The “unofficial” Ottawa Lynx blog

There can be only one

Archive for March, 2008

Next Entries »

Catching up with Ja-vo.

Posted by Carl on March 14, 2008

Okay.  I take back the Ja-vo reference.  Of the games we saw Javon play here in Ottawa, we were pretty impressed - I didn’t see him as a significant “downgrade” from Chris Roberson.  If anything, I thought he showed  more discipline on the basepaths.  Here’s the update, care of Phillybaseballnews:

Phillies Prospect #23: Javon Moran Premium Story

By Chuck Hixson
Publisher
Posted Mar 11, 2008
Javon Moran was part of the speed draft of 2003 and then wound up being a trading chip to bring Cory Lidle to town. Ironically, his greatest value to the Phillies might again be as a trading chip.

Acquired: Was originally drafted by the Phillies in the 5th round of the 2003 Draft, but was traded to Cincinnati in the Cory Lidle trade. The Phillies reacquired him from the Reds along with Brad Key for Jeff Conine.B: R  T: R  / Height: 5′ 11″ / Weight: 175 lbs.

Birth Date: September 30, 1982

2007 Team: Reading (67 g), Ottawa (39 g), Clearwater (3 g), GCL Phillies (2 g)

Positions Played in 2007: CF (101 g), LF (6 g), RF (3 g)

School: Auburn University

In the 2003 Draft, the Phillies were looking for speed. Tim Moss, Michael Bourn and Javon Moran were all taken with the first three draft picks that they had (in rounds three through five) and were determined to start putting speed in their system and doing it through the draft. As time went on, Tim Moss fizzled and Javon Moran was shipped to Cincinnati for pitcher Cory Lidle. It appeared that Michael Bourn was going to be the last speedster standing and he even reached the majors with the Phillies, but was then dealt to Houston for Brad Lidge. In the meantime, the Phillies sent Jeff Conine to Cincinnati in December of 2006 and brought Moran back to the organization.

In his time with Cincinnati Moran showed progress and was a pleasant surprise for the Phillies last season as he put up strong numbers at Double-A Reading and earned a promotion to Triple-A. He won’t make the big league club out of spring training, but could be an option for them later in the season or could also be a trading chip should he continue to progress. With the emergence of Greg Golson, there isn’t much of a future for another player much like him in the organization and Moran’s greatest value to the Phillies could be in a deal to bring another piece of the puzzle to the Phillies.

Batting and Power: Javon Moran has hit .299 through five minor league seasons and figures to have the ability to put up similar numbers in the majors when he gets the chance. His move to Triple-A last season was the first time he had reached that level and he’ll likely be back there again in 2008. Power isn’t a part of his game and that isn’t any surprise to anyone.

Baserunning and Speed: As we said, the 2003 Draft was all built around speed in the first three picks that the Phillies had in rounds three through five. Moran was the lowest of those three picks, but isn’t short of any speed. The main question mark was how he would get on base and that appears to have been figured out. While he doesn’t necessarily have good enough skills to become a league leader in stolen bases, he’ll strike some fear into opposing pitchers.

Defense: Moran also uses his speed defensively and has become a pretty good defensive outfielder. His arm strength and accuracy simply aren’t there, but he’ll get to balls that other outfielders simply can’t get to. He can play any of the outfield positions, but is obviously best suited to center field.

Projection: It just doesn’t figure that Moran has much of a future in Philadelphia. Greg Golson is ahead of him on the depth chart and there doesn’t seem to be much need for his services. That’s not to say that Moran can’t play in the majors, because there are other clubs where he would fit perfectly. The Phillies are likely hoping that Moran burns up the International League at Triple-A Lehigh Valley through the early going of 2008 and that he can become a prime trading chip by the trade deadline. If he can do just that, his value to the Phillies will be huge. Should he struggle at Triple-A, he’ll likely become more of a Chris Roberson type player than a player like Michael Bourn who helped to bring Brad Lidge to town.

ETA: On some teams, Moran could be close to the majors, but in all honesty, he likely needs a full season at Triple-A. He certainly would have value to a number of teams and isn’t far away from being ready for the show.

Comparison: While he doesn’t have Bourn’s speed, he is the same type of player. He’s got the defensive skills to be a late inning replacement and should develop into a player who can play everyday and hit at the top of the lineup for a long time.

Javon Moran’s career stats

Year Team HR RBI AVG G AB R H 2B 3B SB BB SO OBP SLG
2003 Batavia 1 12 .284 60 250 33 71 9 3 27 16 32 .326 .356
2004 Lakewood 2 38 .285 101 421 73 120 18 9 39 24 78 .340 .385
2004 Dayton 0 7 .383 25 94 11 36 2 0 11 10 15 .448 .404
2005 Sarasota 2 23 .329 53 210 35 69 4 2 13 14 32 .378 .395
2005 Chattanooga 0 2 .301 23 83 14 25 5 1 7 5 21 .341 .386
2006 Sarasota 0 3 .372 10 43 5 16 2 0 4 2 5 .413 .419
2006 Chattanooga 1 12 .316 63 250 34 79 11 3 16 11 26 .351 .396
2007 GCL Phils 0 0 .000 2 3 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 .400 .000
2007 Clearwater 0 0 .154 3 13 3 2 0 0 1 2 6 .267 .154
2007 Reading 2 19 .298 67 255 52 76 12 2 24 34 38 .388 .384
2007 Ottawa 0 3 .241 39 170 26 41 7 3 5 11 42 .299 .318
Minor League Totals 8 119 .299 446 1792 287 535 70 23 148 131 295 .355 .377

Posted in FLP, News | 1 Comment »

A Shawn McCart sighting

Posted by sagsy on March 12, 2008

Quick note … you might remember Shawn McCart, who was the Lynx play-by-play man back in 2006.

Shawn, a native of the Niagara Region, will be back in Ottawa, for one game at least, broadcasting basketball for Streaming Sports Network Canada on Friday when Brock plays at the Canadian university champion at Scotiabank Place. Small world, eh?

Posted in Friends of the Lynx | No Comments »

Good times

Posted by Carl on March 10, 2008

I’m sure there are thousands more moments like these that I missed.

Posted in FLP, News | No Comments »

A sure sign of spring.

Posted by Carl on March 9, 2008

 

Doris’ Civic, beside a 6 foot snow bank. 

And man, do we need one.

The first round of cuts were released today - unfortunately a number of FLPs were optioned or re-assigned to the minor league camp:

The Phillies made 13 Spring Training transactions this morning.

The following players were optioned to Minor League camp: right-handers Joe Bisenius, Scott Mathieson and left-hander J.A. Happ; and infielder Brad Harman.

The following players were reassigned to Minor League camp: right-handers Ron Chiavacci and Zack Segovia and left-handers Brian Mazone and Joe Savery; catchers Tuffy Gosewisch and Lou Marson; infielders Jason Donald, Mike Cervenak and Andy Tracy; and outfielder Valentino Pascucci.

One notable exception: Jason Jaramillo.  They might just be hanging on to the catchers a little longer more for the benefit of the pitchers than anyone else - but, you never know what might be in the cards.

Spring’s coming - but it may not get here till 2009.

Posted in FLP, News | No Comments »

Hunkering down

Posted by Carl on March 8, 2008

With the storm raging outside and the rest of the family in balmy Toronto, it’s time to get back to the blogs.  Apart from the serious setback to my cycling plans for tomorrow, this snowstorm would normally have me very concerned about OD.  With the season start now pushed back to May 22, we should be safe - but you just never really know around here.

Caught a quick update from J.A. Happ over at the Philadelphia Phillies official website:

While this year’s newer, sexier pitching prospects Joe Savery, Josh Outman and Carlos Carrasco garner the attention, J.A. Happ, last year’s model, quietly walks in and out of the clubhouse.

Stationed in the back of the clubhouse, wearing No. 66, Happ realizes how close Triple-A is to the Major Leagues, but he understands it is also quite far away.

Maybe rushing things, like he did last season, isn’t the right idea.

“Last year, I put a lot of pressure on myself,” Happ said. “I thought it was the year I had to put up great numbers, because I wanted to get [to the Major Leagues]. I was focused on a week ahead instead of what I needed to do that day. I had to concentrate on Triple-A instead of worrying about getting to the big leagues.

“Obviously, that’s still what I’m aiming for, but day-by-day is the biggest thing.”

Here’s hoping that J.A. has a better 2008.  (I never really knew how to refer to him last season - was it J.A? James? Jim?)  Another former member of the Lynx, Tim Leiper was also making headlines this past week - this story c/o Benjamin Hill’s blog:

In recognition of their manager, Tim Leiper, the Altoona Curve have announced that they will be celebrating “Leip Year” all season long! The 2008 campaign is Leiper’s third as Curve manager, but the first that has occurred on an honest-to-God “Leip” Year. Accordingly, the club is pulling out all the stops in order to fully recognize this exquisite confluence of events.

Leiper is on board with this promotion, and has even agreed to change his uniform number to 29 (in order to honor February 29, of course).

“My only concern is that I hope the jersey fits because if not, I might be forced to go on an emergency diet before the start of the season,” remarked the fortuitously-named skipper in the Curve’s press release.

I regret that my interest in the Lynx came so late; I’m sure that I went to a few games during Leiper’s stint(s) here, but not enough to have any particular memory of Ottawa’s colorful former manager.  I’m sure that many Lynx faithful have stories to share - or not, as the case may be.

Posted in Coaches, FLC, FLP, Friends of the Lynx, LHP, News | 1 Comment »

Fighting with the shadows

Posted by Carl on March 6, 2008

Right around this time last year I posted up about my Dad’s battle with cancer.  A number of people have asked me for an update on that front, so I figured I probably should write again.  My father was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma, a non-Hodgkins variation of cancer - technically speaking, there is no cure.  It was initially believed that he was diagnosed at an early stage of the disease, and to his disappointment, they weren’t offering any treatment.  The plan was simply to monitor the disease as it progressed, and when it became more acute they would re-evaluate their plans.  Like most of us I suppose, having the spectre of a cancer progressing within his body wasn’t something he wanted to face on a daily basis.  Battling an abstract killer, fighting with shadows, is a difficult sentence to be handed.  Compounding the sense of helplessness was that given his age, we realized that they likely never really contemplated treating him - chemotherapy, clinical trials and bone marrow transplants were for younger candidates.  Put coldly, dying of lymphoma in your 30s was something less medically acceptable than dying of lymphoma in your 70s.  It’s a disturbing form of calculus that they thankfully don’t teach in school.

And then suddenly, as quickly as it appeared, it simply vanished.  Blood tests, CAT scans, bone marrow tests all failed to find any trace.  Test results continued to appear as if he’d never had the disease at all.  Yesterday, an annual CAT scan and blood test came back clean.  Rather than waiting for a confirmatory test result - medical speak for “waiting for the other shoe to drop”, we now believe that this thing isn’t coming back.  That he has indeed “kicked cancer’s ass”.  As a family we’re enormously thankful and relieved - incredibly so.  A man of deep religious convictions, Dad doesn’t attribute anything to “luck”, preferring instead to credit his condition to God’s mercy and grace. 

Amen.

Posted in News | No Comments »

Zack’s back!

Posted by Carl on March 4, 2008

Zack Segovia (photo courtesy Patrick Shanks)

Zack Segovia (Photo courtesy Patrick Shanks)

FLP and all around decent guy, Zack Segovia seems to have shaken off last year and the season ending surgery.  Zack threw a couple of innings in yesterday’s 3-1 Grapefruit League win over the Pittsburgh Pirates - the line on Zack:  2IP, no hits, no runs allowed.  Joe Bisenius also got in an inning, giving up a pair of hits, but didn’t allow any runs and picked up the save.  Quick breakdown on Zack from Phillybaseballnews:

Acquired: Drafted by the Phillies in the 2nd round of the 2002 Draft.B: R T: R  /  Height: 6′ 2″  /  Weight: 220 lbs.

2007 Team(s): Ottawa (13 g), Reading (10 g), Philadelphia (1 g)Games/Games Started in 2007: 24 g / 24 gs

School: Forney High School

Last Year’s Ranking: #7

Why he fell from #7 to #31: Last season started on such a promising note for Zack Segovia. He made a start in the bigs with the Phillies and even though he didn’t overwhelm the Florida Marlins, he made it through five innings and did pretty much what the Phillies were looking for him to do. From there though, his season fell apart as he struggled at Triple-A Ottawa and was finally dropped down to Double-A Reading and ultimately off the Phillies 40 man roster. He also suffered another injury and had yet another surgery, bringing back concerns about his health, which were expanded when Segovia attempted to pitch through an injury last season and ultimately wound up having shoulder surgery after the season.

Repertoire: Segovia has a low to mid-90s fastball that the Phillies are hoping returns after he underwent posterior shoulder release surgery. His slider has been a very good pitch for him and he generally has it in the low-80s. On all of his pitches, Segovia gets a lot of downward movement and usually keeps the ball in the park very well.

Pitching Style: Segovia generally lives by keeping the ball down in the zone and not letting hitters take him deep. He pitches ahead in the count and has strong control and is a smart pitcher, who is in control of himself on the mound. There have been some thoughts about moving Segovia to the bullpen and it’s a move that he has said he would be fine with if he was asked. He certainly has the bulldog mentality and prefers to go right after hitters, making a relief role a possibility down the road.

Projection: When the Phillies drafted Segovia out of high school, he was like most other high school pitchers and needed a lot of work. The Phillies believed that they had a great and potentially dominating pitcher in Segovia, but Tommy John surgery slowed his progress. If he returns from the most recent surgery in good shape, Segovia should be able to bounce back from what became pretty much of a lost season and there’s no reason - other than health - why he wouldn’t be able to do that. The early reports out of Clearwater where Segovia was rehabbing were very good. He seemed to be throwing without the stiffness that he showed at times during the season and thoughts were that he would be ready to go when the season starts. That’s all good news and if Segovia can pick up from where he was coming into next season, he would wind up being an option for an emergency call to the Phillies bullpen or starting rotation if they needed it.

ETA: The big question is whether Segovia truly did take a step back last season. The injury obviously played a part in his slide and the trouble that he had at pitching at Ottawa. If he’s healthy, Segovia would likely be ready to step in for the Phillies if they really needed him, but his health is a definite concern.

What else you should know about Zack Segovia: 

  • Segovia had accepted a scholarship to the University of Miami, but signed with the Phillies out of high school.

Zack Segovia’s career stats

YEAR / TEAM W L ERA SV G GS IP H R ER HR BB KO WHIP OPP AVG
2002 GCL 3 2 2.10 0 8 8 34.1 21 11 8 0 3 30 0.70 .174
2003 Lakewood 1 5 3.99 0 11 10 49.2 63 25 22 2 14 27 1.55 .307
2003 GCL 0 1 4.00 0 5 4 9.0 8 5 4 0 0 6 0.89 .235
2004 Injured 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 .000
2005 Clearwater 4 14 5.54 0 27 27 144.2 168 98 89 18 48 83 1.49 .291
2006 Clearwater 5 1 2.19 0 7 7 49.1 39 14 12 2 12 41 1.03 .222
2006 Reading 11 5 3.11 0 17 16 107.0 90 45 37 8 24 75 1.06 .226
2007 Ottawa 1 9 6.05 0 13 13 77.1 99 55 52 8 28 22 1.64 .315
2007 Reading 5 3 4.84 0 10 10 57.2 65 34 31 4 22 30 1.51 .290
2007 Philadelphia 0 1 9.00 0 1 1 5.0 8 5 5 1 1 2 1.80 .400
Minor League Totals 30 40 4.34 0 98 95 529.0 553 287 255 42 151 314 1.33 .270

Posted in FLP, Friends of the Lynx, News, RHP, Relievers | No Comments »

Since you asked

Posted by Carl on March 3, 2008

When people discover that I have a little more than just a passing interest in MiLB, the question that usually comes up at some point is about player salaries - “How much do those guys make?”.  Generally my response was that I didn’t know, but if a guy wasn’t on the 40 man roster, my guess was “probably not very much”.  It may be tacky to discuss money, but here are some current salaries of some FLPs, care of Philly.com:

Chris Coste
Was $385,000, now $415,000. Split contract. Makes $180,000 if sent to minors.

Clay Condrey
Was $385,000, now $420,000, Split contract. Makes $194,000 if sent to minors.

J.D. Durbin
No OD 2007, now $402,500. Split contract. Makes $140,000 if sent to minors.

Mike Zagurski
No OD 2007, now $392,500. Split contract. Makes $143,000 if sent to minors.

2007 Salary Total Includes: Antonio Alfonseca, $700,000; Rod Barajas, $2,500,000; Joe Bisenius (f), $380,000; Michael Bourn, $380,000; Ryan Budde (c), $380,000; Freddy Garcia (c), $10,000,000; Geoff Geary, $837,500; Jon Lieber (c), $7,500,000; Scott Mathieson (c, e), $380,000; Abraham Nunez (a), $1,800,000; Aaron Rowand, $4,350,000; Zack Segovia (f), $380,000; Matt Smith (e), $380,000.

Notes: (a), 2007 salary includes signing bonus; (b) 2008 salary includes signing bonus; (c) Opened 2007 season on disabled list; (d) Phillies’ portion for player now with White Sox, third of four annual payments; (e) Remains on 40-man roster; (f) Remains in camp as non-roster invitee.

OTHER CONTRACTS

Remaining roster players in camp with majors/minors split:

Fabio Castro $393,000/$153,000

Remaining roster players in camp who would make the major league minimum $390,000, with value of split contract:

J.A. Happ $62,500

Jason Jaramillo $31,250

Matt Smith $62,500

Non-roster players in camp with majors/minors splits:

John Ennis ($390,500/$75,000);

Gary Knotts ($400,000/$12,000 per month or letter agreement for major league contract for $72,000. Japan-Korea option*);

Pete Laforest ($390,000/$100,000);

Brian Mazone ($390,000/$13,000 per month or letter agreement for major league contract for $78,000. Japan-Korea option*);

Remaining non-roster players in camp who would make the major league minimum $390,000, with value of minor league contract:

Tim Gradoville ($2,900 per month);

Brennan King ($12,000 per month); 

Zack Segovia ($10,000 per month);

Matt Smith ($16,000 per month);

Andy Tracy ($15,000 per month or letter agreement for major league contract for $90,000. Japan-Korea option*)

*Gives player the right to buy his way out of contract to sign with a Japanese or Korean team after specified dates or be added to 25-man roster within 72 hours of denial.

************************************************************************************************************

Few things to add - first, I’ve edited the list for brevity (follow the link to see it in its entirety).  I would guess that Mazone’s 2007 contract included the “Japan-Korea” option, which he obviously exercised.  Brian pitched in a “B” game against the Pirates last Friday and gave up 2 runs in relief in a Phillies 4-3 win.  And finally, John Ennis was (I believe) DFA’d a few days ago.  In any event, he cleared waivers and was signed to a minor league contract - a $315.5K hit to the bottom line.  Ouch.

Posted in , | No Comments »

Next Entries »