Sox ink Maine to minor league deal

According to multiple media reports, the Boston Red Sox have signed former New York Mets starter John Maine to a minor league contract. Maine's agent, Rex Gary, told the Fredericksberg Freelance-Star that the Red Sox said that they intend to use him as a reliever.

The 30-year-old right-hander last pitched in the major leagues in 2010 with the Mets, going 1-3 with a 6.13 ERA in 39.2 innings of work over 9 starts undergoing season-ending surgery on his right shoulder, his second season-ending surgery in as many years. Maine made 11 starts with the Colorado Rockies' Triple-A affiliate in 2011, allowing 38 earned runs in 46 innings with opposing batters hitting .315 against, resulting in a 7.43 ERA and an 1-3 record before leaving the team, reportedly to consider retirement, although Gary refuted those reports in the Freelance-Star piece. In 2007, Maine was a career-best 15-10 with a 3.91 ERA in 32 starts with the Mets at age 26.

Red Sox renew Player Development Contract with Lowell

The Red Sox announced today that they have renewed their Player Development Contract (PDC) with the Lowell Spinners for two more seasons.  The  Red Sox and Spinners, who play in the New York-Penn State league, will now continue their relationship through the 2014 season.

The Spinners have been affiliated with the Boston Red Sox since they moved to Lowell prior to the 1996 season. In 1998, they moved into Edward A. LeLaucheur Park where they had a 413 game sellout streak, clearly showing the strong support of the community.

Red Sox Director of Player Development, Ben Crockett, made a point of emphasizing this when he made the announcement today along with Spinners owner, Drew Webber, and President/General Manager, Tim Bawmann.

"The Spinners organization and the community of Lowell really embrace our young players and provide them an exciting introduction to Red Sox Nation. Drew Weber, Tim Bawmann and the entire Spinners staff foster an excellent atmosphere for development and we look forward to our continued partnership," Crockett said.

Over the 21 year partnership, many past and current prospects have made their way through Lowell, including current Red Sox Clay Buchholz, Felix Doubront, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Kevin Youklis. Prospects expected to begin the year in Lowell include some of the Red Sox 2011 draft picks such as Cody Kukuk, Mookie Betts, Jordan Weems, and Williams Jerez.

The Lowell Spinners will continue to act as the Short-Season-A affiliate, joining the Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA), Portland Sea Dogs (AA), Salem Red Sox (High-A), Greenville Drive (Low-A), Golf Coast Red Sox (Rookie), and DSL Red Sox (DSL) as the Red Sox minor league organizations.

Lumps of rookie year behind him, Coyle ready to power into 2012

Sean Coyle (Kelly O'Connor)

Rookie lessons are a reality for any professional baseball player. The grind of the road and playing every day from spring training through the Fall Instructional League, adjusting to professional pitching, and dealing with slumps and injuries are among the myriad things that every player deals with at some point for the first time.

In his first full season as a pro, these are things that Sean Coyle was able to deal with splendidly, en route to his being named SoxProspects.com Rookie of the Year following a promising first full season.

“You have to control the things that you can control,” he said of what he learned. “You can’t control whether a guy comes out and throws you three fastballs or three curveballs. You can’t control whether you hit a line drive at the shortstop or you hit a double in the gap. You can’t control those things, but you can control coming into the park every day and working hard and getting after it. You can’t really worry about statistical things. Those are going to follow directly with your work ethic.”

Coyle showed great resiliency throughout the year. This included bouncing back from the slumps all players face, but also the occasional injury. The worst injury – and most impressive show of toughness, came when Coyle was hit in the face by a pitch. Coyle has a few fake teeth from the beanball, and he suffered a fractured jaw. However, he missed just 10 games, and somewhat stunningly, had no issues getting back in the box when he returned.

“You know, people always ask that,” he said, “but I think it was just that I’ve been playing for however many years, and I’ve never been hit in the face before, and I guess I thought, ‘it’s probably just not going to happen again, or at least for another 20 years.’”

Although Coyle’s batting average (.247) and strikeout (110) numbers may not have screamed a successful season, a look at his on-base percentage and power numbers tell a different story. With a .362 on-base percentage, his .115 Isolated Discipline number was the highest for any state-side Sox minor leaguer with at least 100 plate appearances. Similarly, he showed great power for a high schooler in his first full season, adjusting to wood bats by slugging more extra-base hits (48) than singles (47), finishing with a .464 slugging percentage. The 5-8 Coyle did not necessarily say he was surprised by his power display, but he admittedly did not expect it either.

“I guess I didn’t know how power numbers would really be affected coming out of high school. I’d never taken a full season and really looked at my stats,” he said. “In high school, you play every day, and nobody keeps a stat sheet over the summer. … I’m not out there trying to hit home runs, but you get under a ball here or there and it just kind of happens.”

Right now, Coyle is preparing for the season back home in Pennsylvania, but he plans to report to Ft. Myers on February 1 in order to get outdoors earlier than he otherwise would in the northeast. With that first full season under his belt, it will be exciting to see what he can do with what pitchers throw at him – both figuratively and, hopefully not, literally – in 2012.

Putting in the hard work

Even in the winter, when progress can’t be tracked by stats or scouting reports, every prospect in the Red Sox organization is working toward the goal of playing big-league ball. Many have their own routines; nuanced approaches developed from experience.

But a few Sox have been training at a facility that has become synonymous with high-level training for athletes of all ilk -- Athlete’s Performance Institute, shortened by many to “API.” Third baseman Will Middlebrooks and catcher Carson Blair are training at API’s Frisco, Texas, location alongside major-leaguers like Angels outfielder Torii Hunter and A’s pitcher Brandon McCarthy.

Check out the full article on ESPN Boston.

Jacobs continuing transformation from multi-sport star to "baseball player"

Brandon Jacobs
(Kelly O'Connor)

It was a common refrain among those who saw Brandon Jacobs in his first taste of full-season ball after having seen him the season before at Lowell. It was offered as if no further explanation was needed.

“He looks more like a baseball player.”

Now, that phrase could take on a number of meanings. It could refer to Jacobs’ slimmer physique. A running back in addition to an outfielder in high school, it is well-reported at this point that Jacobs had a scholarship offer to tote the rock for Auburn if he had not signed with the Sox. Anyone who saw Jacobs in Greenville last season that had seen him the season before saw a marked change in his body, as he brought a slimmer, more toned physique into the 2011 campaign. The change was intentional.

“(This offseason), all the heavy weights, I let them go and just tried to get in (baseball) shape, lose a couple pounds,” he said. “Baseball’s a game of speed, especially playing the outfield, and going through a full season will definitely shape your body right.”

Of course, the whole “looking like a baseball player” label could easily apply to his on-field skills as well. Jacobs earned South Atlantic League Player of the Year honors after a stellar campaign, hitting .303/.376/.505 with 17 home runs and 30 stolen bases in his age 20 season. He at least partially attributed his success to playing left field in a Greenville lineup that boasted an impressive number of the system’s breakout players, including right fielder Bryce Brentz, second baseman Sean Coyle, shortstop Xander Bogaerts, and first baseman Miles Head, all of whom were named SoxProspects.com All-Stars along with Jacobs.

“I’ve always had the mentality to get better, but when they’re doing great, everybody else wants to do great, and everybody else wants to get on that bandwagon,” he said. “I think that played a part in everyone’s year this year.”

Still, Jacobs is not one to rest on his laurels. His game may have taken leaps forward in his two-plus years in this system, but he plans on targeting areas of his game that need improvement this offseason.

“I just started throwing – I want to get my arm stronger and become an all-around outfielder,” he said. “I had the speed in the outfield last year, making some plays, but I want to be an all-around outfielder with a great arm, so I’m doing some long tossing this offseason to strengthen that up.”

If he keeps the work up, expect the comments from those who see him play to change to something even better, like, “He looks like a major leaguer.”

Player Development Contract with Greenville Drive extended through 2016

According to a press release on the team website, the Red Sox announced that they have extended the player development contract with the Greenville (S.C.) Drive through the 2016 season. The original contract was agreed to prior to the 2005 season and was extended twice, with the most recent extension being prior to the 2008 season. The contract would have expired at the end of 2012. 

The Drive, who play in the Low-A South Atlantic League, have seen many great Red Sox prospects over the past seven years including Clay Buchholz, Daniel Bard, Ryan Kalish, and Ryan Lavarnway. The home stadium for the Drive, Fluor Field, was built in 2006 and has many similarities to Fenway Park, including a 30-foot Green Monster replica in left field. 

The Drive have had a winning record each of the past four seasons and appeared in the South Atlantic League Championship Series in 2010. To see which players are projected to play in Greenville this season, check out the SoxProspects 2012 Projected Rosters.

SoxProspects.com Podcast #22

The guys hook back up after a brief hiatus for the first podcast of 2012, discussing transactions since the last episode, debating their projections for Will Middlebrooks and Xander Bogaerts, and reacting to some audio from New Stars for Young Stars.

Direct Link (Right-click to download)
Podcast Archive
Subscribe on iTunes

Caribbean League Roundup: January 16-22

With the winter leagues winding down, here are how the Red Sox prospects still in action fared over the past week in the Caribbean and around the world:

Australian Baseball League

Mitch Dening (Sydney Blue Sox):Went 7 for 21 with 3 doubles and 3 runs scored in 5 games against Perth.

Justin Erasmus (Brisbane Bandits): Notched two saves by tossing 2.2 innings across two appearances. Erasmus allowed 2 runs on 2 hits and a walk while striking out 1 over the two outings.

Colombian Winter League

Reynaldo Rodriguez (Monteria): Rodriguez appeared in six contests this week, including both games in doubleheaders on Tuesday and Thursday. He went 7 for 19 with 4 doubles, 5 RBI and 3 runs scored.

Mexican Pacific League - Play concluded on December 30. Playoffs began January 1.

Tony Thomas (Algodoneros de Guasave): Since the last update on December 30, Thomas has gone 11 for 51 with 2 home runs, 5 RBI and 6 runs scored in 14 playoff contests. Guasave lost their first round match up with Obregon 4 games to 2 but defeated Culiacan in the semifinals to advance to the championship round against Obregon. Guasave currently trails Obregon 2-0 in the best of 7 championship series.

Marco Duarte (Aguilas de Mexicali): Has made three starts for Mexicali during the playoffs. On January 2 against Hermosilo Duarte picked up the loss for his 5.0 innings of work, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks, striking out 4. On January 11 against Obregon, Duarte allowed 1 run on 3 hits and 4 walks while striking out 5 in 5.2 innings during a no decision. In a dreadful final start of the winter, Duarte failed to record an out on January 16 against Obregon, allowing 6 runs on 4 hits and a walk, striking out 2.

Mexcali defeated Hermosilo in the first round of the playoffs 4 games to 1 before falling to Obregon 4 games to 1 in the semifinals.

Dominican Winter League - Play concluded on December 21. Playoffs began December 27.

Tony Pena (Aguilas Cibaenas): Pena has tossed 5.1 innings of relief during Aguilas' playoff run, allowing no runs on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4. Aguilas currently leads Escogido 2-0 in the best of nine championship round.

Puerto Rico Baseball League - Play concluded on January 3. Playoffs began January 7. 

Mike Aviles and Henry Ramos did not participate in the playoffs for Ponce who was eliminated three games to two by Mayaguez in the Puerto Rico League's semifinal.

Christian Vazquez has not appeared for Mayaguez who defeated Ponce in the semifinals and currently leads Caguas four games to two in the nine game championship round.