MWL1 Burlington Bees

Royals Trade Buckner to Arizona

Published on December 14, 2007 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Burlington Bees News Release


Burlington, IA (December 14, 2007) - It was a relatively quiet week for former Bees in Winter League action, but the Kansas City Royals threw another log on the "Hot Stove" today by announcing that they had traded RHP Billy Buckner to the Arizona Diamondbacks for infielder Alberto Callaspo.

The Royals drafted Buckner in the 2nd round of the 2004 draft out of the University of South Carolina and played for the Bees in 2005. In eleven starts with the Bees, he was 3-7 with a 3.88 ERA and struck out 60 batters in 60.1 innings before earning a promotion to High Desert in the California League. He moved through the system quickly the last two years and was one of three former Bees to make his Major League debut in 2007. He made seven appearances (five starts) for the Royals and was 1-2 with a 5.29 ERA while logging 34 innings. Callaspo won the Midwest League batting title with a .327 average for Cedar Rapids in 2003. He made his Major League debut with the D-Backs in 2006 and has a .220 average in 79 career Major League games.

Callaspo is currently batting .333 with Zulia in the Venezuelan Winter League where several former Bees are performing. Action was limited by scheduled off days and some rain this past week. 2B Ruben Gotay (2002) continues to struggle at the plate with a .197 average in 23 games for Magallanes, but more notably is playing a lot of shortstop after playing second base almost exclusively to this point in his professional career. RHP Yovany D'Amico (2005-07) pitched a scoreless inning in his only appearance for Lara this week and is 1-1 with a 5.73 ERA in 12 appearances for the year.

After getting selected by the San Diego Padres in the minor league phase of the Rule V Draft last week, RHP Gabe DeHoyos (2004-05) had a big week for Mazatlan in the Mexican League. He made three appearances and has earned a save in each of the last two days. In nine appearances, he is 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA and has struck out eleven in nine innings of work. IF Jolbert Cabrera (1993) was 4-12 this week with a home run and a couple of runs scored for Guasave. In 50 games, he is batting .313 with three homers, 18 RBI, and 27 runs scored.

In the Dominican Republic, rain has postponed every scheduled game this week.

For more information on the action around all three Winter Leagues, fan can follow the links on the front page of Minor League Baseball's official website at www.milb.com and check back to the Bees webpage at www.gobees.com for weekly updates.

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Midwest League Stories from December 14, 2007


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