By George Farelli
Canadian Baseball Network
How on earth could the Seattle Mariners trade Tyler O’Neill, who scouts say has similar power to Mark Trumbo?

O’Neill has hit 76 homers since opening day 2015 at class-A Bakersfield, double-A Jackson and at triple-A Tacoma and triple-A Memphis in 338 games?

The Mariners view O’Neill as a comparison to Trumbo and not a fit into the prototype of what Dipoto wants. Dipoto dealt Trumbo twice:

As GM of the Los Angeles Angels, on Dec. 10, 2013, Dipoto sent him, as part of a three-team deal, and a player to be named to the Arizona Diamondbacks; the Chicago White Sox sent Hector Santiago to the Angels. The Diamondbacks sent Adam Eaton to the White Sox and Tyler Skaggs to the Angels. The Angels moved A.J. Schugel to Arizona and the White Sox sent Brandon Jacobs to the Diamondbacks.

And running the Mariners on Dec. 2, 2015, Dipoto moved Trumbo and C.J. Riefenhauser to the Baltimore Orioles for Steve Clevenger.

Plus the Mariners also have three rookie outfielders that they like in Ben Gamel, 25, Mitch Haniger, 26 and     Guillermo Heredia, 26. Their top prospect is a five-tool guy Kyle Lewis, who is at class-A Modesto.

So the all-in Mariners dealt O’Neill to the St. Louis Cardinals for Marco Gonzales, a first-round pick in 2013 who has big-league time and is recovering from Tommy John surgery.

O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) is adjusting well at triple-A Memphis playing for Cardinals manager Stubby Clapp (Windsor, Ont.). In fact, O’Neill is the Canadian Baseball Network co-player of the Week for Week XVII along with OF Brett Siddall (Windsor, Ont.) for the class-A Stockton Ports.

Siddall had the best week among the 144 Canadians, including 88 in affiliated ball, hitting .500 (14-for-28) with two homers and 10 RBIs, while O’Neill batted .333 (9-for-27) with two homers and 11 RBIs, to lead Canucks in that department. O’Neill was on pre-season top-100 prospect lists: MLB.com (36th), Baseball America (38th), Baseball Prospectus (53rd). 

How the week went for Siddall, who was drafted by Matt Higginson (Oakville, Ont.) as he ...

_ Batting third and playing left he went 2-for-4 in a 7-3 loss to the Visaila Oaks before 909 fans at Recreation Park in Visailia. He was hit by a pitch in the first, led off the third with a single to right and singled to left in the ninth.

_ DHing and hitting third he was 2-for-3 with a double in a 6-4 loss to the Modesto Nuts before 1,013 fans at John Thurman Field. He doubled to centre, his 16th, and scored in the three-run first, lined a single to left in the third and walked in the fifth.  

_ Playing left and batting third, he went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs as Stockton knocked off Modesto 11-5 before 3,650 fans in Modesto. He doubled to centre, his 17th, in the sixth scoring a pair and capping a six-run inning to break a 3-3 tie and singled to left in the ninth.    

_ Was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs playing left and batting third as Stockton whipped Modesto 15-5 in front of 2,625 fans. He singled to left in the first and scored, hit a fly ball to right bringing in the sixth run of the nine-run fourth, singled to centre in the fifth and hit another fly ball to drive in a run in the seventh.

_ Batting third and playing left he was 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs in a 10-0 win against Modesto before 988 fans. He was hit with a pitch in the first, singled to left and scored in the fourth, homered to right, his 17th, with a man on in the eighth.

_ Playing left and batting third, he was hitless in three at-bats as the Inland Empire 66ers edged Stockton 6-3 before 2,147 at Stockton’s Banner Island Ballpark. 

_ Batting third and playing left, Siddall went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles, a homer and four RBIs in a 14-0 romp over Inland Empire before 1,311 at Stockton. He doubled to right, his 18th, leading off the third, doubled to left, his 19th, in the fourth, singled in the fifth to drive in a run and hit a three-run homer, his 18th, in the  seventh to right-centre. 

And as for O’Neill ... 

_ Hitting clean up and playing centre he was 1-for-6 as the Redbirds scored in the 13th for a 5-4 win against the Salt Lake Bees before 3,413 at AutoZone Park. He doubled to centre in the third, his 22nd, 

_ Batting third and playing in right field, he was hitless in two at-bats knocking in a run in a 7-2 Redbirds win before 3,439 in Memphis. He walked in the third and stole second and hit a fly ball to right in the fourth to go up 6-1.

_ Playing right field and hitting third, he was 1-for-4 in a 6-5 loss to Salt Lake before 5,226 fans at Memphis. He singled to centre in the seventh and stole second, his 11th steal.

_ Batting third and playing centre he was 2-for-5 with a triple and three RBIs in a 14-8 win over the Reno Aces before 8,418 fans at Greater Nevada Field. O’Neill grounded to third in the second to drive in a run, tripled to centre in the sixth driving in a pair of runs making it 14-5 and singled in the seventh.   

_ Playing centre and hitting third, O’Neill was 2-for-4 with a double, homer and three RBIs in a 6-4 loss to Reno in front of 4,055 fans. He doubled to centre, his 23rd, for the game’s first run in the first and hit a two-run homer to left in the eighth, his 21st.

_ Playing centre and hitting clean-up he had three hits, including a double and a homer to knock in four runs as Memphis beat Reno 11-3 before
4,102 fans at Reno. O’Neill hit a two-run homer to left in the three-run first, his 22nd homer, singled to left in the fifth to knock in a run and doubled to left in the seventh driving in a run.  

BEST OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCES
Player Classification Team AB  R  H  HR  RBI  Avg. 
Brett Siddall - A Stockton 28   8  14   2   10   .500
Miles Gordon - A Billings 10   1   5   1    1   .500
Abraham Toro-Hernandez - A Quad Cities 20   5   8   3    6   .400
Gareth Morgan - A Clinton 20   3   8   2    7   .400
Connor Panas - A Dunedin 28   6   11   1    7   .393

Daniel Pinero - A West Michigan 26   5   10   -    6   .385
Andrew Yerzy - Rkie Missoula 13   3    5   1    3   .385
Demi Orimoloye - A Wisconsin 27   5   10   1   2   .370
Tyler O’Neill - AAA Memphis 27   5    9   2   11   .333
Vladimir Guerrero - A Dunedin 24   7    8   -    5   .333
Jesse Hodges - A Myrtle Beach 23   4    7   1    5   .304
 
Maxx Tissenbaum - IND Quebec 24   7   12   3   9   .500
Lachlan Fontaine - IND Quebec 14   3    6    -    1  .429
Jordan Lennerton - IND Quebec 23   5    9    -    2  .391
Phil Craig-St. Louis - IND Quebec 27   3    9   -    3   .333
Carter McEachern - IND Trois Rivieres 22   4    7   -    2   .318
(Minimum 10 At Bats required.)
 
BEST PITCHING PERFORMANCES
CONOR LILLIS-WHITE  LHP - AA MOBILE BAY BEARS
App  IP  H  R  ER  BB  K  W-L  SV  WHIP WK  ERA
2      5.0  3    -  -     4    7  1-0     -        1.40       0.00
 
Conor Lillis-White has become an important member of the Mobile Bay Bears bullpen, and this week he had two more solid outings. On July 26th in a 5-1 loss to Jackson Generals he pitched two scoreless innings, gave up zero hits while striking out two Jackson hitters, but was not involved in the decision. On July 30 in a 12-5 win over Mississippi Braves, he tossed three scoreless innings, surrendered three base hits and struck out five Braves batters, to earn his first career win at the Double A level. His Southern League record in 18 appearances with Mobile Bay, now stands at 1-3, with one Save and a 2.14 ERA.
 
DYLAN RHEAULT  RHP  A  SAN JOSE GIANTS
App  IP  H  R  ER  BB  K  W-L  SV  WHIP WK  ERA
3      4.0  1    -   -     1    3      -       2     0.50      0.00
 
It has been a familiar story every week this season for the San Jose Giants ... their closer has been outstanding, and this week was no exception. On July 27th in a 7-3 victory over the Lancaster JetHawks Rheault threw two scoreless innings, gave up two base hits while striking out two Lancaster hitters, but was not involved in the decision. On July 30th in a 9-8 win over Lancaster he pitched one a scoreles inning, gave up zero hits while striking out one, to pick up his 15th save of the season. On July 31st in a 4-2 victory over Visalia Rawhide he threw a scoreless inning, gave up zero hits to secure his 16th save. His record with the Giants in the class-A California League in 42 appearances, is now 2-1, with 16 saves and a 2.61 ERA. The 42 appearances rank his first, and his 16 saves place him second in current league pitching statistics.

ADAM LOEWEN  LHP  -  AAA  ROUND ROCK EXPRESS
App  IP  H  R  ER  BB  K  W-L  SV  WHIP WK  ERA
3     3.0   1   1     1    2   4    1-0     -          1.00     3.00
 
This week Adam Loewen made three relief appearances for the Express, and the results were very good. On July 26th in a 6-5 loss to Sacramento River Cats he tossed 2/3 of an inning allowing one hit and one earned run while striking out one batter, and was charged with the blown save. On July 28th in a 7-2 victory over Sacramento he pitched one scoreless inning while striking out one batter, and was credited with a hold. On July 30th in a 7-3 win over El Paso Chihuahuas he threw 1 1/3 scoreless, gave up zero hits and while striking out two hitters earning the win. His overall record with Round Rock in the Triple A Pacific Coast League in 23 appearances, now stands at 6-0, with four holds and a 4.56 ERA.

 
PLAYER MOVES & TRANSACTIONS
OF Jim Adduci (Burnaby, BC) - Recalled to Major League Roster by the Detroit Tigers from Triple A Toledo Mud Hens. 
 
RHP Jesen Therrien (Montreal, Que.) - Called up to Major League Roster by the Philadelphia Phillies from Triple A Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. Made his big league debut on July 29, 2017 vs. Atlanta Braves.
 
LHP Andrew Case (St. John, NB) - Moved by the Toronto Blue Jays to Triple A Buffalo Bisons from Double A New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
 
INF T.J. Bennett (Lethbridge, Alta.) - Moved by San Francisco Giants to Double A Richmond Flying Squirrels from Triple A Sacramento Rivercats.
 
3B Abraham Toro-Hernandez (Montreal, Que.) - Moved by the Houston Astros to Single A Quad Cities River Bandits from Single A Tri City Valley Cats.
 

LHP Ryan Kellogg (Whitby, Ont.) - Activated from the Disabled List by Chicago Cubs at Single A Myrtle Beach Pelicans.
 
RHP Tom Robson (Ladner, BC) - Placed on the Disabled List by Toronto Blue Jays at Double A New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
 
RHP Darren Shred (Brampton, Ont.) - Placed on the Disabled List by Cincinnati Reds at Rookie Class AZL Reds.
 

 
C Mike Blanke (Granby, Que.) - Free Agent signs with Vallejo Admirals IND Pacific Association.
 
OF Moises Perez (Montreal, Que.) - Free Agent signs with the Quebec Capitales IND Can Am League.  Appeared in two games and was released.
 
RHP Owen Boon (London, Ont.) - Placed on the Disabled List by Trois Rivieres Aigles IND Can Am League.
 
RHP Jean-Francois Dionne (Trois Rivieres, Que.) - Released by the Trois Rivieres Aigles IND Can Am League.
 
INF Jonathan Malo (Laval, QC) - Released by Quebec Capitales IND Can Am League.
 

2017 Canadian Baseball Network Players of the Week

Week I _ INF Jamie Romak (London, Ont.) El Paso (Padres).

Week II _ RHP Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC) Lehigh Valley (Phillies).

Week III _ INF Jamie Romak (London, Ont.) El Paso (Padres).

Week IV _ 1B Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) and RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) Lake Elisnore (Padres).

Week V _ OF Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers).

 

Week VI _ OF Gareth Morgan (North York, Ont.) Clinton Lumberkings (Mariners).

Week VII _ 3B Vladimir Guerrero (Montreal, Que.) Lansing Lugnuts (Blue Jays).

Week VIII _ 1B Bruce Yari (Waterloo, Ont.) Dayton Dragons (Reds).  

Week VIV _ LHP Ryan Kellogg (Whitby, Ont.) Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs)

Week X _ INF Danny Pinero (Toronto, Ont.) West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers)

 

Week XI _ RHP Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) Mississippi Braves (Braves).

Week XII _ OF Miles Gordon (Oakville, Ont.) Rookie-class Billings (Reds)

Week XIII _ RP Dylan Rheault (Garson, Ont.) class-A San Jose (Giants).

Week XIV _ OF Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) Lakeland Flying Tigers (Tigers).

Week XV _ RHP Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) Mississippi Braves (Braves).

Week XVI _ 3B-C Abraham Toro-Hernandez (Longueuil, Que.) Tri-City ValleyCats (Astros.)

Week XVII _ CF Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) triple-A Memphis Redbirds (Cards) and LF Brett Siddalll (Windsor, Ont.) class-A Stockton Ports (A’s).