August 5, 2011
Minor league notebook: Sox use prospects in deals
by Roger Brown/
The Red Sox traded away pitching prospect Stephen Fife at the trading deadline.
Four minor league players in the Boston Red Sox organization found themselves headed to new homes at this year's trading deadline.
Right-handed pitchers Stephen Fife (Double-A Portland) and Juan Rodriquez (Single-A Greenville), catcher Tim Federowicz (Portland) and outfielder Chih-Hsien Chiang (Portland) were all involved in the deals that landed the Red Sox pitchers Erik Bedard and Josh Fields from the Seattle Mariners.
Boston sent Fife, Rodriquez and Federowicz to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for outfielder Trayvon Robinson, and then shipped Robinson and Chiang to Seattle for the two pitchers.
Fife, 24, led the Eastern League in victories (11) at the time of the trade. He was 11-4 with a 3.66 ERA in 19 appearances (18 starts) with the Sea Dogs this season. He was Boston's only third-round selection in the 2008 draft.
Rodriguez, 22, was 2-4 with a 5.19 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 32 relief appearances with Greenville. He ranked second among South Atlantic League relievers in strikeouts per nine innings (13.42). Rodriguez signed with the Red Sox as an international free agent in 2008.
Federowicz, 23, hit .275 (92-for-335) with 20 doubles, seven home runs and 50 RBI in 89 games for Portland. He threw out 36.3 percent of attempted base stealers (29 of 80). The Red Sox selected Federowicz in the seventh round of the 2008 draft.
Chiang, 23, led the Eastern League in batting average (.340), RBI (76), doubles (37), extra-base hits (59), runs scored (68) and slugging percentage (.648) with Portland this season. Boston signed Chiang as an international free agent in 2005.
Locked in
North Conway, N.H., native Jeff Locke, a left-handed pitcher with the Double-A Altoona Curve, ended a personal three-game losing streak by pitching eight innings to help Altoona defeat New Britain 7-2 on July 23.
Locke allowed three hits and both New Britain runs. It was the longest outing of his professional career.
Locke faced the minimum number of batters through six innings and threw 81 pitches in the victory.
“Things went really, really well [against New Britain],” Locke told the Conway Daily Sun. “I didn't do anything flashy – I just located my fastball well and they just beat the ball into the ground. If someone got on we got out of it with a double play.
“It felt like the fastest outing of my career. We were into the eighth inning before I knew it.”
Locke, who played at Kennett High School, entered Wednesday night's start against Binghamton with a 6-8 record and a 4.41 ERA in 21 games (20 starts) this season. He has 102 strikeouts in 112 1/3 innings.
Locke pitched in the Eastern League All-Star Game.
Futures Games
The Portland Sea Dogs and Pawtucket Red Sox will be part of the Futures at Fenway minor league doubleheader at Fenway Park on Aug. 20.
The event will feature family-friendly ticket and concession prices along with kid-friendly activities spread throughout the day.
Portland will meet the Binghamton Mets (Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets) in the first game at 1:05 p.m. Pawtucket will face the Syracuse Chiefs (Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals) in the doubleheader's second game.
Average hitters
Pawtucket entered Thursday's game against Buffalo one-half game out of first place in the International League's North Division despite the fact that it was tied for 13th (last) in the league in batting average (.251).
Lehigh Valley, the only team ahead of Pawtucket in the standings, was also hitting .251.
Pawtucket has made up for its low batting average by ranking third among International League teams in home runs (106) and fourth in runs scored (506). Pawtucket also ranked second in the league in team ERA (3.57).
McGuire shines in debut
Right-handed pitcher Deck McGuire pitched a seven-inning complete game in his Eastern League debut to help the New Hampshire Fisher Cats defeat New Britain 17-3 in the second game of a doubleheader July 27. He allowed nine hits, struck out six and walked three.
McGuire, 22, attended Georgia Tech and was Toronto's top pick in the 2010 draft.
