Offensive Players of the Week

Pacific Coast League
Ian Stewart, Colorado Springs
.450 (9-20), 7 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 5 BB, 6 SO, 2 SB, 1.050 SLG
Stewart continued his torrid hitting for a second consecutive week, blasting three more homers and knocking in 12 runs in six games. The third baseman extended his hitting streak to 13 games while driving in at least one run in his last seven contests. That stretch was highlighted by his two-homer, six-RBI performance Thursday night in an 11-5 win at Fresno -- which replicated his line from eight days earlier in a 10-1 victory over Round Rock. Stewart now leads the league with 12 long balls and 42 RBIs.

South Atlantic League
Angel Villalona, Augusta
.385 (10-26), 3 R, 3 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 0 BB, 8 SO, 0 SB, .846 SLG
Villalona struggled in April, hitting just .213 with one home run. He made up for it last week, however, belting three long balls and driving in eight runs in six games at Rome and Columbus. The first baseman knows how to finish a series strong, as he capped a three-game sweep of the Braves Wednesday by going 3-for-6 with two doubles and two RBIs. He topped that, though, in the rubber game against the Catfish, notching four hits in five at-bats with a home run, a double and four RBIs. The big week lifted Villalona's sluggish average back up to .236 on the year.

--MiLB.COM

Pitchers of the Week

Carolina League
Aaron Poreda, Winston-Salem
2-0, 0.69 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 13.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 SO
Poreda was flat-out dealing in wins over Lynchburg and Kinston last week. The 2007 first-round Draft pick shut out the Hillcats over six innings, allowing just three hits while striking out five in a 4-2 win. He nearly matched that effort Saturday against the Indians, giving up three runs -- one earned -- and four hits while striking out two in seven innings. Poreda has now won his last four starts for the Warthogs and lowered his ERA to a paltry 2.19 on the season.

Florida State League
Jonah Nickerson, Lakeland
1-1, 1.84 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 14.2 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 13 SO
Nickerson was the tough-luck loser last Tuesday in Tampa, getting the loss despite giving up just three runs on eight hits in seven innings. However, he made sure he didn't get the loss Sunday, one-hitting Palm Beach through 7 2/3 innings while striking out eight. The righty seems to thrive at home in Lakeland, where he's 4-0 with a 2.84 ERA.

Midwest League
Jonathan Kibler, West Michigan
2-0, 0.56 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 1 CG, 16.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 14 SO
Kibler earned two road victories last week, allowing just one unearned run on three hits in seven innings against Fort Wayne on Tuesday before going the distance on a two-hitter Sunday at Lansing. The southpaw allowed just one earned run to the Lugnuts while striking out eight. In seven starts on the year, Kibler has yet to allow more than six hits in a game, and has given up just seven hits in his last 23 innings.

--MiLB.COM

Shadow Draft Current Thoughts

I've gone with high schoolers at the top of the last two drafts and I think I want to pick up some college guys this time in the top couple of rounds. As we have discussed, the Twins pick 14th, 27th, and 31st. I want to add some hitting to the system and would tend to lean in that direction, though not to the point of completely excluding pitchers from the equation.

At 14, the five college guys who intrigue me most would be Brett Wallace and Ike Davis of Arizona State on the hitting side, with Christian Friedrich of Eastern Kentucky, Josh Fields of Georgia, and Shooter Hunt of Tulane on the pitching side. This assumes that none of the other top names fall unexpectedly. Wild card would be Tanner Scheppers if he falls....would depend on his medical reports.

Scenarios:

GOING STRONG FOR HITTING SCENARIO
14: Wallace or Davis
27: Connor Gillaspie or Reese Havens
31: Eric Thames or best available college outfielder

BALANCED COLLEGE SCENARIO
14: College pitcher
27: Gillaspie or Havens
31: Thames or best available college OF

GENERAL BALANCE
14: College Pitcher
27: Best Available College Hitter
31: Best Available High School Hitter or Pitcher

--MINOR LEAGUE BALL

Minor Leagues, Major Thoughts

Chase Headley's early hitting woes seem to be behind him as we close in on Memorial Day. One of the Padres top prospects and a staple in the Portland lineup, Headley is starting to attack Pacific Coast League pitching with the same fervor that earned him such rave reviews last year in the Texas League. Headley's average was as low as .221 on April 29 but he's hitting .368 since and on Sunday against Las Vegas, he hit his fourth homer in his last five games for the Beavers, who have won 10 of their last 12 at home.

Headley has seven homers and 20 RBIs, though he still leads the team with 44 strikeouts [once every 3.7 at-bats]. He fanned once every 3.8 at-bats last year with San Antonio but he also hit .330 in the process, just to keep things in perspective. Headley can hit, that's for sure and now that he seems to have his bearings in Portland, you should see his average, now at .290, creep over the .300 mark before long. The Padres were looking to inject some enthusiasm in their lineup and Headley might just be what general manager Kevin Towers needs.

--MINOR LEAGUES, MAJOR THOUGHTS

Low A Dish: Big V’s Big Night

Angel Villalona carved up Columbus, Neftali Feliz outdueled Jordan Walden, and a couple of lefty prospects in the SAL had tough nights.

South Atlantic League

Prospect Of The Day

Angel Villalona might be figuring out this full-season thing, in which case, SAL pitchers beware. Last night against Columbus (Rays), the big Augusta (Giants) first baseman finished a triple short of the cycle–probably not the last time that’ll happen–after going 4-for-5 with a double, his fifth home run of year and four RBIs as the GreenJackets cruised to a 13-2 victory. After hitting only .213/.273//325 in April, the top prospect in the Giants organization has hits in eight of his last nine games, with four home runs over that span. He’s raised his season line to .236/.289/.414 in the process.

--BASEBALL AMERICA DAILY DISH

MLB Tests Draft Prospects

As the 2008 Major League Baseball draft quickly approaches, the game's top prospects have more to worry about than agents and mock draft positions.

Starting this year, they must also deal with lab coats and urine samples.

As part of an agreement reached by MLB and the players' union in April, the top 200 draft prospects have been added to the league's drug testing program prior to the draft.

Players who test positive prior to the draft will not face any discipline since they are not yet under contract, but MLB will notify each club of such results. Players who refuse to participate in the test will not be eligible to be drafted.

"The main purpose behind it is pre-employment testing," MLB vice president of public relations Pat Courtney said. "It's another process in place to make sure people are not doing things in advance to be able to get drafted, so you wouldn't be able to use performance enhancing drugs that are going to help you out in being pro baseball player."

--BASEBALL AMERICA

Future Shock: Monday Ten Pack

Yonder Alonso, 1B, University of Miami
The Hurricanes’ regular season ended with the series of the year, as top-ranking Miami played host over the weekend to No. 2 North Carolina. While the Tar Heels took two of three and are likely now the new No. 1, Alonso certainly did his part for the 'Canes in the series, going deep in all three games. The first baseman enters the ACC Tourney with averages of .380/.548/.797 in 50 games, having slugged 18 home runs in 158 at-bats and drawing 61 walks against just 22 strikeouts. He’s been a bit of a creeper in this year’s draft, moving up slowly but continuously, and rumors have him going as high as sixth overall to Florida. That seems to be based on more of Alonso’s status as a Cuban immigrant and Miami native more than anything else, but he’s firmly put himself into the mix for several teams drafting in the latter portions of the top ten.

Lars Anderson, 1B, High-A Lancaster (Red Sox)
Everything was in place this year for a massive breakout: big kid, good hitter, huge power potential, and the kind of home park that turns everyone into a beast. Yet for Anderson it just hasn’t clicked much this year, not until this past weekend, when the 20-year-old slugger went 8-for-14 with a home run to raise his averages to .277/.383/.484. A good line, sure, but a closer look at the numbers finds that while he’s mashing at home (like everyone else) at a .321/.411/.568 pace, on the road he’s hitting a lowly .231/.355/.397 with just two home runs in 78 at-bats. First-base prospects can’t afford to have holes in their offensive game--they have to hit everyone, everywhere, in every situation, because if you don’t project as an everyday middle-of-the-order force, you’re not much of a first-base prospect. Anderson could be one of those guys still, but he’s not there yet.

--BASEBALL PROSPECTUS (SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED)

Futures Exchange: Free the Prospect

A phone call away

At the end of April, Rockies third baseman Ian Stewart had an 0-for-26 stretch that dropped his average to .236. Since then, he's reeled off a 13-game hitting streak and has his average up to .289. He's hit .322 overall in May with six homers in 17 games. He's got a 1.209 OPS this month and looks ready to get another shot. The only question, of course, is where. They had him work on playing second last fall, but he's only played third this season. It might be time to start a "Free the Prospect" campaign for Stewart, who is only 23 years old. He can hit for average and power if he ever gets a legit shot, so watch the transaction reports closely.

--MiLB.COM

'Riders' Harrison no-hits Missions

Matt Harrison had trouble finding the strike zone on Sunday, but he found it enough to make history.

Harrison pitched the first complete-game no-hitter in team history as the Frisco RoughRiders blanked the San Antonio Missions, 2-0, in the first game of a doubleheader at Dr Pepper Ballpark.

"“I'’m pretty excited about it. It was a once-in-a lifetime experience,”" Harrison said. "“I'’m pretty pumped.”"

It's the fourth no-hitter in the Minors this season and the second in Frisco history. A.J. Murray, Steve Karsay and Scott Feldman combined on a perfect game against the Corpus Christi Hooks on July 28, 2005.

--MiLB.COM

College Monday wrap-up 5/19

Crosschecker season is in full effect, and the top bats didn’t waste the opportunity as nearly all of them had big weekends. Brian Matusz and San Diego had the weekend off, and you have probably heard of the unfortunate injury to Tanner Scheppers. Aaron Crow and Christian Friedrich tried to capitalize and establish themselves atop the college pitching class. Only two more weekends before the draft. Check it all out inside.

Batters

Pedro Alvarez Vanderbilt 6-12, 4 2B (14), HR (7), 5 R, 3 RBI, 3 BB—–getting that power stroke back

Buster Posey Florida St. 5-10, 3B (4), HR (17), 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB

Gordon Beckham Georgia 4-10, HR (23), 6 R, 2 RBI, 4 BB

Justin Smoak South Carolina 4-10, 2B (18), 5 R, 2 RBI, 3 BB

Yonder Alonso Miami (FL) 6-11, 3 HR (19), 6 R, 9 RBI, 5 BB—-homer in all 3 games

Brett Wallace Arizona St. 4-13, 2 HR (19), 4 R, 7 RBI—-just puts up numbers

--FUTURE REDBIRDS

Draft 2008: The Dilemma of the Two-Way Player

A new emphasis on an old twist has occurred this year: consideration for what the player himself wants to do. Understandably, there is obvious risk in paying a young prospect top-round bonus money only to find out that he has no real interest in doing what you signed him to do. With the sheer number of top-level talent with both pitching and position tool sets in 2008, there is more scout talk about this than ever.

A few cases in point.

Sarasota (Fla.) High shortstop/righthander Casey Kelly has the whole equation coming and going. Depending on who you talk to in the game, Kelly could be a first-round pick as either a shortstop or righthanded pitcher. If you talk to University of Tennessee football coaches, Kelly could also be in the running for the Vols’ starting quarterback position in a year or two. Throw in Kelly’s baseball background—his father Pat is a former major league catcher and is scheduled to manage the Cincinnati Reds’ Gulf Coast League team this summer—and you have a complicated situation.

According to Florida-based scouts, Kelly has made it clear that he wants to play pro baseball—but only as a shortstop. Teams drafting him with the intent of using him as a pitcher will likely see him throwing footballs instead of baseballs.

Stephens County High (Toccoa, Ga.) righthander/third baseman Ethan Martin has taken a different attitude. Martin was such a high-level talent as a third baseman that he was chosen to play in the Aflac All-American Game last summer at the position, and rarely pitched during the summer playing for the East Cobb Astros.

But when Martin came out throwing 95 mph with a hammer curveball this spring, scouts quickly changed their opinion on his prospect status. According to Martin’s advisors at Jet Sports Management, “Ethan has accepted that scouts like him best as a pitcher and that that is going to be the path he takes to the major leagues.”

--PG CROSSCHECKER

Lindsay Gulin Named PCL Pitcher Of The Week

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Nashville Sounds left-hander Lindsay Gulin has been named the Pacific Coast League’s Pitcher of the Week for the May 12-18 period.

Gulin hurled six hitless innings and struck out a season-high 10 batters in picking up his first victory of the season on Thursday against New Orleans. He was removed from the outing after throwing 109 pitches (68 strikes).

For the season, the 31-year-old has posted a 1-3 record and a 3.26 ERA (11er/30.1ip) in seven games (six starts) for Nashville. He has held PCL batters to a .226 average and struck out 27 batters while walking 17 in his 30 1/3 innings.

His 3.26 ERA is the best among the Nashville starting rotation and third-best overall on the club.

Gulin’s award is the first accumulated by a Sounds player during the 2008 season. Nashville players garnered four weekly league awards in 2007, including three by pitchers (Yovani Gallardo, Manny Parra, Seth McClung).

The award is the second PCL weekly honor of Gulin’s 14-year career. He was previously named the circuit’s Pitcher of the Week in June 2003 after tossing a nine-inning no-hitter for Las Vegas.

--NASHVILLE SOUNDS

Seven Days On The Farm

Ever on the look out for ways to cram even more information into Seven Days On The Farm, key promotions and demotions within the minors are now included among the Transactions for each organization.

Organization Transactions & Highlights

Atlanta Braves
Jason Heyward (A Rome) was 9-for-24 with 2 BB
Brandon Jones (AAA Richmond) was 9-for-27 with 5 doubles and a home run

Baltimore Orioles
A promotion to AA Bowie may not be long in the offing for 22-year-old RHP Jake Arrieta. In 51.2 innings pitched with A+ Frederick this season, the 6'4" 225 lbs starter has held down a 2.56 FIP and managed to up his game recently. In three May starts, Arrieta has improved his BB/PA (7.2%, down from 15.5% in April) while maintaining a strong 27.5% K/PA.

Boston Red Sox
Transactions
Ryan Kalish (A Greenville) was 10-for-30 with 1 BB
Lars Anderson (A+ Lancaster) was 10-for-28 with 4 BB
Josh Reddick (A+ Lancaster) was 8-for-34 with 3 triples

Chicago Cubs
Tyler Colvin (AA Tennessee) was 9-for-26 with 5 BB
Eric Patterson (AAA Iowa) was 9-for-29 with 2 BB

Chicago White Sox
Aaron Poreda (A+ Winston-Salem) allowed 3 runs in 13 innings pitched

Cincinnati Reds
Drew Stubbs (A+ Sarasota) was 6-for-27 with 3 BB
Jay Bruce (AAA Louisville) hit 4 home runs and drove in 9 runs

Colorado Rockies
Dexter Fowler (AA Tulsa) was 10-for-28 with 2 BB
Ian Stewart (AAA Colorado Springs) hit 3 home runs and drove in 13 runs

Detroit Tigers
Jeff Larish (AAA Toledo) hit 4 home runs and drove in 9 runs

Florida Marlins
Christopher Volstad (AA Carolina) allowed 5 runs in 12 innings pitched
Brett Sinkbeil (AA Carolina) allowed 7 runs in 12 innings pitched
Cameron Maybin (AA Carolina) was 7-for-29 with 4 BB
Christopher Coghlan (AA Carolina) was 7-for-24 with 4 BB

Kansas City Royals
Mike Moustakas (A Burlington) was 8-for-25 with 2 BB
Blake Wood (A+ Wilmington) struck out 17 batters and allowed 3 runs in 13 innings pitched

Los Angeles Dodgers
Andy LaRoche (AAA Las Vegas) demonstrated great patience at the plate with 14 walks

Milwaukee Brewers
Matt LaPorta (AA Huntsville) demonstrated great patience at the plate with 8 walks
Mat Gamel (AA Huntsville) was 11-for-32 with 4 BB
Cole Gillespie (AA Huntsville) hit 3 home runs and drove in 9 runs
Alcides Escobar (AA Huntsville) was 16-for-36 with 4 BB

Minnesota Twins
Ben Revere (A Beloit) was 12-for-26 with 4 BB
Tyler Robertson (A+ Fort Myers) struck out 9 batters without walking anyone in 7 innings pitched
Deolis Guerra (A+ Fort Myers) allowed 8 runs in 11 innings pitched
Anthony Swarzak (AA New Britain) allowed 7 runs in 9 innings pitched
Philip Humber (AAA Rochester) allowed 7 runs in 11 innings pitched

Oakland Athletics
RHP Trevor Cahill has yet to stumble in the California League, a notorious viper pit for pitchers. Though a Sam Demel blown save prevented another win, the 20-year-old Cahill allowed only two hits and two walks against Lake Elsinore on May 14. They may already be preparing a locker in Midland.

Snapshot: Trevor CahillSplit      IP    TBF BB/PA  K/PA   BABIP  GB%  ERAApril      30.0  115  4.3%  33.9%  .317   68%  1.80May        19.2   74  9.5%  31.1%  .167   63%  1.83AWAY       31.2  117  6.0%  36.8%  .270   64%  0.57HOME       18.0   72  6.9%  26.4%  .238   70%  4.00

Sean Doolittle (A+ Stockton) hit 3 home runs and drove in 10 runs
Gio Gonzalez (AAA Sacramento) struck out 13 batters and allowed 4 runs in 12 innings pitched

Pittsburgh Pirates
Steven Pearce (AAA Indianapolis) was 9-for-29 with 4 doubles and a home run
Andrew McCutchen (AAA Indianapolis) was 9-for-31 with 6 BB

San Diego Padres
Chase Headley (AAA Portland) launched 4 home runs
Matt Antonelli (AAA Portland) was 5-for-23 with 3 BB

San Francisco Giants
Madison Bumgarner (A Augusta) struck out 12 batters and allowed 2 runs in 10 innings pitched
Angel Villalona (A Augusta) hit 3 home runs and drove in 8 runs

St. Louis Cardinals
Peter Kozma (A Quad Cities) was 9-for-26 with 3 BB

Tampa Bay Rays
Wade Davis (AA Montgomery) allowed 3 runs in 12 innings pitched
Reid Brignac (AAA Durham) was 10-for-24 with 5 doubles

Texas Rangers
Neftali Feliz (A Clinton) struck out 10 batters and allowed one run in 11 innings pitched
Matt Harrison (AA Frisco) struck out 10 batters and allowed one run in 12 innings pitched
Christopher Davis (AA Frisco) was 7-for-28 with 4 doubles and a home run
Elvis Andrus (AA Frisco) was 8-for-30 with 3 doubles

Toronto Blue Jays
Travis Snider (AA New Hampshire) was 9-for-30 with 4 BB

Washington Nationals
Michael Burgess (A Hagerstown) hit 3 home runs but struck out 11 times
Christopher Marrero (A+ Potomac) was 7-for-28 with 2 BB

--FIRST INNING

Prospects or Suspects?

The links to organizational statistics in our sidebar on the left have been updated for the 2008 season. Thanks to Baseball-Reference.com, you can access any player's major or minor league stats with one click. Go to the section labeled Reference, choose a team, then click on either "Bat" or "Pitch" and you will be taken to that club's complete list of major and minor league hitters or pitchers.

Using the above tool, I have identified four minor leaguers having outstanding seasons and will cover four more who are struggling in tomorrow's edition. Some of these players are clearly prospects, others suspects, and a few may elicit mixed opinions. In alphabetical order, I present a quartet putting up exceptional numbers through April and May.

Boston's Daniel Bard was promoted to AA over the weekend and struck out the side in order in his first appearance for the Portland Sea Dogs of the Eastern League yesterday. Check out his combined minor league stats to date:

YEAR   G  IP   H   R  ER  HR  BB  SO   ERA   K/9
2008  16  29  12   2   2   1   4  46  0.62  14.28

After a horrific professional debut as a starter in 2007 (7.08 ERA with 78 BB and 47 SO in 75 IP at Class-A and High-A), Bard was converted to a reliever and the first-round pick out of North Carolina in 2006 has dominated minor league hitters this year. A fastball/curveball pitcher, Bard's heater has been sitting at 96-98 all season long. If the 6-foot-4 righthander can maintain the command he has shown this year, his electric velocity and heavy life means he could be an effective set-up man for Jonathan Papelbon as early as this September and certainly by next year.

Jay Bruce, Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year in 2007, is tearing up the International League (AAA) once again. I'm not sure what Bruce has left to prove playing for Louisville. Although the 12th overall pick in the 2005 draft just turned 21 last month, he has produced 48 extra-base hits (including 20 home runs) in 376 plate appearances. Bruce has hit for average and power while stealing 9 bases in 12 attempts.

YEAR   G  AB   H  2B  3B  HR  BB  SO  AVG  OBP  SLG  
2007  50 187  57  12   2  11  15  48 .305 .358 .567
2008  42 156  56   9   5   9  11  38 .359 .390 .654

If Bruce has a weakness, it is his uninspiring BB/SO totals. His walk and strikeout rates are a little bit lower and higher, respectively, than desired. However, he is young and has played and excelled at a higher level for his age ever since he was promoted to AA and AAA last season. Cut him some slack here as this kid has top prospect written all over him. Look for him to become a permanent part of Cincinnati's outfield before the All-Star break.

--THE BASEBALL ANALYSTS

Q&A With Kiley McDaniel of Saber-Scouting

You've heard of them before as they took the baseball internet community by storm, and I'm proud to present a Q&A with one of the SaberScouts , Kiley McDaniel.

Kiley worked in a major league front office and currently runs Saber-Scouting with his partner, Frankie Piliere.

R.J.: Can you take us through the scouting process? Does the organization give you a certain region, player, team to scout or do you have some free will over who you get to cover?

Kiley: Then right after the draft they cover minor league games typically in that area, sometimes other areas depending on organizational needs. Almost always, the scout is given a handful of teams to cover and then follows each team for a 5-day period and writes up the whole team.

After area scouts you have pro scouts that do minor and major league games, usually in the same region all year, and there are also cross-checkers that come to see top round draft picks after the area scouts identify them so multiple sets of eyes (area guys, cross-checkers, scouting directors, other club officials) see all the top guys that will get the big money, particularly the ones that your team picks.

After area scouts you have pro scouts that do minor and major league games typically in the same region all year, and there are also cross checkers who are the guys that come to see top round guys after the area scouts identify them so multiple sets of eyes (area guys, cross checkers, and sometimes scouting directors and other club officials) see tops guys getting the most money.

--BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

Isringhausen on DL; Chris Perez recalled

ST. LOUIS --The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have placed pitcher Jason Isringhausen on the 15-day disabled list with a right hand laceration and purchased the contract of Chris Perez from Class AAA Memphis.

The team also transferred pitcher Josh Kinney from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list to make room on the 40-man roster for Perez.

Perez, 22, was 1-1 with a team-leading eight saves --fourth in the Pacific Coast League --and a 2.04 ERA in 18 games for the Redbirds.-The 6-foot-4, 225-pound right-hander had fanned 22 batters in 17 2/3 innings, walked just nine and allowed only 12 hits.

Perez, the Cardinals' second overall selection in the 2006 draft (42nd overall) was a Texas League All-Star last season at Class AA Springfield. He combined for 35 saves in 37 chances between Springfield and Memphis last season.

--BELLEVILLE NEWS-DEMOCRAT

Josh Ravin promoted to Dayton, Lotzkar not far behind?

Josh Ravin had a rough go of things last year in Billings, walking a ton of batters while striking out a ton of batters. He has the fastest cheese in the system, hitting 99 MPH last year in Billings while playing for the Mustangs. His control was real bad last year, but not too bad in 2006. He battled some injuries last year, which could be one of the reasons his control was off. He will start tomorrow for Dayton in the first game of their double header that starts at noon.

Marc Katz of the Dayton Daily News also had this to say about Kyle Lotzkar, the Reds 2nd sandwich pick last year (after Mesoraco and Frazier were drafted):

Reds roving pitching coordinator Mack Jenkins expects right-hander Kyle Lotzkar to be in Dayton soon. Lotzkar, only 18, was a supplemental first-round pick by the Reds last summer. He was 0-2 with a 3.86 earned-run average with the rookie Gulf Coast League Reds, then 0-0 with a 1.13 ERA in two games with Billings.

--REDSMINORLEAGUES.COM

Auburn's Tom Slater Announces Resignation

Tom Slater has resigned as head coach of the Auburn baseball program, Auburn Athletics Director Jay Jacobs announced Saturday.

"Jay and I met this morning and we mutually agreed that there is going to be a change," Slater said. "I'd like to thank Jay Jacobs, Dr. Ed Richardson and Auburn University for the wonderful opportunity I was given to be the head coach."

In four seasons as head coach, Slater had an overall record of 115-113 and a Southeastern Conference record of 43-77. This season, Auburn was 28-28 and 11-19 in the SEC.

--RIVALS.COM

Kendall's Quick Tales: Saturday

It's almost time for the postseason, but for teams such as Texas A&M and Oklahoma State, there's still work to be done.

After losing a second-straight game to rival Texas Saturday night, the Aggies must beat the Longhorns or hope for an Oklahoma win over Oklahoma State to win the Big 12 title outright on Sunday.

In other action, North Carolina recorded a huge road series win over Miami, while Florida State showed balance in a game three victory over N.C. State. Also worth noting, Missouri shredded Nebraska to knock them out of the Big 12 title race.

KENDALL'S QUICK TAKES: SATURDAY
North Carolina takes road series from Miami
North Carolina and Miami wrapped up an outstanding series Saturday afternoon, as the Tar Heels took home a 12-11 win and an important series victory. Though North Carolina's pitching was anything but impressive, the offense did its job with sophomore outfielder Tim Fedroff leading the charge. Fedroff went 2-for-5 with a home run, a double, a run scored and five RBIs. Fellow outfielder Kyle Shelton went 4-for-5 with three runs and two RBIs, while Kyle Seager and Tim Federowicz each had two hits in the game. With the series win, the Tar Heels will become just the third team to top the Rivals.com Top 25 this season. --RIVALS.COM

Sox News

From the other Sox, the White Sox fired Dave Wilder, their director of player personnel, and two other scouts after a two-month investigation by Major League Baseball’s Department of Investigations, according to the team and the Associated Press.

General manager Kenny Williams told the AP he could not elaborate on Wilder’s firing and those of Victor Mateo and Domingo Toribio, but MLB has turned its evidence and findings over to federal authorities, hinting at the severity of the investigation. Williams and Wilder were close friends and The White Sox said the three were dismissed “for actions in Latin America that were violations of club policy and standards” but did not elaborate.

--BASEBALL AMERICA