posted on Sunday, April 20, 2008 3:16 PM
by
Jim
Big Hurt feelings
Frank Thomas
is currently out of a job:
TORONTO -- Slumping designated hitter Frank Thomas was released Sunday by the Blue Jays, who cut the 19-year veteran one day after he became angry for being taken out of the lineup.
Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi told ESPN's Peter Gammons that the release of Thomas was "by mutual consent. He doesn't want to be here if he's not going to play much, and we don't want him to be unhappy. He handled it with class, and I appreciate that."
Thomas said that the Jays were sitting him early in order to
prevent him from reaching a plate appearance threshold and thus triggering an option. This would be
the second time a hitch in his contract has been used against him, and the second time it's been done by somebody who doesn't possess the best people skills.
(Although this is the first time by somebody who looks like Stanley Spadowski.)
Frank's lifetime average is .302, so there's at least one advantage in hanging it up now.
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Minor league roundup for Saturday:- Richmond 3, Charlotte 1
- Jerry Owens was a man of action: 2-for-3 with a double, walk and a hat trick -- he stole one base, was caught stealing once, and was picked off once.
- Josh Fields went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts; Royce Huffman and Paul Phillips each doubled.
- Tomo Ohka went the distance in the loss, and really only made one mistake. It was a three-run homer.
- West Tenn 3, Birmingham 0
- Clayton Richard gave up three runs over six innings, allowing seven hits and a walk while striking out six.
- Ricardo Nanita had two of the Barons' four hits; Dave Cook doubled and walked.
- Clevelan Santeliz pitched two scoreless innings in relief, allowing only a hit.
- Winston-Salem 3, Frederick 2
- John Ely, the 2007 third-round pick from Homewood-Flossmoor, allowed only a run over seven innings on eight hits and a walk, and struck out six. The walk was the first in 19 innings so far, and he lowered his ERA to 1.89. He did commit an error.
- Brandon Allen had two of the Warthogs' three hits. Both were doubles, and he drove in a pair of runs.
- Matt Davis allowed an unearned run (Winston-Salem committed three errors) but got the win. Kanekoa Teixeira shut it down in the ninth for the save.
- Greensboro 1, Kannapolis 0
- Jason Rice struck out 11 over five innings, but was tagged with the loss. He allowed the only run on three hits and two walks.
- Hector Santiago (2 1/3) and Henry Mabee (1 2/3, 3K) held Greensboro scoreless the rest of the way.
- Amounting for half Kanny's hits, Jose Martinez went 3-for-4 with a double to raise his average to .226. He's 7-for-12 over his last four games.