{"id":3878,"date":"2010-04-01T19:53:19","date_gmt":"2010-04-02T02:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/?p=3878"},"modified":"2010-04-01T19:53:42","modified_gmt":"2010-04-02T02:53:42","slug":"if-only-cashman-and-hendry-were-paying-attention-millar-and-jon-weber-might-have-big-league-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/01\/if-only-cashman-and-hendry-were-paying-attention-millar-and-jon-weber-might-have-big-league-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"If Only Cashman and Hendry Were Paying Attention Millar and Jon Weber Might Have Big League Jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Would someone get Brian Cashman <\/strong>and Jim Hendry <\/strong>on the telephone for me?\u00c2\u00a0 Please!<\/p>\n

Cashman, general manager for the New York Yankees<\/strong>, said Jon Weber <\/strong>might have had a chance of opening the season with the World Series <\/strong>champions if he hit right-handed.\u00c2\u00a0 Counterpart Jim Hendry<\/strong> of the Chicago Cubs<\/strong> said his team needed another left-handed bat instead of the righty Kevin Millar.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Well, gentlemen, how about getting together on a trade, and everyone can be happy.<\/p>\n

As it is, Millar, who became Independent Baseball\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most decorated player after he started with the St. Paul (MN) Saints <\/strong>in 1993 <\/strong>and went on 1,284 major league hits and a .274 average over 12 seasons (so far), is, at age 38, a free agent.\u00c2\u00a0 Weber, with all or part of four summers in Indy baseball (Fargo, ND, Northern League<\/strong>, and Canton, OH, Frontier League<\/strong>), has a right to be the most frustrated .483 hitter around as he goes back into the Yankees\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 minor league camp and, at 32, still yearns for his very first regular season at-bat in the majors.\u00c2\u00a0 Weber\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s batting average was more than 100 points ahead of any other Yankees player, and his 14 spring hits (in 29 at-bats) ranked second among all the Yankees when he was sent down, only trailing Robinson Cano\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/strong>17.<\/p>\n

Both players left camp with heart-felt comments.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

KEVIN MILLAR: <\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had as much fun (in a career) as I could and played as hard as I could with limited ability,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he told MLB.com. <\/em>Do I feel this is the end?\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d say no.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

CUBS GM JIM HENDRY ON MILLAR:<\/strong> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a guy you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d always want in your organization.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not here to say he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done (playing).\u00c2\u00a0 He knows down the road he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a potential employee here.\u00c2\u00a0 He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be a great coach.\u00c2\u00a0 He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a tremendous human being, and helped some guys here even though he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not getting on the (team) plane Saturday.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

JON WEBER: <\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It was the best time of my life, my career,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he told MLB.com. <\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I made it to the final week with the New York<\/strong> Yankees.<\/strong> I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not right-handed, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m left-handed.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve just got to stay positive, stay focused and hopefully, one day I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get the call.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

YANKEES MANAGER JOE GIRARDI ON WEBER: <\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He did great stuff and has persevered in his career.\u00c2\u00a0 He did everything he could.\u00c2\u00a0 He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s definitely opened eyes for sure.\u00c2\u00a0 The young man can hit, and his attitude is tremendous.\u00c2\u00a0 He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a fighter.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Several Jobs Still To Be Determined<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

If there is a surprise among former Independent players who have been in major league spring training when final 25-man rosters become known Sunday and Monday it appears the good news may come out of the camp of either the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim <\/strong>or the Oakland Athletics.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Atlantic League <\/strong>outfielders Cory Aldridge <\/strong>and Michael Ryan <\/strong>still are with the Angels after their strong spring showings, but it sounds like even though Reggie Willits <\/strong>probably is going to go onto the disabled list the last job could go to Terry Evans <\/strong>since he can play all three positions.\u00c2\u00a0 Aldridge and Ryan are considered corner outfielders.<\/p>\n

Change-up artist Edwar Ramirez<\/strong>, who went from the New York Yankees<\/strong> to Texas <\/strong>to Oakland <\/strong>during spring training, has a chance to join Craig Breslow (New Jersey Jackals, Can-Am League) <\/strong>and Brad Ziegler (Schaumburg, IL, Northern League) <\/strong>in the Oakland bullpen.\u00c2\u00a0 Ramirez\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Indy time was with Pensacola<\/strong>, FL, <\/strong>now an American Association <\/strong>franchise, and Edinburg<\/strong>, TX<\/strong> <\/strong>of the United League.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Three catchers still are in the major league picture.\u00c2\u00a0 Chris Coste<\/strong>, whose primary Indy time was spent with the hometown Fargo (ND) RedHawks <\/strong>(Northern League), has a new lease on life since Washington<\/strong> <\/strong>picked him up from the New York Mets<\/strong> although his role may need to settle in since the Nationals already had two catchers they planned to keep. Mike Rivera (Atlantic City, NJ, <\/strong>Atlantic League) remains with the Yankees and his chances improved this very day because Francisco Cervelli <\/strong>is having hamstring issues.\u00c2\u00a0 Cervelli has been expected <\/strong>to back up Jorge Posada<\/strong> over Rivera, who has been a non-roster invitee even though he spent almost all of\u00c2\u00a0 last season with Milwaukee<\/strong>. <\/strong>Onetime St.<\/strong> Paul, MN <\/strong>catcher Eliezer Alfonzo <\/strong>still could land on the Seattle<\/strong> <\/strong>roster.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Our best guess is that about 15 players who have worn Independent uniforms will open the major league season on active rosters.<\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/a> ADDED TO www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

FOR ADDITIONAL INDEPENDENT BASEBALL COVERAGE? <\/strong><\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

The Owner Was Traded<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Where could this happen but in baseball.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Wingnuts\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Owner Robertson Traded,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/strong>the headline blared.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure enough, Wichita<\/strong> <\/strong>native Nate Robertson, <\/strong> part owner of the American Association <\/strong>team in the Kansas <\/strong>city, had been dealt from Detroit<\/strong> back to the Florida Marlins, <\/strong>where the lefty started his major league career in 2002.\u00c2\u00a0 The deal looks good so far for Florida since the 32-year-old Robertson stifled St. Louis<\/strong> <\/strong>on two hits and a run over seven innings Thursday to run his spring record to 3-1.<\/p>\n

Maybe Friday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s headline in Wichita will say \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcNuts\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Owner Stuns Birds.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n

(This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes on Independent Baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 Fans may subscribe at www.WirzandAssociates.com, enjoy his blogs, www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/a> and www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a>, or comment to RWirz@aol.com<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 The author <\/strong>has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Would someone get Brian Cashman and Jim Hendry on the telephone for me?\u00c2\u00a0 Please! Cashman, general manager for the New York Yankees, said Jon Weber might have had a chance of opening the season with the World Series champions if he hit right-handed.\u00c2\u00a0 Counterpart Jim Hendry of the Chicago Cubs said his team needed another […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":452,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4746],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-indy-baseball-insider"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/452"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3878\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}