NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Sox, Diablos Swap Players Pitcher For Catcher

January 19, 2012 - American Association (AA)
Amarillo ThunderHeads News Release


AMARILLO, TX -The Amarillo Sox Baseball Club announced today they re-acquired RHP Geivy Garcia from the Wichita Wingnuts, to complete an earlier trade between the organizations, then traded Garcia to the El Paso Diablos in exchange for C Alberto Espinosa.

Espinosa, born September 15, 1986 in Miami, Florida, was originally drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 33rd round of the 2006 MLB June Amateur Draft and then again by the Kansas City Royals in the 15th round of the 2008 MLB June Amateur Draft. The 6'0" 215 lb. backstop played two seasons (2008-2009), both with Idaho Falls of the Pioneer League, in the Royals minor league system where he played in 57 games posting a .271 batting average driving in 27 runs to go along with 14 doubles, in 203 official plate appearances. He attending spring training with the Royals rookie club in 2010 but was a casualty of team roster size and given his unconditional release. Unable to find work with another club he sat out the remainder of the season.

In 2011, Espinosa signed with Kansas City of the American Association as an unrestricted free agent where as a T-Bone he played in 16 games with 13 of those behind the plate before he was traded to El Paso (AA) early in the season. As a Diablo, he appeared in 47 games catching in 44 of those contests posting a .326 batting average driving in 41 runs to go along with his 17 doubles and 7 home runs sporting .929 OPS, in 175 official at-bats. More notably is his career .978 fielding percentage and throwing out 21% of his runners.

With the acquisition of Espinosa, Amarillo addresses a need for a catcher to join Kevin Butler on the depth chart and Sox manager John Harris is extremely pleased with his newest battery mate. "One area we struggled last year was with injuries including a season-ender with our starter that forced Kevin (Butler) into the starting role amid a abnormally hot summer, which is no easy task for any player but especially a catcher", Harris said. "Adding Alberto shores up a hole at the catcher position for our club defensively and he also has a pretty solid bat in bag, so to say I am pleased with our new battery mate goes without saying".

The front end of this transaction includes Geivy Garcia who was originally acquired by the Sox through the purchase of the Pensacola Pelicans franchise as part of Amarillo becoming a member of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, last year. The 6'2" 175 lb. right-hander was traded to Wichita and re-acquired by the Sox as the player to be named later to the original trade. A native of Laguna Salada, Valverde, DO and eight-year veteran of professional baseball, Garcia was a member of three clubs last year including Amarillo, Minatitlan (Mexican League), and Wichita but only seeing playing time in Mexico and with the Wingnuts.

Join the Sox For "The March To A Million!" Season tickets are currently available for purchase in-person or over the phone by visiting the Amarillo Sox Executive Offices at 801 South Polk Street or by calling (806) 242-GOLD (4653). Game day tickets go on-sale May 1, 2012. VISA, MasterCard, and Discover accepted.

For more information about season and individual game tickets, game times, promotions, marketing opportunities, full game schedule, and everything else Sox Baseball, visit the "Official Website of the Amarillo Sox" by logging onto www.amarillosox.com.

• Discuss this story on the American Association message board...

American Association Stories from January 19, 2012


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Amarillo ThunderHeads Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central