Special Guest Columnist - Jerry Modene
December 29, 2004
Guest column
Minor League Middle Infield Help?
By Jerry Modene
Decided to spend a little time looking at the minor-league FA list to see if we can't find any help there - you never
know what little gems might be out there; the minor-league FA list is how we got Kiko Calero, after all.
Here's the link to BA's list. Of course, some of these guys have been signed, but I'm too lazy right now to see which ones are no longer available. Baseball America Link
2B: Keoni DeRenne - this is a good little player who's been in the Braves and D'backs organizations since he finished up here in Tucson at the University of Arizona. Scrappy type player but a little on the small side; 5'7". He hit .306/.352/.385 for the Tucson Sidewinders after the D'backs picked him up; lifetime in five minor-league seasons he's a .267 hitter. He'd be a good pickup for Memphis but I don't know if he could hit enough to make it with the Cards.
SS: Isaac Iorg - this guy isn't any relation to Dane, is he? Out of the Braves' system, where he hit .273 in A-ball. Obviously no prospect, but the name sort of jumped at me. (Ed. note: Rex Duncan pointed out that Dane is Isaac's uncle.)
2B: Trace Coquillette - now 30 years old, he used to be quite the prospect. Hit .249/.329/.365 for AAA Pawtucket this past season.
2B: Carlos Febles - the former Royal (.250/.328/.354 in 1656 ML at-bats)
hit .257/.319/.356 for AAA Pawtucket in 2004. Age 29.
SS: Gookie Dawkins - former Reds prospect, hit .223 for AAA Omaha and .329 for AAA Iowa in 166 and 164 AB's, respectively with a combined 10 HR. Still just 25 years old.
IF: Denny Hocking - now 35 years old, was supposed to be the guy who replaced Greg Gagne in Minnesota but never made it. Still, he's a lifetime .250 hitter in 2298 ML at-bats. He hit .288 in 104 AB for AAA Iowa this year after he was let go by the Colorado Rockies.
SS: Aaron Holbert - is he still around? He'll be 32 in January and has been bouncing around for years now, hit .271/.349/.361 for AAA Louisville this past season; hit .311 in 2002 and .270 in 2003.
SS: Benji Gil - now 32 years old, he hit .257 for AAA Iowa in 2004 in 113 AB. Former Angels and Rangers prospect, he's hit .237 in 1610 major-league AB's. Had a pretty good 2001 season for the Angels, though, when he hit .296/.330/.477 with 8 HR and 39 RBI in 260 AB.
SS: Danny Klassen - turned 29 in September; the former Brewers and D'backs prospect hit .253 in 395 AB for AAA Toledo in 2004.
2B: Terry Shumpert - we're not that desperate, are we? He's 38 years old and still hanging in there; hit .256 in 211 AB's for AAA Nashville.
2B: Jared Sandberg - still young; turns 27 in March. Used to be quite the prospect; his star fell pretty fast. Hit .230 for AAA Durham this past season.
IF: And now, here's Stubby Clapp, who turns 32 in January (where do the years go???) and who only played in 48 games between AA and AAA for the Blue Jays this past season (hitting a combined .264) because he took considerable time off to play for Canada in the Olympics.
Well, nobody really leaps out at me, but Sandberg, Coquilette, Febles, and maybe DeRenne are the ones that are at least a little intriguing. Gil if all you want is defense.
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