What do Dave Stieb, Tim Wakefield, and Sergio Santos have in common? All three started out as position players, and made the conversion to pitchers.
Josh Hill Jersey . A couple of more players trying to make the switch came to light over the weekend. Both have Blue Jays
connections, one direct and one in a more roundabout way. Justin Jackson was
drafted as a shortstop by the Blue Jays in 2007. He was a decent fielder with a
strong arm who just never came around as a hitter. Over the course of this past
year, the Blue Jays convinced him to give pitching a try. Jackson worked 49.2
innings between Lansing in low "A" ball and Dunedin of the Florida State League
in high "A" ball. Jackson put together a decent ERA of 3.26 over the two stops.
The Jays decided not to put Jackson on the 40-man roster, so he will be
available for the Rule 5 Draft next month in Orlando. The organization is
gambling that no team will take a chance on claiming a newly minted pitcher with
so little experience. The other pitcher-to-be is the younger son of former Blue
Jays right fielder Jesse Barfield. Jeremy Barfield is a 25-year-old 65"
outfielder in the Oakland As chain. Back in July, the As approached Jeremy about
making the switch. He has the arm strength of his father and is a left hander to
boot. The As figure its worth a shot, especially in light of the success theyve
had with lefty reliever Sean Doolittle. The 27-year-old was drafted in 2007 by
the As to be a 1B/OF. However, he had been a standout pitcher through high
school and college. During instructional league in 2007, the As converted
Doolittle back into a pitcher. In two seasons in the As bullpen, the hard
throwing 63" southpaw has pitched so well, Oakland is at least considering
making him their closer for 2014. We mentioned Jeremy Barfield. Well, Jesses
older son Josh is still playing as well. Once considered a top prospect with San
Diego and Cleveland, the 31-year-old finished up last season with the Long
Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. Rumours and Deals The Jeff
Samardzjia to the Blue Jays rumours picked up a little steam over the weekend.
Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago claimed that Alex Anthopoulos was putting together
a list of prospects to make an offer for the 28-year-old right-hander. The
number mentioned for Samardzjia was three to four prospects and you would have
to think a couple of those would need to be Major League ready. Samardzjia has
struck out 394 batters over the past two seasons, but at age 28 has never won in
double digits with a career record of 29-35 and a 4.19 ERA. He still might be
their best option considering the money and length of contract that the likes of
Ervin Santana, Matt Garza and Ubaldo Jiminez should be able to command as free
agents. Another pitching option came off the board on Sunday. Veteran
right-hander Dan Haren, who really wanted to pitch on the West Coast, agreed to
a one-year, $10 million deal with the Dodgers.
C.J. Spiller Jersey . -- The Baltimore Ravens have put middle linebacker Rolando McClain on the reserve-retired list for a
second time.
Thomas Morstead Saints Jersey . The Goldeyes (10-7) lost 4-1 to the Saltdogs (8-9) Sunday afternoon before 5,834 sizzling
fans at Shaw Park. The loss drops Winnipegs record to 3-4 during this past weeks
seven-game homestand.OTTAWA -- The University of Western Ontario Mustangs
remained in top spot in the final Canadian Interuniversity Sport football
rankings list of the season on Tuesday. Western (8-0) received 20 first-place
votes from the Football Reporters of Canada panel. The second-ranked Laval Rouge
et Or had the other 10 first-place votes. The only other unbeaten team, the 8-0
Calgary Dinos, remained in third spot. The Queens Gaels (7-1) were fourth and
Guelph Gryphons (7-1) were fifth. The Bishoops Gaiters (6-2) rose one spot to
No.
Brandin Cooks Saints Jersey. 6 while the Montreal Carabins (5-3) fell to seventh in the only change from last weeks
rankings. The top 10 was rounded out by the McMaster Marauders (5-3) at No. 8,
followed by the Manitoba Bisons (5-3) and No. 10 Saskatchewan Huskies (5-3). The
playoffs got underway this past weekend in Ontario, while league play came to an
end in the three other CIS conferences. Seven league semifinals are scheduled
for this week.
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