Yankees Release Seven Minor League Players

Opening Day is tomorrow people, the Yankees do not play today. I know it's Opening Day like everywhere else in the league but it's never Opening Day until my Yankees play, you know? Anyway the Yankees have to finalize all their rosters and helped that by releasing seven minor league players today.

The seven players released today were RHP's Kenedy Agramonte, Zach Arneson, Adam Smith, Zach Varce, Derek Varnadore, 3B Kevin Mahoney, and OF Kelvin De Leon.

De Leon was paid $1.1 million way back in 2007 out of the Dominican Republic and never quite reached his full potential, getting as high as High A with the Tampa Yankees. De Leon is still only 23 years old and has already made over a million bucks, must be nice.

Mahoney made it all the way to AAA last season playing first base, second base, third base, outfield, and pitcher, yes pitcher. Varnadore was picked in the 9th round of the 2012 MLB First Year Players Draft and was all the way in Low A with the Charleston Riverdogs before the 23 year old was released.

Varce was taken in the 11th round of the 2010 draft and Smith was taken in the 25th round of the 2011 draft. Arneson was picked in the 11th round of the 2011 draft and reached High A Tampa Yankees before being cut last season after struggling with the promotion. Agramonte was signed before the 2010 season out of the Dominican Republic and never got out of Rookie ball.

These are not huge losses, although I hate losing Varnadore and Arneson specifically, but that is a total of 40 minor league players cut since the offseason began. Wow. Tough crowd.

Bird’s Walk Off Lifts Charleston to Victory In Season Finale

RiverDogs close out the season in style, complete the year with a bang

CHARLESTON, SC – Greg Bird capped off one of the most remarkable seasons in Charleston RiverDogs history in dramatic fashion with a walk off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning to send Charleston to a 1-0 win over the Rome Braves in the season finaleon Monday night in South Atlantic League action in front of 4,593 fans at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

With the victory, the RiverDogs finish the season with a 36-34 second half record and 75-63 overall. The Braves finish up at 37-33 in second half play and 73-66 overall with the victory.

Nothing happened offensively until the ninth inning when the Dogs finally were able to punch through.

Fu-Lin Kuo led off the frame with a walk. After a strikeout by Wes Wilson, Charleston just missed getting a walk off homer from Jake Cave as he flew out to the wall in centerfield for the second out of the inning.

Jose Rosario got hit by a pitch to move Kuo to second and set the stage for the memorable ending to a memorable season.

Greg Bird smacked a pitch back up the middle to score Kuo and win it for the Dogs just before the rains came.

It was a perfect ending to the year sown at The Joe.

Rookie Davis got the start and tossed five shutout innings for the Dogs. Derek Varnadore then came in and spun four no hit shutout frames to earn the win and finish the year at 2-7.

BALLPARK FUN: Fans were treated to the season’s final fireworks display over the Ashley River after the game! Also, the crowd of 4,593 brought the season average to an all-time Charleston baseball record of 4,292 for the year. The 283,274 total attendance for the season is the second largest number in Charleston history behind only the 284,718 that came through the gates in 2007. Thank you, fans.

Box Score: http://atmilb.com/136Yy1p

Charleston Falls In Extras In Road Finale

Charleston Falls In Extras In Road Finale

Greenville ties it in the 9th, wins it in the 11th to avoid the sweep

GREENVILLE, SC - Mario Martinez hit a broken bat, walk-off RBI single into left field with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning to send the Greenville Drive to a 2-1 extra innings win over the Charleston RiverDogs at Fluor Field at The West End on Wednesday night.

With the loss, the RiverDogs fall to 34-32 in the second half and 73-61 overall. Charleston finishes the season an even 35-35 on the road. The Drive improve to 27-36 in second half play and 49-83 overall with the win.

It was an old fashioned pitcher's duel for the first seven innings of the game with neither team scoring a run until the eighth.

In the top of the eighth, Jake Cave led off with his sixth triple of the year and promptly scored on Jose Rosario's RBI single to give the RiverDogs a 1-0 lead. However, the lead would not last.

In the bottom of the ninth the Drive tied the game thanks to a two singles and an error to force extra innings.

That's when Martinez came through with the walk-off single to win it in the 11th.

Rookie Davis made his Charleston debut, and the righty was impressive. In five shutout innings he didn't walk a batter, gave up eight hits, and fanned six.

Sergio Gomez made the start for Greenville and was even better. Gomez allowed just two hits in six shutout innings, walked three, and collected three strikeouts.

The bullpens were phenomenal for both squads as well. Derek Varnadore threw five innings in relief for Charleston and gave up just one run on three hits with four strikeouts. John Brebbia got tagged with the loss for the Dogs following the walk-off single in the 11th. He recorded two outs, gave up a hit, and walked a man. Brebbia falls to 0-2 on the year.

Raynell Velette went two innings in relief for the Drive and surrendered the only run Charleston scored in the game. He allowed four hits and struck out three. The most effective pitcher in the pitching dominated game was Kyle Martin who spun three hitless, scoreless innings with one walk and four strikeouts. Martin earned the victory to improve to 2-1.

Danny Oh had a fantastic game offensively for the RiverDogs with a 3-3, double, walk performance. Greg Bird went 0-3, but walked twice, once intentionally.

COMING UP: Thursday is the final off day of the season for the RiverDogs. The team will open their final homestand of the year at The Joe on Friday night with the first of four games against the Rome Braves. Charleston will start RHP Brett Gerritse (8-7, 3.60 ERA) for the last time this season, and Rome will counter with RHP Mauricio Cabrera (3-8, 41.8 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 on Friday night.

It will be the final Red Shirt Friday of the year as fans who wear red to the box office can save $1 off their ticket OR donate that dollar to local charity Canines for Veterans. "Titus the Wonder Dog" will be on hand to show off his batboy skills and multiple tricks during the game. As part of the last Red Shirt Friday there will be a silent auction during the game to win the unique red, white and blue digi-camo jerseys off the backs of the RiverDogs players. Fans of Dante Bichette, Jr., Greg Bird and Cito Culver can bid online at www.RiverDogs.com until Saturday. After the contest, we will again light up the sky over the scenic Ashley River with another Piggly Wiggly Postgame Fireworks show. It's also a Miller/Coors Aluminum Pint Nite as folks 21 and older can enjoy $2 specials on aluminum pints. Fans can purchase tickets at www.riverdogs.com, over the phone at 843/723-7241, or in-person at the Riley Park Box Office. Fans may also listen to the game live locally on ESPN Radio 910AM or online at www.riverdogs.com.

Box Score: http://atmilb.com/185R8uY

Being posted with permission from the Charleston Riverdogs organization. The original article can be seen HERE. 

Tourists Rude Hosts, Slug Their Way Past Charleston

Tourists Rude Hosts, Slug Their Way Past Charleston

Asheville scores last eight runs to run away with 8-1 win in series opener

ASHEVILLE, NC - The Asheville Tourists hit three home runs and scored eight unanswered runs on Friday night against the Charleston RiverDogs to erase an early 1-0 deficit and defeat Charleston 8-1 in the series opener at McCormick Field in Asheville in South Atlantic League play.

With the loss, the RiverDogs fall to 30-31 in the second half and 69-60 overall. The Tourists advance to 23-37 in second half play and 61-67 overall with the victory.

Jake Cave continued his hot hitting for Charleston by smacking a double down the left field line to begin the game. Dante Bichette, Jr. later drove Cave in on a sacrifice fly to put the Dogs up 1-0 after half an inning.

That was all the offense Charleston could muster on the night, however.

Derek Jones hit the first of his two homers on the evening for Asheville to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the first.

The bats for the Tourists were back at in the second with two more runs, this time on Ben Waldrip's two run homer.

Up 3-1 in the fourth, Asheville strung together four hits and a sacrifice bunt to bring in three runs. Later in the frame, Jones went deep again. This time with a man on base, Jones homered to right field to finish the scoring in the game and give the Tourists an 8-1. Asheville never looked back.

After five, four hit, one run innings from their starter Andrew Brown, the Tourists' bullpen shut down the Charleston offense.

Shane Broyles, Trent Blank, and Jacob Newberry combined to allow no runs on four hits and fanned five. Brown earned the win to remain perfect and move to 7-0 on the season.

For the RiverDogs, starter Derek Varnadore gave up six hits, six runs, two homers, and struckout two in three innings en route to the loss to fall to 1-7. John Brebbia allowed two runs on two hits in three innings of work, and then Kelvin Castro struckout two in two scoreless frames to finish the game for Charleston.

COMING UP: Game two of this three game series is Saturday night at McCormick Field in Asheville at 6:05. Charleston will send out RHP Brett Gerritse (8-7, 3.74 ERA) and the Tourists will start RHP T.J. Oakes (9-8, 4.47 ERA). Fans can listen to the game live locally on ESPN Radio 910AM or online at www.riverdogs.com.

Box Score: http://atmilb.com/1dbGdG0

Being posted with permission from the Charleston Riverdogs organization. The original article can be seen HERE.

Rome Braves Squeak By Charleston RiverDogs

Rome Squeaks By RiverDogs

Braves win rainy, one run game to take 2-1 series lead

ROME, GA – On a cool, rainy night in Northwest Georgia, the Rome Braves took a wet ballgame from the Charleston RiverDogs 5-4 on Sunday night at State Mutual Stadium in South Atlantic League action. There were two delays that combined for 1:51 minutes that affected the contest.

With their second straight loss, the RiverDogs fall to 28-28 in the second half and 67-57 overall. Rome advances to 28-28 in the second half and 63-62 overall with the victory.

Greg Bird paced Charleston offensively again going 3-4 with a double, two RBI, and a run scored.

After Bird’s RBI double in the top of the first inning, Rome got a two-run homer from Edison Sanchez in the bottom of the first to go up 2-1.

Sanchez had a huge night for the Braves finishing 3-3 with a homer, two singles, a walk, three RBI, and two runs scored.

Ericson Leonora tied it for Charleston in the top of the third inning with an RBI single that scored Bird. But, again Rome responded in their half of the inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Chase Anselment lined a base hit to right field that scored two runs and put the Braves back on top 4-2.

The game stayed that way until the bottom of the fifth inning when Sanchez was at again knocking in another run to put Rome up 5-2.

Both starters factored in the decision. Derek Varnadore made the spot start for the RiverDogs and allowed four runs, only two earned, on five hits, and walked three in four innings to earn the loss and fall to 1-6. Rome’s starter Frank Lafreniere limited Charleston to two runs, one earned, on four hits, one walk, and fanned three over six solid innings to improve to 6-12 with the victory.

Charleston added two runs in the eighth inning on RBI’s by Bird and Leonora, but wouldn’t get any closer.

After the game’s second rain delay occurred in the top of the eighth inning, Alex Wilson came out of the bullpen for the Braves and got the final six outs. He gave up no runs on two hits and struckout two.

The finale of the four game series is Monday night at State Mutual Stadium in Rome. Charleston will send out RHP Brett Gerritse (8-6, 3.43 ERA) for a spot start, and the Braves will counter with RHP Mauricio Cabrera (2-7, 3.91 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for7pm on Monday. Fans can listen to the game live locally on ESPN Radio 910AM or online at www.riverdogs.com.

Box Score: http://atmilb.com/19CRWgj

--RIVERDOGS--

Being posted with permission from the Charleston Riverdogs organization. The original article can be seen HERE. 

Meet A Prospect : Derek Varnadore

The New York Yankees used their 9th round pick, 307th overall, on college right handed pitcher Derek Varnadore. Derek spent his collegiate career at the University of Auburn. Derek also, like Taylor Dugas, signed a well below slot deal for 10K. 

Varnadore is more of a project then any of the top 10 draft picks the Yankees took but the level of competition tends to be a lot better in the SEC then in other places. He has a classic pitchers body but still needs to develop his pitches. The body cannot be taught and the repertoire can and I think that is what the Yankees are looking for. I personally do not see Varnadore ever making the majors and if he does it will be in 4-5 years at the earliest. 

Derek is already pitching for the Staten Island Yankees in the New York Penn League. In 9 games as a reliever Derek has 18 K's, 6 BB's, a .193 BAA, and a 2.86 ERA in 22 IP. 

Follow Derek on Twitter @ D_Varnadore