TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Winter Ball, Meetings Stoke Hot Stove

Published on December 2, 2010 under Texas League (TL1)
Source: Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


Former Naturals Jordan Parraz and Chris McConnell will both be donning new uniforms for the 2011 season, each outside of the Kansas City Royals organization.

Both have new addresses within the past week, as Parraz, designated for assignment by the Royals and dropped from the 40-Man roster on November 21st, was claimed off outright waivers by the Boston Red Sox, and McConnell signed a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals.

Parraz, who had a breakout start to his 2009 season in a Naturals uniform following his acquisition in December 2009 from the Houston Astros' organization, spent all of 2010 with Triple-A Omaha, batting .266 with 11 homers and 61 RBI's. The Red Sox assigned him to Triple-A Pawtucket, their top level affiliate in the International League.

McConnell, who was a minor league free agent for the first time, is expected to begin next season with Triple-A Syracuse, the Nationals' affiliate in the International League. The right-handed batter hit .231 while posting a .333 OBP last season for the Naturals, serving as the primary shortstop.

More News and Notes from the past week

Royals announce 2011 Spring Schedule: There will be several current and former Naturals reporting to Spring Training with the big league club this season, and the Kansas City Royals have announced the announced their reporting dates Wednesday along with a 32-game Cactus League schedule that begins February 27th against campus-neighbor Texas at Surprise Stadium. The schedule runs through March 29 with just one open date (March 14) before the club breaks camp and heads home to open the regular season March 31 against the Los Angeles Angels at Kauffman Stadium. The first official workout for pitchers and catchers is February 15th. Infielders and outfielders report February 18th with the first full-squad workout scheduled for February 19th. Minor leaguers report in early March, dates still to be determined.

Midland gets new skipper for 2011: The Midland RockHounds dugout will have some fresh faces for the 2011 season as Hounds' Manager Darren Bush along with Pitching Coach Scott Emerson have both been promoted by the parent Oakland Athletics following two consecutive appearances against the Naturals in the Texas League Championship. They'll move up a rung to the same positions with the Triple-A Sacramento RiverCats, while RockHounds' Hitting Coach Webster Garrison will take the managerial reigns for Advanced Class-A Stockton. Former big league infielder Steve Scarsone, who managed Stockton to a 74-66 record last season, will manage Midland in 2011 alongside Pitching Coach Don Schulze and Hitting Coach Tim Garland. Tulsa, Frisco, and the Travelers are the remaining teams that have yet to announce 2011 field staffs.

Winter Meetings Rumor Mill: Naturals fans can await in anticipation of next week's Winter Meetings in Orlando, FL. Several things that could take place during the meetings that may affect the Naturals. First off, several players, including right-handers Blake Johnson, Eduardo Paulino and Mario Santiago as well as outfielders Paulo Orlando and Tim Smith are all eligible for selection in next Thursday's Rule 5 Draft. Secondly, many national baseball observers are keeping a keen eye on the Kansas City Royals and ace right-hander Zack Greinke and whether the Royals will pull the trigger on what would be a blockbuster trade. Speculation runs rampant that the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers - the leaders in the bidding for Arkansas resident Cliff Lee - would turn to the Royals as a fallback should they lose out on the left-handed former Hog. Some reports have indicated that the Rangers may have interest in Greinke even if they do succeed in re-signing Lee. Either way, any package from the Yankees or Rangers for the 2009 AL Cy Young winner could possibly involve a prospect or two bound for the Double-A level. The Yankees and Rangers both are regarded as having top-tier farm systems.

Winter League Report

Puerto Rico- Blake Johnson (San Juan) gave up three earned runs on four hits through four innings in his last start raising the righties ERA to 1.40 in his final Winter League outing. Former Natural Dusty Hughes put together another solid start for the Senators of San Juan, going six innings of one run, four hit ball. The Royals bullpen lefty now has a 3-1 record and a 3.32 ERA through four starts. Former outfielder Jarrod Dyson hasn't seen much playing time after a slow start to his winter ball season, and is sitting on a .190 average and .282 OBP. Naturals' outfielder Paulo Orlando and Royals' infielder Josh Fields, who rehabbed in Northwest Arkansas in August, have both departed the team. Orlando exited in the second week in November after suffering a 0-for-18 start to his season, and Fields batted .200 with six RBI's in 22 games. Former Natural Geraldo Valentin (2008) is currently batting .263 in 16 games.

Former Naturals' infielder Irving Falu (2008) is continuing to play well with his club Mayaguez. The switch-hitter is batting .342 (13-38) over his last ten games and has raised his batting average back to .300 in 28 games. After a scalding start to this year's Winter Ball campaign, Naturals' starter Mario Santiago (Carolina) did not fare so well in his last start, giving up nine earned runs on six hits through 2 1/3 innings. The right-handers ERA is now at 3.38 through the seven games which he started.

Dominican Repuplic - Former Naturals' relievers continue to impress in the Dominican League. Victor Marte (Licey Tigers) now has a 10 game scoreless streak dating back to November 8th. During the run opposing batters are only hitting .188 against the righty. Leones de Escogido's Louis Colemanfaltered in his last outing, giving up a pair of runs on four hits through two thirds of an inning against Royals' utility man Wilson Betemit and Gigantes del Cibao. Coleman was saddled with his second loss and saw his ERA rise to 1.72. Also with Leones de Escogido, former lefty reliever Blaine Hardy hasn't pitched in the past week but has a 1.10 ERA in 12 games. Juan Abreu (2009) has joined up with Aguilas Cibaenas, where he has posted scoreless outings in his first four appearances. Former slugger Juan Richardson (2008) continues to struggle with Estrellas de Oriente (San Pedro de Macoris), playing sparingly and batting .220 with just two RBI's.

Venezuela - Former outfielder Jordan Parraz, picked up off waivers by the Red Sox last weekend, is 2-for-12 with Tiburones de La Guaira since seeing his first action of the winter on November 20th. Former starter Anthony Lerew has departed winter ball, leaving on top following his no-hitter on November 21st. Former reliever Greg Holland was briefly a teammate of Parraz with Tiburones de La Guaira (La Guaira Sharks). Holland appears to be done for the winter after posting a 2.37 ERA with five saves in six chances and a whopping 35 strikeouts in 19 innings. He fanned five of the past six batters he'd faced. Pina has not gotten a lot of playing time but has struggled to an .071 average (1-for-14) in six games with the Bravos de Margarita (Margarita Braves).

Slugger Ernesto Mejia endured a brief slump last week with just one hit in five games for Aguilas del Zulia, but he's rebounded to have five hits in the past three games including three RBI's. The league MVP a year ago, Mejia is now batting .300 with two homers and 21 RBI's. He has the team lead in RBI despite playing in just 24 of his team's first 38 games. Corey Smith, the former Naturals slugger, is also with La Guaira. Smith has gotten into just two games in the past week, and has a .232 average with a pair of homers and seven RBI's in 20 games.

Former leadoff hitter Jose Duarte has returned to Leones de Caracas, where he's played the past several off-seasons. Duarte had a hot start but cooled and now has seen his playing time dry up, with just one at-bat in the past week. He has a .233 average (10-for-43) with a pair of RBI's and a stolen base. Erstwhile starter Dan Cortes, who made his big league debut last month, is pitching for the Cardenales de Lara (Lara Cardinals). Cortes has eight saves in eight chances and a 2.45 ERA in 26 appearances.

Mexico - Former right-handed reliever Frederico Castaneda continues to struggle for Tomateros de Culiacan giving up two runs in his last inning and two-thirds. The 26 year-old now has a 6.61 ERA through 19 appearances. The Naturals' Edgar Osuna has struggled since joining Venados de Mazatlan. The lefty has been knocked around to the tune of an 11.57 ERA in three appearances. Cory Aldridge, who slugged for the Naturals in the second half of 2008 and made his return to the majors this past season, continues to rake for Mexicali. He has a .306 average with seven homers and 26 RBI's in 43 games. Aldridge was recently let go by the Angels, with whom he recorded his first major league hit this summer.

Australia: Former Naturals southpaw Paul Mildren (2008) plays for his hometown Adelaide Bite. Mildren was torched in his last outing, yielding eight runs in 3 1/3 innings. He now possesses a 1-2 record and a 6.19 ERA.

The international winter leagues wrap up in January with the top winter teams from the Latin American countries competing against one another in the Caribbean Series, an elimination-style tournament. The series runs during the first week of February and is televised nationally on the MLB Network, providing fans a great chance to see minor league players on a big stage in an electric atmosphere of international competition.

Check nwanaturals.com every two weeks for our Hot Stove Report, where we'll continue to follow Royals' minor leaguers in winter ball as well as cover other off-season baseball information that pertains to the Naturals and the Texas League.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state of the art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale. You can purchase tickets and group outings with the Naturals by calling (479) 927-4900.

Check out the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Statistics

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Texas League Stories from December 2, 2010


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