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Columbia

Giovanny Urshella was 0-4 in a game won by his Tigers 8-0. Urshella is off to a very slow start. Only 2 hits in 16 at bats.

Wright was throwing his knuckleball in 2011 while he worked at nearly all our full season farm teams. He is going nowhere. Salazar K totals are pretty nice and Indians must like the 21-year-old since they added him the 41 man roster. (40 for most teams, but we have not cut anyone since adding Grady back; I guess no one at MLB has noticed, or cares]

Perfect that knuckler and anything goes Civ.

Who cares.....He plays for Colorado.

That comes as a surprise to me Seagull. Steven Wright is listed on the Akron 2012 depth chart. I can't find any trade news. Checked the Rockies web site. Nothing. Do you have any sources?

My apologies, Joe. Got him confused with Alex White.

No problem Sea. I'm holding out some hope for Wright especially if he can control that knuckleball.

I hate to give up on a pitcher when he has that four pitch mix. Like the report read, his fastball consistently clocked in at 90-92 MPH and has topped out as high as 95 MPH. He also has the curve and change. When a guy has that mix, and his best pitch is a slider, in my opinion, you have to give him a long look. Moreso now with that knuckler.

Wright must be having some good results with that ERA as low as it is and the high walks total. He getting runners out without much scoring. I think we should see how well he does in Akron and if he move quickly up the ladder.

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Dominican

ESCOGIGO .-

An irrefutable source, we received information that realizes that Carlos Santana will not play here, as is his wish and as he had promised ... "Cleveland is not going to risk that their cleanup hitter suffer an injury in the winter and therefore will not give you permission, "the source said

Camaraderie. Ervin Santana, the center also appears next to the big leagues Carlos Santana and Fernando Rodney for lunch organized by the head of the Navy.Close

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Rangers' righty Boscan sharp in Venezuela

Texas pitching prospect putting rough 2011 season behind him

Venezuelan Winter League

Zulia 7, La Guaira 1

Right-handed Rangers prospect Wilfredo Boscan allowed three hits and four walks over five shutout innings, striking out two en route to his third win on Thursday night. Three relievers combined to yield just two hits and one unearned run over the final four frames. Yankees farmhand Jose Pirela tripled and drove in two, while Ender Inciarte (D-backs) also knocked in a pair. Tiburones cleanup hitter and former Rays Minor Leaguer Caesar Suarez reached base in all four of his plate appearances, collecting a double, two singles and a walk.

Caracas 3, Caribes 2 (11 innings)

Phillies infield prospect Carlos Rivero came through with a one-out walk-off single that plated Jesus Aguilar (Indians) and gave the Leones the victory. Nationals reliever Henry Rodriguez was credited with the win, striking out two over a scoreless 11th. Caracas starter Thad Weber (Tigers) lasted five innings, surrendering just one run on five hits and fanning seven. His opponent, former Major Leaguer Renyel Pinto, allowed just one unearned run on three hits over seven innings. He struck out eight and walked one.
Wilfredo Boscan was 5-15 with a combined 5.04 across two levels of the Minor Leagues this season. (Carl Kline/MiLB.com)

Aragua 11, Magallanes 6

Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos and former Major Leaguer Lastings Milledge both recorded two hits and went deep for the Tigres, scoring a combined three runs. Mets farmhand Luis Hernandez went 4-for-6 out of the leadoff spot, crossing home twice and knocking in one, while former Minor Leaguer Luis Maza belted two doubles and a single. Astros infielder Jose Altuve had the best day for the Navegantes, going 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored as he raised his batting average to .385.

Mexican Pacific League

Culiacan 8, Mazatlan 4

Jorge Vazquez (Yankees) was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, infield prospect Luis Cruz (Dodgers) doubled and plated three runs and Mexican Leaguer Refugio Cervantes homered and plated four runs as the Tomateros bested the last-place Venados. Amauri Sanit (Yankees) struck out two batters in a perfect ninth inning, while Oliver Perez (Nationals) fanned the only batter he faced to maintain his perfect ERA. Outfielder Ruben Rivera collected three hits and Jose Orozco drove home two runs in the losing effort.

Obregon 9, Hermosillo 5

In a battle of the top two teams in the league, the Yaquis remained in first place. Major Leaguer Ryan Spilborghs smacked his second homer of the winter and Victor Diaz and Said Gutierrez each plated two runs as Obregon rallied past Hermosillo. Luis Mendoza (Royals), the Pacific Coast League's Pitcher of the Year, surrendered four runs on six hits and two walks over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out seven batters. Trent Oeltjen (Dodgers) was 2-for-5 with an RBI out of the leadoff spot for the Naranjeros, while fomer second-round Draft pick Mark Hamilton (Cardinals) collected two hits to raise his average to .308 in the loss.

Guasave 5, Navojoa 4

Japhet Amador homered and plated the game-winning run and third baseman Jose Rodriguez recorded two RBIs as the Algodoneros struck three times in the ninth inning. Former Major Leaguer Daryle Ward tied the game with a sacrifice fly before Amador beat out the back end of a double play to score Henry Mateo for a walk-off victory. Wes Bankston doubled and plated two runs for Navojoa and Javier Colina smacked his first homer in the loss.

Mochis 4, Mexicali 2

Mexican League catcher Saul Soto hammered his seventh homer and plated four runs and former first-rounder Dan Serafini allowed a run on three hits and three walks over six innings. Jermaine Curtis (Cardinals) reached base safely twice and scored a run. Mexicali outfielder Matt Clark (Padres) went deep and Ricky Alvarez (Angels) recorded his ninth RBI in the loss. Pat Venditte (Yankees) worked around a pair of hits and a walk by striking out four batters over two innings for the Aguilas, lowering his ERA to 2.63.

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Panama Winter League

•Steven Wright (SP, Chiriqui Roneros): 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 2 K. Well, thanks to a site reader I was finally able to track down a site for the Panama Winter League which tracks the stats and has box scores for each game. MLB does not compile stats or provide box scores for the league so it makes it hard to get the information, and on top of that the site is in Spanish so translating the stats can be difficult. But in any case, from what I was able to decipher Wright once again had a very good game with 6.0 shutout innings. As expected he has been pitching well in Panama as I have heard he was also named to the All Star team there. Right-handed pitchers Toru Murata and Danny Salazar are also on his team, and Lino Diaz from the Indians’ Player Development Department is one of the coaches….and former Tribe player Einar Diaz is the manager.

Colombia Winter League

•Giovanny Urshela (3B, Cartagena Tigres): 0-for-4. Finally some stats and box scores from the Columbia Winter League where only Urshela is the only Indians’ player participating. The information is limited as I am still tracking down how he has done so far, but it is good to see him get in some extra games this fall/winter since he really underwhelmed this season at the plate at Low-A Lake County.

Venezuelan Winter League

•Ezequiel Carrera (CF, Navegantes del Magallanes): 1-for-4, 2 R, RBI, BB, SB. Carrera has hits in 8 of his last 10 games and is hitting .288 over that span. That’s not much to write home about, but it is a noticeable improvement compared to the slump he was in two weeks ago.

•Jesus Aguilar (1B, Leones del Caracas): 1-for-5, R, 2 K. Aguilar has shined with the power and on-base skills this fall, but one area that is still concerning is the 23 strikeouts in 78 at bats between the AFL and Venezuela.

Some very not so happy campers in Caracas. When you are expected to win, better put some W's on the board.

Francisco "The Kid" Rodriguez and Fernando Rodney are expected to join their respective teams this weekend.

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Baseball: Softbank signs former Mariners outfielder Pena

FUKUOKA -

The Softbank Hawks on Friday said they have signed
former Cincinnati Reds and Seattle Mariners slugger Wily Mo Pena to a
two-year deal worth 280 million yen.

The 29-year-old Dominican power hitter brings a wealth of
experience to the Japan Series-winning Hawks, having enjoyed a major
league career that also included stints with the Boston Red Sox, the
Washington Nationals and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Omar Minaya becomes a Padre


By Ben Nicholson-Smith [December 2 at 10:10am CST]


The Padres have hired former Mets and Expos GM Omar Minaya, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link). He will likely advise GM Josh Byrnes on Latin American operations.

The Mets dismissed Minaya 14 months ago and though a role in the current front office was a possibility, it never materialized. The Mets paid him approximately $1.1MM in 2011 and owe him the same amount in 2012. The Angels interviewed Minaya for the GM job that went to Jerry Dipoto earlier in the offseason. The Brewers, Blue Jays, Indians and Red Sox also had interest in adding Minaya to their respective front offices.

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Panama

Giovanny Urshella tripled in three at bats last night. He also scored once.