Dane De la Rosa briefly pitched for the Seals in 2009 before his contract was sold to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League. During his July/August 2009 stay in Victoria, De la Rosa had an 0-1 record with one save and a 2.45 ERA in six relief appearances. We were impressed with his stuff when he arrived, touting him as a potential closer for the Seals. It turns out that his upside was a bit higher than we thought.
De la Rosa was signed by the Tampa Bay Rays prior to the 2010 season and he spent last year pitching for the Charlotte Stone Crabs (Advanced A, Florida State League) and Montgomery Biscuits (AA, Southern League). De la Rosa made 47 relief appearances for Montgomery and sported a nifty 9-3 record with a 1.97 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. Most impressively, he addressed what was previously one of his biggest flaws -- surrendering too many walks. De la Rosa only walked 3.2 batters per nine innings while averaging 9.3 strikeouts per nine. He was even promoted to the Durham Bulls for the AAA playoffs, but he did not appear in any games with Crash Davis' old team.
Just before Christmas, De la Rosa got the amazing news that he was added to the 40-man roster by Tampa Bay and was invited to spring training with the big club. For now anyway, De la Rosa is sharing the same clubhouse as Manny Ramirez. With an impressive spring, De la Rosa could break camp with the big club, but at the very least he'll start the 2011 season at AAA with the Bulls.
The Rays play their first spring training game on Friday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Here is an updated list of the ex-Seals who are currently playing in the minor-league system of MLB teams:
Player | Year(s) played for Seals | MLB organization | Likely starting level for 2011 |
Dane De la Rosa | 2009 | Tampa Bay Rays | AAA |
Austin Bibens-Dirkx | 2009 | Chicago Cubs | AAA |
Chris Bodishbaugh | 2009-10 | Chicago White Sox | Advanced A |
Anthony Pluta | 2009-10 | Los Angeles Angels | Advanced A or AA |
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