Dan Burke who oversaw one of the most successful minor league baseball franchises in the past two decades has died at age 82. Burke brought the Sea Dogs to Hadlock Field in Portland Maine’s in 1994. It was Southern Maine’s first minor league ball team since the old Triple-A Maine Guides played in nearby Old Orchard Beach. The story link below gives an in-depth look at Burke’s life and legacy in Minor League Baseball.
Sea Dogs owner dead at 82 — KJOnline.com
Elliott Speirs, a 16 year old bat boy for the Portland Sea Dogs was one of two teenagers in the Hadlock Field visiting team’s dugout on Tuesday, Bryce Harper was the other. This piece by Portland Press Herald columnist Steve Solloway puts into perspective just how young Harper is and how big the pressures he faces on a nightly basis are. Great read.
Steve Solloway: Growing up while going up — PressHerald.com
One of the biggest breakout prospects in the Boston Red Sox organization in 2011 has been third base prospect Will Middlebrooks. The 22 year old was promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket on Friday and for the year is hitting .300 with 26 Doubles, 21 Home Runs, and 86 RBI’s, most of which were put up in his 96 games for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. The 2007 5th round pick has seen his average and power numbers improve with each climb of the Red Sox organizational ladder. The next logical progression will be from Pawtucket to Boston. In the story Middlebrooks talks about his breakout season, looking up to Kevin Youkilis, and maintaining his approach as he progresses towards Fenway. It’s a very good read.
A giant step closer to Fenway — ESPN Boston
Perhaps the biggest breakout prospect of 2011 has been Red Sox catching prospect Ryan Lavarnway. Combined between the Double-A Portland Seadogs and Triple-A Pawtucket, Lavarnway is batting a combined .294, with 21 Doubles, 30 Home Runs, and 85 RBI’s. His previous career high in home runs had come in 2009 when he hit 21 long balls with the Low-A Greenville Drive. He was orginally a sixth round pick of the Red Sox in the 2008 draft out of Yale. In the story, Lavarnway talks about finally being noticed as a mainstream prospect, overcoming the stigma of the Ivy League baseball, and working hard every day to prove the doubters wrong.
The Seattle Mariners have traded Erik Bedard and pitching prospect Josh Fields to the Boston Red Sox in a 3 way deal that sends Tim Federowicz, Juan Rodriguez, Stephen Fife, and Chih-Hsien Chiang to the Mariners who then flipped Federowicz, Fife, and Rodriguez to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Trayvon Robinson. The 23 year old Robinson has been one of baseball’s breakout prospects in 2011. He’s hit .293 with 9 Doubles, 6 Triples, 26 Home Runs, and 71 RBI’s for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isatopes. In 2010 the 5’10” centerfielder hit .300 with 23 Doubles, 5 Triples, 9 Home Runs, and 57 RBI’s for the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts. Robinson was a 10th round pick of the Dodgers in the 2005 draft. In the deal, Los Angeles gets the soon to be 24 year old catcher Federowicz who is currently batting .275 with 20 Doubles, 7 Home Runs, and 50 RBI’s for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. Last season for the High-A Salem Red Sox he hit .253 with 34 Doubles and 4 Home Runs. Federowicz is a U.S. National team alum. The Red Sox drafted him the seventh round of the 2008 draft out of the University of North Carolina. The 22 year old Rodriguez is currently 2-4 with a 5.19ERA in 32 appearances for High-A Salem. He has 88 strikeouts in 59 innings. He pitched in the Gulf Coast League in 2010 going 5-1 with a 3.51ERA. Rodriguez was signed by the Red Sox as a non drafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2008. The 24 year old Fife is 11-4 with a 3.66ERA in 18 starts for Portland. He’s repeating Double-A this season after going 8-6 with a 4.75ERA for the Sea Dogs in 2010. Fife was a third round pick of the Red Sox in the 2008 draft out of the University of Utah. Additionally in the deal, the Mariners received and are keeping Chih-Hsien Chiang from Boston. The 23 year old Chiang is currently hitting .338 with 36 Doubles, 4 Triples, 18 Home Runs, and 76 RBI’s at Portland. The native of Taiwan is repeating Double-A and has vastly improved upon the .260, 35 Double, 11 Home Run, 65 RBI season he had with the Seadogs in 2010. Chiang was signed by the Red Sox as a non drafted free agent in 2005. Boston acquires Fields who is 1-2 with a 3.92ERA and 3 saves in a combined 39 innings out of the bullpen for the Double-A Jackson Generals and Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers. Fields was the 20th overall pick of the 2008 draft out of the University of Georgia.