Your 2009 Huntsville Stars

[Mass Haas]

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Ex-teammate high on Manny

Stars' Stern says suspended star works hard to be great

By PAUL GATTIS

Huntsville Times Sports Staff, paul.gattis@htimes.com

 

Huntsville Stars center fielder Adam Stern played 46 games with the Boston Red Sox as a teammate of Manny Ramirez.

 

Chattanooga Lookouts prospect Andrew Lambo may eventually be Ramirez's replacement in left field with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

 

And both said before Monday's game at Joe Davis Stadium that, when it comes to Manny being Manny, it's all about hard work.

 

"I know Manny Ramirez works harder than anybody on the field," said Lambo, ranked the Dodgers' top prospect by Baseball America. "It may not look like it to people when you see him.

 

"He's the type of person who works when no one's watching. That's the type of person you want to play with."

 

These days, of course, no one is playing with Ramirez - who last week was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball for violating the league's drug policy.

 

According to ESPN.com, Ramirez tested positive for Clomid - a female fertility drug commonly used after a steroid cycle.

 

"He didn't do a good thing," Lambo said. "But don't kid yourself. Manny Ramirez off steroids is still unbelievable. (New York Yankees star) Alex Rodriguez off steroids is still unbelievable.

 

"They didn't need steroids to hit the ball. It was all about playing 160 games. That's the difficulty. Consistently being prepared and being 100 percent at 160 games is the thing."

 

Stern, who spent parts of the 2005 and 2006 seasons with the Red Sox when Ramirez was the slugging hero of New England, assessed Ramirez's work ethic in almost the exact words as Lambo.

 

"He's a hard worker," Stern said. "No one ever sees it, how much he works hard in the weight room and the video room. There are things that goes into his game that people don't see. They just think he shows up. There's a lot of stuff behind it."

 

In fact, Stern said there is a lot about Ramirez that fans often overlook.

 

"I liked him," Stern said. "He was a character. He kept you on your toes in the dugout, kept it light in the clubhouse. You didn't know what he was going to do. Everybody always asks and all I can say is he was great to me."

 

Is he misunderstood?

 

"I think so," Stern said. "I think sometimes he doesn't always make himself available (to the media), so people assume stuff in the media and things snowball on you. Some things get taken out of context. My experience, from what I saw, I thought he was a good guy and a superstar.

 

"He was quite easy to get along with."

 

Lambo's appreciation of Ramirez began last year when he asked Los Angeles Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly who the best hitter in baseball was.

 

"Don said 'Absolutely, hands-down, Manny Ramirez,' " Lambo. "I said 'Why?' He said his work ethic is the best I've ever seen. So you've got the best hitting coach in baseball saying his work ethic is unbelievable."

 

Stern said several of his teammates with the Stars asked about Ramirez last week after the suspension was announced. And Stern said he was just as shocked as everybody else.

 

"I would have never guessed - ever - when I played with him," Stern said.

[Mass Haas]

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Stars' Stern knows now is the time

Outfielder playing to save career at 29

By PAUL GATTIS

Huntsville Times Sports Staff, paul.gattis@htimes.com

 

Stars manager Bob Miscik gushed with praise about Adam Stern, touting trait after trait in describing what makes the Huntsville center fielder so good.

 

"That's as simple as I can put it," Miscik said.

 

Actually, it could get a little more simple. In short, Stern has been the best player over the first month of the season for the first-place Stars.

 

And he's playing to save his baseball career.

 

After signing a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers in January, Stern gave himself 2009 to see if his 2010 would include baseball.

 

So far, so good.

 

"He knows where he's at," Miscik said. "He's in Double-A, he's 29. This is like his last go-around. It's his last shot. He's doing everything he can to make sure he gives himself the best shot."

 

At 29, Stern is a baseball antique relative to the top prospects in the minors who are usually in the 22-25-years-old range.

 

But Stern is being stubborn, playing so well this season that he can't be ignored.

 

He's eighth in the Southern League with a .340 batting average, leads the league with 14 stolen bases and is second on the Stars with 14 RBIs despite hitting leadoff.

 

"All you can do in this game is control what you can control and hopefully people take notice," Stern said. "That's the route you have to take - take care of your stuff on the field and whatever happens happens.

 

"If you put up numbers, people are going to notice."

 

And the Brewers' brass is noticing, Miscik said. Director of player development Reid Nichols caught up with the Stars on a recent road trip and liked what he saw from Stern.

 

"They knew when they went and got him they were hoping he would turn into what he's doing," Miscik said. "Now it's just a matter of continuing to do it and an opportunity arises and they give him a chance."

 

Stern has done it before. In 2005-06, he played 46 games with the Boston Red Sox - hitting a home run and driving in six runs in 35 at-bats.

 

He's also played in the College World Series while attending Nebraska, played for his native Canada in the 2004 Olympics as well as the World Baseball Classic in 2007 and 2009.

 

"It was unbelievable," Stern said. "Obviously, being with the Red Sox, it wasn't just your ordinary team. You look back and it's a pretty amazing thing that happened."

 

But after getting released by the Baltimore Orioles organization last June and sitting out the rest of the season, Stern has contemplated life after baseball.

 

And if it happens sooner rather than later, Stern is ready.

 

"If my career ended tomorrow, I'm happy with how my career went," he said. "I'm not a superstar, people will never know my name in 10 or 15 years.

 

"But in the end, you made it to the big leagues. I didn't make $50 million but I did it the right way."

[JohnBriggs12]

No doubt Stern (like Gwynn) is keeping a close eye on Duffy's struggles.

[Mass Haas]

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Stars' Baron shines at middle reliever

By BRAD SHEPARD

Special to The Huntsville Times

 

Casey Baron's introduction to professional baseball was anything but glamorous.

 

After watching 20 rounds of the 2007 amateur draft without hearing his name, the Huntsville Stars' left-handed reliever got frustrated and left with his fiance, Kari.

 

Pick up some milk while you're out, his mom called as he left.

 

"I was in Target when the Brewers called and told me they were taking me in the 34th round," Baron said with a laugh. "It was a great feeling, and what made the feeling even better is to top it all off, my girlfriend was from Wisconsin, and her parents are big Brewers fans."

 

It was a fitting start for a middle reliever. But just because the job isn't glamorous doesn't mean Baron isn't good at it.

 

As a matter of fact, the 24-year-old has been terrific this season after progressing quickly through his first two years in the system. In 12 appearances, Baron leads the Stars with a 3-0 record and also carries a 1.59 earned-run average.

 

Lefties are hitting .158 (3-for-21) against him, and he has struck out nine of them and walked only one.

 

"First off, his role is to get out left-handers," Stars manager Bob Miscik said. "He's got that low arm slot that they don't like.

 

"He's sort of like a specialist, but he has become more than that because he's been very effective against right-handers, too."

 

Early in the season, Baron was admittedly walking too many, but he has become an ace out of the bullpen by using all four of his pitches: an 84-mile-per-hour fastball, curveball, slider and change-up.

 

Also, the three-quarter arm slot he developed after his sophomore year at the University of Maryland has helped him take off.

 

He'd been a reliever during his first two years as a Terrapin, but since Baron didn't have overpowering stuff, Maryland pitching coach Jim Farr encouraged him to drop his arm a little to give him more edge.

 

It translated into a successful senior season where he pitched 93 innings, which put him in the school's all-time top five for a single season.

 

"It sort of took off from there," Baron said. "I know that I have to be extremely accurate, control both sides of the plate and change speeds very often."

 

If he continues to live up to the crafty lefty moniker and work that deceptive arm angle to his advantage Baron has a high ceiling.

 

"He's got a very good chance to be a major league pitcher," Miscik said.

 

"Especially with that arm slot."

[bretsky07]

According to Kevin Goldstein in today's Monday Ten Pack:

 

Mike Jones, RHP, Brewers (Double-A Huntsville)

In terms of the draft and prospect world, the 26-year-old Jones is almost ancient history. He was the 12^th overall pick in the 2001 draft out of an Arizona high school, and he had a very impressive start to his career before being completely sidetracked by both Tommy John surgery and a procedure on his shoulder. That combination would normally get a guy written off, but to Jones' credit, he's worked hard to come back, and while he's hardly a top prospect, he's being noticed by scouts after reaching 94 mph in the Florida State League and tossing six shutout frames over the weekend in his first Double-A start of the year. It's hard not to root for him.

[yoshii8]

That is great news about Mike Jones! I really hope he makes it up to the big leagues, nobody deserves it more than he does.

[TheCrew07]

To quote a line from one of my favorite shows... "Holy Crap!" That's extremely encouraging, here's to continued AA success for him and the organization.

[brewmann04]

This is really great News for Mike Jones hopefully he continue his rise up to Milwaukee, I am glad he took the brewers offer to contiue with the Brewers. Next would be good news if Mark Rogers can follow.

[TheCrew07]

I wasn't going to post this because the chances are still remote for Jones, and the organization was going to release him this year brewmann04... Ever since Hardicourt blogged or wrote last year that Jones had no chance, I kind of wanted him to make it, even if it wasn't with the Brewers. The beat writer has no business writing a story like that when he clearly doesn't follow the minors like he should.

[TooLiveBrew]

Yeah, and the scary thing is that TH actually contributes to (iirc) Baseball America on Brewers minor leaguers.

 

*smacks forehead*

 

 

GREAT news on Jones... hard not to get excited, but I will keep on thinking happy thoughts...

[TheCrew07]

I was wondering about that too TLB, and not to take this too far off topic, but I was wondering if TH gets his list directly from the Brewers, and that's why Dykstra was so high, because they had just taken him in the 2nd round? Whatever the case, I'm not all that high on BA's lists anymore because I just have a hard time believing that TH or any beat writer follows the minors as closely as even some fan sites do. I'd put Colby, Mass, And That, Pogo... basically all of our staffers up against TH any day of the week.

[TooLiveBrew]

I'd put Colby, Mass, And That, Pogo... basically all of our staffers up against TH any day of the week.

 

Oh absolutely...

 

 

 

 

 

now give us free stuff! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/devil.gif

[trwi7]

I doubt TH gets the list and he doesn't even make the official list. He just gives an outline to BA and if they think someone is too high or too low, they change it.

[DHonks]

Great news on Mike Jones. Like I've said before, my hope is that with Tommy John surgery now about 24 months behind him (control should be returning) and shoulder surgery at least 40 months in the past, he should be feeling as good as in a long time. Having the TJ surgery may have bought him more time to work on the shoulder. One would think that if he throws well in AA, a promotion to AAA in July would make sense. Even at age 18, he had an advanced feel for pitching. So one would think that he should still have a good plan of attack and won't need long in AA (for what, his 5th season there?)

[TheCrew07]

Promoted to what end my friend? A promotion to AAA seems a bit premature to me. He won't have the arm strength to pitch in the rotation next year so I'm fine with him spending a hopefully very successful season in AA and then taking the promotion to AAA and a 40 man spot for next season if all goes well. He hasn't pitched more than 90 innings in a season since 2003 and more than 120 since 2002.

 

Much like Braddock I'm hoping he'll reach the 100 inning plateau this season and go from there.

 

If the organization views him a reliever then I'm down with a faster promotion schedule.

 

As disappointing as Jeffress has been, the developments with Jones, Rogers, and Braddock have made this minor league campaign pretty exciting for me personally.

[Invader3K]

"You can never have enough pitching." While I haven't followed Jones extensively, it would be nice to have him as a viable MLB option down the line, whether as a starter or reliever.

[aintbize]

I totally agree. Jones has come along through much adversity. Rogers has seen even more. Braddock has not been healthy for two years yet kept our interest peaked. I think Mike deserves an entire season in AA for all the reasons you stated. Mark Rogers just need to slowly build himself back to the player we drafted in '04. I am not rushing him...slow and steady. Braddock has been absolutely ridiculous. The kid averages almost 2 K's per IP, his walks are way down and he's given teams very little to work with when he is on the mound. If he had been properly diagnosed by the Brewer's docs, he might be playing in AA or AAA right now. For all I know that could hold true for Rogers & Jones. They wanted the 20-21 yr old (Braddock) to have another TJ Surgery, all he needed was the ulna nerve transposed...very minor compared to TJ. It's scary to know that the team Dr, Raasch isn't making the players on this team better. Bottom line is that I am taking a shot at the team Dr and staff. On the positive side, these kids have worked their butts off, they offer a lot to look forward to and I am very excited about all three.

[Never Outhustled]

The guy I think Jones compares best to is Gil Meche. Meche, like Jones, is a former 1st round draft pick with similar size, good athletism, low to mid 90s fastball, and a pretty good curve. Meche also had major injury issues as a youngster. Meche has become a very valuable, and durable pitcher.

 

He won't have the arm strength to pitch in the rotation next year so I'm fine with him spending a hopefully very successful season in AA and then taking the promotion to AAA and a 40 man spot for next season if all goes well.

Meche missed part of 2000, all of 2001. He was brought back slowly in 2002, pitching just 65 innings, all in AA. In 2003, he made 32 starts in the majors, and pitched well.

 

Jones is already 26, they're not going to hold him back if he's pitching well. As long as he's getting people out, he'll be on the mound.

 

As for AA or AAA, it doesn't matter to me, as lots of players in other organizations go straight from AA to the majors.

[TheCrew07]

That's an interesting comparison X, hadn't considered it until you brought it up.

 

If he pitches well he might force their hand, he's not obligated to stick around now that I think about it a little bit more. I'd take an effective and healthy Jones over Looper or Suppan in a heartbeat, the problem is the contracts, Suppan is going to be around regardless. Looper is more tricky, the mutual option is interesting, so that spot in the rotation might open up.

[homer]

Jones has had one decent season statistically (granted he was really young the first pass in AA), Meche at least had a bit of a track record over several seasons before he got hurt. Unless Jones gets his K rate up I can't really get all that excited. Impossible not to root for him though.

[Never Outhustled]

Jones has had one decent season statistically (granted he was really young the first pass in AA), Meche at least had a bit of a track record over several seasons before he got hurt.

Not only did Jones outpitch Meche in each of their 1st 3 pro seasons, Jones did it while pitching at higher levels. Jones got hurt at the end of his 3rd season, and underwent shoulder surgery the following year. Meche got hurt at the end of his 4th pro season, and underwent shoulder surgery the following year. they were both similarly ranked prospects according to BA.

 

I'm not saying Jones and Meche are identical, but Meche is a pretty good example of a quality pitching prospect who had major shoulder injury and made it back. Hopefully Jones can continue on the same path.

[rousieboy]

So why did MJones get sent to Helena??

[TheCrew07]

They just played 8 games in 5 days, there was quite a bit of movement on the roster to make sure they had enough fresh arms to eat all of the innings up without having to use position players. I wasn't aware he was one of the players shuffled, but it would be a paper move only. Bucci was the only one to actually come up and pitch from extended spring training, but no one actually went down.

[Hate those Rodents]

I know we like to limit the amount of threads out there, so I'll put this here for now. Chad Cody pitched eight innings today, allowing one run and four hits with six K's and only one walk. The guy might be looking at a promotion soon. I am hopefuly he can be Chris Capuano, the Cappy that we all liked and that was a #2/#3 starter for us.

[Mass Haas]

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Green settles in with Stars

By Paul Gattis

Huntsville Times Sports Staff, paul.gattis@htimes.com

 

He broke his nose in seven places, and that was after he broke his wrist.

 

And that was after he was believed to be part of the CC Sabathia trade last year.

 

Yet Taylor Green is still a top prospect for the Milwaukee Brewers and now he's the Huntsville Stars' third baseman.

 

"I couldn't really believe what was happening there," Green said Monday. "It was a little bit of bad luck (with the injuries) for a while. But bad luck becomes good luck."

 

Who could have imagined, after being named the Brewers' Minor League Player of the Year in 2007, that 2008 would be more eventful?

 

It started July 7 when the Brewers acquired Sabathia from Cleveland in the blockbuster trade of the season. The Indians sought prospects in return and speculation centered on Green joining Matt LaPorta.

 

Eventually, the Indians selected Michael Brantley as the player to be named later. But Green didn't know for sure until the transaction was completed Oct. 3.

 

"At first, it was a little bit tough," said Green, who was playing at Single-A Brevard County at the time of the trade. "The first week, it was real tough. I knew I had to get it together and get focused.

 

"I like knowing what's going on and I really had no clue what was going on. You wanted an answer so you could settle in. I didn't know."

 

Green went on to hit .289 at Brevard with 15 home runs and 73 RBIs, but injuries kicked in.

 

On Aug. 15, Green was hit by a pitch on the left wrist. Neither he nor team officials realized it was broken, so Green played in the Arizona Fall League for top prospects.

 

There, a pitch struck him in the nose - breaking it in four places. But with only three weeks left in the season, Green postponed surgery.

 

After sitting out four days, Green was whacked in the nose again by a bad-hop grounder during batting practice his first day back- breaking it in three more spots. "It was bad," Green said. "(The nose) looked like a hockey stick."

 

That's a nice analogy for a British Columbia native who professes a love for hockey - especially the Vancouver Canucks. Green still likes to go home and lace up the skates.

 

"Growing up in Canada, a lot of those guys have crooked noses from playing hockey," said Green, who played hockey until the ninth grade. "I would have fit in up there."

 

He's fitting in pretty well with the Stars, too. Entering Monday's game against Birmingham, Green was hitting .256 with eight RBIs after a May 21 promotion from Single-A Appleton.

 

"I love him," Stars manager Bob Miscik said. "He's hard-nosed, loves to play. He's got a short, quick bat and uses the whole field."

 

And he's still a Brewer - rated the organization's eighth-best prospect by Baseball America.

 

"The Brewers have been good to me so I was happy to stay,"Green said.