Tuesday’s News & Notes

Rochester Red Wings, 47-46, 6th place, 4GB, I.L. East
Rochester starts its first full week since the All-Star break with six against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre-John-Paul-George & Ringo, looking to break a five-game losing streak and stay above .500. Cade Cavalli is scheduled to make his first appearance since leaving the game with a blister on July 12.

Harrisburg Senators 7-14, T5th, 6½ GB, E.L. Southwest – 37-53 overall
The Senators took two of three after the midterms, with three freshmen sent to the capital from the legislature in Delaware^* to bolster the caucus, er, offense. Former top southpaw prospect Tim Cate is also coming off a long layoff, set to make his second appearance since returning to AA two weeks ago.
^{* I know the 17th Amendment hasn’t been repealed… yet.}

Wilmington Blue Rocks, 12-11, 4th place, 2GB, Sally Lg. North – 47-41 overall
Wilmington continues its 13-game homestand with seven this week against Jersey Shore, including a late-morning start tomorrow and a doubleheader on Thursday. Like the Senators, the Blue Rocks have gotten an influx of position players this month. Unlike Harrisburg, these additions may actually enable Wilmington to make a run at the second-half title.

Fredericksburg Nationals, 18-6, 1st place, 4½ GA, C.L. North – 51-39 overall
The FredNats return home for the first time since July 10 as they play the Red Sox Forrest Gump pause again for six this week. Thus far, the replacements from the FCL and points elsewhere have fallen in line without missing a beat, particularly Pablo Aldonis, who’s won both starts and struck out a total of 14 over his first 10 innings at Low-A.

FCL Mets 10 FCL Nationals 1
• Agostini (L, 1-1) 4IP, 7H, 3R, 3ER, 1BB, 2K, HBP
• Quintanilla 2IP, 3H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 2K
• Geraldo 2-4
• Coutts 1-2, 2B, RBI

A six-run 8th – all with two out – turned out to be more than enough to seal the deal as the F-Mets pummeled the F-Nats, 10-1. Gabriel Agostini suffered the loss, giving up three runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out two over four innings. Angel Geraldo led the hit column with two singles while Jackson Coutts doubled in the lone F-Nats run in the 8th to break up the shutout.

DSL Nationals 5 DSL Mets 1 0
• Moron (W, 2-4) 5⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, 4BB, 4K
• Roman (H, 2) 1⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 1K, 2-0 IR-S
• Contreras 4-4, 2-2B, 3RBI
• Mojica 3-5, R
• D. Martinez 0-2, 3BB, SB, CS

Four D-Nats pitchers combined for a no-hitter and to shut out the D-Mets 1, 5-0. Raynel Moron picked up the win, walking four and striking out four over five and 2/3rds innings while Angel Roman stranded two while getting the last out of the 6th and pitching a scoreless 7th. Ramon Cuevas put up a goose egg in the 8th while Michael Francisco set the side down in order in the 9th. 18-y.o. Jhoan Contreras singled twice, doubled twice, and drove in three while 17-y.o. Misael Mojica had three safeties (and whiffed twice) to lead the D-Nats attack.

MLB, MLBPA UNABLE TO AGREE ON INTERNATIONAL DRAFT

MLB tried to position the MLBPA’s hard-line stance of making an international draft equitable to the domestic (read: same bonus pool) as choosing the status quo over “transitioning to an international draft that would have guaranteed future international players larger signing bonuses and better educational opportunities while enhancing transparency to best address the root causes of corruption in the current system.”

It’s cute that MLB thinks it’s powerless to address the corruption when there’s nothing to prevent it from doing so now or in the past. They don’t need MLBPA’s permission to improve conditions and police themselves.

Nope, this is about the money and the MLBPA called MLB’s bluff. Perhaps because this is the first time it suited the interests of the MLBPA, but it’s nevertheless encouraging that for once, the MLBPA is playing the long game – something they did not do in 2011, i.e., what created the Qualifying Offer system in the first place.