Segovia invited to Yankees camp

Zack Segovia has been invited to spring training by the Yankees. He will join Greg Golson, who has been placed on 40-man roster by the defending world champions. It will be a crowded camp for New York as they extended invitations to 20 non-roster players on Tuesday.

Quartet of HomeSiders participate in Caribbean Series

A total of 4 HomeSiders competed in the Caribbean Series this past week on Margarita Island in Venezuela. The series was captured by the Dominican champions, the Leones de Escogido, who won 5 of their 6 games in the double round robin format. The Leones were the only team in the 4 team field not to have a former BlueClaw on their roster.

Yoel Hernandez pitched for Caracas, making 2 appearances and recording 5 outs after allowing a home run to the first hitter he faced, 42-year old Vinny Castilla. Yoel has spent the last 2 summers pitching in the Mexican League.

Chris Roberson, who was let go by the Diamondbacks over the winter, made a good showing, hitting .333 with 2 doubles, 3 runs scored, a stolen base and some fine outfield play, including 2 assists in the opening game for Hermosillo. The performance should serve as a good audition and hopefully will get Roberson an invitation to a major league camp next month.

Randy Ruiz (in the center of the above picture) had a fine series for Mayaguez, the Puerto Rican representatives. Randy hit .364 with a home run, 4 RBI and a .440 on base percentage. The Bronx native will now go the Dunedin for spring training with the Blue Jays. Andy Baldwin made a start for Mayaguez, going 4.2 innings Friday, allowing just 1 earned run on 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out 2 against the Dominican team in the only game that that the DR lost in the series. Andy will head to Arizona to Mariner's camp in his bid for a spot on the Seattle roster.

Now that the Super Bowl has been played (congratulations to the New Orleans Saints), we can start to focus on spring training. If only I wasn't buried under 16 inches of snow!!