge really ramped up when Bobby from The Future of A’s Baseball blog announced he was shutting his site down - we need more minor league blogs out there.

More than that, we need more minor league club-specific blogs out there. All over North America there are people who are diehard fans of minor league teams, but nobody ever blogs specifically about their local team (at least not that I can find).

That has to change. Just imagine how cool it would be if there was a Notes From The Nat about Kane County’s team, or Stockton, or Midland! Or how about if there were some blogs for other Northwest League teams - a Spokane blog or an Everett blog or a Tri-City site? Imagine the rivalries we could enjoy!

At various times I’ve asked the SportsBlog Nation folks if they’d allow minor league-specific blogs into the fold, but they’re not having any of that - at least not for a long time. Too many NBA teams to find blogs for, and NFL teams, and NHL teams, and… cycling.

I can kind of understand their reluctance - after all, NFTN ain’t bringing in the 100,000 or so daily that their network caters to, but it’s a healthy total nonetheless, and if we built a network of minor league blogs, that traffic would only rise considerably over time.

When I first started thinking about this situation last year, I figured it might change sometime through the season just by virtue of the popularity of blogs. After all, it really isn’t that hard to run a blog to a moderate level of professionalism, and it doesn’t hurt that you sometimes end up getting press box access to see games involving your team… The perks can be great.

So what’s stopping people from doing what I’m doing? Well, as best as I can tell, it’s likely a lack of knowledge as to HOW to create a blog. Oh sure, you can start one for free at blogger.com, but they really do suck. To do a blog right, you need to take it to the next level.

So I hereby make an offer to any and all minor league baseball fans: if you want to start a club-specific minor league blog, anywhere at all in North America, for any team - I’ll set you up.

Yes, you heard right. I’ll buy you a domain name, I’ll install the software, I’ll host it on my server, I’ll set up all the fancy stuff like newsfeeds and image galleries and security. I’ll find you advertisers, and I’ll teach you how to use it all. The only catch? The blog will remain technically my property, which means you have to keep it updated, alive, and professional, and if you don’t, or if you should disappear after three months, you’ll end up losing it - kinda like the set-up at SB Nation, only with a focus on the little guys.

On the other hand, if you maintain your blog to a reasonable standard, you can run the site for as long as you want, earn a little money from advertising and, oh yes, get my help in getting yourself some press accreditation. And if you have an existing blog that you’d like to upgrade, I’ll offer you the same deal.

No domain fees. No hosting fees. No editorial interference. It’s your blog for as long as you keep it going. 

So how about it, Boise Hawks fans? What say you, Kane County Cougarites? Does anyone from Eugene have the desire to follow the NFTN lead? Are there any Sacramento Rivercat geeks looking for a blogging home?

Post a comment with your contact info and let’s talk. United we rule.

Tonight, Saddam Hussein was executed for crimes against humanity. Of course, no tears should be shed for this high level scumbag, tyrant, and war criminal, but while we spit on his still-warm corpse, it’s imperative that we don’t forget how he got into power.

See that picture on the left? That’s recently-fired Bush Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, shaking hands with Saddam Hussein. One of Rumsfeld’s jobs at that time was to open the door for American companies to sell chemical weapons to Saddam; chemical weapons that were used on the Iranians during the 7 Year War, and eventually on the Kurds when they got mouthy.

When Saddam used those illegal weapons to gas ten thousand of his own people, the US congress passed a censure motion. The Senate okayed it, but Reagan vetoed that motion, because while Saddam was unquestionably a ruthless murderer, he was America’s ruthless murderer, and he was ruthlessly murdering people America disliked more than he.

I don’t normally do politics on this blog, but I just thought that, at this moment in history, as we celebrate the end of one tyrant’s career, we should take a moment and remember that he wasn’t created in a vaccuum.

Ask any Haitian, Liberian, Cuban or Honduran.

When the Oakland Athletics take the field in Arizona in April, they’ll be bringing the usual band of major leaguers and AAAA invitees snagged off the free agent wire, but every season they also invite a handful of their minor league prospects to camp. This usually indicates that the invitee is considered a bona fide prospect - either with a major league debut likely in their immediate future, or at the very least, sometime in the next few seasons.

Some of these guys are nigh ready, some are coming off injury-plagued seasons and need a little pre-season tune-up, some will get there eventually, maybe, but are coming to spring training now so they can experience life among the big kids for a while, in the hope that some of that MLB talent will rub off on them.

In short, if you’re a minor leaguer, getting invited to the big club’s spring training camp is a majorly big deal.

So who made this year’s selection?

In alphabetical order (with year played in Vancouver in brackets):

John Baker - C (2002, pictured left) - This Moneyballer has been in AAA so long, and just missed promotion so many times, that it almost seems like tradition to keep him down. A 4th rounder from the 2002 draft, he hit for a fairly weak .235 in Vancouver in his debut season, but has kicked on nicely since, moving up a level every year until he hit AAA ball, and having a breakout season in AA Midland where he hit 15 dingers and knocked around for a .280 average. He’s only 25, and he was taken off waivers by Florida before the A’s brought him back, but he’ll struggle to secure a place in the big team ahead of Jeremy Brown, Adam Melhuse, and even AA prospect Kurt Suzuki. His attitude doesn’t help.

Daric Barton - DH/1B - There’s barely any point in even talking about whether this kid will make it - he just plain will. A pure hitter with questionable power and no defensive skill whatsoever, he’s about a half season of decent AAA ball away from a major league spot.

‘Diamond’ Dallas Braden - SP (2002) - The king of the screwball had some injury problems last year when his arm went tired towards season’s end, which could see him finally turned into a reliever (where he’d likely be more effective anyway in the MLB). Braden came out of nowhere, drafted in the 24th round in 2004, unleashed his trick pitch (which he hadn’t used for a few seasons of school), and blew through lineups like they were made of brown paper. He’s essentially been stalled since he hit AA ball, but if he’s made a full recovery and can hit the ground running, he could move up quickly, a la Jason Windsor.

Travis ‘Wonder’ Buck - RF (2005) - Another case of ‘not it, but when’, WonderBuck is just a straight up polished college superstar in the Huston Street mold. The A’s have taken him slowly through the system, but he’s ready for The Show and will get his chance, if all goes well, sometime this season.

Kevin Mellilo - 2B (2004) - I maintain that Mellilo’s breakout season in 2005 (where he hit homeruns off everyone, at every level) has put him a lot higher up the prospect ladder than he really should be. Granted, in ‘05 he was filthy, but in ‘06 he was very much looking like a Kiger or Scutaro, rather than an A-Rod. Mellilo has reportedly been working on his defense, but his sudden drop-off in offense could see him dangled as tradebait if he has a burst of success in the spring.

Mike ‘M&M’ Mitchell - RP (2005) - First drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 14th round in 2002, Billy Beane managed one of his famous bargain deals when he picked Mitchell up in the 35th round of the ‘03 draft after the kid had told the Injuns to beat it. When he showed up in Vancouver in the beginning of the ‘05 short season after a year working in Arizona, it was pretty obvious that he wasn’t going to be making long term plans in the city, being as he didn’t concede an earned run in 7 appearances for the C’s. He was a solid, polished, strong starting pitcher who clearly outmatched hitters at that level, and he did well in Kane County subsequently, then well in Stockton, and then Sacramento. Why is he such a prospect all of a sudden? Because he’s leaped TWO levels of minor league ball in each of his last two seasons, and he kicked much ass in the Fall League. One to watch.

Connor Robertson - RP (2004) - Robertson’s worst ERA at any level of pro ball was the 3.60 he racked up in 3 outings for Vancouver in 2004. Since then (and before then) he has never once finished a season with a team with an ERA higher than 2.93. His 7-2, 2.80 season in Midland last season was typical of his career to date, and quite frankly, he’s shown no problem adapting to any promotion so far, so who’s to say he couldn’t light up spring training and get himself a spot in the Oakland bullpen by season’s end?

Kurt Suzuki - C (2004) - It was only recently that Landon Powell was considered the A’s best catching prospect, but Zook has, as he has at every level of ball, played above expectation, worked double hard, given 150% in every outing, and earned the right to take this spot ahead of the 2004 1st rounder. Wears his heart on his sleeve, wants to win like nobody’s business, and makes up for what he lacks in raw talent with focused, hard training and a desire to learn. He won’t play for the A’s in 2007, but look out in 2008 - he’s destined.

Kaz Tadano - RP - Continues to be more famous for the controversial gay porno that saw him chased out of Japanese baseball, and continues to demonstrate that he just doesn’t have it to pitch at the major league level. Short of winning five games in the pre-season, Tadano isn’t going to be around at the end of 2007.

Note: Some pictures provided by Scout.com

Yes folks, that’s what baseball has become. A guy who can’t throw a first pitch strike, and who walks as many batters as he gets out, just signed with the Giants for the sort of numbers you usually find mentioned as Powerball payouts.

Random thoughts on the matter:

* This brings the average age of the San Francisco roster down to about 126, which is nice. I guess in Giants terms, that’s considered a ‘youth movement’.

* Zito, as much as I enjoyed his work while he was an A, is a liar. He said last week that he was looking to play for a team that would win "multiple" championships. Then he goes and signs a fat contract with a team that was in the 15 worst in pro baseball last season, and looks to be even worse this time around. The Giants aren’t going to challenge for ONE World Series in the next 7 years, let alone multiple World Series. Welcome to Tejadaville, Zito.

* Oh the cruel twist of fate - Zito gets the richest deal for a pitcher in baseball history, while Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder look barely able to earn a buck twenty between them nowadays.

* Zito signed a deal that has a ‘vesting option’ for an 8th season at $18m, as long as Zito hits 200 innings pitched in the 7th season, or 400 over his last two seasons, or 600 over his last three. You’d think Barry would look good for that, having not missed a game in his pro career to date, but consider this - Zito walks a lot of guys, and throws a lot of pitches to get to the 6th inning. And now, in the NL, he doesn’t have a DH to hit for him, meaning he’s a lot more likely to get taken out for a pinch-hitter, even if he’s throwing good stuff. That vesting option may well be wishful thinking, but hey, he’s got a lot of years to think about that in the meantime.

* Zito’s stats should improve some, because he’ll be facing NL hitters (who generally suck as compared to AL hitters), he’ll face no big scary DHs, and he’ll get to pitch to opposing pitchers every 9 ABs. That said, he’ll also have to face pitchers with a bat in hand, and if you’ve ever seen Barry Zito trying to lay down a bunt, you know the comedy just keeps coming.

All in all, I can’t fault Zito for taking $126m, even if it’ll mean he has to share a clubhouse with Barroid Bonds, and will likely be pitching for a sub-.500 team for the most part of the next decade. $126m is a lot of cash, and if you’re going to sell out, you might as well break a world record in doing so.

Just a shame he’ll never see a World Series, is all.
 

Every year, as teams head into spring training, they begin a process whereby they use the temporary boost in roster size to see if they can catch lightning in a bottle with untested, unsigned, unheralded free agents. Usually these guys are veterans who are looking for one last chance at an MLB season, or former prospects who have been injured and cut elsewhere, and even guys who have obvious talent but for whatever reason, have just flat out failed with other teams.

The A’s are short on veterans - as is their norm, but they’ve picked up some interesting guys for this year’s spring training last shot extravaganza:

Erubiel Durazo - 1B/DH - A former Athletics first baseman who was cut after his recovery from injury was, to say the least, slow. Durazo was at one time the franchise player of the team, so the fact that he’s back, even if only with a spring training invite, is no small deal. Here’s hoping he’s learned how to field during his time away, because his form with the bat in the Mexican winter leagues has been filthy - and i’m talking three-home run game filthy.

Derek Thompson - RP - A 26-year-old pitcher, Thompson was a 1999 1st rounder for the Indians who the Dodgers picked up (via the Cubs) in the 2002 Rule 5 draft. When he missed the following season through injury, the Dodgers cut him, then picked him up again for spring training a few months later, with DT debuting for LA a year later after a somewhat meteoric rise from AA ball. Coming off Tommy John surgery, so there’s a chance he could bounce back strongly… and also a chance he’ll just be filling a space. Comes from the same town as A’s prospect Jeff Baisley.

Erasmo Ramirez - RP - 1998 11th round draftee for the Giants who looked a hot prospect but has bounced around between AAA and the majors for several seasons with Texas, allocating him the dubious distinction of being a AAAA player. If anyone tells you this scrub is the next big thing, you might want to point out to them that getting the ball past the bat is helpful in winning ballgames, because this guy won’t get you more than a K every two innings. Will surprise if he sticks.

JJ Furmaniak - IF - 2000 22nd rounder for the Padres, Furmaniak hit .343 in his first year of pro ball, then .220 the year following. That’s been his story ever since, lighting it up with 31 homers in a season and a half of AAA, leading to a trade to the Pirates, where he promptly fell off the table, hitting only 8 dingers over the subsequent 18 months, and ending the 2006 AAA season with an average of just .213 - could this be another bounce back year? He plays infield. Kinda like Mark Kiger, the kid the A’s cut just weeks after his MLB debut in the ALCS series.

Vince Faison - OF - Wasn’t this guy on The Sopranos? 1999 Padres 1st round draftee who hit for .300 in his debut season in Arizona rookie league, but never hit better than .253 over the four following seasons (and more often than not barely stayed above the Mendoza Line). Padres sent him to the Mariners where he began to find his stroke, hitting .267 in a short AAA run before the M’s cut their losses. Faison then dove into the indie leagues, hitting .303 with 15 dingers in a season with the Jackson Senators of the Central League, leading the Yankees to pick him up and send him down to AA ball, where he began to show power (14 homers) and contact (.260 avg). The Yankees didn’t see enough to keep him, so will the A’s be his last shot?

I’LL GIVE $50 TO THE FIRST GUY THAT PLUNKS HIM 

News has come to hand that Sammy Sosa, one-time Vancouver Canadian, steroid user and baseball history abuser, wants someone to give him a shot at the 2007 season. 

"I feel like I did when I was a rookie," Sosa told The AssociatedPress. "I have a lot of spirit and a desire to return. I think I canplay three or four more years in the form I am now."

Which, of course, means Sammy just learned there’s no viable testing procedure to detect HGH.

Hey, here’s some advice for you, Mr Sosa - we saw you up here in Vancouver when you were a rookie, and that Sammy Sosa and the behemoth Sammy Sosa of today are two very different people. You USED to steal bases. You USED to know how to field. You USED to hit for contact. Now you just soak up chemicals, load your bat up with cork, and strike out.

Begone you foul, pockmarked little man. Go count back-acne breakouts with McGwire and leave the baseball peopple to recover from the disappointments you’ve put them through.

Sosa says he’s had calls from plenty of teams looking to sign him, but only the Washington Nationals are gullible enough to admit that they’re in the hunt. They offered the Sosaroid a non-guaranteed half a million dollar contract to come back next year - and the big mook turned them down!

Now, of course, despite all those teams who supposedly want him, Sammy has decided he’ll take on a deal like that offered by Nationals GM Jim "Worst Exec Ever" Bowden after all.

"I want the chance and I believe one is going to appear. This time I will accept an offer like the one with the Nationals because I want to get back to the Majors," he said. 

If anyone offers this guy more than a non-guaranteed league minimum, they ought to be sacked. Especially after you hear guff like the following:

A year away from the game wouldn’t shake him, he said. "Ted Williams went to war and lost a couple years. More recently, Barry Bonds stayed away for more than a year and came back, and the same happened with Frank Thomas because of injuries," he said.

 Oh yeah, you read that right - Sammy Sosa is comparing himself favorably with Ted Williams, Frank Thomas and Barry Bonds.

Newsflash, Corky - Ted Williams knew how to hit a ball without having to stick a needle in his ass beforehand. Frank Thomas is one of the most genetically freakish ballhitters of all time. And Barry Bonds is the biggest asshole and greatest steroid abuser the world has ever kn… Well heck, I guess one out of three ain’t bad.

 

(more…)

SHAWN CALLAHAN - 2005 Vancouver Canadians Catcher/3B

Duringthe 2005 season, nobody showed more versatility than catcher ShawnCallahan. Realizing that, with Ty Bubalo and Anthony Recker clamoringfor a spot as catcher, his face time would be limited, Cally went outand turned his arm at third base a few times when the team neededinfield help, doing a pretty decent job at that.

He also did agood job with the bat, hitting only .216 but managing some clutch playsat valuable times. Sadly, it wasn’t enough to keep him with the A’s, sowhere did he show up when the Oakland honchos cut him at the end of the2005 season? OnlyFallon, Missouri, where he played for the River City Rascals in the Frontier League… But what’s notable is that he was doing so as a PITCHER.

Cally ended the season with a 0-0, 4.07 record over 18 games pitched and 24.1 innings registered. He struck out 13 and walked 7.

The big guy was cut at the end of the year,as tends to happen in the indies, where a new class of eager kids willbe trying out about now, so it will be interesting to see if DirtyHarry comes out for another season.

 

EDDIE KIM - 2003 Vancouver Canadians Catcher

When the big 6′4" lefty, Eddie Kim, was picked in the 4th round of the 2003 draft by Oakland, there were high hopes that he’d take a short ride to the majors. The big first baseman had mashed at James Madison University, hitting for a .421 average as a 21 yr old, then .412 with 17 home runs at the age of 22.

A .305 debut season with Vancouver showed some early promise for the bonus baby, but from there the professional game caught up with Kim in a hurry. Two seasons in Kane County followed, the last of which was delayed a month due to an off-season knee injury. Kim struggled with his swing, trying five different stances after the A’s told him to lose the ‘toe-tap’ that had seen him through college. He hit for a .252 combined average over his two seasons in Kane County, leading the A’s to eventually ask him to go back to the toe-tap in an effort to refind his old form. Though he beat his 2004 homerun total of 10 with just half as many at bats in his shortened 2005, a .305 OBP and strong competition from 1st baseman teammate Tommy Everidge saw Oakland cut their losses after 2006 spring training, sending Kim home.

So where is he now? Well, still trying to find a way to The Big Show is his most recent stats indicate anything. Kim signed with the Florence Freedom of the independent Frontier League, and was quickly traded before opening day to the River City Rascals where he promptly hit .316 over 178 at bats (7th in the league). What was most surprising about his spell in Missouri was, Kim had taken his K:BB rate down from a 2:1 mark to better than 1:1 rate, which saw the Florence Freedom trade two players to River City to get him back.

Sadly, Kim’s time in Florence, Kentucky hasn’t been great for his future. Over 121 at bats, he hit just .190 with a single home run registered. Will Eddie Kim devote another year to his baseball dream?

 

BOB BURRIS - 2003 Vancouver Canadians reliever

I wasn’t going to write about Bob Burris, but in researching the Eddie Kim situation, I came across a short piece written by Fremont Freedom play-by-play commentator, Roger Redmon, that told the sad tale of what Mr Burris has been through. Rather than retell it, here it is in his words:

We have a right-handed pitcher named Bob Burris who was a shining star in the Frontier League a few seasons back when he pitched for Jamie Keefe in Chillicothe. In fact, Bob was so impressive in his stint in our league that he was signed by the Oakland Athletics organization. His numbers (there’s that word again) were sparkling for Vancouver in the Northwest League where he had an earned run average of 1.91.

His future looked to be limitless until an off-season car accident tore muscles in his neck and shoulder, severely affecting his ability to throw a baseball the way he had become accustomed.

That was three years ago. Bob was attempting a comeback with the Freedom, until reality (there’s another word that isn’t pleasant) reared its ugly head again. Not enough velocity. Not enough movement on his pitches. Not enough command of the strike zone. Luckily, Bob had planned for the future. He would need to return to his job in Florida working for the Department of Homeland Security. But not until this road trip was over. He would stay on as a batting practice pitcher and first base coach until further notice. One of the good guys would be leaving us. I’ve learned not to become too attached to players. They may not be here that long.

Ain’t that the truth? Bob Burris threw in 15 games for the C’s in 2003, going 1-3 with a 1.91 ERA. He was on his way to good things when a moment of tragedy took it all away.

Sorry Bob, I couldn’t find your picture anywhere. But hey, at least you got a taste.

JOSH BEAUREGARD  - 2004 Vancouver Canadians OF

During the 2004 ball season, one of my favorite guys to watch at Nat Bailey Stadium was Josh Beauregard. A utility outfielder who seemed to be living the dream with every swing of the bat, he was the guy called upon if the team needed a late inning steal or a miraculous defensive play, but as an undrafted free agent signing, Beau was never seriously considered a prospect with the A’s, no matter how much he elevated his teammates. He was cut after the 2004 season, despite never hitting worse than .279 in each of his two seasons in Arizona.

So where is Josh Beauregard now? He’s in the indie leagues, playing his trade in the Can-Am Leauge Southern Division for the Worcester Tornadoes. What’s more, he’s not just playing, he’s starring. Beau currently leads the voting as the player fans are ‘most excited about seeing in 2007′.

From the Worcester Tornadoes website:

In 2005, Beauregard returned to the New England region to play for the Tornadoes. In addition to providing solid defense from his outfield position, Beauregard was a dominant force at the plate. Beauregard hit .293, while leading the team in both doubles and RBI with 26 and 62 respectively. Beauregard was also a terror on the base paths, finishing the season with 26 stolen bases and a team best 79 runs scored.

In all likelihood, Beauregard won’t force his way back into the major league-affiliated minor league system, but it’s nice to see one of our alumni still going around, plying his trade near his hometown, and to rapturous cheers from the fans. And is this his little brother, Keith Beuaregard, playing alongside him in the outfield?

 

TOMAS CABANIEL - 2004 Vancouver Canadians Starting Pitcher

The first time I met Tomas Cabaniel f’real, I was standing at a TD Canada Trust bank, waiting in line to be served, when I noticed a large Venezuelan being translated for at the counter. I recognized the guy almost immediately - his trademark devil-goatee, his arms like tree trunks, and his Oakland A’s cap. As I listened in, I gathered that he was trying to cash his paycheck, and the bank teller was giving him and his host mom/translator grief.

I got up to the counter myself and decided to interject; "Tomas! Great game you pitched yesterday. What’s going on? Won’t they cash a check from a major league ballclub?"

Embarassed, the teller got his act together and promptly approved the check, which earned me an appreciative nod from Senor Cabaniel, and not much else - after all, he’s not real great in the English-speaking department.

Cabaniel was fun to watch in 2004, racking up a 6-3, 4.59 record with 74 strikeouts to 24 walks. He went 1-3 with a 4.43 record in Kane County the following year, then got rocked in Stockton over a handful of innings before the A’s let him go.

Where is he today? Well, to be honest, we’re not certain where he is right now, but Tomas pitched in two games for the Rio Grande Valley White Wings in the mostly unheard of United League in 2006. He went 1-0 with an ERA of 3 over 3 innings for a team that came 6th out of 6 teams in the league, and played to an average of 1500 people a night.

That Cabaniel didn’t stick around to end the season with the White Wings is no surprise - the team featured some 29 hitters and 28 pitchers throughout the season.

 

JESSE ACOSTA - 2005 VANCOUVER CANADIANS 2B

If there was a poster boy for ’screwed by the system’, Jesse Acosta would be said poster boy. Signed as a non-drafted free agent by Oakland in 2003 after hitting .300 in his sole college season, Acosta had a fair debut season with the Arizona A’s (.242), then got killed in Kane County the following year (.122 over 41ABs), and instead of being sent back to Arizona for seasoning, he was sent up to Stockton, where he hit only marginally worse (.114 over 17 ABs).

Admittedly, he didn’t show much in the 3 games he played in Vancouver in 2005, going 2-11 (.205) with two runs scored before the A’s cut him, but honestly, other than his debut season, did Jess Acosta really get a chance to show what he could do over a season?

So what’s he up to now? Well, you might have found him playing for the Kansas City T-Bones in the Northern League (that’d be the Kansas City team that has a chance of actually making playoffs each season), where he registered an Acosta-like .205 average over 20 games (15-73), with a couple of home runs thrown in - that is, until the T-Bones cut him earlier this season. Best guess is Jess has packed it in.

It always rains hardest after a few weeks of sunshine, and nobody knows that better than Mark ‘Tiger’ Kiger, 2002 Vancouver Canadians infielder and currently unemployed professional baseballer.

Kiger made history this season when he was promoted from AA Midland to the major league Oakland Athletics during the American League Championship Series, taking the spot of reliever Scott Sauerbeck who was released. Kiger subsequently came out for his MLB debut as a defensive replacement in one of the most important games of the entire big league season.

Though he didn’t face a pitch, he most definitely debuted in the grandest way, which in all likelihood led him to feel like he had some sort of future with the Oakland organization. Alas, as it turned out, his future had more in common with Scott Sauerbeck (or perhaps more accurately, Moonlight Graham) than it did with Mark Ellis…

Last week Kiger found out that he was getting released to make way for a handful of Rule 5 selections. Though Kiger can be picked up by any other team who wants him, he never killed at any level of pro ball, though the .307 avg he carried this season in AA indicates he was on a career upswing before the axe fell.

In 2002, Kiger started in the infield for the Vancouver Canadians, showing above average power and slightly below average contact. He registered a .244 avg with 5 dingers over 246 at bats, swiping a handful of bases on the process. He was recognized more as a solid defensive player than offensive threat, however, which led to his promotion to the majors when Oakland lost two starting infielders. 

Kiger was one of the infamous ‘Moneyball draftees’ of 2002, and was one of the NINE draftees invited to spring training that season. He went 3-9 with a double and 3 RBIs over 8 games.

Here’s hoping another organization takes a chance on a talented guy who knows how to catch a ball. 

Last year, the Glib Globe and Mail ran a piece about watching a ballgame at Nat Bailey Stadium that indicated that you’d have to be fairly nuts to enjoy yourself there, though it’s nice to know some do. Reaction to the piece in the Canadians community ranged between begrudging acceptance and full-on annoyance, and with the limited amount of coverage the C’s get in the press, such negative press can really hurt.

Though you may never have heard of The Tyee, even if you’re a Vancouverite, if you’re (like me) a little sick of both daily newspapers in this town being owned by the same (large multinational) company, the Tyee may just be the refreshing change you’ve been waiting for.

It’s an online media outlet - no trees killed to keep it going - and it’s not only a great read, but it had this to say about our beloved Nat Bailey Stadium recently, as part of a front page ‘best books to give this Christmas‘ series:

Best book to give with tickets to The Nat: Baseball Love By George Bowering (Talonbooks, 2006)
Bowering grew up in baseball, in Oliver. It’s always been part of his life, and our life, in British Columbia. Sure, it’s their game, too, in the States, somewhere south of here. Bowering shows how much it’s also our game, with a poet’s eye for detail. Brilliant Alberta writer Robert Kroetsch said this about it: "Baseball Love is so good there is no memoir in the league that can go up against it." Buy 10 tickets to see the Vancouver Canadians at the suitably retrograde Nat Bailey Stadium and you’ll get another five tickets to give away as you choose. Let’s do the math: you keep the 10 tickets (cheap at $60), and the book and five bonus tickets cost you $19.95. At Christmas, to survive, you’ve got to play the angles.

Good advice - although the ‘15 tickets for the price of ten‘ deal ended on December 15. But if you’re in the market for some late Christmas presents for a baseball-loving Vancouverite, you can still get your hands on a book of ten now for just $60, which will save you shopping for up to ten relatives this year.

As for the book - it’s on order. I’ll let you know whether it’s worth your twenty bucks, but if you like supporting local businesses, the publisher of this tome, TalonBooks, is about as local as they come, being as they’re based only a handful of blocks away from The Nat itself.

I know that the current system where every comment left on the site is held for moderation before being posted is a bit cludgy. We set things up that way because there are so many spammers around who will fill a site with garbage if there’s no security check in place, but regular readers of the site should take note that, as of now, when you leave a comment and it is approved, your account is flagged so that any future comments from you will NOT be moderated.

We’re making that change to inspire a little more discussion on the site, so make with the talk, people!

Oh, and if you find yourself still being moderated after a few successful comments, drop me a note and let me know, as getting the settings right is a bit of trial and error at this point.

One final change to the site that is worth mentioning - if you look down the sidebar to the left, you’ll find that we’re now running newsfeeds from MLB.com, Athletics Nation, the UBC TBirds Fanpage, Professor Oakland’s OperationAthletics, ThePastime and Scout.com’s Oakland Clubhouse, so be sure to bookmark Notes From The Nat as your central source for Oakland A’s (and Vancouver C’s) info!

As mentioned on the blog earlier, the Oakland A’s went Rule 5-crazy this season, trading up to the overall first pick in the annual scrub hunt, grabbing Cleveland’s best outfield power-hitting prospect, Ryan Goleski, losing Jared Burton (who had stalled in AA anyway), and then picking up a lefty sidearm reliever in the shape of the White Sox’s Jay Marshall.

Lesser reported, but still important, is the second part of the Rule 5 Draft - the minor league section. See, in the major league Rule 5 draft, you have to keep the guys you pick in your major league squad for a full year or offer them back to their original team for $25k.

The minor league draft is different - and the A’s continued their drafting spree, picking up two more players from other teams, and this time losing none. That means the A’s brought in four players, and only lost one that, let’s face it, was on borrowed time. Huzzah!

The minor league draftees are RHP Andy Shipman (seen left) from the Chicago Cubs (AAA) and RHP Josh Alliston from the Milwaukee Brewers (also AAA).

Shipman went 2-3 with a 3.81 ERA in AAA Iowa last season, and was an All-Star for the AA-West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx in 2005. Alliston is a pitcher who has been impeded by injury problems, and according to Scout.com, he has pitched in only one full season before last year, when he went 5-3 with a 2.28 ERA and 9 saves. Both players will move into a AAA Sacramento squad that REALLY needs a little youth after the San Francisco Giants-like lineup of last season.

So who is Andy Shipman? Well, he’s an Air Force brat who pulled a fish tank over his head as a child and lost an eye when the thing smashed into his face. He now wears a glass eye, and though that was an issue with scouts, a season in the Alaska League pushed Boston into signing him to a free agent deal, and a trade took him to Chicago a year later, where he’s shown he can throw a ball just as well as anyone - glass eye be damned.

As for Josh Alliston… He throws hard, gets injured doing so, and looks like the guy on the right. That’s all I’ve got.