This week several former Vancouver Canadians were released by the Oakland A’s, and they’re only the first batch of the former A’s hopeful.  There weren’t many surprises, and one NFTN told you about the day after he was released, but then again there are a surprise or two.

The first player was 2002/2003 Canadian Lloyd Turner (left) who played a variety of positions with the C’s, including 2B, 3B and the OF.  Turner was drafted out of Kennesaw in 2002 when he hit .344 with an OPS of 954 and 8 homeruns, a dinger total he’d never match until 2006 with Midland.  Turner batted .256 in his first year as a Canadian but in 2003 under Dennis Rogers’ reign, he hit .301 before getting moved up to Modesto.

He stayed with the – then – Modesto A’s until the 2005 season when he joined Stockton, a team whom he would spend the last 3 years of his career.  He would also play in Midland for a combined 148 in ‘05-’06, and a short time in Stockton this season where he hit .203 in just under 40 games.  This year he struggled in the California league as well, hitting a disappointing .230. 

After six years with the A’s, Turner gave them a bunch of playing time and unfortunately had to be cut.

The next player was Don Sutton III, who missed all of this year with a Shoulder Injury.  Scroll down the page, and you’ll find Oz’ take on his release.

Sammy Hernandez, a versatile infielder from 2006 was also let go, after being injured for the later part of 2007.  Hernandez only played in 31 games for the Kane County Cougars, after being called up from Extended Spring Training in early-June, before injuring himself in late-July.  Hernandez may not have been the most skilled guy on the field – his best average in a season was .221 with the Cougars and his combined average since coming to the states in 2005 with Arizona is a very low .216 – but he did have leadership with the Dominican guys, and his presence will be missed next season.

Two players who only had short stints in Vancouver were also told to pack their bags, Javier James and Angel Corporan.  James was an OF who came to Vancouver before guys like Justin Friend and Travis Banwart landed, but he never appeared in a game thanks to an undisclosed injury (or so it seems), leaving before the first home-stand was complete.  He ended up hitting .187 in 29 games for the Arizona A’s, .1 worse than his 2006 average of .188. 

Corporan was 1-4 in his lone game as a Canadian, and didn’t look too bad out there.  He played just two days after his NWL debut in the AZL, only to go 0-3 and not return to action thanks to an injury.  Corporan’s last game was on June 23rd, three and a half months before he was released.

Carlos Morales never played for the Canadians but over the last few years he seemed to be a candidate for a late-August call-up.  Morales hit .256 this season, which is an average most AZLers will take.  The OF/1B had 7 home-runs in 136 games as an Athletic.

RHP Brad Sullivan was also released.

INSTRUCTS/WINTER LEAGUE UPDATE:

Thanks to a couple of different sources, we’re able to provide you on some updates from the Instructional League. 

1B Dan Hamblin went down early with a groin injury and will probably miss the rest of the season. 

SS Josh Horton picked up an injury preventing him from fielding, but he is able to swing.  Hopefully he’s gotten a few dingers out already. 

Now an update from the Hawaii Baseball League:

Former Canadians SS Justin Sellers (left) and OF Jermaine Mitchell are playing for the Waikiki BeachBoys – alongside Jared Lansford another A’s prospect – and both are doing well.

Sellers, in three games, has two hits (both of which are from October 3rd), in 11 at-bats.  He has a double, 3 RBI and three runs scored.  He’s been walked twice and has stolen a base.  His average stands at .182 but in three games that means nothing.

Mitchell on the other hand, is doing exceptional.  He’s batting .500 in 4 games, going 7-14 with a triple and an RBI.  He’s been walked three times and has struck out in six of his seven at-bats that have resulted in outs.  His OPS stands at 1.231, and his slugging percentage and OBP are all over .580.

Their teammate Lansford has pitched twice, both starts, for 4.2 innings.  He hasn’t had a decision yet, but his ERA stands at an OK 3.86, and opponents are hitting just over .385 against the Livermore California native.  The soon-to-be 21-year-old pitched only once for Stockton this year because of an injury, and that was way back in April.