Joe Bauserman was the Pittsburgh Pirates 4th round pick in the 2004. His best season came in 2005 when he went 6-2 with a 2.84ERA for the Williamsport Crosscutters. He decided to call it quits in 2006 after a 6-8 season with the Low-A Hickory Crawdads. Even though Bauserman’s baseball career was short lived, he did manage to appear on some mainstream baseball cards. These days you can find Bauserman on your television every Sunday as the fifth year starting quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes. In the story link below, Bauserman, now 25, talks about his unlikely journey from being a baseball bust to leading one of college football’s most storied programs. It’s a very good read.
Bauserman has a new sport — MorningJournal.com
American League Rookie of the Year candidate Mark Trumbo quietly leads the Los Angeles Angels in home runs with 22 and has driven in 63 runs while hitting a respectable .261 on the season. After being selected in the 18th round of the 2004 draft, Trumbo finally caught his big break after six seasons in the minors, when Kendrys Morales was unable to return from an ankle injury suffered during the 2010 season. Despite putting up double digit home run totals in every season in the minor leagues, with a career high of 36 in 2010 with the Salt Lake City Bees, Trumbo accumulated a large number of critics who doubted his ability to translate the minor league power into the big leagues, and some even doubted he’s make it out of the low minors. In the story, Trumbo talks about finding motivation to silence his critics with every big league swing. It’s a very good read.
Angels’ Mark Trumbo has chip on his shoulder, thunder in his bat — LATimes.com
The Oakland Athletics have traded Brad Ziegler to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Brandon Allen and Jordan Norberto. The 25 year old Allen has seen limited time in the major leagues in each of the last three seasons. His best cup of coffee with Arizona came in 2010 when he hit .267 in 22 games. This season for the Diamondbacks Allen has hit .172 over 29 at-bats with three of his hits being Home Runs. He has seen time for the Triple-A Reno Aces in each of his three seasons in the Diamondbacks organization after coming over from the White Sox midway through the 2009 season. Allen hit .306 with 21 Doubles, 4 Triples, 18 Home Runs, and 66 RBI’s in 83 games for Reno this season prior to being called up. He was fifth round pick of the Chicago White Sox in the 2004 draft. Norberto is a 24 year old left handed reliever who has posted a 6-2 record with a 4.25ERA in 41 appearances for Reno, his second season in Triple-A. Norberto made his major league debut in 2010 going 0-2 with a 5.85ERA in 20 innings with the Diamondbacks in 2010. The 6’0″ lefty was signed by Arizona as a non drafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic back in 2004.
The Seattle Mariners have traded pitchers Doug Fister and David Pauley to the Detroit Tigers for pitcher Charlie Furbush, outfielder Casper Wells and Francisco Martinez. The 20 year old Martinez is one of the top prospects in the Tigers organization. The third baseman is one of the youngest players in the Double-A Eastern League and is holding his own at the level batting .282 with 14 Doubles, 4 Triples, 7 Home Runs, and 46 RBI’s this season. He played in the 2011 Futures Game. Martinez has been fast tracked through the organization since signing with the Tigers as a non drafted free agent out of Venezuela back in 2007. Last season in High-A, Martinez hit Florida State League pitching to the tune of .271 with 17 Doubles and 3 Home Runs. He is a steal for the Mariners in this trade and has serious big league potential in the future. The 26 year old Wells has bounced between Detroit and the Triple-A Toledo Mudhens the past two seasons. In 64 games in Detroit in 2011, Wells batted .257 with 10 Doubles, 4 Home Runs, and 12 RBI’s. He was sent down to Toledo on July 22nd and was hitting .370 in Triple-A prior to the trade. Wells batted .233 for Toledo in 2010 before a big league call up that saw him hit at a .323 clip in 36 games late last season for the Tigers. Wells was a 14th round pick by Detroit in the 2005 draft. Furbush made his major league debut earlier this season for Detroit and was 1-3 with a 3.62 ERA in 32.1 innings of work. He walked 14 and struck out 26 over 32.1 innings of work with opponents hitting .302 against him. In Triple-A the 24 year old The 25 year old was 5-3 with a 3.17ERA in Toledo this year and had 61 strikeouts in 54 innings with opposing hitters batting just .180 against him. In 2010 Furbush was one of the breakout pitchers in minor league baseball finishing with 183 strikeouts across stints with the High-A Lakeland Flying Tigers, the Double-A Erie Seawolves, and the Triple-A Mudhens. The 6’5″ lefty was a fourth round pick of the Tigers out of LSU in the 2007 draft.
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