It was reported by Baseball America last week that 2002 Vancouver Canadian side-armer Shawn Kohn was released by the A’s, after six years in the system, bringing him to AAA Sacramento. The University of Washington product had good seasons as a mamber of the organization, but with all the recent minor league signings (and trades aka the Dan Haren trade), his release was only a matter of time.
Today, the Oakland Clubhouse talked to Keith Lieppman, as he explained of four more minor leaguers getting the boot.
Trent Peterson, 2003 Canadians southpaw, was let go, after playing most his A’s career in Stockton and Midland. He’s had an average few years, but he should be picked up by another MILB team.
Michael Rogers, a 2004 top pick in the first-year draft, will have to find a new team to work for, after a very poor couple of seasons. He was one of the most hyped players in Vancouver back three years ago, but didn’t really show off his skills, going 1-2 with a 4.87 ERA in Canada.
That was his second lowest ERA in the organization, which gives you a good reason why he was let go. He was a starter-turned-reliever that never really blossomed into something big.
Two years ago TJ Franco came to Vancouver (in 2005), as a closer who ended up being sent to Kane County just days later, and that was just the beginning for the 30th round pick who turned more than a few heads with the A’s. He split his time between Kane County and Stockton after that, as a starter, but the thing that ended his Oakland stint was the 5.73 ERA in the California League.
The final player released was Ramiro ‘The Arm’ Mendez. Ramiro was with Arizona in 2006, before being sent up to Vancouver at the end of the year, where he blasted six home-runs in just 28 games. He started 2007 in Vancouver, but was immediately sent to the Midwest League, after opening his season with a .600 average in three games. He struggled with the Cougars, batting .200 in 35 games.
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The C’s are changing up their seating chart for 2008, removing the General Admission, Premium Festival and Premium Festival Reserved sections, combing them all to make a ‘Reserved Grandstand’. Here is what Ticket Manager Jason Takefman said in response to a question about the new chart.
You are correct; every seat at The Nat will be numbered this year, ensuring each fan will get their very own numbered seat without fear of losing it to get up to the concession stands, bathrooms, or to walk around and stretch their legs.This makes the most sense for Fireworks Nights, when the stadium is full and if you leave your seat, it’ll be gone by the time you get back. The Box Seats will remain the same, as will the Service Master Diamondclub sections.
1 user commented in " Five ex-Canadians let go; seating chart changed for 2008 "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackOz, here is just another reason why I believe the draft is not only a political bunch of crap, it’s built around hype, around past performance, who you know, what day they saw you play and what they THINK you can do. Rogers was alright, but nothing to go, WOW! Franco had a great change-up and probably the reason the A’s picked him up. What the A’s did not try to do with him was teach him the art of not slowing down his arm when he threw it. You can get away with “garbage” pitches in rookie ball where everybody is trying to make a name for themselves by hitting the ball a mile and swinging out of their shoes; BUT, what you cannot do is move up each level and expect the same crap to work for you without fine-tuning your pitches. TJ did not do that and is more than likely the reason why he got tatered in Cali. Another prime example of people who got away with a lot of crap at one level and did not have the same luck at the next is that of young Jared Lansford. How many times did he get the strikeout in Low A when missing the glove by not just a few inches, but opposite sides of the plate and nowhere near the strike-zone? A LOT! How much did that help him out when he moved up at the end of the season two years ago to Stockton? Well, those results speak for themselves.
I’ll just leave it at this, the draft is crap. If people want to see a change in baseball’s steriod use, they are going to have to do more than just punish a few names here and there. They need to reorganize the way players are brought into systems. You probably don’t see a lot of first round guys who signed for a million or two using steriods, at least not right away. But what you will see is guys signed in later rounds thinking it’s a RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW attitude and needing that extra edge to get into the limelight. Baseball needs to change the minor league system around and instead of wasting money of HYPED UP college talent, maybe spread the money around and go to an “INCENTIVE BASED” pay scale. You play well, you get treated well, you suck, you make minimum. I know what you’re going to say thinking that’s just asking for more substance abuse. Well if the MLB and MILB are serious about their new drug testing, those players will weed themselves out.
Just think of it, true talent having a reason to go balls out rather than kick back and relax because they signed for a few million and have a lot on their mind like, “what kind of car should I get next, I think I want a bigger house.”
Just a buncha crap oz, and either you agree, or you don’t. Yeah, it’s America and as long as people are willing to pay STUPID amounts of money for past performance, we will have substance abuse in professional sports.
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