The non-waiver trade deadline came and went today with only one deal involving players with Kentucky ties. In a deal that just sneaked in before the deadline the Cincinnati Reds sent Louisville Bats reliever Zach Stewart and former Bats Josh Roenicke and Edwin Encarnacion to the Blue Jays for third baseman Scott Rolen.
Still no word on any trades involving players with Kentucky ties today, but with just under two hours left until the 4 p.m. non-waiver deadline keep watch on here and on BluGrass Baseball’s twitter for any late breaking news.
There is some BluGrass Baseball news to pass along though. This morning I highlighted former EKU Colonel Christian Friedrich in the morning links post, and Baseball America has chosen to honor the Rockies’ prospect as well. The magazine ranked Friedrich number one on this week’s Prospect Hot Sheet. The Hot Sheet is a weekly ranking of the best performances from baseball’s top prospects.
Friedrich earned the honor after a week that saw him go 0-0 with a 0.82 ERA in 11 innings with 22 strikeouts and just three walks.
Thursday was a slower night in BluGrass baseball news after Wednesday’s flurry of trade rumors and deals, but don’t worry there are still plenty of stories to get you through a Friday morning:
Louisville Bats vs. Toledo Mud Hens
The Legends and Hot Rods are both off Thursday.
While the primary goal of this site is to cover the baseball action in the Bluegrass, a major component of the minor league baseball experience is the ballpark promotion. So each “Thirsty Thursday” (one of the most universal minor league promotions) I’ll rundown the schedule of promotions for the next week for each of the three minor league teams in Kentucky. Clicking on each teams’ names will take you to the team’s official promotion schedule.
Some Afternoon Trade Notes:
The MLB trade season is officially in full gear with three major moves Wednesday. We told you about the Mariners/Pirates deal that sent Hardin County native Nathan Adcock to Pittsburgh, but the biggest trade of the day may also have Kentucky implications. The Phillies received reigning AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee for four prospects. With Lee and Pedro Martinez joining the Philadelphia rotation, two pitchers must move to the pen and one candidate is UK alum Joe Blanton. Blanton leads the team in innings, has a 4.11 ERA and has a history of good second halves so hopefully his spot is safe.
Check out more trade breakdown and other, BluGrass Baseball news in today’s hot links:
Hit the jump for more BluGrass Baseball news
Louisville Bats vs. Toledo Mud Hens
Hardin County native Nathan Adcock has been sent from the Seattle Mariners to the Pittsburgh Pirates as part of a seven-player deal that nets the Mariners SS Jack Wilson and LHP Ian Snell. Adcock was the Mariners fifth-round pick in the 2006 draft out of North Hardin High School.
Before the draft Baseball America said Adcock feature a 90 mph fastball with a better breaking ball than fellow Kentucky prospect Clint Tilford (now pitching for short-season Casper). Adcock was pitching for the high A High Desert Mavericks where he was 5-7 with a 5.29 ERA. In 2008 Adcock was 2-5 with a 3.72 ERA for low A Wisconsin of the Midwest League.
Yesterday’s post about Kentucky Hall of Famers made me think about who would make an All-Star team composed of only Kentucky natives. With the help of the wonderful database at Baseball-Reference.com I set out to make such a team. Each player’s playing time is listed next to his name along with the team or teams he spent most of his career with. The second bullet under each name lists the players batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage, and his rankings among relevant categories are listed in bolded parentheses next to that category.
C — John Grimm (1888-1899) — Louisville Colonels/Brooklyn Grooms
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