tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:18:47 +0000Red Sox Prospects Bloghttp://news.soxprospects.com/noreply@blogger.com (Zachary Nicholson)Blogger1865125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-6557831340012378857Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:26:00 +00002009-11-21T15:18:47.863-05:00Sox System NotesAccording to multiple sources, Pawtucket Red Sox manager Ron Johnson will be joining the Major League coaching staff in Boston. The exact position he will fill has yet to be determined. Johnson first joined the Red Sox organization in 2000 as the manager of the Class-A Sarasota Red Sox in the Florida State League after eight seasons managing in the Kansas City organization. Johnson would manage http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/ron-johnson-to-be-added-to-boston.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zachary Nicholson)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-8660268495441484681Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:06:00 +00002009-11-21T14:22:55.436-05:00Sox System NotesThe Boston Red Sox yesterday set their 40-man roster in accordance with the midnight Friday deadline, making the claim of Robert Manuel the team's only change. The 40-man roster now stands at 32 players and is as follows:Pitchers: Daniel Bard, Josh Beckett, Michael Bowden, Clay Buchholz, Manny Delcarmen, Felix Doubront, Jon Lester, Robert Manuel, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Okajima, Jonathan http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/red-sox-set-40-man-roster.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Gray)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-5823688432601454446Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:20:00 +00002009-11-20T17:50:49.213-05:00Sox System NotesPlayer MovementAccording to ESPN.com, the Boston Red Sox have claimed right-handed pitcher Robert Manuel off waivers from the Seattle Mariners.Manuel was originally signed as undrafted free agent by the New York Mets out of Sam Houston State in 2005. He was traded by the Mets to the Cincinati Reds in 2006 for Dave Williams. After spending parts of four seasons in the Reds' minor league system, he was traded to http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/sox-claim-rhp-robert-manuel-off-waivers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Gray)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-7034048772730539964Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:26:00 +00002009-11-20T06:51:45.500-05:00Cup of Coffee11/20 Cup of Coffee: Mesa ended the season with its fourth straight loss, dropping a 8-1 decision to the Peoria Saguaros. The loss saw the Solar Sox finish last in the Arizona Fall League's Eastern Division with 13 wins, 18 losses and a tie.The Saguaros jumped off to an early lead scoring a run in the top of the first inning. Padre prospect Lance Zawadzki singled, advanced to second on a wild http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/solar-sox-end-season-with-fourth.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Don Hyslop)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-1359250521983536492Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:25:00 +00002009-11-19T16:56:30.810-05:00Sox System NotesAccording to Baseball America's minor league transactions, the Red Sox have released pitchers Michael Lennox and Wang-Yi Lin and outfielders Juan Bonifacio and Roberto Feliz.Lennox (pictured) was signed in August of 2006 as an international free agent out of Australia. In two seasons with the Gulf Coast League Red Sox, he appeared in 19 games, all out of the bullpen, and compiled ERAs of 3.94 in http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/sox-release-michael-lennox-wang-yi-lin.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Gray)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-7821701372574866377Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:07:00 +00002009-11-19T09:25:17.502-05:00Cup of Coffee11/19 Cup of Coffee: The Solar Sox dropped their third straight contest 7-5 to Scottsdale, despite pounding out 11 hits.Mesa got out to an early 1-0 lead once again as Steve Singleton (MIN) laced an RBI single in the first, but Scottsdale answered right back when Jose Tabatha (PIT) tripled and scored on a wild pitch in the bottom half of the inning. Chris Parmelee's (MIN) RBI double in the top ofhttp://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/solar-sox-continue-slide-fall-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Gray)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-7950656040931816010Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:52:00 +00002009-11-18T09:30:47.233-05:00Cup of Coffee11/18 Cup of Coffee: It was the same old story for Mesa on Tuesday, as the team jumped out to a first-inning lead but quickly gave it up and went on to lose big, this time by a 9-2 score to the Surprise Rafters.The early Solar Sox lead came courtesy of three consecutive one-out singles by Starlin Castro (CHC), David Cooper (TOR), and Ryan Kalish, the last of which drove in the run to make it 1-0.http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/mesa-blown-out-again-by-surprise.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zachary Nicholson)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-1914420366104264918Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:31:00 +00002009-11-18T10:13:21.330-05:00Player MovementWith the deadline to add players to the 40-man roster and protect them from the Rule 5 Draft rapidly approaching, the Red Sox today made another move to clear space, releasing catcher George Kottaras. Kottaras, 26, appeared in 45 games with Boston in 2009, serving primarily as the early-season back-up to Jason Varitek and the personal catcher for Tim Wakefield. He was placed on the disabled list http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/george-kottaras-released.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zachary Nicholson)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-8993778785431162838Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:46:00 +00002009-11-17T11:00:37.113-05:00Sox System NotesLook for the Red Sox to make a few roster moves on Friday to protect players from selection in the 2009 Rule 5 Draft. Per the Major League Rules, eligible players must be added to their teams’ respective 40-man rosters by close-of-business on November 20 in order to be protected from selection in the Rule 5 Draft, which is scheduled to take place on December 10. As of today, our sources and http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/40-man-roster-deadline-looming.htmlinfo@soxprospects.com (Mike Andrews)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-7301227316345794209Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:13:00 +00002009-11-17T10:33:10.284-05:00Cup of CoffeeThe Mesa Solar Sox were quieted by a 15-hit attack and superb pitching from the Phoenix Desert Dogs, falling 11-1 on Monday afternoon.Mesa would jump out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, as Bryan Peterson (FLA) reached on an error and scored on Chris Parmelee's (MIN) RBI single. Phoenix would answer back in the top of the third off of Mesa starter Randor Bierd. Darin Mastroianni (http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/solar-sox-drubbed-by-desert-dogs-11-1.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Gray)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-4887732731620859374Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:08:00 +00002009-11-16T09:49:47.485-05:00Sox System NotesHere's how Boston's prospects fared over the past week in the Caribbean:Venezuelan Professional Baseball League Felix Doubront (Navegantes del Magallanes) made one start on November 14 against Zulia, going 4.0 innings, allowing 3 hits, walking 2 and striking out 1. Enrique Gonzalez (Tiburones de La Guaira, pictured) started November 13, also against Zulia, going 7.0 innings to pick up the win, http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/caribbean-roundup-november-9-november.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Gray)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-4782950646600792852Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:09:00 +00002009-11-15T13:51:31.093-05:00Cup of Coffee11/15 Cup of Coffee: After dropping a pair of games to Phoenix, Mesa got back on track Saturday with a 4-2 win over the Peoria Javelinas. Meanwhile Phoenix, behind Nationals prospect Stephen Strasburg, blanked the Saguaros 1-0 to narrow its magic number to one for clinching the Eastern Division crown. With four games remaining, the Desert Dogs hold a 3.5 game lead over the Solar Sox.Mesa took an http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/solar-sox-down-javelinas-4-2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Don Hyslop)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-1073924313124862645Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:26:00 +00002009-11-14T10:51:41.203-05:00Cup of Coffee 11/14 Cup of Coffee: With less than a week remaining in the schedule, Phoenix extended its lead over Mesa to 3.5 games with a 9-7 come-from-behind win on Friday. The team committed three errors, which allowed three unearned runs to score in the game.The Solar Sox struck first, when Marlins prospect Bryan Peterson led off the game with a triple and scored on a Rene Tosoni (MIN) single. The Deserthttp://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/kalish-scores-twice-in-mesa-loss.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Don Hyslop)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-1435255020551722215Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:58:00 +00002009-11-13T09:31:34.211-05:00Cup of Coffee11/13 Cup of Coffee: Mesa had its six game winning streak halted, as Phoenix downed the Solar Sox 11-5.The Desert Dogs took the lead in the top of the first inning, scoring twice on a two-run homer by Oakland prospect Corey Brown. The Solar Sox cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning, when Starlin Castro (CHC) doubled and scored on a Josh Vitters (CHC) single. In the bottom of the secondhttp://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/phoenix-end-mesas-winning-streak.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Don Hyslop)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-1715611071315591246Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:37:00 +00002009-11-12T17:21:35.618-05:00Sox System NotesBoston cleared up another spot on its 40-man roster earlier this week by outrighting righthander Miguel Gonzalez to Pawtucket. Gonzalez, 25, was selected from the Angels in the 2008 Rule 5 Draft. The pitcher then injured his arm in spring training, ultimately resulting in March 2009 Tommy John Surgery. He spent the entire 2009 season on Boston's 60-day disabled list. Pursuant to Major League Rulehttp://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/sox-outright-rule-5-pick-gonzalez-to.htmlinfo@soxprospects.com (Mike Andrews)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-8218544521089078376Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:34:00 +00002009-11-12T09:30:10.359-05:00Cup of CoffeeJose Iglesias's two-out walk-off single propelled the Mesa Solar Sox to victory over the Surprise Rafters, 9-8.Surprise jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning on an Ike Davis (NYM) 2-RBI double, and tacked on two more in the top of the third on Davis's two-run home-run. Mesa would get on the board in the bottom half of the third when Iglesias led off the inning with a single and came http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/iglesias-solar-sox-walk-off-with-sixth.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Gray)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-2820452621997942828Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:41:00 +00002009-11-11T18:20:16.349-05:00Player MovementJason Varitek will be returning for his fourteenth season in a Boston uniform, after picking up his $3 million player option for 2010. Varitek will be serving as the back-up catcher to Victor Martinez, who took over starting duties upon his arrival from Cleveland. The Red Sox declined Varitek's $5 million team option on Monday. http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/varitek-picks-up-2010-option.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Gray)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-8223369961716126072Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:25:00 +00002009-11-11T08:30:26.859-05:00SoxProspects InterviewsI recently had the opportunity to exchange some questions and answers with Craig Shipley, Red Sox Senior Vice President/International Scouting. A veteran of eleven seasons as a major league infielder, Shipley became the second native Australian to play in the majors when he made his major league debut with the Dodgers in 1986. He went on to play for the Mets, Padres, Astros, and Angels, hitting http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/q-with-craig-shipley.htmlinfo@soxprospects.com (Mike Andrews)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-8837758694413392234Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:37:00 +00002009-11-11T11:48:01.166-05:00Cup of CoffeeThe Mesa Solar Sox continued their ascent in the AFL Eastern Division standings, winning their fifth straight game by a 6-4 score over the Surprise Rafters. The victory places Mesa only 1.5 games back of division leader Phoenix.The Solar Sox wasted no time getting on the board, as Bryan Peterson (FLA) hit the third pitch of the game for a lead-off home run. The Rafters would answer back in the http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/bierd-solar-sox-scale-rafters-for-fifth.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Gray)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-9097152226440915427Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:52:00 +00002009-11-11T10:39:40.204-05:00Player MovementThe Red Sox have purchased the contract of righthander Stephen Fox from the Sussex Skyhawks of the Can-Am league. Fox posted a 3.98 ERA in 19 games out of the bullpen for Sussex this season. He was especially effective late in the year, putting up a 1.90 ERA and recording 29 strikeouts over his final 24.0 innings after making mechanical adjustments.Fox was recruited to play baseball at Hofstra http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/sox-sign-stephen-fox-from-can-am-league.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Gray)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-8855588524467638192Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:20:00 +00002009-11-10T09:47:31.250-05:00Cup of Coffee11/10 Cup of Coffee: It was a close one in the desert Monday, but timely hitting and a stellar ensemble pitching performance helped Mesa edge Scottsdale by a 3-2 score.The Scorpions got off to a fast start, scoring in the first when Brandon Crawford (SFG) doubled with one out and scored two batters later on an RBI groundout by fellow Giants prospect Thomas Neal. Hector Gomez (COL) added to the http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/province-slams-door-as-mesa-edges.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zachary Nicholson)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-3469232679156214497Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:54:00 +00002009-11-10T09:12:10.173-05:00Sox System NotesThe Red Sox yesterday made decisions on their team options, choosing to decline their $5 million option on Jason Varitek, as well as their $6 million option on Alex Gonzalez. The team also picked up its $7.1 million option on Victor Martinez while coming to terms on a new deal with Tim Wakefield.Varitek struggled last season, hitting .209 before eventually losing his starting job to Martinez. http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/red-sox-decline-option-on-varitek.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Gray)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-6807051226663599070Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:57:00 +00002009-11-09T09:10:35.950-05:00Sox System NotesHere's how Boston's prospects fared over the past week in the Caribbean:Venezuelan Professional Baseball League Jose Alvarez (Caribes de Anzoategui), in his last appearance before being traded to Florida, threw 2.2 innings out of the bullpen on November 4, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits while walking 2 and striking out 2. Felix Doubront (Navegantes del Magallanes) made two appearances (one start) in http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/caribbean-roundup-november-2-november-8.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Gray)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-3654625382975239707Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:19:00 +00002009-11-08T12:58:35.053-05:00Cup of Coffee11/8 Cup of Coffee: Trailing 7-0 after the top of the first, the Western Division held the Eastern squad scoreless for the remainder of the game and rallied for a dramatic come-from-behind 8-7 win in the AFL Rising Star Showcase.Before 4,550 fans, the largest crowd in the game's brief history, the Eastern Division scored seven times in their half of the first, driving Atlanta prospect Mike Minor http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/western-division-rallies-for-8-7-win-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Don Hyslop)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13579837.post-1670038484373118994Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:58:00 +00002009-11-07T12:50:11.949-05:00Cup of Coffee 11/7 Cup of Coffee: Mesa extended its winning streak to three games on Friday with an 11-1 thrashing of the Surprise Rafters.The Solar Sox scored early and often in this contest. In the second inning, they scored four runs, with one of those crossing the plate on a Jose Iglesias ground out to second. Mesa added three more in the third on a three-run home run by Iglesias, his second of the fall http://news.soxprospects.com/2009/11/iglesias-drives-in-5-in-solar-sox-win.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Don Hyslop)