The Washington Nationals have traded journeyman infielder Jerry Hairston Jr to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfield prospect Erik Komatsu. The 23 year old Komatsu is currently batting .294 with 19 Doubles, 6 Home Runs, 40 RBI’s, and has 13 stolen bases for the Double-A Huntsville Stars. Last season for the High-A Brevard County Manatees the 5’10” left handed hitter had a breakout season batting .323 with 31 Doubles, 6 Triples, 5 Home Runs, 63 RBI’s, and stole 28 bases in the normally pitchers friendly Florida State League. Komatsu was an 8th round pick of Milwaukee in the 2008 draft out of Cal State Fullerton.
Category Archives: Major League Baseball News
Prospect Breakdown: Mariners Trade Doug Fister & David Pauley to Detroit For Francisco Martinez, Charlie Furbush, & Casper Wells
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.
Jacob Turner Called Up To Pitch For The Detroit Tigers
As first reported by SI.com’s Jon Heyman late Friday night, the Detroit Tigers plan to call up the organization’s top pitching prospect Jacob Turner. The 20 year old was 3-5 with a 3.48ERA in 17 starts for the Double-A Erie SeaWolves. Turner has struck out 90 batters while walking just 32 in 113.2 innings this year. Eastern League batters are hitting just .239 against him. Turner who was 9th overall pick in the 2009 draft went a combined 6-5 with a 3.28ERA between the Low-A Western Michigan Whitecaps and the High-A Lakeland Flying Tigers in 2010. He is considered to be one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball and was among the key pieces of the Tigers bid to acquire Colorado Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez at the trading deadline.
Prospect Breakdown: Houston Astros Trade Hunter Pence To Phillies For Jonathan Singleton & Jarred Cosart
The Houston Astros have acquired Philadelphia Phillies prospects Jonathan Singleton and Jarred Cosart as well as Josh Zeid and a player to be named later via trade in exchange for Hunter Pence. The 19 year old Singleton is the Phillies top overall prospect. This season for the High-A Clearwater Threshers Singleton is batting .282 with 14 Doubles, 9 Home Runs and 47 RBI. Last year for the Low-A Lakewood Blueclaws the 6’2″ left handed hitting outfielder batted .290 with 25 Doubles, 2 Triples, 14 Home Runs, and 77RBI. Singleton was an 8th round pick in the 2009 draft out of Millikan High School in California. Cosart is arguably the top young arm in a Phillies organization loaded with them. The 20 year old is currently 9-8 with a 3.92ERA for High-A Clearwater. He’s struck out 79 batters in 108 innings of work and opposing hitters are batting .243 off of Cosart. The right hander went 7-3 with a 3.79 ERA in 71 innings for Lakewood in 2010. Cosart was originally a 38th round pick of the Phillies in the 2008 draft out of Clear Creek High School in Texas. Zeid is a 24 year old relief pitcher currently playing for Double-A Reading where he is 2-3 with a 5.65ERA. After 11 starts, Zeid was moved to the bullpen where he has picked up two saves, and has an ERA of 2.25 in his 10 relief appearances. Zeid went 8-4 with a 2.83ERA for Lakewood in 2010. He was a 10th round pick of the Phillies in the 2009 draft out of Tulane.
San Francisco Giants May Use Falconry Team To Combat Seagulls & Pigeons At AT&T Park
This is a pretty cool story. The San Francisco Giants are trying to figure out how to combat an ever growing assortment of scavenger seagulls and pigeons that are diminishing the fan experience at AT&T park. Among the routes they are exploring is bringing in a falconry team to intimidate the birds away from the ballpark during Giants games. In the story & video a local falconer explains just how his falcons are trained to keep seagulls and pigeons away.
Baseball bird brawl — NBC-2.com
San Diego Padres Set Guinness World Record For Most Dogs In A Costume Parade At 337
In a promotion that will go down as a dog gone success, the San Diego Padres are the new Guinness Book of World Records holder for the record of Most Dogs In A Costume Parade, as 337 dogs in costume paraded around the Petco Park outfield before the Padres game with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night. Check out the video of the July 27, 2011 record setting parade below.
Gene Larkin Is Still A Legend In Minnesota 20 Years After His World Series Winning Hit For The Twins
Having a walk off hit in Game 7 of the World Series will get you a lot of mileage. For Gene Larkin the fame has stuck with him for nearly two decades after his single in the bottom of the 10th inning won the 1991 World Series for the Minnesota Twins. In the story Larkin talks about being a role player who gained sudden fame, his folk hero status in Minnesota, and his work with young baseball players. Fans also share their memories of Larkin’s hit.
Former New York Yankees Pitcher Hideki Irabu Dead At Age 42
Multiple sources across the web are reporting that former New York Yankees, Montreal Expos, and Texas Rangers pitcher Hideki Irabu was found hung in an apparent suicide earlier today. He was 42. Irabu who was originally purchased by the Padres from the Chiba Lotte Mariners of Japan’s Pacific Coast League refused sign with San Diego and was traded to the New York Yankees where he began his big league career in 1997. Irabu underachieved for most of his career in the states with his best year coming in 1998 when he went 13-9 with a 4.06 ERA for the Yankees. He finished his career going 5-15 over three seasons with the Expos and Rangers before going back to Japan to finish out his career. In 2009 Irabu came back to the states signing with the Long Beach Armada of the Golden League. You can watch his welcoming press conference below. Baseball card collectors will remember the 1997 Hideki Irabu Bowman Chrome Rookie being one of the most sought after rookie cards of the 1990’s when Irabu first hit the major leagues.
Prospect Breakdown: Cubs Trade Kosuke Fukudome To Indians For Abner Abreu & Carlton Smith
The Chicago Cubs have traded Kosuke Fukudome to the Cleveland Indians for outfielder Abner Abreu and right handed pitcher Carlton Smith. The 21 year old Abreu is in his second season for the High-A Kinston Indians. He is currently batting .244 with 16 Doubles, 5 Triples, 12 Home Runs, 35 RBI’s, and has stolen 19 bases on the year. The biggest knock on Abreu at the plate is that he strikes out a ton. He’s K’d 102 times in 336 at-bats this year while drawing just 22 walks. Abreu hit .252 in his first season at High-A in 2010 after a career year in which he hit .305 for the Low-A Lake County Captains in 2009. Smith is a 25 year old relief pitcher who has put up average at-best numbers for the last two years at Triple-A Columbus. The 6-2 right hander is currently 2-3 with a 4.50ERA and 2 saves in 34 appearances out of the Clippers bullpen. He’s struck out 46 batters in 46 innings, and opposing hitters are batting .259 against him. Smith has been working his way through the Indians organization since 2004 when he was a 21st round pick out of Okaloosa Walton junior college in Florida. In 2010 in 48 innings for Columbus, Smith went 1-5 with a 6.38ERA and allowed a .325 batting average to opposing hitters.
Catcher Brian Schneider Enjoys Giving Back At The Phillies Carpenter Cup High School Tournament
Since 1993 the Philadelphia Phillies have hosted teams of area high school all star players in a summer baseball tournament called the Carpenter Cup. Back in 1994 one of those all stars was current Phillies catcher Brian Schneider. Since joining the Phillies in 2010 after a decade long big league career with the Montreal Expos, Washington Nationals, and New York Mets, Schneider jumped at the chance to chair the tournament. It so happened that his old Carpenter Cup team Lehigh Valley won the 2011 championship, and as a result they were treated kings by Schneider at Citizens Bank Park. In the story, Schneider’s old Carpenter Cup coach talks about coaching Schneider and the experience had by this year’s Lehigh Valley team. It’s a pretty cool read.
Schneider made sure champs were rewarded
— MCall.com