Interleague Success

Well, it's been a while since we've been able to write that...eleven long years to be exact.

1997: 8-8
1998: 6-7
1999: 11-4

Hey, this interleague thing isn't so bad.

2000: 5-10
2001: 6-9
2002: 8-10
2003: 8-10
2004: 8-10
2005: 7-11
2006: 7-8
2007: 6-9
2008: 3-15 ouch
2009: 5-10

Yes, the last time we finished with a winning record in interleague play was actually 1999, and the last decade had produced a painful 63-102 record for us against the American League. 2002-2007 wasn't so bad, but it had gotten ugly the past couple of years. This year, therefore, we're more than happy to take the 9-6 tally and the four series wins.

There are a lot of theories about why the National League, in general, has struggled against the American League over the years - the dedicated roster spot for the DH, some higher payrolls, just more talent overall. We don't necessarily know the answer, but we do know we're pleased to buck the trend.

More Signings

Here are a few more signings for today:

#5 Rico Noel
#11 Brian Guinn
#19 Tyler Norwood
#29 Mykal Stokes
#31 Oscar Garcia
#37 Chase Marona
#41 Bryan Altman
#43 Mark Hardy

A number of these guys (Stokes, Garcia, Marona, and Altman) have already seen action with either Eugene or Arizona, as both teams began their seasons. With Noel and Guinn signed, we now have our top five college (including JC) position players signed.

Video for Rounds 11-20

Here's a little more video on some of our guys.

The Short-Season A Eugene Emeralds opens tonight! Check out the roster here. In addition to the 2010 draftees, we have a number of young talented players trying to make the jump, including pitchers Keyvius Sampson, Adys Portillo, Matt Lollis, and Pedro Martinez and outfielders Luis Domoromo and Rymer Liriano. The Arizona League Padres will start play on Monday.

Signing Update

Today we announced that we've come to agreements with 20 of our drafted players. It's good to have two of the top four (our top two position players) already in the fold. We're also close on a few others that could be done before the opening of the short season this weekend, so I'll post those as they become official.

Signings include:

#2 Jedd Gyorko
#4 Christian Bisson
#10 Houston Slemp
#12 Chris Franklin
#17 Wes Cunningham
#18 Dan Meeley
#20 Paul Bingham
#21 Connor Powers
#22 Tyler Stubblefield
#24 Rocky Gale
#27 Matthew Branham
#33 Daniel Ottone
#34 Xavier Esquivel
#36 Rob Gariano
#38 Noah Mull
#39 Adam Schrader
#40 Justin Echevarria
#42 Cole Tyrell
#44 Robert Sabo
#50 Gunnar Terhune

We're well aware that many other conversations will take a while, and some will not result in agreements, but we're very happy with where we are just one week post-draft.

Video for Rounds 6-10

This video includes RHP John Barbato, RHP AJ Vanegas, OF Jose Dore, and OF Houston Slemp. 9th Round pick Josh Spence from Arizona State didn't really pitch this spring due to an elbow injury, so there's no video of him.

As you many be able to tell, Barbato, Vanegas, and Dore were all considered to be talented enough to go in the first few rounds of the draft, but they slipped a bit in the draft due to signability concerns.

Video for Rounds 3-5

Zac Cates




Christian Bisson




Jablonski (Rico) Noel

Putting a Face to a Name

We have video!

Over the course of the next week or two, I'll be posting video on some of our draftees. These are not professionally edited highlights. Rather, they are sample clips taken by our scouts, which I thought we'd share. Because of that, some players will definitely have more than others, though it won't necessarily correlate with where they were taken in the draft. Enjoy!

Today's installment: Karsten Whitson and Jedd Gyorko.

Karsten Whitson




Jedd Gyorko