Rule 5 & Minor League Free Agents

Farmstros has your Rule 5 draft-eligible players and minor-league free agents:

Rule 5 Eligible:
Albert Cartwright
Koby Clemens
Collin DeLome
Drew Locke

Potential Minor-League Free Agents:
Doug Arguello
Arcenio Leon
Lou Santangelo

There are also some qualifications that Farmstros makes about a couple of other possibilities - click on over and read it for yourself.

Santangelo to DL

Corpus Christi catcher Lou Santangelo's season is over after being placed on the 7-Day DL yesterday.

Eddie's Farm: August 28

Round Rock

That's some dry spell there, Round Rock. After getting shutout again by Memphis, 2-0, the Express have now gone scoreless in three straight games, and managed to score just one run in the entire four-game series against the Redbirds. That's a 29-inning scoreless streak rolling for Round Rock as of last night. Sergio Perez threw 58 pitches in 3IP, 2H/0ER, 3K:3BB. Yorman Bazardo got the loss with 2H/2ER, 5K:2BB in 4IP, and Casey Daigle threw a perfect 9th. Round Rock out-hit Memphis 5-4, with Shuck, Bogusevic, Shelton, Maysonet, and Bellorin getting the lone extra-base hit.

Man of the Match: Yorman Bazardo. Lost the game on one pitch, a two-run homer.

Corpus

Corpus led this game twice, but in each inning the Hooks scored, San Antonio answered with a tying run. Then San Antonio scored an unanswered run in the 7th for a 3-2 win over Corpus. Henry Villar threw 6IP, 9H/2ER, 4K:3BB - both runs coming on solo shots - and Evan Englebrook took the loss with another solo homer in 2IP. Wladimir Sutil and Lou Santangelo had two hits each, and Albert Cartwright and Koby Clemens provided the other two hits.

Man of the Match: Lou Santangelo

Lancaster

Lancaster scored four runs in the 8th to almost erase a 5-0 deficit, but Rancho Cucamonga got two in the bottom of the inning and the JetHawks fell 7-4. Leandro Cespedes had a rough one, allowing 10H/5ER, 4K:1BB in 5IP, and a bullpen of Ashton Mowdy (2IP), Brian Wabick (0.1IP - 1H/2R (1ER) and David Carpenter (0.2IP) closed out the game. Carpenter allowed the hit scoring the two runs charged to Wabick. Lancaster got their runs on one swing of the bat - a granny by Brian Pellegrini, his 12th of the year. Brandon Wikoff got two hits, while Brandon Barnes and Jonathan Villar had the other extra-base hits.

Man of the Match: Brian Pellegrini

Lexington

Lexington nearly overcame a 6-0 deficit, scoring two runs in the 7th and three in the 8th, but just fell short 6-5 to Kannapolis. Juan Minaya allowed three earned runs (five total) on three hits, three wild pitches, and a walk in 5IP. Brad Dydalewicz allowed an unearned run in 2IP, and Yordany Ramirez struck out two in a perfect 8th to lower his ERA to 16.20. That's right. Only three earned runs, thanks to errors by Jonathan Meyer, Jimmy Paredes, and Jiovanni Mier. Ben Heath was 2x3 with a 2-run triple in the 8th, Kody Hinze was 1x2 with 2BB, and Our Boy Aaron BRay was 1x3 with a walk, RBI, and two runs scored.

Man of the Match: Ben Heath

Tri-City

Some good pitching got Tri-City a nice 2-1 win over Hudson Valley. Carlos Quevedo allowed 3H/1ER, 5K:2BB. Brandt Walker allowed two hits and a walk (responsible for Quevedo) and left a runner for Blankenship, who got out of it, walking one in 1.1IP, and left one for Jorge De Leon, who struck out three of the four batters he faced. Oscar Figueroa was 2x3, while Chris Wallace (1x3, double) and Adam Bailey got the RBIs.

Man of the Match: Carlos Quevedo.

Greeneville

Greeneville had a 4-3 lead going into the 8th, and Kingsport put up three runs in the top of the inning for a 6-4 win. Ricardo Batista threw 3.1IP, 6H/3R (2ER), 4K:1BB. Jeiler Castillo alowed 1H/0ER (but did allow one of Batista's) in 2.2IP. Paul Gerrish allowed 4H/2ER in 1IP, Ryan Cole gave up an unearned run in 1IP, and Phil Rorabaugh allowed a hit in the 9th. Jonathan Merritt was 2x3, and Telvin Nash and Chris Lovett (HR) provided two RBI each. Delino DeShields was 1x4 with a double.

Man of the Match: Chris Lovett

Eddie's Farm: August 18

Round Rock

Boom, sucka! Round Rock scores all the runs they need on one swing of the bat and the Express beat Portland, 4-2. Yorman Bazardo threw 6IP, 4H/0ER, 3K:1BB; Roy Corcoran struck out three in 2IP, and Casey Daigle allowed 2H/2R (1ER), 2K:1BB in 1IP. Jack Shuck was 2x5 (now hitting .300 at Triple-A), Brian Bogusevic was 2x3 with a double and a walk, and Matt Kata was 2x4. But it was Collin DeLome who hit a grand slam in the 6th for what the Express needed.

Man of the Match: Come on. Collin DeLome.

Corpus

Corpus learned a thing or two from the Astros, after tying Springfield in the 9th at 5-5, and then allowing a run in the top of the 11th for a 6-5 loss. Henry Villar threw 6IP, 8H/4ER, 3K:3BB and allowed 2HR to Peter Kozma. Matt Nevarez and Jose Valdez threw scoreless innings, and Jeilen Peguero allowed 2H/2ER, 5K:3BB, 2WP in 3IP for the loss. J.D. Martinez was 3x5 with an RBI, and Lou Santangelo was 2x3 with a homer, 2RBI, and two walks. Martinez is hitting .433/.493/.617 in August (36x60, 7XBH).

Man of the Match: Lou Santangelo.

Lancaster

Lancaster took an early 1-0 lead, and then didn't get much after that in a 3-1 loss at Stockton. Leandro Cespedes allowed 3H/3R (1ER), 4K:3BB in 5IP. Shane Wolf, Kyle Godfrey, and Mike Modica each threw scoreless innings. Jonathan Villar was 2x4, but also committed the error leading to the difference in the runs column on the scoreboard. Jay Austin, Brandon Barnes, and Jose Altuve got your other hits.

Man of the Match: Leandro Cespedes, I guess.

Lexington

Strange scoring line between Greenville and Lexington, with Lexington getting fewer hits and committing more errors, but scoring more runs than Greenville. Legends win 4-3, with Grant Hogue scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 8th on a throwing error. Juan Minaya allowed 4H/3R (2ER), 1K:2BB in 6IP. Dan Sarisky got the win with 2IP, 1H/0ER, 2K:1BB, and Kirk Clark struck out the side for his 26th save of the season. Jiovanni Mier was 2x4 with his 2nd homer of the season (ouch), yet committed his 32nd error of the year. Jimmy Paredes and Our Boy Aaron Bray got the other two hits. Grant Hogue scored two runs despite not getting a hit (walk and HBP).

Man of the Match: It's going to Hogue.

Tri-City

Fresh off the All-Star Break, Tri-City picked up where they left off with a solid 6-0 win over Connecticut. Bobby Doran allowed 4H/0ER, 6K:1BB in 7IP for his 4th win of the year, while Alex Sogard and Mike Ness threw perfect innings themselves. Enrique Hernandez was 4x5 with a double, RBI, and two runs scored. Dan Adamson and Tyler Burnett each hit homers, and Mike Kvasnicka - back from his tender forearm issue - was 1x5 with an RBI double.

Man of the Match: Enrique Hernandez (though Doran is equally qualified).

Greeneville

Off. The Gastros now have not played since August 15.

GCL Astros

Despite committing four errors, the GCL Astros beat the GCL Cardinals 5-4. Mark Jones threw 4IP, 5H/4R (3ER), 3K:3BB; Pedro Gomez got the win with 2H/0ER, 4K:0BB in 3IP, and Ebert Rosario collected his first save - ever - with 1H/0ER, 2K:0BB in 2IP. Jordan Scott, Jose Vargas, and Kyle Redinger had two hits each. Jose Fernandez had a bases clearing triple in the 6th.

Man of the Match: Ebert Rosario!

Tranzactionz!

Shake-up among the organization's catchers as Cash moves out, and dudes move up!

Lou Santangelo assigned to Round Rock from Corpus.
John Curtis assigned to Corpus from Lancaster.

And in a couple of other transactions...

10th Round pick Evan Grills assigned to GCL Astros
Edwin Maysonet assigned to GCL Astros (rehab)

Castro, C-Lo invited to Major-League Spring Training

Not much of a shocker here, but Castro and C-Lo have been invited to Big Team Spring Training, along with catchers Brian Esposito, Lou Santangelo, and pitcher Shane Loux.

Wade, on Castro:
"He's going to get every opportunity to make the club,"

On C-Lo:
"We think he's got a legitimate chance to make our club. We're very pleased with what we've seen in a short period of time in our organization."

I feel an affinity for C-Lo, as he was the first signing that Astros County reported, back in November 2008.

Shane Loux, however, is a recent signee, says McTaggart:
Loux spent the 2009 season in the Angels organization and split time between the Majors and Minors. In 18 appearances (six starts) with the Angels, he was 2-3 with a 5.86 ERA. He had a 3.81 ERA in a combined nine games (six starts) between Triple-A Salt Lake City and Class A Rancho Cucamonga.

And if you're keeping score at home, the Astros have hired Dave Borkowski to be the pitching coach at Greeneville, spending his last three seasons in the Astros' organization.

Eddie's Farm: August 9

I'm trying to remember a day in which the minor-leaguers had a winning record for the day. That day was yesterday, as teams from Greeneville to Round Rock went 4-3.

Round Rock
Erick Abreu improved his age to 26, and his record to 2-0, as the Express beat Portland 6-4. Lou Santangelo was 2x4, and the other seven hits were scattered among seven other Expressists. Mark Saccomanno was 1x4 with 2RBI, Chris Johnson had a sac fly, and Tommy Manzella walked three times. Abrew threw 6IP, 5H/4ER, 4K:1BB while Gervacio, Daigle, and Paronto threw 3IP, 3H/0ER, 5K:1BB in relief.

Corpus Christi
Corpus scored two runs in the bottom of the 7th, but it wasn't enough as Midland won 3-2. Sutil and Florentino had two-hit games, with Sutil and Felix Molina getting the RBIs. Sergio Perez took the loss, throwing 6IP, 6H/3ER, 4K:0BB, mainly because all three Midland runs came on homers. C-Lo threw 2IP, 0H/0ER to lower his Double-A ERA to 3.00.

Lancaster
The JetHawks took a 4-3 lead into the 7th, but a run in the bottom of the 7th and five in the 8th gave Bakersfield a 9-6 win. The only JetHawk without a hit was Jon Gaston, who was 0x5 with 4Ks (ouch). Rosario, Weston, and Corrado had two hits each. Chris Salamida threw 6.1IP, 6H/4ER, 4K:2BB, while Francisco Abad took the loss with a 3ER, three-out performance. Jordan Powell also gave up 2ER in 0.2IP.

But it's good news from here on out!

Lexington
The Legends held off a late Asheville charge and won 7-6. Michael Diaz was 3x4 with a double and a triple, Brian Pellegrini and Steve Brown had two hits each - Brown had three RBI on a 2-run single and a solo homer. David Duncan threw 6IP, 8H/4ER, 5K:1BB.

Tri-City
Well, almost. Tri-City had a 2-0 lead in the sixth, but a 4-run inning will end that pretty quickly, and Williamsport emerged victorious 6-2. Barry Butera had two hits, Sean Barksdale hit a double, and J.D. Martinez hit his 4th homer of the season. Wander Alvino threw 6IP, 7H/4ER, and gave up 2HR in the loss.

Greeneville
Double-header for the Gastros...
Game 1: Jose Altuve was 3x4 with two doubles, Jiovanni Mier was 2x4, and Jonathan Meyer was 2x2 (each had an RBI). Juri Perez threw 5.2IP, 4H/1ER, 6K:3BB to improve to 3-0 and Travis Smink got his 5th save of the year in a 6-2 win.
Game 2: The Gastros took both games, this one with a 5-3 win, thanks mostly to Jonathan Meyer's first two professional homers, accounting for three of the Gastros' runs. Grant Hogue was 2x3 with a triple. Luis Cruz threw 4IP, 3H/2ER, 3K:2BB and Joan Belliard got the win with 3IP, 2H/0ER. The pitching staff induced four GIDPs, and got 13 groundball outs, compared to two flyball outs. Our boy Aaron Bray was not in the lineup in either game.

Eddie's Farm: July 8

Eddie's Farm goes 3-2 last night as Corpus Christi was off. And if you can, watch SportsCenter this morning - Wladimir Sutil had #2 on Top Plays.

Round Rock
Really glad I was working late and wasn't able to make it to this game. The Express whooped up on the Nashville Sounds 10-0. Mark Saccomanno went 4x5, Yordany went 3x5, Lou Santangelo was 3x4 with a three-run homer (5RBI total), and Jason Smith also went deep for the Express. Mark McLemore got his 3rd win of the year with 5IP, 2H/0ER, 3K:1BB, while Gervacio, Daigle, and Paronto threw a combined 4IP, 3H/0ER, 3K:1BB.

Lancaster
A 5-run second inning led Rancho Cucamonga to a 6-3 win over the JetHawks last night. Lancaster scratched out three hits - two of them on homers from Koby Clemens and Marcos Cabral. Casey Hudspeth got 14 groundball outs and 7IP, 8H/5ER, 3K:2BB (still, six scoreless and one bad inning) while Jordan Powell went 1IP, 2H/1ER.

Lexington
The Legends were all over Savannah in a 7-3 win. Lexington got nine hits, two each from Pellegrini (one of those his 13th HR of the season), Brown (triple and a homer), and De Leon. Brad Dydalewicz got the win with 6.2IP, 3H/1ER, 5K:2BB.

Tri-City
Rough night for the the ValleyCats as they got rocked 9-0 vs Lowell. Tri-City only managed three hits, one from Brian Kemp, a double from Barry Butera, and one from Russell Dixson. Erik Castro got the start at 3rd base, and it's taking a bit to find his stroke - now hitting .040 - though he's hardly the only one, only two ValleyCats from last night's starting lineup are hitting over .250 (Brian Kemp - .328; Pedro Gonzalez - .278). 7th Round pick Dallas Keuchel made his professional debut, throwing 3IP, 1H/0ER, 2K. Then it all fell apart. David Berner: 0IP, 3H/4ER, 0K:3BB; Justin Harper: 1IP, 1H/3ER, 0K:3BB; Robby Donovan: 3IP, 2H/2ER, 3K:2BB. Max Fearnow bookended Keuchel's scoreless outing with an 0ER IP of his own.

Greeneville
Greeneville got five runs in the 9th inning to defeat Johnson City 8-6 last night. Jiovanni Mier was 2x5, Bubby Williams 2x4, and Altuve, Meyer, Martinez, Bray, and Hogue all contributed hits as well. Altuve hit his 2nd homer in the 8th inning. Luis Cruz threw 5IP, 8H/4ER, Jeiler Castillo 3IP, 3H/1ER and Nathan Pettus closed it out for his 4th save with a scoreless ninth.

How did the 5-run 9th happen?
Meyer: Walk
Martinez: Single
Bray: Single
Williams: RBI single
Metroka: RBI fielder's choice
Almonte: 2 wild pitches (one scores Arrendell), then he strikes out
Hogue: RBI single
Mier: RBI single - Altuve out at 3rd.

Eddie's Farm: June 21

Round Rock
Tommy Manzella had a 2-out RBI single in the bottom of the 10th to beat the Zephyrs 6-5 at Dell Diamond yesterday to cap a 3x6 day at the plate. Reggie Abercrombine went 3x5 with a homer and 2RBI, as Lou Santangelo was 4x4 with two doubles to raise his average to .194. Yorman Bazardo went 8IP with 8H/5ER and Daigle got the win with 2IP and 2H, 1K:1BB.

Corpus Christi
Doubleheader with Frisco yesterday! In G1, Corpus was held to five hits as the Frisco Friscoes won 6-0. Two of the five hits were doubles by Drew Meyer, with Van Ostrand, Jason Castro, and Wladimir Sutil getting the other knocks. Sergio Perez gave up 9H/3ER in 5IP while Salamida gave up the other 3ER in 1IP with 2H/2BB.
G2 was the Hooks' turn to do the shutting-out in a 2-0 win. Felix Molina had two hits and an RBI while Sutil got the other RBI on a double. The Hooks used four pitches in the seven inning game, 4IP by Erick Abreu (4H, 6K), 1IP by Danny Meszaros (who got the win), 1IP from Chia-Jen Lo, and 1IP from T.J. Burton.

Lancaster
Chris Hicks gave up all five of his runs in the first inning as the Modesto Nuts coasted to a 6-1 win over Lancaster. Hits by Gaston, Steele, and Comadena, as well as three hits from Weston and two from Flores provided all of the offense for the JetHawks. Hicks struggled with his control, with five hits, three walks, and two wild pitches.

Lexington
The Legends got themselves - and Jordan Lyles - a win yesterday over Greenville, 4-2. Two hits each from Suttle, Austin, Hernandez, and Simunic provided eight of the Legends' 10 hits. Lyles, meanwhile, was lights out. 6IP, 2H/0ER, 11K:2BB lowered his ERA to 3.09. Ashton Mowdy was tagged for 2ER in 2IP while Patrick Urchfitz threw a scoreless ninth, getting 2Ks in the inning.

Tri-City
The ValleyCats were only able to play one of the three games vs Oneonta over the weekend with the Saturday/Sunday games postponed by rain. In the Friday game, however, TCVCs lost 2-0. Brandon Wikoff had two of the five hits while Colton Pitkin threw 6IP, 4H/2ER, 7K:1BB in the hard-luck loss.

YotD: June 4

Round Rock
The Express scored a run in the 7th and three in the 9th to defeat Omaha 4-1 last night. Bud Norris threw 6IP, 7H/1ER while Santangelo and Manzella had multi-hit games, Santangelo providing 2RBI.

Corpus Christi
Arkansas defeated the Hooks 6-1 in Arkansas last night, with Polin Trinidad threw 6IP, 8H/4ER, with 4K:0BB. Drew Meyer was 1x4 with the lone RBI.

Lancaster
Lancaster fell to Rancho Cucamonga 5-2 after allowing two runs in the 7th and in the 9th. Thomas Steele was 3x4 with two doubles while Jason Castro and Matt Weston provided the RBI.

Lexington
Double-header! Two wins on the same day! Kyle Greenwalt got the win in G1 with 6.2IP, 9H/3ER while Brandon Barnes and Kyle Miller provided two RBI each. Brian Pellegrini was 3x4 with an RBI. In the second game, Arcenio Leon allowed 5ER in 2IP, but Bowling Green's pitching was worse. Brandon Barnes was 4x4 with 2HR and 3RBI, while Ebert Rosario and Eric Suttle got two hits each.

Young'uns of the Day: May 6

Round Rock
So did Jose Capellan just lose the will to live when he didn't make the rotation? Because I don't know if he noticed, but the rotation isn't exactly set right now. Capellan gave up 8H/4ER in 5IP last night in a 7-3 loss to New Orleans. YotD for The Rock goes to Lou Santangelo, 2x4 with two 2Bs. The Express were 1x12 with RISP.

Corpus Christi
Douglas Arguello threw a complete game 7H/1ER, 6K:0BB performance last night as Corpus beat Midland (do they play anybody else? It's like Siena/Iona down there...) 4-1. Drew Locke and catcher Jonathan Fixler each hit homers (Fixler's a 3-run shot) to account for all Corpus' runs.

Lexington
Kyle Greenwalt had a rare rough outing, giving up 4ER in 6IP as Lexington lost to Rome 4-2. Brandon Barnes went 2x4 with a triple to earn YotD honors.

Lancaster
The JetHawks beat the piss out of Lake Elsinore, getting 25 hits and 17 runs in a 17-4 whoopin. Lots of candidates for YotD here, but it goes to Jonathan Gaston, who went 5x5 with 3HR and 7RBI. Chia Jen-Lo threw three scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 2.00.

Quintero to DL: Who's Coming Up?

Thanks to Mike Cameron, Quintero is headed to the 15-Day Disabled List as a result of the collision at home (where Cameron got thrown out like a touchy lout in a strip club. I made that up, but feel free to use it.)

So who's coming up to replace him? Because one Pudge does not a catching battery make. Let's look:

Round Rock

Player	HxAB	BA/OBP/SLG	HR-RBI	K:BB
Towles	11x32	.344/.382/.531	1-3	7:1
Santangelo	4x32	.125/.222/.250	1-4	11:4

Pretty clear edge to Towles. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: That question was answered in short-order. J.R. Towles is your C2.

Final Personnel Moves

Astros reassigned some guys to Round Rock in advance of Sunday's deadline.

Russ Ortiz was named SP5, officially. Jason Smith is IF5.
Jose Capellan, Reggie Abercrombie, Chris Johnson, and Lou Santangelo were sent to The Rock.

Catching situation is as follows:
C1 - Pudge
C2 - Quintero
C3 - Towles
C4 - Santangelo
C5 - Palmisano
C6 - Castro

A Late Win is a Nice Thing

The Astros scored three runs - one in the 7th and one in the 8th - to top the Blue Jays 3-2 with homers by Santangelo and Michaels. Two hits from Pence, and one each from Matsui, Erstad, Lee, Tejada, Santangelo, Michaels, Blum and Abercrombie rounded out the hits. Erstad's and Matsui's hits were doubles. Pitching lines:

Moehler: 6IP, 7H, 2ER
Arias: 2IP, 1H, 1K
Geary: 1IP, 1K

Erstad got the start at 1st base in an effort to get him some ABs this week, but I'm curious if Jason Smith just got a leg up on the IF5 race because of the uncertainty of the severity of Lance's shoulder/biceps injury. We'll hear more about it this week.

That's a win, and we may have our SP5

Edwin Maysonet answered the earlier post on the concern about his offense by hitting two jacks and a triple (5 RBI) against Roy Halladay and the Blue Jays, as the Astros won 9-7 after trailing 5-1. Lou Santangelo also went 2x4 with a homer.

The Astros collected 12 hits and did not, repeat did not commit an error.

Capellan threw five innings and gave up his first earned run of the Spring. Problem was, he also gave up four more earned runs after that first one on seven hits and a walk. Neal Musser threw one inning and gave up a walk. Alberto Arias threw two innings and struck out three, while Tim Byrdak let things get interesting in one inning giving up four hits and two earned runs with a strikeout.

"There were a few pitches that I left up in the zone and they took advantage," he said. "I feel good. Anybody can miss on a certain day. It was just that one bad inning. In the other innings I felt good and I was throwing the pitches where they called them."

Cecil Cooper, who still considers Capellan a strong candidate for the fifth spot, praised the righthander for rebounding well from the five-run inning with a scoreless frame in the fifth.

Excellent point. Capellan has thrown 17.2 innings this Spring, and has been scoreless for 16.2 of those. Even Coop says today doesn't really influence him one way or the other:

"You see what happened in the next inning," Cooper said. "He went right back out, and boom, boom, boom."

One important note on this SP5 question is that Russ Ortiz has a clause in the deal he signed with the Astros that allows him to opt out of his contract if he doesn't make the club out of Spring Training.

So how's this catching thing going?

Looking at some Spring Training statistics, which are meaningless until I want them to have meaning, I was curious: Who is making a name for themselves out of our plethora of catchers?

So far...(BA/OBP/SLG)

Quintero: 0x9, 1K. .000/.000/.000
Palmisano: 0x5. .000/.000/.000
Towles: 1x6, 1BB, 2Ks. .167/.167/.286
Santangelo: 0x1, 1BB. .000/.500/.000
Castro: 1x3, 1K. .333/.333/.333

Maybe I shouldn't have been so curious...

Astros invite four more to Spring Training

The Astros invited four more players, infielder Chris Johnson, pitcher Bud Norris and catchers Jason Castro and Lou Santangelo to Spring Training today.