Five HomeSiders released

The Phillies released 11 players yesterday, including 5 former BlueClaws. Joe Bisenius, Freddy Ballestas, Ryan Bergh, Jeremy Hamilton, and Gus Milner were all let go.

I have to hand it to MLBN..I saw Carlos Monasterios pitch for the Dodgers, Carlos Carrasco pitch for the Indians, Zack Segovia pitch for the Yankees, and Gavin Floyd pitch for the White Sox in the last week. I also caught one of Matt Maloney's games earlier in the month.

If Kyle Kendrick wins the final spot in the rotation, the Phillies will have 3 former BlueClaws in the rotation for the first time to start a season. Cole Hamels and J.A. Happ are already there.

It also looks as if Antonio Bastardo will be on the opening day roster.

Michael Bourn returned to the Houston line up Saturday, after missing over a week with mild right oblique strain. Bourn hit .285 in 157 games for the Astros last year and was the NL stolen base champion with 61.

As of now, there is no reason not to think Jason Jaramillo will return to the Pirates for another major league season behind Ryan Doumit.

It appears Adrian Cardenas and Michael Taylor will be teammates for the Sacramento River Cats in the PCL, and Greg Golson and Zack Segovia will likely be together at Scranton. Jason Donald will open the season in Columbus. If I had to guess, I would say Kyle Drabek opens the season in AAA-Las Vegas, and Travis d'Arnuad will start at AA-New Hampshire.

A quick note about my lack of coverage of spring training...I have been unable to get down to Clearwater this month which has taken me out of the loop as far as the cuts and who is playing for which squad at this time, but when the rosters are finalized, both in the Phillies system and for our boys around baseball, I will locate everyone and let you know where they are playing at the start of the 2010 season.

The BlueClaws are opening with 8 games on the road, but I will be in Reading for 2 games April 10 and 11.

Bastardo wins job; Durant to go under knife

With Mike Zagurski getting reassigned to minor league camp, it appears that Antonio Bastardo has made the team. The Phillies now have 12 healthy pitchers in camp and, barring any trades, it seems the staff for opening day has been set.

In an unrelated note, Mike Durant will have back surgery and will be out indefinitely. We wish him all the best for a quick recovery.

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.