JOSH BEAUREGARD  - 2004 Vancouver Canadians OF

During the 2004 ball season, one of my favorite guys to watch at Nat Bailey Stadium was Josh Beauregard. A utility outfielder who seemed to be living the dream with every swing of the bat, he was the guy called upon if the team needed a late inning steal or a miraculous defensive play, but as an undrafted free agent signing, Beau was never seriously considered a prospect with the A’s, no matter how much he elevated his teammates. He was cut after the 2004 season, despite never hitting worse than .279 in each of his two seasons in Arizona.

So where is Josh Beauregard now? He’s in the indie leagues, playing his trade in the Can-Am Leauge Southern Division for the Worcester Tornadoes. What’s more, he’s not just playing, he’s starring. Beau currently leads the voting as the player fans are ‘most excited about seeing in 2007′.

From the Worcester Tornadoes website:

In 2005, Beauregard returned to the New England region to play for the Tornadoes. In addition to providing solid defense from his outfield position, Beauregard was a dominant force at the plate. Beauregard hit .293, while leading the team in both doubles and RBI with 26 and 62 respectively. Beauregard was also a terror on the base paths, finishing the season with 26 stolen bases and a team best 79 runs scored.

In all likelihood, Beauregard won’t force his way back into the major league-affiliated minor league system, but it’s nice to see one of our alumni still going around, plying his trade near his hometown, and to rapturous cheers from the fans. And is this his little brother, Keith Beuaregard, playing alongside him in the outfield?

TOMAS CABANIEL - 2004 Vancouver Canadians Starting Pitcher

The first time I met Tomas Cabaniel f’real, I was standing at a TD Canada Trust bank, waiting in line to be served, when I noticed a large Venezuelan being translated for at the counter. I recognized the guy almost immediately - his trademark devil-goatee, his arms like tree trunks, and his Oakland A’s cap. As I listened in, I gathered that he was trying to cash his paycheck, and the bank teller was giving him and his host mom/translator grief.

I got up to the counter myself and decided to interject; "Tomas! Great game you pitched yesterday. What’s going on? Won’t they cash a check from a major league ballclub?"

Embarassed, the teller got his act together and promptly approved the check, which earned me an appreciative nod from Senor Cabaniel, and not much else - after all, he’s not real great in the English-speaking department.

Cabaniel was fun to watch in 2004, racking up a 6-3, 4.59 record with 74 strikeouts to 24 walks. He went 1-3 with a 4.43 record in Kane County the following year, then got rocked in Stockton over a handful of innings before the A’s let him go.

Where is he today? Well, to be honest, we’re not certain where he is right now, but Tomas pitched in two games for the Rio Grande Valley White Wings in the mostly unheard of United League in 2006. He went 1-0 with an ERA of 3 over 3 innings for a team that came 6th out of 6 teams in the league, and played to an average of 1500 people a night.

That Cabaniel didn’t stick around to end the season with the White Wings is no surprise - the team featured some 29 hitters and 28 pitchers throughout the season.

JESSE ACOSTA - 2005 VANCOUVER CANADIANS 2B

If there was a poster boy for ’screwed by the system’, Jesse Acosta would be said poster boy. Signed as a non-drafted free agent by Oakland in 2003 after hitting .300+ in his sole college season, Acosta had a fair debut season with the Arizona A’s (.242), then got killed in Kane County the following year (.122 over 41ABs), and instead of being sent back to Arizona for seasoning, he was sent up to Stockton, where he hit only marginally worse (.114 over 17 ABs).

Admittedly, he didn’t show much in the 3 games he played in Vancouver in 2005, going 2-11 (.205) with two runs scored before the A’s cut him, but honestly, other than his debut season, did Jess Acosta really get a chance to show what he could do over a season?

So what’s he up to now? Well, you might have found him playing for the Kansas City T-Bones in the Northern League (that’d be the Kansas City team that has a chance of actually making playoffs each season), where he registered an Acosta-like .205 average over 20 games (15-73), with a couple of home runs thrown in - that is, until the T-Bones cut him earlier this season. Best guess is Jess has packed it in.