Naturals lose Hardy to Braves in Rule 5
Hardy, the 28-year old Bethel Springs, TN resident, posted a 4-3 record and 3.44 ERA in 36 appearances for the 2010 Naturals, his first season coming out of the bullpen. He was the Kansas City Royals' minor league pitcher of the year following the 2007 season when he was 15-5 with a 2.48 ERA for Advanced Class-A Wilmington. The southpaw will be assigned to either Triple-A Gwinnett or Double-A Mississippi within the Braves' system.
The Royals also picked up a player in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft that could be a candidate to see time in Northwest Arkansas this season. Right-hander Heath Rollins was selected in the Triple-A phase from the roster of the Montgomery Biscuits, the Tampa Bay Rays' Double-A affiliate in the Southern League. Rollins, 25, split his 2010 campaign between Triple-A Durham and Montgomery (AA), combining for a 5-3 record with a 5.27 ERA in 44 games, including three starts. The Rays' 11th-round pick in 2006 was a non-roster invite to Spring Training in 2010. Like Hardy, he had his best minor league season in 2007 when he went 17-4 with a 2.54 ERA in 27 starts for Class-A Columbus (GA).
Surprisingly, the Royals did not lose a player during the major league portion of the draft. Several Naturals, including right-handers Mario Santiago and Blake Johnson as well as outfielder Paulo Orlando were left unprotected when the Kansas City Royals didn't have room for them on their 40-man roster. Johnson became a minor league free agent but was re-signed and still eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, yet none of the three players were among the 19 selected by Major League teams in the first portion of the Rule 5.
Kansas City did select a player with its fourth selection in the big league portion of the draft, taking right-hander Nathan Adcock from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Adcock was the Seattle Mariners' fifth-round pick in the 2006 draft and came over to the Pirates organization in the July 2009 trade that sent Major League infielder Jack Wilson to Seattle. The Royals paid $50,000 to acquire his rights and will have to keep Adcock on their 25-man Major League roster or offer him back to the Pirates.
However, should the Pirates decline to pay Kansas City $25,000 to take him back, the Royals will be free to option him or outright him to one of their minor league affiliates. This came into play last season when the Atlanta Braves declined to take left-hander Edgar Osuna back at the conclusion of spring training. Osuna had been the Royals selection in last December's Major League Rule 5 Draft. This allowed the Royals to outright Osuna to Double-A, where he became a Texas League All-Star and one of the Naturals' best starters during their run to the first half division title. Osuna was also left unprotected and unselected during this Rule 5 Draft.
Adcock, just 22 years of age, could be a candidate to come to Northwest Arkansas should the Pirates not elect to take him back. He spent all of last season with Advanced Class-A Bradenton in the Florida State League, posting an 11-7 record and a 3.38 ERA in 27 games (26 starts). He struck out 113 batters and walked 38 while allowing 131 hits in 141 1/3 innings pitched. The tall 6'5" righty has yet to make an appearance above Class-A, but the 2009 Baseball America prospect handbook ranked him as having the best breaking ball in the Seattle Mariners' system at the time of publication.
Besides Hardy, the Royals lost one other minor league player in the Rule 5 Draft, left-hander Starling De La Rosa, who was taken in the Minor League Phase by the Texas Rangers. De La Rosa is a 23-year old Dominican lefty who spent last season split between rookie-level Idaho Falls, Class-A Burlington, and Wilmington, going a combined 1-4 with a 5.92 ERA in 22 appearances. The southpaw reliever was not viewed as a candidate to start the 2011 season with the Naturals.
More News and Notes from the past week
Magallanes out as Travs' skipper: A new face will be peering from the opposing dugout during the Naturals' 16 meetings with their in-state rival Arkansas Travelers next season as Bobby Magallanes has been replaced as their manager. Magallanes was the Travs' skipper for four seasons, winning the 2008 Texas League Championship but never advancing past 65 wins in a single season. The Travs' win total got worse each year he was at the helm, from 65 wins in 2007 to 62 in 2008, to 61 in 2009 and just 55 last season. Furthermore, Magallanes helped get the Naturals-Travelers' in-state rivalry off to an awfully lop-sided start; he was 36-63 (.364) against Northwest Arkansas, including an abysmal 7-25 head-to-head record in 2010. Former Major League reliever Ken Patterson, who spent the past three seasons as the Travs' Pitching Coach, also won't be returning to North Little Rock as both he and Magallanes appear to be out of the Angels' organization entirely. Bill Mosiello, who managed their low Class-A Cedar Rapids affiliate the past two seasons, takes the reigns as the new skipper. Mosiello has a ton of collegiate coaching experience in addition to his experience at the professional ranks. Meanwhile, Frisco announced that their skipper, former Major League infielder Steve Buechele, will return for a second season with the 'Riders. That leaves the Tulsa Drillers as the lone Texas League team yet to announce their 2011 staff.
More Rule 5: There were a few other Texas Leaguers selected in both phases during Thursday's Rule 5 Draft. The New York Yankees used their pick on Travs' reliever Robert Fish, a hard throwing lefty with some command issues, and the Washington Nationals selected Springfield Cardinals' right-hander Brian Broderick, who was a Texas League All-Star this past season. In the minor league phase, speed oriented Missions' OF's Brad Chalk and Quintin Berry were selected by the Pirates and Mets, respectively, Midland relievers Daniel Sattler and Justin Friend were selected by the Angels and the Phillies, respectively, and the Blue Jays picked Travelers' reserve infielder Ivan Contreras. 28 players in total were involved in the minor league phase of the draft.
Front Office Follies: It isn't only the players that use baseball's offseason to repair their various injuries... This week, tis' the season for going under the knife for some members of the Naturals' front office. Account Executive Sam Haugen had knee surgery Thursday to repair a torn ACL he suffered in October during a recreation-league basketball game, and Head Groundskeeper Monty Sowell was released from the hospital Wednesday after surgery on both knees...The Naturals will have a new Ticket Office Coordinator for 2011 as Andrea Blann has accepted a job in Guest Relations with the Houston Astros.
Winter League Report
Puerto Rico: Former Natural and current Royals' bullpen lefty Dusty Hughes has allowed 14 runs in his past two starts in San Juan to raise his ERA up to 6.99...Right-hander Mario Santiago rebounded after a disastrous previous outing to pitch 5 2/3 innings of scoreless ball Tuesday night for Carolina. He fanned seven and allowed six hits...Former Naturals' infielder Irving Falu continues to get a lot of playing time for Mayaguez. He is hitless in his past two games, however, and is batting .282 with four RBI in 34 games.
Dominican Republic: Former Naturals' reliever Victor Marte has continued to redeem himself after getting dropped off the Royals' 40-man roster. His scoreless streak for the Licey Tigers continues - he hasn't allowed a run since November 4th and now has a 1.53 in 16 games. He has fanned 13 batters and walked just five in 17 2/3 innings...Louis Coleman certainly hasn't hurt his chances for a spring training invite with the big leaguers, posting his own 1.53 ERA in 14 appearances for Escogido. Coleman's peripheral numbers are even more impressive than Marte's - 14 K's and 3 walks in 17 2/3 IP...former slugger Juan Richardson was 1-for-2 on Sunday in his only playing appearance of the week, lifting his average for San Pedro de Macoris to .233.
Venezuela: Former Naturals' outfielder Jordan Parraz is struggling with La Guaira, with only one hit in his last ten at-bats this week. He has a .136 average and two RBI's in 11 games...Ernesto Mejia homered last night for Zulia, helping them to a 2-1 win. Mejia now has a .293 average with three homers and 25 RBI's...Jose Duarte has once again seen his playing time increase for Leones de Caracas. He's started three games this week and has two multi-hit games, raising his average to .278. He also has driven in four runs in that time-span...Dan Cortes, recently named as the tenth-best prospect for the Seattle Mariners, continues to be one of the Venezuelan Winter League's most dominating relievers. He has a 2.08 ERA in 18 games and is 10-for-10 in save chances...Likely 2011 Naturals' catcher, Salvador Perez, trying to get more playing time after playing sparingly in the Arizona Fall League, is catching on with the Parallel League, the lower-level Winter League in Venezuela. He's batting .455 in six games for the La Guaira affiliate.
Mexico: After some early struggles, Federico Castaneda is hoping the Royals will give him a spring look after he's stabilized with three consecutive scoreless appearances for Culiacan. He's been one of the winter league's busiest relievers, with 22 appearances, although he has a 5.59 ERA in 19 1/3 IP...Edgar Osuna has allowed eight runs in his past two appearances and has an unsightly 14.21 ERA, compiled in just 6 1/3 innings. He did not have a strong finish with Triple-A Omaha, either...Cory Aldridge, released by the Angels, shouldn't be out of a job too long. He's been one of the most consistent bats for Mexicali, with seven homers and 26 RBI's.
Australia: Former Naturals southpaw Paul Mildren turned in a quality start his last time out, tossing six innings and allowing three runs, although he still suffered the loss.
The international winter leagues wrap up in January with the top winter teams from the Latin American countries competing against one another in the Caribbean Series, an elimination-style tournament. The series runs during the first week of February and is televised nationally on the MLB Network, providing fans a great chance to see minor league players on a big stage in an electric atmosphere of international competition.
Keep up to date on nwanaturals.com with our Hot Stove Report, where we'll continue to follow Royals' minor leaguers in winter ball as well as cover other off-season baseball information that pertains to the Naturals and the Texas League.
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state of the art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale. You can purchase tickets and group outings with the Naturals by calling (479) 927-4900.