Friday, January 16, 2009

Obscure Signings of the Week

It's been a busy week on the transaction wires. Among the well known names that appeared among the transactions include: David Eckstein, Kevin Youkilis, Mark Kotsay, Bartolo Colon, Dave Bush, Derek Lowe, Fernando Rodney, Chone Figgins, Guillermo Mota, Alex Cora, Jack Cust, Chris Ray, John Smoltz, Russ Ortiz, Trevor Hoffman and Mark Prior. But for all those well known names, there were plenty of other obscure signings from guys still clinging to the MLB dream:

Dan Ortmeier - Left Fielder - Colorado Rockies: Minor League Contract

Ortmeier is a six foot, four inch, 28 year-old born in Tennessee and raised in Texas. After a college career at Texas-Arlington, Ortmeier was drafted in the third round by the San Francisco Giants in the 2002 draft. He got two cups of coffee in 2005 and 2006 with only a handful of at bats in both seasons. He had a great 2005 year in the AA ball with 20 homers and 35 stolen bases. A year later, he had wrist and knee problems but still got called up for a few games.

Ortmeier had knee surgery prior to 2007 but was recovered enough to start the season for the Giants' top farm team. He got into 62 games in 2007 and batted .285 with six homers in 157 at bats. He even had a walk off home run against the Dodgers. He competed for the starting job at first base in 2008 and lost out to Rich Aurelia. He did manage to get 64 at bats and did not hit well.

It seems part of the problem when the Giants kept trying to get him to give up switch hitting. The Giants seemed to win and for the first time since 2002, Ortmeier batted right handed against a right handed pitcher in April and got a game winning double against Heath Bell. But by August, he was back to switch hitting, which apparently led to the team non-tendering him at the end of the year.

Ortmeier will now try to resurrect his stature as a prospect with the Rockies.

Callix Crabbe - 2B - Seattle Mariners: Minor League Contract

Now isn't this a great name? Callix Crabbe is a second baseman who was born in the U. S. Virgin Islands in 1983. After college, he was drafted in the 12th round by the Milwaukee Brewers. To give an idea of a minor league player's life, Crabbe was named the best defensive second baseman in the 2004 California League. Then in 2007, he was the Applebee's Home Town Hero of the year for the Nashville Sounds.

Crabbe made his major league debut for the Padres who obtained Crabbe in the Rule 5 draft in 2007. The slick fielding second baseman promptly made three errors in five games for the big league club. The Padres returned Crabbe (who only posted a .176 Batting average in 34 at bats) to Milwaukee (as part of the rules for the Rule 5) who promptly let him become a free agent.

Now Crabbe hopes to extend his dream with the Seattle Mariners.

John Koronka - Pitcher - Florida Marlins: Minor League Contract

Koronka is the epitome of a man who just wants to pitch in the big leagues and despite lack of success in any of his major league attempts, continues his quest.

Drafted in the 12th round by the Cincinnati Reds in 1998, he made his MLB debut with the Chicago Cubs in 2005 and started three games for the Cubs that year. He went 1-2 with an ERA over 7. Not a good start. Nevertheless, his Topps baseball card for the following year tabbed him as a future opening game starter. But it wouldn't be for the Cubs. They traded him to the Texas Rangers in March for the immortal Freddie Bynum.

Koronka started 23 games for Texas in 2006 and enjoyed the kind of success that Texas pitchers always seem to have there. He went 7-7. That part is good. But his 5.67 ERA was...well...Rangeresque. Koronka expected to be on the opening day roster in 2007 but was cut in Spring Training. He did manage to start two games for the Rangers in 2007 but gave up nine runs in ten innings and lost both of them.

Koronka went to Japan in 2008 and is back on this side of the world this year and hoping to get a shot with the Marlins. Stranger things have happened.

Jose Capellan - Right Handed Pitcher - Houston Astros: Signed to a minor league contract.

The six foot, four inch pitcher from Cotui in the Dominican Republic has bounced around quite a bit in his 28 years. The pitcher reportedly throws 100 MPH and was a highly touted prospect for the Braves after he signed with them as an undrafted player. He had a great year in the minors in 2004 and the Braves brought him up for a few cups of coffee. He poured sour milk in that coffee by giving up ten earned runs in just eight innings.

After the 2004 season, the Braves traded him to the Brewers for Danny Kolb. He got into 17 games with Milwaukee in 2005 and was somewhat effective in relief. He struck out 14 in 15+ innings and ended up with an ERA of 2.87. The Brewers then made Capellan a major part of their bullpen in 2006. That didn't turn out nearly as well.

He pitched in 61 games for the Brewers in 2006 and showed signs here and there of effectiveness. But overall, he ERA ended up at 4.40 and he gave up 11 homes in 71+ innings. He had a poor spring in 2007 and the Brewers sent him to the minors. Capellan wasn't happy about that and demanded a trade and threatened retirement. He didn't retire and pitched a few games for the Brewers before he was traded to the Tigers for Chris Cody. That didn't work out too well either as Capellan gave up ten runs in fourteen innings for the Tigers.

The Tigers then traded him to Colorado for Denny Bautista. He pitched once for the Rockies in 2008 and pitched three innings. The Rockies designated him for assignment and he elected to become a free agent. He signed with the Kansas City Royals but did not make it to their big league team, so three innings was his 2008 total.

Now, he's been invited to the Houston Astros training camp and signed a minor league deal with them. When a pitcher has a big arm, there is always some team that will give him a chance...even if that big arm has never proven to have the ability to miss many bats.

No comments: