In the Pros
David Aardsma -
Aardsma spent his freshman year at Penn State in the spring of 2001 before trotting off to Rice to finish up a highly successful collegiate career. Aardsmaa was with the Chicago White Sox in 2007, the Boston Red Sox in 2008, and signed with the Seattle Mariners for 2009. Aardsma has taken over the ace reliever’s role for Seattle. Aardsma was a major surprise for the Mariner’s last season, saving 38 of his 42 opportunities. Given that Aardsma had never had a save in his previous four major league seasons, his emergence caught everyone by surprise. He starts 2010 off as the ace in the Mariner pen
Gary Amato -
Gary Amato, a 2007 48th round draft pick by Pittsburgh, began the 2009 season with the Pirates new A franchise affiliate the West Virginia Power in the South Atlantic League but was released early year. He later signed with the Nationals organization was assigned to the Vermont Lake Monsters where it looks like he will begin this season.
Former major leaguer Nate Bump continues on the comeback trail. After starting out the 2009 season with the independent Camden River Sharks, he was signed by the Tigers organization and assigned to the AAA Toledo Mud Hens. In the off-season, Bump was picked up by the Phillies and will start 2010 off with their AAA affiliate the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.
Matt Cavagnaro -
Cavagnaro, a 2007 draftee of the Pittsburgh Pirates, after being released by the Pirates in early 2009, signed an independent contract with the Long Island Ducks. He returns in 2010 for his second season with the Ducks.
Craig Clark -
Craig Clark was a 2007 14th round draft choice of San Francisco. Clark has a spectacular 2009 with the Class A California League San Jose Giants, at one point winning a California league record 12 straight games and being named the California League Pitcher of the Year. He’ll start off 2010 in AA ball with the Richmond Flying Squirrels.
Scott Gaffney –
Scott was drafted in the 12th round by the Cincinnati Reds in 2007. After missing all of 2008 with an elbow injury, Scott went 4-4 with the Single A Dayton Dragons in 2009. He’ll start 2010 off with the Class A Advanced Lynchburg HillCats in the Carolina League.
Clayton Hamilton -
Clayton Hamilton, a 17th round draft pick of the San Diego Padres, started the 2009 season with the Frisco RoughRiders in the AA Texas League and was promoted to AAA Oklahoma City Redhawks in the Pacific Coast League at year end. Released in March, Hamilton was a late season, early July, signing with St Johns in the Pittsburgh area Federation League.
Scott Kelley –
A 2009 23rd round draft pick of the Kansas City Royals, Scott had a strong rookie season with a sparkling 1.94 ERA. Late in the season, he was bumped up to advanced A ball with the Wilmington Blue Rocks in the Carolina League where he had one disastrous outing giving up five earned runs in just 2/3 of an inning. He’ll begin the 2010 campaign with the Class A Burlington Bees in the Midwest League.
T.J. Macy – after being released by the Grand Prairie AirHogs in 2009, T.J. signed on with Na Koa Ikaika Maui, an independent team in Hawaii, for the 2010 season. If you are going to play minor league ball, Maui sure isn’t a bad place to pick.
Drew O’Neil -
Drew was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 2008 draft. He went 4-1 with 2.54 ERA with the Kannapolis (NC) Intimidators in the Sally (South Atlantic) League In 2009. He’ll once again start out the season with Kannapolis
Sean Stidfole -
Sean Stidfole was a 2005 14th round draft choice of the Toronto Blue Jays. He went 3-1 with a 3.70 ERA in 2009 with the Las Vegas 51s in the AAA Pacific Coast League. Stidfole has been released by the Blue Jays and has signed with the York Revolution in the Independent Atlantic League.
Cory Wine -
Cory was drafted by and signed with his grandfather’s organization, the Phillies in 2009. Assigned to the Gulf Coast Phillies, Cory struggled at the plate and batted only .189 for the sesaon. For 2010, Wine was released by the Phillies but caught on with the Washington (PA) Wild Things, an independent league team. In May of 2010, the Wild Things traded Wine to the Amarillo Dillas for a player to be named later. Wine is now playing for the Florence (KY) Freedom, another independent league team.
Out of baseball
Joe Blackburn – quit baseball to go to law school at Penn State
Mike Lorentson – had a brief stay in 2009 with the independent New Jersey Jackals.
