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Former Dirtbag Troy Tulowitzki has been extended an invitation to the Colorado Rockies Major League spring training camp.

In their Pre-Season poll (and this one actually is a poll), USA TODAY/ESPN/ABCA picks the Dirtbags 20th. The poll is of 36 Division I college baseball coaches, including the Dirtbag's Mike Weathers.

Baseball America picks the Dirtbags to finish 2nd in the Big West, and predicts that Evan Longoria and Jared Hughes will be Big West Player and Pitcher of the Year.

I received an email from Rudy Rodriguez, who played shortstop for the Dirtbags in 1991 and 1993. He, and Brian Smith (Dirtbags 1993-1994), will be there and are looking to meet up with other former Dirtbag teammates. If you'd like to get in touch with Rudy, send me an email at dirtbagsfan@yahoo.com, and I'll pass it along to him.

Former Dirtbag Chad Bentz has signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox.

Jared Hughes has been named to the Roger Clemens Award watch list. The Clemens Award is given to the nation's top college pitcher. Former Dirtbag Jered Weaver earned the award the first year it was given out - 2004.

Former Dirtbag Troy Tulowitzki is featured in this piece on the Colorado Rockies website. Hat tip to reader Dan for passing it along.

Evan Longoria at #7, and Jared Hughes at #15, are listed by Baseball America in its Fab 50 list of the top juniors in college baseball.

The rosters are out, and 2 former Dirtbags are listed, both on the Italian team, to play in the inaugural World Baseball Classic. Former Dirtbags Mike Gallo and Kasey Olenberger are both slated to pitch, and their battery mate may be former Dodgers and Mets catcher Mike Piazza (who is currently an unsigned free agent). Mike Gallo is with the Houston Astros, and Kasey is in the "of Anaheim" Angels organization (playing in 2005 at AA Arkansas).

This from OurSportsCentral.com:

Angel Aragon, who has spent the last three years as a pitcher for the Ft. Worth Cats in the Central League has been named pitching coach for the Shreveport Sports for the 2006 season.

The 32-year old right hander, pitched only three games at Ft. Worth last season before under going Tommy John surgery, cutting his pitcher career short. In 2003 and 2004, Aragon had a combined record of 16-8 and 2.45 ERA at Ft. Worth.

Aragon was originally signed by the San Diego Padres in 1998 and spent parts of two seasons with the Padres Double-A team at Mobile in the Southern League.

As far as coaching, Aragon said, "this is always something I've wanted to do when my playing career was over and Bob Flori (Sports manager) has given me this opportunity. I know at the independent level, it's a second chance for some of these players to sign with an affiliated team and having pitched in the Padres organization, I feel I can help our pitchers reach that goal."

Aragon, a resident of Oxnard, California, completed the Sports coaching staff for manager Bob Flori. Earlier, Flori named Eddie Gerald as hitting and first base coach.

The Sports will open the 2006 season on May 11th with the home opener at Fair Grounds Field on May 16th.

Angel pitched at Long Beach State in 1993. He began playing professionally in 1997 with Sioux Falls in the Northern League. He signed with the San Diego Padres in 1998, playing that year at Clinton in the low A Midwest League. In '99 he was with Rancho Cucamonga (Advanced Class A California League), and made it to AA ball in 2000 with Mobile in the Southern League, his highest level in the affiliated minor leagues.

...is featured in this piece by Doug Kirkorian in the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Mike will be the keynote speaker at the Annual Lead-off Dinner Thursday evening next week. He'll also pitch for Italy in the World Baseball Classic (more on Dirtbags on WBC rosters later today).

Dirtbags Head Coach Mike Weathers, and Cape Cod League MVP Evan Longoria, spoke today at the Southern California College Media Day from the Pyramid at Long Beach State. Here's what they had to say:

Evan Longoria:

On whether he's feeling pressure to score more runs: "I don't really feel the pressure. Like Coach has said, they always do a good job with what's going on. I know that our guys are going to figure it out. We'll end up being where we need to be when we need to be there. So I'm not really worried."

Coach Weathers:

On the Dirtbags tough non-conference schedule: "This one happens to be a little tougher than normal. We always try to play the best. If you could plan out schedules, you know we are about 2 years ahead nowadays, we probably would have done it a little bit different because of the number of new players on our club this year. But we love playing the best. I think our guys will find out right away, they have no idea right now, but they are going to be tested right away. And they are going to find out what this Division I baseball is all about, and love it."

On the Dirtbags prospects this season: "I think the whole key is that we are going to be a work in progress. The 23 guys is a lot of new people. The experienced pitching...isn't really there. Our dominate Friday guy will be Jared Hughes..from Sunday last year. But as far as having a closer...not this year...we don't start the season with an experienced closer, or one even chosen. I'm not sure how the hitting is going to play into this. We have some experience on the field. With Evan (Longoria), Chuck Sindlinger at second, Brandon Godfrey, Sean Boatright in the outfield. We have some guys who have been part of this program, with Tito Cruz coming up big behind the plate for us this year. So guys who have seen this level. Some guys have some experience at this level. Have they had great success? Not really, other than Evan and maybe Sean Boatright. The new guys I think are going to be the key...from a hitting standpoint. How they handle this schedule, and how they handle the Rice, and the Texas, and the Baylor, Friday and Saturday and Sunday guys. If they can figure it out, I think they are talented kids. I've had a great time coaching them this year. We really get along well. I think they are trying to understand the system that we have here. It's pretty complicated. But they are getting to know it. And I think if they don't totally fail miserably early, I think they are a really talented group."

Asked about whether the Dirtbags toughest game may be the Alumni game on January 28, with the prospect of each of the following former Dirtbags pitching an inning:. Jered Weaver, Cesar Ramos, Jason Vargas, Abe Alvarez, Neil Jamison, Brian Anderson, and Chris DeMaria:

"Yeah, they are all going to play. And you know we have never lost an alumni game. It's going around the field, these guys all come out every day. We had about 11 ex-Dirtbags out there, a lot of the guys you just named, working out yesterday around these guys. We were just talking about that yesterday, it's interesting, that this will be the first year I don't think we have a shot. Not with that pitching staff."

The San Francisco Giants having given Major League spring training camp invitations to former Dirtbags Todd Jennings and John Bowker. MLB.com has these comments on each:

Jennings, 24, starred for San Jose in 2005, batting .288 with 22 doubles, 10 homers and 67 RBIs. He's a longtime catcher but also plays in the infield.

Bowker, a 22-year-old Sacramento native, has batted .295 with 19 home runs and 94 RBIs the last two seasons and drove in 67 RBIs for San Jose in 2005.

...on CSTV.com, originating from the Pyramid at Long Beach State. It starts at 10:00 a.m. PST, and you can watch the streaming video by clicking here. If that link doesn't work, LongBeachState.com has the link and more here. It will be re-broadcast several time. The schedule is in my earlier post.

The National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association is out with their Pre-Season rankings for NCAA Division I baseball, and Long Beach State comes in at number 17. Here's the complete rankings (Big West Conference schools in italics):

Rank/School               (2005 Record)
1. Texas                  (56-16)
2. Florida                (48-23)
3. Oregon State           (46-12)
4. Rice                   (45-19)
5. Nebraska               (57-15)
6. Clemson                (43-23)
7. North Carolina         (41-19)
8. Cal State Fullerton    (46-18)
9. Florida State          (53-20)
10. Arizona State         (42-25)
11. Georgia Tech          (45-19)
12. Pepperdine            (41-23)
13. Miami (Fla.)          (41-19)
14. Tulane                (56-12)
15. LSU                   (40-22)
16. Missouri              (40-23)
17. Long Beach State      (37-22)
18. Mississippi State     (42-22)
19. Arkansas              (39-22)
20. Tennessee             (46-21)
21. TCU                   (41-20)
22. Notre Dame            (38-24)
23. Mississippi           (48-20)
24. Wichita State         (51-24)
25. Southern California   (41-22)
26. Winthrop              (44-22)
27. North Carolina State  (41-19)
28. Oklahoma              (35-26)
29. Stanford              (34-25)
30. Southern Miss         (41-21)

Also Receiving Votes (alphabetically): Arizona, Army, Baylor, California, Cal Poly, College of Charleston, Creighton, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Fresno State, George Washington, Hawai'i, Houston, Lamar, Minnesota, UNC Wilmington, Northwestern State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, St. John's, San Francisco, Southern U., Stetson, Texas State, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt, Washington.

The Padres site at MLB.com has this Q&A on the San Diego's recent addition, former Dirtbag Terrmel Sledge:

How does the newly acquired Terrmel Sledge fit into the outfield picture? He had a good rookie year in Montreal, and his defense isn't that bad. -- Eenon P., Sacramento

The reports on Sledge, coming off a season wiped out by a hamstring tear, are mostly favorable. He's a versatile athlete with decent speed, and he can scald the ball. He has had a tendency to become too pull-conscious, but he'll correct that when he takes a good look at the PETCO Park dimensions.

Nationals manager Frank Robinson, I'm told, was sold on his potential and hated to see him go to Texas in the deal for Alfonso Soriano.

At the moment, Sledge shapes up as the fourth outfielder, right ahead of Ben Johnson. The 28-year-old can pick up the slack left by departed pinch-hitting stars Mark Sweeney and Robert Fick and be ready to move in for any of the three starters. He's a first-class insurance policy for now, with the talent to become a productive regular for years to come.

Baseball America's Pre-Season Top 25 includes the Dirtbags at #22. Here's their capsule on Long Beach State (paid area):

Offense: The infield returns three of its four starters from a year ago, though the one loss - shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (.349-8-29) - is major. Look for Evan Longoria to fill his role as the key offensive cog, reprising his 2005 role during Tulowitzki's 20-game absence with a wrist injury. Longoria led the Cape Cod League in home runs (eight) and RBIs (35) over the summer. Robert Perry, a Little League teammate of Tulowitzki's, should set the table for Longoria and the oft-injured Sean Boatright. Tito Cruz or freshman Kip Masuda must replace Chris Jones (.308) at catcher. Expect the small-ball attack to score just enough to win, as usual.

Pitching/Defense: The Beach lost Jered Weaver and Jason Vargas after 2004 but still led the nation with a 2.53 ERA a year ago. This season provides a similar opportunity as Cesar Ramos (10-7, 2.64) and Marco Estrada (8-3, 2.43) are gone. Jared Hughes stands as the returning ace after going 7-0 on the Cape. As for the newcomers, Vance Worley throws four pitches for strikes and reaches the low 90s, while Andrew Carpenter seeks to serve as the key JC plug-in the Dirtbags have found the last two years in Vargas and Estrada. The bullpen could prove shaky following the losses of seniors Neil Jamison (0.00 ERA, 11 saves) and Brian Anderson (0.83 ERA).

X Factor: Long Beach State likes its depth of position players, and this roster features the normal mix of seasoned players and key juco additions. Still, there's reason to expect true freshmen to prove vital this year. Worley and Danny Espinosa must prove ready for their roles, and at least one of three other freshmen - lefty Shane Peterson or righthanders Bryan Shaw and Scott Turmail - must emerge on the mound to add depth to the bullpen.

Baseball America is out with their Fab 50 list of the top 50 freshmen in NCAA Baseball (in the subscription area). The Dirtbags' righthanded pitcher Vance Worley, a probable weekend starter this season, makes the list at #14 (pictured at left pitching for Sacramento's McClatchy HS). Vance is the only Big West Conference player to be so honored.

Other California players include #11 Brian Matusz, lhp, San Diego; #16 Josh Romanski, lhp/dh, San Diego; #24 Brandon Crawford, ss, UCLA; #29 Ryan Babineau, c, UCLA; #36 Chase D'Arnaud, 3b, Pepperdine; #39 Tim Murphy, of, UCLA; #43 Jeremy Bleich, rhp, Stanford; and #49 Tyson Ross, rhp, California. The Texas Longhorns outfielder Jordan Danks tops the list.

Hat tip to reader Chris for passing this one along.

From CapitalDugout.com:

Q&A with Marco Estrada

Frankie Piliere
Jan 4, 2006

Although Marco Estrada did not compile dazzling numbers in his first taste of professional baseball, there are dozens of reasons to believe he could rapidly become one of the Nationals best and most polished pitching prospects as early as this spring. We sat down with the former Long Beach State standout for a Q&A session.

CapitolDugout.com: Marco, how do you feel about your first taste of professional baseball and do you feel that you were at your best with Vermont after a long college season?

Marco Estrada: I think I did pretty well. The numbers might not look that great, but after my first few starts, I think I did fine. I think the only reason I struggled initially was because I had basically a whole month of down time between college and pitching in Vermont. I went straight into pitching games without too much time to get ready to go again. And, yeah, I was probably a little tired, but I think it was just because I hadn't really pitched in a while. But, I think I settled in pretty well.

CapitolDugout.com: You mentioned the layoff before starting professional baseball creating some possible problems for you. What other aspects of professional baseball do you think gave you some trouble?

Marco Estrada: The smaller seams on the baseball were definitely something different for me. In college, the seams are bigger and I had to adjust once I got to the pros. But, it was nothing that I couldn't really handle once I got used to it. Also, I had to learn how to work lower in the zone and around the knees. You could get away with pitching high in college sometimes, but hitters take advantage of it now. If I'm getting the ball down, then I'll be getting more ground balls. And, as a pitcher, you have to love those ground balls.

CapitolDugout.com: Obviously, you have learned quite a bit from your 2005 campaign. What do you feel is going to be the key for you in 2006?

Marco Estrada: More than anything else, I just want to stay healthy and do the best I can. I feel that I can succeed in professional baseball and that I am definitely good enough. As long as I'm healthy, I should do just fine.

CapitolDugout.com: Marco, if you would, please walk us through your repertoire.

Marco Estrada: Well, I throw a fastball and that usually is in the low 90's. I think I have very good command of it and I can usually locate it on the corners of the zone pretty well. I also throw a nice, sharp curveball in the low-80's. That is a really good pitch for me. I get a lot of strikeouts with it. I also throw a changeup that is very effective and I tend to get hitters way out in front of it. I'm probably going to start using it more now too.

CapitolDugout.com: You've mentioned some of the different things about professional baseball that you had to adjust to in your first season. In any ways, have you had to change from the way you pitched in college?

Marco Estrada: Yeah, actually. In college, I was throwing a lot more curveballs. But, I notice in professional baseball, they want you to throw more fastballs and attack the strike zone. A lot of times when I expected to throw a curveball, they'd call a fastball. So that was pretty new. But, as far as the hitters are concerned, I didn't think they were way better than what I saw in college. Yeah, they're a little bit better for sure, but it isn't a huge difference. These guys just make you pay for your mistakes more.

CapitolDugout.com: Heading into spring training this year, what are some of your goals regarding personal achievements or where you'd like to pitch?

Marco Estrada: Well, I would really like to be in High A ball. But, I still pretty sure that I'll probably end of up in Savannah to start the season. I still have my goals to get to High A ball or AA ball by the end of the season. I truly have confidence that I can move that quickly up the ladder. Also, I'd like to get more ground balls. Of course, I love to get the strikeouts, but I should get a lot of balls on the ground also.

CapitolDugout.com: Marco, you mention that you like the strikeouts. Would you call yourself a strikeout pitcher or someone who pitches to contact?

Marco Estrada: I'm definitely a strikeout pitcher. I like to really attack the hitter and go for the strikeout. I think my stuff is good enough for me to be a strikeout pitcher too. But, I have a good two seam fastball that I get a lot of grounders with too. My two seamer has good movement. My four seamer sometimes has some movement too, but I'd rather keep the movement just with the two seamer. (laughing)

CapitolDugout.com: Often times, pitchers speak of how much pitching in a big college environment helped them with the professional transition. How much of a benefit do you think it was for you to pitch for Long Beach State?

Marco Estrada: I think that was a huge advantage for me, definitely. I faced some outstanding hitters in college so it wasn't such a big jump in talent when I got to the pros. I pitched against some good team in college that wouldn't let you get away with a lot of bad mistakes. So, it helped in the transition for sure...

From CSTV.com:

Easton Sponsors CSTV's Live Coverage of Southern California Baseball Media Day. Fourth Annual Media Day Brings in Baseball Programs from Southern California

Jan. 11, 2006

New York, NY - CSTV Networks, operator of CSTV: College Sports Television and CSTV.com, will throw its first pitch of the 2006 college baseball season with a live broadcast of the fourth annual Southern California Baseball Media Day from Long Beach on January 18. The broadcast is presented by Easton Sports, official sponsor of CSTV's 2006 baseball and softball programming. CSTV is providing the first-ever live coverage from the event - on television and broadband - which features head coaches and key players from 14 college teams that have built the rich baseball tradition in Southern California. The show will air on Wednesday, Jan. 18 from 1:00 - 3:00 pm ET. CSTV is available on cable systems throughout the country, Dish Network and DirecTV, as well as via broadband through the CSTV.com XXL package.

CSTV baseball analyst Kevin Stocker will be on hand with play-by-play personality Carter Blackburn to host the network's live coverage, which includes comprehensive analysis and interviews with a myriad of players and coaches from the 14 Southern California teams.

CSTV, the number one destination for college sports, has taken the lead in covering college baseball as well, producing in-season games since its launch in 2003. Southern California universities annually pepper the national rankings and have combined for 43 College World Series appearances (USC-21, Cal State Fullerton-13, Long Beach State-4, Pepperdine-2, UCLA-2, Loyola Marymount-1) and 19 national championships (USC-12, Cal State Fullerton-4, Pepperdine-1, CS Northridge-2 at D-II).

Head coaches from Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, Cal State Northridge, Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara, USC, UCLA, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, the University of San Diego, San Diego State and Pacific will be on hand to field questions. These schools have produced Hall of Famers (such as UCLA's Jackie Robinson, Cal Poly's Ozzie Smith and USC's Tom Seaver), Major League MVPs (Long Beach State's Jason Giambi), Cy Young Award winners (Pepperdine's Mike Scott, USC's Randy Johnson and Barry Zito, who made stops at UC Santa Barbara and USC) and rising stars (such as USC's Mark Prior, LBSU's Bobby Crosby and Cal State Fullerton's Mark Kotsay). In all, more than 150 players from Southern California schools can currently be found on the professional baseball circuit.

As I noted here, the Media Day will be re-broadcast several times.

Coach Mike Weathers, quoted in the Long Beach Press-Telegram:

"When we start on January 9, we'll see how quickly our guys come together, especially the new players, and run with what they learned in the fall," Dirtbags coach Mike Weathers said in a school press release. "With how tough our preseason schedule is, I'm looking forward to the challenge of getting going, and seeing where we are at."

As the P-T article points out, the 2006 Dirtbags will feature 23 newcomers, and will play road series against Baseball America Pre-Season #1 Texas and #5 Fullerton, and games against #7 Rice and #11 Pepperdine.

Former Dirtbag Jered Weaver has been given a non-roster invitation to the Anahe...errr...Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Spring Training camp.

Evan Longoria has been named the 1st Team Pre-Season All-American shortstop by Baseball America [pdf], while Jared Hughes was selected to the 3rd Team as a starting pitcher. Both players are juniors entering their 2nd season with the Dirtbags. Evan played his 1st collegiate year at Rio Hondo CC, while Jared was a freshman at Santa Clara.

As a sophomore, Evan hit .320 with 5 HR and 8 doubles. Playing with Chatham in the elite Cape Cod League, he was named Most Valuable Player after leading the league in RBI with 35, and HRs at 8. In 164 ABs, he hit .299, with a .500 slugging percentage.

In 2005, Jared went 8-3 with a 2.83 ERA over 89 innings. He held opponents to a meager .212 average, while striking out 87 and walking 23. Also playing at Chatham on the Cape, Jared was 7-0 with a 1.62 ERA over 50 innings. He struck out 54, walked 11, and held opposing batters to a .207 average.

As Baseball America states: "Baseball America's All-America team was selected by Allan Simpson and Will Kimmey in conjunction with major league scouting directors."

This Q&A from Will Kimmey's Baseball America chat today:

Q: Patrick from Sandpoint, Idaho asks:
I'll ask what everyone else is thinking: Right off the top, who are your top 10 preseason college players for the '06 draft right now in January. It'd be interesting to see the comparision to later this year come draft time.

A: Will Kimmey:
Pat, you're a team player. Here we go: Andrew Miller, Max Scherzer, Daniel Bard, Drew Stubbs, Ian Kennedy, Evan Longoria, Matt LaPorta, Wes Hodges, Dallas Buck, Kyle McCulloch, Joba Chamberlain. That's 11, I cheated.

Baseball America has the Dirtbags at #22 in its Pre-Season College Top 25. Here's the ranking:

   Team                  2005    2005
                         Record  Final Rank
1. Texas                 56-16    1
2. Clemson               43-23   14
3. Florida               48-23    2
4. Georgia Tech          45-19   11
5. Cal State Fullerton   46-18    9
6. North Carolina        41-19   NR
7. Rice                  45-19   13
8. Oregon State          46-12    7
9. Tennessee             46-21    8
10. Missouri             40-23   21
11. Pepperdine           41-23   24
12. Tulane               56-12    3
13. Mississippi State    42-22   22
14. South Carolina       41-23   25
15. Florida State        53-20   16
16. Arizona State        42-25    6
17. Southern California  41-22   17
18. Arkansas             39-22   NR
19. Texas Christian      41-20   NR
20. Louisiana State      40-22   18
21. Fresno State         30-29   NR
22. Long Beach State     37-22   19
23. Mississippi          48-20   10
24. North Carolina State 41-19   NR
25. California           34-23   NR

Former Dirtbag Chad Bentz, who became a 6 year minor league free agent at the conclusion of the 2005 season, has signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox, according to a reliable source. I haven't seen anything on the web yet. I'll update with a link when it's up. Update: Baseball America has it here.

Chad appeared in 36 games for the Montreal Expos in 2004, pitching 27.2 innings (all in relief), and posting a 5.86 ERA. He was released by the Expos on December 15, 2004, and signed by the Florida Marlins on February 11, 2005. Bentz spent most of the 2005 season at AAA Albuquerque, where he posted a 4.01 ERA - not bad for the hitter friendly Pacific Coast League. He appeared in only 4 games and 2.0 innings with the Marlins. [Courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and MinorLeagueBaseball.com].

Another season of Long Beach State Dirtbag baseball is just a month away. This year, the Southern California College Baseball Media Day, held at Long Beach State, will be carried live on CSTV. The two hour program will air January 18, beginning at 10:00 a.m. pacific. In addition to TV, you can catch the streaming audio at CSTV.com. It will be re-broadcast on the following schedule: Wed, Jan. 18 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm, Sat, Jan. 21 7:30 pm, Mon, Jan. 23 11:00 am, Tues, Jan. 24 11:00 pm, Mon, Jan. 30 9:00 am, and Tues, Jan. 31 2:30 am (all times pacific). LongBeachState.com has the story here.

And then comes Alumni Weekend, from Thursday, January 26 through Saturday, January 28. Here's the events, in pdf.

The 2006 Long Beach State baseball roster has been posted (here at LongBeachState.com, and here as a pdf file). Here are the 2006 Dirtbags:

No. Player            Pos.   B/T Ht.  Wt. Yr.
1   Tom Wolf          OF     L/R 5-10 180 Sr.
2   Robert Perry      OF     L/L 5-9  183 Jr.
3   Chuck Sindlinger  2B     R/R 5-10 185 Sr.
4   Sean Boatright    OF     R/R 6-0  190 Sr.
5   Anthony Pinocchio 2B/SS  S/R 5-11 180 Jr.
6   Evan Longoria     SS/3B  R/R 6-2  213 Jr.
7   Brandon Godfrey   1B     L/R 6-0  185 So.
8   Danny Espinosa    SS     S/R 6-0  185 Fr.
9   Ted Pattock       OF     L/R 6-1  180 So.
10   Brian Capon      C      R/R 5-9  185 Jr.
11   Allen Woods      OF     L/R 5-10 160 Jr.
12   Edgar Sedano     IF     L/R 5-10 175 Jr.
14   Bobby McMurray   UT     S/R 6-1  200 So.
15   Scott Turmail    RHP    R/R 6-4  175 Fr.
16   Matt Cline       IF     R/R 5-10 175 Jr.
17   Scott Bradley    1B/OF  R/R 6-1  195 Sr.
19   Mike Malott      RHP    R/R 6-4  215 Sr.
20   Jose Hernandez   OF     R/L 5-10 195 So.
22   Donnie Hume      LHP    R/L 6-1  185 So.
23   Tito Cruz        C/3B   R/R 5-10 205 Sr.
26   Brett Andrade    RHP    R/R 6-4  205 Sr.
27   Kip Masuda       C      R/R 5-11 185 Fr.
29   Bryan Shaw       RHP    R/R 6-1  175 Fr.
30   Jordan Struble   C/OF   R/R 5-11 195 Sr.
32   Chris Lopez      1B     R/R 6-2  245 Jr.
33   Russ Lowell      LHP    L/L 6-0  170 Fr.
35   Jared Hughes     RHP    R/R 6-7  235 Jr.
36   Andrew Carpenter RHP    R/R 6-3  225 Jr.
39   Andrew Liebel    RHP    R/R 6-0  180 So.
40   Hunter Hewitt    LHP    R/L 6-1  200 Fr.
41   Andre Lamontagne RHP    R/R 6-4  190 Fr.
42   Shane Peterson   LHP/1B L/L 6-0  185 Fr.
43   Kyle Bredenkamp  RHP    R/R 6-5  218 Fr.
46   Brandon Decker   IF/OF  R/R 5-10 155 Fr.
47   Vance Worley     RHP    R/R 6-2  215 Fr.

Head Coach: #21 Mike Weathers (Chapman '71, 5th year as Head Coach, 14th year with program).
Assistant Coach (Pitching/Recruiting): #34 Troy Buckley (Santa Clara '90, 6th year with LBSU).
Assistant Coach: #28 Tim McDonnell (UC Irvine '94, 3rd year with LBSU)
Volunteer Assistant Coach/Third Base Coach: #44 Jon Strauss (LBSU '95, 7th year with LBSU, 1st year back).
Undergraduate Assistant Coach/First Base Coach: #24 Cole Jacobsen, (LBSU 2004-05), 1st year.

SFDugout.com's Keven Cunningham ranks former Dirtbag Brian Anderson the #28 prospect in the San Francisco Giants organization, with this (no link to story - paid subscription area):

Brian Anderson is a common name in baseball, and it'd be most recognized as a pitcher for the Kansas City Royals or a top prospect for the Chicago White Sox. But the Giants have one too, and after the closing performance he put up in Salem-Keizer, you should start thinking of him first when hearing that name....

Just remember: 42-3. That's his strikeout-to-walk ratio. Yes, that's 42 strikeouts versus 3 walks. In less than 28 innings, no less. Those sorts of stats will help the memory.

The Giants plucked Anderson out of Long Beach State's bullpen, which was one of the best in the country. Anderson, however, never served as the team's fulltime closer in his four years with them, picking up 4 saves in 72 career college appearances. It didn't matter, as he made the closer role his own. He led the Northwest League with 19 saves (4 more than the 2nd place player), and anchored a bullpen that was rock solid, leading the Volcanoes to a 39-0 record when leading after 7 innings. He was also named the RH reliever on the NWL All-Star team (the team only picks 4 pitchers, right handers and left handers in the starting and relieving roles).

The surprising thing is that Anderson doesn't come at you with stereotypical closer stuff. He works with a fastball that sits in the low 90's. But he's got an excellent strikeout pitch in his hard closer, has a good changeup, and as you probably guessed, has control of all his pitches. Even in college, he never had double digits walks in a season. He matches this with a closer's attitude and very good makeup on the mound.

The question is whether or not Anderson can keep up this sort of production as he moves through the minors. Despite his strikeout numbers in his pro debut, he usually had less than a strikeout an inning in college, and doesn't project to be a huge strikeout pitcher as he starts facing better hitters. His ability to work within the zone could also leave him susceptible to hitters who deserve more respect than those he's faced so far.

He should start 2006 in at least Augusta, and may get pushed to San Jose right away. Anderson has all the tools to move quickly through the system, and will probably be the first 2005 draftee to make the majors. The question is which role he will have when he makes the majors. His stuff is indicative of a setup man, but if he makes the most of his control and slider, being a closer at the highest levels is not outside of his reach.

He will have some bumps on the road, especially next season, but Brian Anderson will certainly be making a name for himself in the Giants system quickly, and no Giants fans will be confused about who he is much longer.