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!!

Roberson scores lone run in clincher

Chris Roberson tripled and scored the only run in the deciding game of the Mexican championship for Hermosillo and will play for the squad in the Caribbean Series which starts Tuesday in Venezuela.

Yankees acquire Golson

After trading off Melky Cabrera and top prospect Austin Jackson this off season, the Yankees have acquired Greg Golson from the Texas Rangers, and will bring him to major league camp to compete for a spot on the 25-man roster. With Xavier Nady signing with the Cubs, and Johnny Damon apparently too expensive, Golson will have a good opportunity to earn a spot with the World Series champions. Here on the Jersey shore, the Yankees games are all televised locally, and if he does not make the team, he will be assigned to Scranton. Golson played parts of 2 seasons (05 & 06) for the BlueClaws.

Phillies take care of business

The Phillies have signed all their arbitration eligible players, completing the task by signing Carlos Ruiz to a 3-year, $8.8 million deal, with a club option for the 4th year. Ruiz, a native of Panama and an original BlueClaw, turned 31 this week.

With the trading of both Lou Marson and Travis d'Arnaud in the last 6 months, it appears the Phillies will rely on Ruiz for the foreseeable future. Speaking of Marson, the Cleveland Indians have said they will give Lou a shot at the full time position in Cleveland and they expect him to win the job. The top prospect in the Indians' system is catcher Carlos Santana. Santana is recovering from hand surgery and is scheduled to start the season at AAA Columbus. This will allow Lou to show what he can do at the major league level, much like the opportunity Jason Jaramillo got when Ryan Doumit was injured for Pittsburgh last year. Jaramillo was the Pirates regular catcher for 2 months and got 206 at bats in 63 games for the Pirates, posting a .252 batting average in his rookie year.

Bourn avoids arbitration

Michael Bourn has avoided an arbitration hearing, resigning with Houston for this season for 2.4 million. Mike hit .285 and led the National League with 61 stolen bases in 2009!

Happy New Year

Happy 2010 everyone!!

Some interesting comings and goings since I last posted, but with the season quickly closing in on us, here are some notes about our boys you may have missed.

The Phillies have released Luis Arzeno, Rob Roth, Dan Brauer, Esmelvin Jimenez, Brendan Akashian, Vladimir de los Santos and T.J. Warren.

Fidel Hernandez, Alex Concepcion, and Mike Spidale have been resigned for this year.

Taylor Buchholz, who missed all of 2009, has been resigned by the Rockies for $1.05 million for this year.

Mike Taylor and Adrian Cardenas have been invited to major league camp by the Athletics, joining Josh Outman .

Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson and Jason Donald are on the Indians 40-man roster.

Kyle Drabek, Travis d'Arnaud, and Jesus Merchan have been invited to camp by the Blue Jays, joining Randy Ruiz there.

Alfredo Simon will try a comeback with Baltimore, Robinson Tejeda will vie for a spot in the Royal's rotation, and Matt Maloney will be given a chance for a spot in Cincinnati.

Jason Jaramillo will return to Pittsburgh, Gavin Floyd will be in the ChiSox rotation, and Michael Bourn is still with Houston ( so is Brett Myers!)

As the hot stove heats up, I will try to stay on top of things.

One more note, best wishes to Quintin Berry, who will be married this month!! Good luck, Q!!