One of our favorite players since I started this site has been Buster Posey who is now the everyday starting catcher with the San Francisco Giants. He made the transition before his sophomore season from shortstop to catcher after the recommendation of FSU assistant coach Mike Martin Jr. He was able to make the transition seamless and now is considered the top young catcher in the league.
The start of spring training games gives us a chance to check in on some Former College Players and how they are adjusting to pro baseball. Today, we check in on some American League stars and will be checking in on the National League in the coming days.
OF – Colin Curtis, NYY (Arizona State, 4th Round, 2006)
Curtis started off Spring Training strong with a walk-off 3-run homerun against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first game of Spring Training, and has a chance to make the Opening Day roster. His chances depend on the what the Yankees see in Jamie Hoffman, who is currently hitting .125 with only one extra basehit in 16 AB’s. Bleacher Report has a good analysis on Colin’s chances of making the 25-man roster.
By Bob Elliott, Canadian Baseball Network
He stands 5-foot-9 and resembles a back-up infielder.
Mike Gosse
DH Mike Gosse sure stood tall for in his Oklahoma Sooners uniform.
As former Montreal Expos manager Felipe Alou used to describe super sub F.P. Santangelo: “It’s not the size of the man, it’s the size of the heart inside the man.”
Gosse has a 6-foot-6 heart.
Gosse (senior, Pitt Meadows, BC) earned 35 first-place ballots to lead the way the ninth annual All-Canadian College Team. He had seven more than First Team votes than 2B Kevin Mailloux (junior, Windsor, Ont.) of the Canisius Golden Griffins.
Results from our usual voting panel of 42 were scored on a 5-3-1 points basis, Our numbers were totaled by a bonded accounting firm of Grant Thornton.
Our 42 experts came from a vast cross section from both sides of the border: coaches (14), executives (eight), scouts (eight), scouting directors (three), former players (three), writers (three), broadcaster (one) and our crack staff. Read the rest of this entry »
The CBB continues our countdown to the 2009 College Baseball season with our Top 50 players to watch. We will be providing one player each day (Monday-Saturday) until we reach number 1.
We continue the list today with Junior Tommy Mendonca from Fresno State checking in at the 44th spot in our countdown. He is a 6’1 200 pound third baseman out of Turlock High School in Turlock California. Read the rest of this entry »
The New York Times has put out an article today about the Andrew Oliver situation which ended up getting him suspended before the NCAA Tournament. He ended up getting suspended for his relationship with an agent after being drafted out of high school.
Oliver has now filed a lawsuit against the NCAA for not giving him due process in the situation. The New York Times article states the following about the lawsuit: Read the rest of this entry »
Head Coach Wade Simoneaux
Louisiana Tech Bulldog Baseball Sets Fall Schedule
For the first time in the Wade Simoneaux era at Louisiana Tech, the Bulldog baseball team will play four fall games against outside competition.
Simoneaux announced Monday that Louisiana Tech would play LSU-Shreveport Oct. 3, Panola Junior College Oct. 9, Grambling State Oct. 16 and Bossier Parish Community College Oct. 18.
Read the rest of this entry »
Pat Murphy brings in another strong class
The College Baseball Newspaper released their rankings for the Top Recruiting classes for the 2009 season. It is led by Arizona State University for the third time in the 26th year existence of the rankings. They will welcome a 20 recruit class to Tempe in the spring with 15 incoming freshmen and 5 junior college transfers. Out of the 20 recruits, 13 of them were selected in the 2008 MLB Draft. Oregon comes in second place in the rankings with their 30 recruits joining George Horton in Eugene for the return of UO baseball. Vanderbilt, Arkansas, and Georgia round out the Top 5. Read the rest of this entry »
Pirates and Alvarez agree to a contract
Pedro Alvarez and the Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to a new contract ending a month long disagreement between the parties. Alvarez’s agent Scott Boras claimed that the contract that they signed with the Pirates was not valid because it came after the August 15th deadline. The MLBPA filed a grievance on August 27th over the issue and it was recently heard by an arbitrator on September 10th with the next two hearings were set to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. The new contract will pay Alvarez 6.355 million over the next four years according to a report by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Read the rest of this entry »
The grievance filed by the MLBPA on behalf of Pedro Alvarez will have their case heard today. The case revolves around the validity of his contract which Alvarez’s camp says came after the midnight deadline on August 15th and the Pirates say is a valid contract. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports says: Read the rest of this entry »
Buster Posey
I know that we talked about the San Francisco Giants yesterday about how they moved up Conor Gillaspie up to the Majors but we continue with our coverage of the Giants minor league system with an article about Buster Posey. He was added to the San Jose Giants roster for the playoffs where he made his first appearance on Saturday evening where the Giants picked up a 5-3 victory in Game 1 of their playoff series against Stockton. Posey went 1-3 with a walk and threw out a baserunner in his debut. The Giants have had Posey on three different teams in the last eight days where he started in Rookie Ball in Arizona then promoted to short-season A ball in Oregon before being promoted to San Jose. Read the rest of this entry »
Conor Gillaspie has become the first 2008 draft pick to make it to the Major Leagues as he was called up after the Giants September 6th game. He had an outstanding career with the Wichita State Shockers where he was selected by the Giants with the 37th overall pick. He ended up spending only 91 days in the minors. I talked with The Giants Baseball Blog back in June and said the following about Connor: Read the rest of this entry »
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette checks in with an article about Pedro Alvarez and his options for the next season if his contract is voided. Dejean Kovacevic was able to talk with Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin to discuss the possibility that Pedro would return to campus. Read the rest of this entry »
CBD Scouting Spotlight: Mark Appel (Stanford)
CBD Scouting Spotlight: Adam Plutko (UCLA)
CBD Scouting Report: Kevin Ziomek (Vanderbilt)
CBD Interview with Notre Dame’s Mik Aoki and Dan Slania
CBD Scouting Video: Colton Plaia (Loyola Marymount)
