Q&A with Nardi Contreras - Part II

Nardi Contreras, the Yankees Minor League Pitching Coordinator, sits down with PinstripesPlus.com for a long Q&A session. In Part Two of our multi-part series, Nardi talks about why Jeremy Bleich struggled in Trenton, if Christian Garcia was putting it together before he got hurt again, if he likes the development of Wilkins De La Rosa's secondary pitches, and much, much more.   Full Story

It's Battle Red Day, and the Texans have once again scheduled the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jacksonville is 2-5 in Reliant Stadium (1-5 under Jack Del Rio), and the team is looking to rebound from a dreadful performance as they were crushed by the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday, 31-17, in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score would indicate.   Full Story

The Jaguars, who revamped their wide receiver corps in the offseason, are at it again.   Full Story

Scout.com insiders Dan Leberfeld and Jon Scott answer questions about the Patriots - Jets game. In Part 2, Scott addresses the key issues facing The Patriots after close week one win. How does Brady look? What are some of the concerns with the offensive line? Will they miss Mayo and more...   Full Story

Josh Rodriguez hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to help the Akron Aeros to a 7-6 win at Connecticut in Game 2 of the Eastern League Finals. Akron swept two games at the Defenders' home ballpark and will play host to all other games needed in the best-of-five series. Game 3 is scheduled for Friday night at Canal Park. If other games are needed, they would be Saturday and Sunday.   Full Story

Beau Mills and Josh Rodriguez drove in three runs apiece to lead Akron to a 9-3 victory at Reading and a three-game sweep of their Southern Division playoff series. The Aeros will play for the Eastern League championship against the winner of the Northern Division series between the Connecticut Defenders and New Britain Rock Cats. Connecticut leads that best-of-five series, two games to one.   Full Story

TPI uncovers another Katy ISD find for the Rice Owls. Katy Taylor DT Nico Carlson verbally commits to Rice this week.   Full Story

San Diego Padres prospect Simon Castro has a no-no through 6.2 innings. Reactions from Castro, Adam Zornes, manager Doug Dascenzo and Silver Hawks manager Mark Haley from the Fort Wayne TinCaps win. Missions lose a tough one in 11, as Ernesto Frieri has a no-hitter through 5.2. Lake Elsinore leads through seven but can’t close the door in a 6-5 loss.   Full Story

The Cardinals have four Double-A post-season All-Stars but were shut out of three other leagues. Springfield’s Daniel Descalso, Tyler Henley, Lance Lynn and Trey Hearne were selected by the Texas League.   Full Story

Eight top St. Louis Cardinals prospects will participate in the 2009 Arizona Fall League as members of the Surprise Rafters, led by the organization’s 2008 Player of the Year, Daryl Jones.   Full Story

Left-hander Joe Savery has found one key to success; slow down. After a dismal 2008, Savery has risen to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and is taking things slower and easier as he gets closer to the majors.   Full Story

The Jaguars fell to the Miami Dolphins 12-9 in the preseason opener. What did we see during the game? Here are the JagNation notes.   Full Story

Here is the third installment of Twins Prospect Power Rankings. In this, we look at the top-25 performers for the Twins farm system this season. This is not a ranking of the best prospects in the system, but rather who is performing the best right now.   Full Story

Phillies minor league director Steve Noworyta sat down with Philly Baseball News to talk about some of the key prospects in the organization. Noworyta talks about various players, like Kyle Drabek, Scott Mathieson and Dominic Brown.   Full Story

The most often overlooked unit in the game of football is special teams. Each game begins with a special teams play, and although solid special teams may not win games on a week-to-week basis, bad special teams can certainly lose games.   Full Story

Fort Wayne, IN: Pitching coach Tom Bradley has led the Fort Wayne TinCaps staff to the second best ERA in the 14-team Midwest League and the best record in all of baseball behind a team that leads the circuit in shutouts and strikeouts while issuing the second fewest walks. It has been a good year for the San Diego Padres affiliate.   Full Story

The Jaguars took the field Saturday night amidst much fanfare for their first scrimmage of training camp. Wayne Weaver addressed the crowd and thanked everyone for their support and even set forth the West Club Section of the stadium for original 15-year season ticketholders.   Full Story

Carl Pavano was better than expected on Saturday, working seven scoreless innings, allowing only five hits. The Twins also got a big day from Denard Span, who collected five hits in the victory. Read all about the game and our recaps of the Twins full-season minor league affiliates.   Full Story

Chad Huffman has four RBI but they are far too late to help. A walk to get to Craig Cooper? Madness. Wynn Pelzer allows a granny before settling in. Dan Robertson reaches base four times in a win. Miles Mikolas is yanked quickly after getting decimated. Adys Portillo pitches well but picks up loss six. Juan Herrera walks too many in a loss.   Full Story

Josh Geer to Nick Hundley – in Portland – while Craig Stansberry flirts with a cycle. Matt Buschmann may have to get comfortable in relief. Cesar Ramos is in Lake Elsinore and James Darnell is sending them out. Drew Cumberland is a hit out of the leadoff spot. Nick Greenwood has another solid start and Chris Fetter nets a save. Deiber Sanchez is rocked. Luis Domoromo hits his sixth triple.   Full Story

In this edition of mid-season Top-50 review, we take a look at how our 21-30 selections from our preseason Top-50 have fared so far in 2009. We take a look at some highlights from the first half, as well as how it has affected their stock.   Full Story

The St. Louis Cardinals made nine more roster moves on Tuesday from Memphis to the Gulf Coast League on top of the 22 made on Monday.   Full Story

Fort Wayne, IN: The TinCaps pitching staff is very good. Catcher Adam Zornes is a piece of that puzzle – being in sync with the pitching staff is a vital piece. With that in place, he feels like the hitting is starting to take shape.   Full Story

Before any team starts a season, there is always a handful of questions to answer. How will the quarterback play be? Will your top players stay injury free? Does your team have enough depth to overcome injuries?   Full Story

WASHINGTON DC: Throughout his career in the Padres’ minor league system, Josh Geer has always had his detractors; he doesn’t throw hard enough, he doesn’t have an out pitch or the most prevalent opinion, he just another talented college pitcher that doesn’t have enough “stuff”.   Full Story