Saturday, March 31, 2012

Baker provides a blast from the past

(photo by John Lembo)Remember Aaron Baker?
He patrolled first base most of last season for the Bradenton Marauders before he was dealt to the Baltimore Orioles for the Derrek Lee.
Well, Baker returned to McKechnie Field on Saturday and promptly hit his first home run of the spring, a no-doubter over the wall in right to tie the score at 6 during the top of the eighth.
Baker his .282 with 15 home runs and 73 RBIs in 103 games in Bradenton last season before the trade. He hit .386 in 12 games with the Orioles' high Single-A team in Frederick last year before he was bumped to Double-A Bowie, where he hit .196 in 15 games.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Four of the Pirates' top prospects expected to be Marauders

Four of the Pittsburgh Pirates' top-20 prospects are expected to be on the Marauders' roster, according to this story on MLB.com.
Pitchers Jameson Taillon and Gerritt Cole, the team's No. 1 and 2 prospects, respecitvely, are expected to front the starting rotation. Pitcher Colton Cain (17th) and first baseman Alex Dickerson (14th) are also slated to start the year in Bradenton.
Taillon, 20, was the Pirates' first pick in 2010. He went 2-3 with a 3.98 ERA in 23 starts last season with the Pirates' low Single-A team in West Virginia.
The Pirates made Cole, 21, the first overall pick of last year's draft after his three seasons at UCLA. Cole was a first-round pick of the New York Yankees in 2008, but he didn't sign.
Cain, 21, was the Pirates' eighth-round pick in '09. He went 6-8 with a 3.64 ERA last year in West Virginia and is 7-10 with a 3.96 ERA in 39 professional games and 32 starts.
Dickerson, 21, was picked by the Pirates last year in the third round, and batted .313 in 41 games last year with the Pirates' New York-Penn League team in State College.
Dickerson was orginally drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 48th round in '08.
The story also says that Robbie Grossman (8th), named the Pirates' Minor League Player of the Year last year while with the Marauders, and second baseman Jarek Cunningham (20th) will begin the year with Double-A Altoona.
The entire Marauders roster will be unveiled Tuesday morning at Pirate City.