First off, the comment from someone in the Gomez family is a good sign.  Fabian was offered a contract to play indy ball, and is expecting more, apparently.  Good sign, because Fabian got the bad luck of the pitching staff both seasons, with injuries, mental errors by the players behind him, and just poor calls by the Umps. 

His pick-off move was easily best in the NWL, and while there is no stat tracker on MILB.com, I’m searching through game records from this year to see how many pickoffs he had, and will look for a NWL record after that, seeing if he is indeed the record holder.  

Once again, all the best to Fabian.  Thanks for the note Mr. Gomez.

Fabian isn’t the only one searching for jobs this off-season, as I mentioned in the previous posts, but since I wrote about a number of ex-C’s who have parted ways with the A’s, some more ex-Canadians are making moves, signing with new clubs.

C John Suomi, a 2002 Canadian, raised in Toronto, has re-signed with the Philadelphia Phillies, after seasons with various other MLB clubs in their minor leagues.   

A catcher with Vancouver for parts of three seasons, Sandy Madera is a minor league free agent with Boston.  Madera hasn’t signed on with any club yet, and had very impressive numbers this season in AA Portland and AAA Pawtucket.  He played both behind the plate and at first base, hitting for a combined .291, in 79 games with 13 home-runs, 17 doubles and 54 RBI.  He struck out 44 times in 285 plate appearances.

He’s spent time with the Yankees, Orioles, Red Sox and Athletic organizations. 

RHP Franklyn German who appeared briefly with Vancouver in 2000 is a free agent, after his contract expired with the White Sox.  German has pitched in four organizations, the Tigers, the White Sox, the Rangers and Oakland, originally.  He put up impressive numbers in the Bigs, going 1-3 with a 2.08 ERA as a set-up man in the Show this year, and was 2-2 in 29 games with an ERA of 3.71, with two AAA teams.

OF Brian Stavisky, who played with Suomi in 2002 at Nat Bailey, is a MLFA after him and the Angels couldn’t agree to a deal.  Stavisky spent the year in AA after being released by Oakland last off-season.

A pair of ex-Canadians are MLFA’s with Oakland, RHP Brad Knox and C Casey Myers, who has changed his position to full-time coach, with the Canadians.  Knox pitched here in 2003. 

3B Marshall McDougall is done as a San Diego Padre, after a year in AAA.  He appeared in just 31 games between AA and AAA, hitting .262.

My personal favourite, SS Mark Kiger, who loves this blog (I say love with sarcasm).  After KigerGate a few years back, Kiger has bounced around the minors, and after a year in AA with West Tenn.  Kiger hit .223, in 109 games, and struck out 98 times.  This is after he hit .121 in AAA the year before, before being RELEASED from the Mets organization.  Let’s see if his family reads this, and KigerGate lives on.  Did he ask for his release again, Sue? 

LHP John Rheinecker was on a rehab assignment in the AZL, and allowed 7 runs in 3 innings, before his season was over.  He never even pitched above rookie ball this year.  before that though, in 2007, the 2001 Canadian was 4-2 with Oklahoma in the PCL with an ERA of 3.57.  That being said, most of his year was spent in the Majors with Texas, where he was 4-3 with an ERA of 5.36, in 23 games, 7 of which were starts.  Good luck John.

2002 1B Brant Colamarino didn’t set foot out on the diamond this year, according to MILB.com, after being acquired from Oakland to Toronto, with Kevin Melillo.  Colamarino is now a free agent, and can sign with whoever he likes.  He hit .259 with 6 HR with Vancouver in ‘02. 

                    RIP

Senator Ray Perrault, a key member of the group that saved ‘The Nat’, has passed away, at the age of 82.  Perrault was a long time baseball enthusiast, who will be greatly missed.  Rest in Peace.