Minor league free agent season is upon us, one of GW's favorite times of year. Not only do we get to see who the Bucs will pick from to stockpile at Indy - is there possibly another Mike Martinez in this class? - but a lot of guys who came through the system are still looking for that green pasture, some who even pre-date Frank Coonelly and company. (guys in italics actually appeared for the Pirates):
RHP: Tim Alderson, John Axford, Jeff Bennett, Chris Bootcheck, Jake Brigham, Matt Capps, Mike Colla, Emanuel DeLeon, Jeanmar Gomez, Kenn Kasparek, Logan Kensing, Josh Kinney, Brad Lincoln, Kyle McPherson, Daniel McCutchen, Evan Meek, Quinton Miller, Wirfin Obispo, Ryan Reid, Virgil Vasquez, Josh Wall.
LHP: Brian Burres, Dana Eveland, Rudy Owens, Raphael Perez, Jhonathan Ramos, Daniel Schlereth, Donnie Veal, Adam Wilk.
C: Nevin Ashley, Dusty Brown, Luke Carlin, Francisco Diaz, Robinzon Diaz, Hector Gimenez, Ralph Henriquez, Brian Jeroloman, Steve Lerud, Lucas May, Carlos Paulino, Rudy Pena, Miguel Perez, Omir Santos, Ali Solis.
1B: Jamie Romak, Stefan Welch.
2B: Robert Andino, Ray Chang, Blake Davis, Ivan DeJesus Jr, Tommy Field, Benji Gonzalez, Greg Picart.
SS: Dean Anna, Brian Bixler, Brian Bocock, Chase d'Arnaud, Argenis Diaz, Brent Lillibridge, Ray Olmedo.
3B: Jarek Cunningham, Jared Goedert, Andy LaRoche
OF: Brandon Boggs, Miles Durham, Quincy Latimore, Austin McClune, Anthony Norman, Andy Vasquez.
Matt Eddy of Baseball America has the full list of minor league free agents at this link.
5 comments:
Jamie Romak actually made it to the big leagues this year, at long last, and IIRC it was against the Pirates and he drew a walk in his first plate appearance. I think he would be a nice addition for Indy and ya never know, he might have some Garrett Jones in him. He certainly has persistence! He was first acquired in the Mike Gonzalez-Adam LaRoche deal; he was the throw-in from the Braves, and we sent Whatsisface, that utility infielder who played sort-of alright for the White Sox for a couple of years. I don't know what Indy has in terms of OF-1B types, but Romak has history with the Pirates organization and again, as four-A insurance, you could do a lot worse than him.
Speaking of Jones, he is surely the greatest junkheap-slash-minor league free agent signing by ANY team in recent major league history. It would make for an interesting study to see, for example, who has the most big league HR's or wins by a starting pitcher after being signed as a minor league free agent.
I always thought Big Country, Brad Eldred, deserved a better look, too, Will. That Jones v minor-league FA's would be interesting; I'll add it to my to-do list (which sadly is longer than my ambition, lol).
Agreed entirely re: Brad Eldred. People forget that he was in line to be the Pirates starting 1B until he 1) broke his wrist, and then 2) got bumped off the roster when the LaRoche trade got made. I saw him (Eldred) after the deal when he came to town with somebody's Triple-A team (no time to look it up just now) and I was really impressed with how well he moved around the bag---especially as big as he is---and also with what great shape he was in. He had a couple cups of coffee after leaving Pittsburgh; is he still kicking around in Triple A / Mexico / Japan, or has he hung 'em up?
Bad Brad went to the Hiroshimo Carp from the Tigers in 2012 and is still playing for them, Will. He broke his hand last year, but what I gather (can't find any stats), he helped lead them into the 2014 playoffs.
Oooops, my bad. The Carp finished third, but can't blame Eldred - he hit .260 w/37 HR and 104 RBI.
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