Ex-Rainiers In The Minors

What ever happened to Matt Tuiasosopo? Ryan Rowland-Smith? Rob Johnson? These are the questions we answer today as we take a look at how former Rainiers with other minor league teams did in 2012.

Let’s dive right into it. We’ll go team-by-team through the International League, and then check the final numbers on the ex-Rainiers of the PCL.

• Rob Johnson, Buffalo. Hit .207 in 45 games for the Mets affiliate, did spend time in majors as a back-up catcher.
• Sean Kazmar, Buffalo/Binghampton. Appeared in 11 Triple-A games and 57 Double-A games as a utility infielder in the Mets system.
• Oswaldo Navarro, Buffalo/Binghampton. Opened season in AA before May promotion to Buffalo, hit .210 in 100 Triple-A at-bats.
• Matt Tuiasosopo, Buffalo. Hit .242 with 12 HRs and 57 RBI in 131 games in Triple-A. Posted .690 OPS, played many positions.
• Garrett Olson, Buffalo. Went 4-7, 4.63 in 122 innings swinging between rotation and bullpen, pitched in one MLB game for Mets.
• Chris Seddon, Columbus. Went 11-5 with a 3.44 ERA in 20 starts before promotion to Cleveland.
• Matt Mangini, Durham/Mobile. Hit .273 with 5 HR in 83 games for Tampa’s Triple-A team, released in August, signed with Arizona who sent him to Double-A Mobile. Helped Mobile win Southern League championship.
• Josh Lueke, Durham. Went 2-6, 5.59 in 42 games for Rays affiliate. Had 71 K’s in 67 innings.
• Josh Wilson, Gwinnett. Infielder hit .241-5-43 in 122 games for Braves Triple-A affiliate. Pitched three times in blowouts with 0.00 ERA.
• Jose Yepez, Gwinnett. Batted .264-3-30 in 79 games, sharing catcher duties. Solid OPS of .724.
• Anthony Varvaro, Gwinnett. Reliever had a 2.23 ERA in 44 innings; saw big league time.
• Jeff Clement, Indianapolis. Hit .276-16-57 in 416 ABs as DH/1B. OPS of .825, September call-up to Pirates.
• Tug Hulett, Lehigh Valley/Reading. Split season between AA and AAA in Phillies system. Batted .325 in 120 ABs in Triple-A.
• Ryan Feierabend, Louisville/York. The lefty made seven starts for the Reds Triple-A team (1-4, 6.75), but spent most of the year with the independent York Revolution of the Atlantic League (9-5, 2.70).
• Brett Tomko, Louisville/Reno/Mobile. Still going at age 39, Tomko was 0-6, 3.78 for Louisville before making a handful of starts in the Diamondbacks system.
• Joel Pineiro, Norfolk. Made two starts in May for the Orioles affiliate before injuries ended his season.
• Justin Thomas, Scranton/Pawtucket. Had a 3.45 ERA in 62 innings pitching for both the Red Sox and the Yankees AAA teams, saw brief MLB time with both.
• Rene Rivera, Rochester. Catcher hit .226 with ten homers for the Twins AAA affiliate.
• Luke French, Rochester/New Britain. Opened season dominating Double-A, then went 1-5 with a 6.42 ERA in 74 innings in AAA.
• Manny Delcarmen, Scranton. Was 3-5, 4.42 in 57 innings for Yankees affiliate.
• Josh Bard, Albuquerque. Had big year as backup catcher, hitting .331-6-32 in just 148 at-bats.
• Jared Wells, Colorado Springs. Posted 5.96 ERA in 19 games out of Sky Sox bullpen.
• Yusmeiro Petit, Fresno. Went 7-7, 3.46 in 28 starts for Giants affiliate.
• Luis Valbuena, Iowa. Hit .303 with .885 OPS, earned promotion to Chicago.
• Ryan Rowland-Smith, Iowa. Was 3-6, 3.94 in 77 innings for Cubs affiliate. Swung between bullpen and rotation.
• Chris Woodward, Las Vegas. Hit .285 in over 300 at-bats, announced retirement. Will get minor league coaching/managing offers.
• Chris Jakubauskas, Reno/Las Vegas. Had a combined line of 2-3, 4.64 in 54 innings pitched.
• Nate Robertson, Iowa/Las Vegas. Veteran lefty was a combined 0-3, 8.07 in 29 innings.
• Nick Green, New Orleans. Blasted PCL at a 344/397/599 rate before getting called up by Marlins.
• Adam Moore, Omaha. Hit .296 in 115 at-bats after being claimed on waivers by Royals, September call-up.
• David Winfree, Reno. Hit .263 and abruptly retired in late May.
• Brad Nelson, Round Rock. Posted .279 average with team-leading 24 homers and 81 RBI. OPS was .852.
• Sean Green, Round Rock/Somerset. Had a 5.60 ERA in 19 games for Rangers affiliate, released in late May. Finished in independent Atlantic League.
• Fabio Castro, Sacramento/Midland. Was 3-7, 6.92 in 14 games for Sacramento, sent to AA Midland and went 2-7, 4.63.
• Ryan Langerhans, Salt Lake. Batted .250-11-54 in 96 games for Angels affiliate.
• Sean White, Salt Lake. Was 0-1, 8.12 in 29 games for the Bees.

Just for fun, a few independent Atlantic Leaguers of note:

• Prentice Redman, Bridgeport. Hit .282 with 21 home runs and 82 RBI in 503 at-bats.
• Gaby Hernandez, Mobile/Southern Maryland. Was roughed up in AA in the Diamondbacks system, finished up with the Blue Crabs.
• Tommy Everidge, Lancaster. Hit .255-9-46 in 404 at-bats.
• John Halama, Lancaster. Went 13-9, 3.14 in 27 starts and 188 innings pitched. I’m stunned he is still playing, too.
• Bobby Livingston, Sugar Land. Lefty was 9-2 with a 4.37 ERA in 16 starts.
• Brandon Haveman, York. Outfielder hit .290 with six homers in 482 at-bats.
• Johan Limonta, Mexico City/York. After a month crushing the Mexican League with a .384 batting average, Limo returned to the states and hit .277 in 155 at-bats for York.

Well, that was fun. Again, I’m sure I missed a few guys, but I feel like we covered most of the players you may remember from the last ten years. Whoops, make that 11 years – Halama and Tomko pitched for Tacoma in 2001!

Links:

• I missed it on Tuesday, when ESPN.com’s Jim Caple looked at the “Ex-Mariners Factor” in the MLB playoffs.
• The Mariners Insider blog is back and gaining steam at The News Tribune’s website – it’s been updating a few times a week lately, add it to your regular stops.
• St. Louis took a 2-1 lead over San Francisco last night in a rain-delayed game, and now the Giants turn to UW product Tim Lincecum for a crucial Game Four start. The two-time Cy Young Award winner had a difficult regular season, but he was terrific in the division series. This will be fun to watch tonight (5:07 PM).
• Reminder: you can enter to win the opportunity for Rainiers mascot Rhubarb The Reindeer to trick-or-treat with your kids. Here’s what it will look like, and here are all of the details.

We’ll be back Tuesday with… I don’t know, something? The World Series should be set by then, I’ll probably write about that.

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