The Rule 5 draft is held every December, with teams drafting players on other organizations they feel deserve a chance to play at a higher level than they are playing. They are then placed on the 40-man roster. Roberto Clemente was once a Rule 5 pick and more recently, Jose Bautista, Bobby Bonilla, Josh Hamilton, Johan Santana, Dan Uggla, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth were Rule 5 picks.
This year, 12 players were drafted during the Major League Phase, 23 during the Triple-A Phase, and two during the Double-A Phase. At the major league level, the player needs to be kept on the major league roster for the entire season by the drafting team and if they aren't they have to be offered back to the original team. It also costs some money to make Rule 5 picks. Minor Leaguers have to be kept on the 40-man roster. However, players with limited pro experience are not eligible to be drafted in the Rule 5.
First taken was ex-Miller High and Quake left-hander Robert Fish by the Atlanta Braves. It was the second straight year Fish was taken in the Major League portion of the Rule 5. Last year, he was drafted by the New York Yankees, but didn't make the club in spring training, then went to Kansas City, before being sent back to the Angels. Fish was 1-0 with two saves and a 3.25 ERA for Double-A Arkansas in 2011. Fish pitched for the Quakes in 2009 and 2010.
Another Angel farmhand, infielder Michael Wing, who went to Upland High and played for the 66ers last year, was drafted. Wing's 2011 season was solid, but limited to 73 games because of injury. He batted .317 with 11 home runs and 54 RBIs for the Sixers. Wing was taken in the Triple-A phase by the San Diego Padres.
Ex-66er left-hander Thomas Melgarejo (Kansas City) and ex-Quakes left-hander Barret Browning (St. Louis), outfielder Gabe Jacobo (Toronto) and third baseman Ricky Alvarez (Chicago Cubs) were taken in the Triple-A phase. Ex-Quake third baseman Matt Sweeney, who went to Tampa Bay in the ill-fated deal that brought Scott Kazmir to the Angels, was selected by Baltimore out of the Tampa Bay organization in the Double-A phase.
]]>So close, but oh, so, so far.
Stockton scored four runs in the sixth and 11 in the seventh to blow out the Storm 15-1 in Game 3 of the Cal League Championship Series on Saturday night.
In the 11 run seventh, the Ports drew four walks and one hit batter. Three of the walks were with the bases loaded and there was a grand slam.
Lake Elsinore still leads the series 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday at 6:05 at Stockton.
]]>Ricabal, who was the 66ers pitching coach this year and the Quakes' pitching coach from 2008-10, is leaving because it's a job with his longtime friend and former Cal State Fullerton teammate Jason Gill. Gill is the head coach at LMU.
"We are lucky to be able to add an experienced pitching coach the caliber of Danny Ricabal to the organization," Gill said in a press release. "Danny has a proven track record of success as a pitching coach from Division I to professional baseball, and he has worked with some of the best pitchers in the game at all different levels of play. As a collegiate athlete, Danny pitched in Omaha and knows what it takes to get there. He has coached at the Division I level and has a clear understanding of how to get his pitchers to reach their full potential. There are few coaches in the college ranks that have the experience of pitching in Omaha, coaching Division I and coaching in professional baseball. He is the total package, and the LMU baseball program made big strides in our quest to be champions with the addition of Danny Ricabal."
Ricabal, whose last college coaching job was at UC Santa Barbara from 2002-04 said, "there aren't too many colleges I would consider leaving the Angels for, but having the opportunity to work with Gilly is great."
Ricabal worked with many of the Angels young pitchers including Tyler Chatwood, Trevor Bell, and Jordan Walden. There are also others now with other organizations, such as David Herndon (Phillies), Sean O'Sullivan (Royals) and Alexander Torres (Rays). He also worked with some great young arms with the 2011 Sixers including fireballer Johnny Hellweg and Ariel Pena, who was No. 2 in the league in strikeouts.
Once pitcher he has a special interest in how he does in the future is Eddie McKiernan, the Monrovia High product who pitched for the Quakes in 2009 and 10 and was with Double-A Arkansas this year. Ricabal watched McKiernan as a youth, gave him an endorsement when the Angels asked his opinion before drafting him then worked with him in the minors.
"It's bittersweet. It will be great to coach with Gilly, but the Angels were absolutely tremendous," Ricabal said. "There are a lot of really good baseball people. It wasn't an easy decision, but it was one I had to make in my coaching career. I'm excited."
I know one thing, I'm glad San Jose didn't make it. It's more interesting when other teams win the title. Anyway the San Francisco Giants always load up that team, so its good they were unable to secure a league-record third straight title.
]]>The Quakes squandered a 4-0 lead after three innings en route to dropping the first game of the best-of-five series.
There was plenty of blame to go around: starter Red Patterson and relievers Bret Montgomery and Steve Smith were not at their best and each contributed to the collapse.
Angelo Songco was 0 for 3 with runners in scoring position and the Quakes got no hits from the bottom four hitters in their order.
But Blake Smith twice came up with the Quakes trailing 6-5, and the tying run on third with two outs. First in the fifth, and again in the seventh.
"I thought the turning point was Blake's at-bat in the seventh," Quakes manager Juan Bustabad said. "It's a 2-0 count, and he grounds out. He needs to take a pitch. Maybe you'll walk and who knows, maybe they'll walk the next guy."
Smith hit a weak grounder to second on a 2-0 count, grounding out with the bases loaded to end the threat in the seventh.
Quakes host Lake Elsinore for Game 2 Sunday at 5:05 p.m.
]]>However, it was Lake Elsinore and Stockton with won last night.
So here I am predicting results of the Division Finals. I will take the Quakes and San Jose, each in four games. Both teams have been so consistent this season and they've been able to set up their rotations that I think they will both prevail.
]]>Ariel Pena struck out 13 in 7 1/3 spectacular innings, but Edinson Rincon's bases-loaded single with one out in the ninth scored Nate Freiman with the game-winner as Lake Elsinore was victorious 2-1 over the Sixers in Game 2 of the South Division first round.
The decisive Game 3 is Friday at Lake Elsinore at 7:05 p.m.
The pitching matchup for Friday is the Sixers' right-hander Cody Evans (2-0, 3.18 ERA) against Storm left-hander Jose DePaula (10-5, 5.22). DePaula is the third straight left-handed starter the Sixers will face in the playoffs, following Andrew Werner and Nick Schmidt.
The season stats would indicate an advantage for the Sixers, but head-to-head numbers favor the Storm. DePaula is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in three appearances (one start) against the Sixers, while Evans is 0-0 with a 10.38 ERA in two appearances (one start) against the Storm.
The 66ers will be looking to defeat the Storm in the playoffs for the first time since the South Finals in 2006. They lost in 2007 and 2008. However, those were Mariners (06) and Dodgers (07 and 08) affiliates. In 2009 and 2010, the Angels' old affiliate, the Quakes ousted Lake Elsinore in the playoffs.
]]>Lake Elsinore and the 66ers are so close, but the Sixers have played well down the stretch. I'll take the Sixers to win the series in three.
In the other series, Modesto has been playing a little better down the stretch and I'll take them to win their series against Stockton in three games as well.
]]>The win moved the Sixers to 67-69 overall, tied with Lake Elsinore for home field in the first round of the playoffs. The teams play each other in the playoffs beginning on Wednesday. Lake Elsinore does hold the tiebreaker, however.
Carlos Ramirez also had three hits and two RBIs, David Harris had two hits and two RBIs and Hellweg struck out nine batters.
The Sixers return home for a season-ending four-game series against Stockton beginning Friday.
]]>The latest returnee was center fielder Anthony Jackson, who had been out with a broken finger. Jackson returrned to the lineup Thursday and went 2 for 5 with a walk, two runs and two RBIs as the Quakes won 13-11 to complete a three-game sweep of the Mavericks. The Quakes, already in the playoffs also clinched a tie for the second-half title. They are now 77-59 overall, 39-27 in the second half.
Since the beginning of last week, the Quakes got a flurry of people back and they've been red-hot since, winning nine of 11 games. All nine of the wins have been by one or two runs.
The Quakes might have another injury issue as reliever Jordan Roberts stumbled awkwardly while covering first base in the eighth inning Thursday. Although it initially looked like it could be a broken ankle, it now appears to be just sprained.
]]>On Tuesday at Lake Elsinore, the were back at it and rallied from 4-0 and 8-7 deficits for a 12-8 victory at the Diamond. The win put the Sixers into a tie with the Storm for home-field in the first round of the playoffs. There are two games left in the series and six games left in the regular season. Lake Elsinore leads the season series 12-11 and that would be the tiebreaker if the teams finish with identical regular season records.
The Quakes, meanwhile, led 11-2 but blew the lead, allowing six runs in the seventh, one in the eighth and two in the ninth to go extra innings for the second time in four games.
This time, instead of 14 innings, they went 11 as Angelo Songco homered in the top of the 11th for a 12-11 victory. Matt Magill (10-5), normally a starter, got the win with two shutout innings of relief.
]]>The game-winner came against Juan Ciriaco, a position player who had to pitch because the Giants were out of relief pitchers.
At 4 hours, 54 minutes, it was the longest game in terms of time in Quakes history, surpassing a 4:48 game at the 66ers in 2008. The record for longest Quakes game in innings was 16.
Ortiz's hit was his first of the game, but he had walked four times. Tony Delmonico was hitless, but also walked four times. Jean had four hits, including two doubles and a home run in the epic battle. Jaime Pedroza had hit a three-run triple with no outs in the seventh to tie the score 7-7 in the seventh. The game remained that way until the 14th.
After Pedroza's hit, the Quakes had gone 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position before Ortiz's blooper.
Meanwhile, in a game that ended about 2 hours earlier, the 66ers rallied from a 3-0 deficit and downed Stockton 6-3 to trim their magic number for a playoff berth to 2.
]]>The Sixers went 6 for 14 with runners in scoring position and left just five runners on base. Stockton was 5 for 17 with RISP but left 14 on base.
The Sixers moved to within three games of the Quakes in the second half race after the Quakes lost to San Jose 8-7 at the Epicenter. Second-place Lake Elsinore also lost and is one game back.
Austin Gallagher's home run with one out in the bottom of the eighth tied the score 7-7 and capped a comeback from a 5-1 deficit after two innings. But James Simmons' grounder went under the glove of third baseman Tony Delmonico for an error with two outs in the ninth to score the go-ahead run as San Jose won.
San Jose's Gary Brown, a Diamond Bar High product, was 3 for 5, with a walk, a double, a run and two RBIs.
The Quakes were without Blake Smith in the final innings. Smith returned on Tuesday after missing two months from hernia surgery. Manager Juan Bustabad said Smith's quad was sore and that's why Ramon Jean was sent in to pinch-run for him in the fifth inning. It was Smith's fourth straight game since returning (he is 6 for 15 since returning). Bustabad said Smith would probably get at least two days off, possibly three before he returns.
"We don't need to risk anything," Bustabad said. "We want to make sure he's healthy for the playoffs."
]]>Reed started and pitched two shutout innings. He threw 27 pitches, 19 for strikes and allowed one hit and struck out two. He had only one two-ball count to the eight batters he faced. He also commited an error, when he knocked down a line drive, but then bobbled it before throwing late to first.
Perhaps his performance was even more impressive when you look at one each of the next three pitchers did: allow a run.
Matt Magill, a regular starter, allowed five runs (four earned) in 2 2/3 innings. Normally reliable Josh Walter allowed four earned runs in 1 1/3 innings and Jordan Roberts (7-4) allowed one run in two innings but picked up the win.
Roberts got the win because the Quakes rallied from a 10-7 deficit in the eighth with five runs. In the inning, the Quakes drew three walks and two batters were hit by pitches. Angelo Songco (3 for 5, 2 doubles, a triple, four RBIs) hit a game-tying two-run double and Jaime Pedroza (four RBIs) added a two-run single that snapped a 10-10 tie.
Logan Bawcom entered in the ninth and walked a batter with one out to bring the tying run to the plate. But Jordan Wideman grounded into a spectacular 5-4-3 double play to end the game. Bawcom earned his ninth save in preserving the 12-10 win.
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