I think we had a minor league thread last year, I don't know where it is and I'm not looking for it, deal.

Two notes from Baseball Prospectus' resident minor league/"non-stat" guy (yes, BP employs a non-stat geek) about Red Sox minor leaguers;

Daryl Irvine

Wow, this guy appeared in 41 games for the Sox in the early 90's and I can't recall a single one of them. Guess the 5.68 career ERA might have something to do with that.

Craig Hansen came into the Pawtucket-Buffalo game in the top of the eighth inning as a mopup man. Buffalo had an 8-4 lead. Hansen got two outs while allowing four runs with a variety of hits and walks. Lost his composure so the manager pulled him. Then he comes in the dugout and punches one of those orange water containers with his pitching hand, exits the dugout with the manager in hot pursuit. It was all caught on TV by the local cable company. had the game on at work.

Just super.

ok so I guess maybe he isn't gonna make it.

Just about a year ago it was Delmon Young who had the nutty at McCoy Stadium, tossing his bat at an umpire. Is there something in the spring water over there, TN?

i was a little worried when coco flung his bat on saturday. you never know which way those things are going to bounce.

guys who have played in the big leagues tend to get frustrated when they are farmed out and eventually they erupt. manny delcarmen seems to be more even-tempered. i saw him give up 3 in the 8th on saturday, then he threw a scoreless 9th and talked about the day as a positive experience afterwards in the locker room.

you learn a lot about people when things aren't going the right way. (same goes for the yankees, eh?)

Also, the colon.

let's hear it for the semi-colon. sorry. old newspaper joke involving a drunken young scribe (me). :rolleyes:

Kevin Goldstein's State of the System report shows up today at BP. Nothing particularly earth shattering though Kottaras isn't exactly making anyone scream for Mirabelli's ouster yet.

This might explain why he's been pitching like crap so far (from the Globe)...

I thought I read somewhere that Bard was considered a thrower more than a pitcher and that he could have problems finding consistency. Which is common for all young pitchers

I don't know a lot about him except;

- My friend thinks he's God's gift because he throws hard

- He's walking something like 2 batters an inning so far

That would jibe with your description Bob.

From Cafardo;

i covered a pawsox game today. tied at 7 in the top of the 10th, MDC comes in and yields a leadoff single, then a double. then he strikes the side out but not before throwing two wild pitches. he was pretty calm afterwards, said he just squeezed his four-seamer too much. his manager said MDC's stuff was "filthy."

backup catcher kevin cash threw out two guys trying to steal in the 8th inning, which elicited a few comments from the press box personnel (including pawsox employees) about how lame a throwing arm george kottaras has. apparently all his throws to second sail to the right. he has thrown out one runner all season. plus, he's hitting .180. pawsox employees are not known to criticize their own players.

on the bright side, it looks like ellsbury could be joining the pawsox after tonight's portland game. still just a rumor but the pawsox leave for buffalo after tomorrow night's home finale and it makes sense to have the kid travel with the team.

ellsbury was also named boston's farm system player of the month.

I hope they leave Ellsbury in Portland for another month. There is already nitwits calling for him to come up the the Majors. If he hits in AAA anywhere near as well in AA the drumbeat will get louder. Of course he has to cool of somewhat , he is hitting .450 ( and I am going to a Sea Dogs game next month)

That's the knock on Kottaras, he's not much of a defensive catcher (that's an understatement). The belief is that he can be a decent hitter with time but is terribly lacking defensively.

Wasn't Gary Tuck supposed to have worked with him extensively over the spring? Looks like it didn't help much.

Supposedly. It may have helped, throwing is just one part of his struggles. I've read a lot about his footwork being very bad, don't know if he's doing a better job of blocking pitches this year than he did in previous seasons. In 2004 he had 12 passed balls, only one in 2005, no data that I can find for 2006.

The other issue is how much can a coach do? At some point Tuck can be the best teacher in the world but you can't make filet mignon out of hamburger. Tuck's rep is very good.

WEEI just reported Jacoby Ellsbury has been called up to AAA Pawtucket. He is expected to lead off and play center field tonight. :)

it's true. my beat guy just called with the same news.

excellent , Let the trade Coco watch begin.

I guess I have to take my nephew to the Pawsox now instead of Sea Dogs

Jill - 1

Professional Pawtucket Reporter - 0

WAY TO GO JILL!!!! Yet another case of the Sox being ahead of the Yankees!!! :lol:

Though...um Jill, looks like you better be thinking about where you're buying Terry his book from.

had it in today's paper. here's my post from yesterday. you can't say it's official until it's official. :rolleyes:

The season is young. Ellsbury may make all the difference, as the PawSox offense has been putrid. And with Scranton being raided of all their young arms due to the ML Yankees' troubles, watch out below!

the pawsox have been a disappointment in terms of being a pennant threat. not that it matters at this level but they went into the season with high hopes and are hitting .225 as a team.

the first baseman/DH, jeff bailey, is a career minor leaguer who raised his average to .172 yesterday. alex ochoa is batting .136 as part-time DH. 3B Chad Spann is hovering belowing the mendoza line. shortstop ed rogers is a slap hitter in the .230s. and kottaras, of course, is hitting .180 with lousy defense. the manager prefers to play the backup, kevin cash, and the pitchers must feel the same way.

ellsbury pushes bobby scales (.295, nice veteran player) out of the outfield and into DH or wherever. i guess murphy and brandon moss play the corner spots now. they're both nice prospects.

with hansack up, the pitching rotation loses something. as long as abe alvarez is taking the ball every fifth day, this will not be a strong staff.

TN 1
Jill D 1
Joe 0

i can't believe joe ignored my clues about ellsbury yesterday. too busy worrying about dice-k, i guess. :rolleyes:

Troy -5

craig ... buried so deep in davey jones's locker that the fish can't even find him. :rolleyes:

He looks kind of like Terry!

Didn't even see it, besides, subtlety doesn't work with me.

Mea culpa mea culpa

How important is a team being a pennant contender to the local fans in the minors Terry? Is it a source of civic pride for Pawtucket if they succeed or is it irrelevant to the fans? Would they take more pride in winning the IL title or losing the title but seeing their star pitcher promoted to Fenway?

mike tamburro and associates spout the developmental line and are very proud when their team sends players to boston who contribute to the pennant race. but i've never seen them happier than when the team is contending for the I.L. title. it's just more fun being around a winning team. losing six straight on this homestand has been a killer.

i think the fans just want to see interesting players who have a future. that's why the pawsox were dying for ellsbury to get up here because as the news spreads today, they will get many walkup fans. you might normally get 7,000 tonight but i wouldn't be surprised if the kid pulls in a couple thousand more people for his I.L. debut.

dale arnold already says he is coming down and plugged his visit on the radio.

I was under the impression the PawSox sold out regularly. What's capacity?

they can squeeze 11,000 into the place for fireworks night. but until school lets out, they don't usually draw more than 7,000 on most nights and often less. weekends are better and the weather is always a factor.

by the end of the year, they'll draw around 650,000 for 71 scheduled home dates but with rainouts and makeup doubleheaders, it's more like 67 or 68 dates.

no split admission twin bills in the minors.

Arrgggghhhhhh... :ph43r: :ph43r: :ph43r:

The ProJo sport section this morning was a very bad way to start my day (nothing unusual there, but really bad this AM). I need to vent.

Game story with notes attached on the PawSox extra-innings affair last night. Separate piece on Jacoby Ellsbury being called up to Pawtucket, including the fact he led off and wore No. 20. No, repeat NO, indication of how the kid actually performed in the game itself.

Arrgggghhhhhh... :ph43r: :ph43r: :ph43r:

For the record, he went 1-4 with 2 BB, 1K, 2 runs scored. Nice debut for the kid.

Side note on the game, Gabbard went 7 innings, 1 run. Longest outing by a PawSox starter this year.

you should read our paper. nice pictures of the kid, too. he even looks a little like the young johnny damon. says his formula is "get on base and run." got thrown out between second and third on one play, just a little overaggressive.

i assume he is very fast. creating havoc on the bases seems to be one of his favorite things to do.

I do read it, just online, I hadn't gotten there yet (breakfast was calling me :rolleyes: ). Best PawSox coverage available, for sure. :D

It's a well-done article, it gives a very good sense of the game. Unfortunately, no pics. The companion piece on Ellsbury's promotion as well; nice mix of quotes. The kid seems to be saying all the right things. I love that he went to a Halloween party as Johnny Damon. Thanks, T.