More Cuts in the Minors

Well, Spring Training is drawing to a close, and the Threshers season is getting closer by the day. The team’s home opener is next week on April 9th, and rosters are getting close to being finalized.

One unfortunate part of preparing the rosters each season is that we see familiar faces and fan favorites getting cut from the team. A few new names were added to the list of players released this past weekend. The players with ties to the Clearwater Threshers who were cut now includes: Alan Robbins (C), Herman Demmink (UT), John Urick (1B), Ben Pfinsgraff (P) and Andrew Cruse (P). Additionally Clay Harris (1B) retired from baseball. Here at Threshers Nation we wish nothing but the best to these guys in wherever the future may take them.

Andrew Cruse ’07-’08 – 39 Games	Herman Demmink ’08 – 7 Games	Clay Harris ’07-’08 – 147 Games
Ben Pfinsgraff ’07-’08 – 19 Games	Alan Robbins ’08 – 57 Games	John Urick ’07-’08 – 199 Games

Andrew Cruse, Clay Harris and John Urick were all a part of the 2007 Clearwater Threshers squad that won the Florida State League Championship, and for that they will always hold a special place in the hearts of the die hard few Threshers fans here in Clearwater. At 199 games played, John Urick trailed only Jake Blalock (202) and Brad Harman (242) in games played as a Thresher and was the recipient of the 2008 Mr Clutch award. Clay Harris had many memorable moments as a Threshers, including a terrific 3-home run game in 2008 where he was hit by a pitch in his final two at bats keeping him from tying a FSL record for 4 HR in a game and won the 2007 Mr Clutch award. Andrew Cruse was with the team for only a short time in 2007, but his pitching in the playoffs was clutch as he picked up more post season innings than any other pitcher and was a valuable member of the pitching staff that year earning post-season honors.

I’ve kept in touch with many ex-players over the years and hopefully will get the chance to keep in touch with many of these young men. I am working on a few interviews with some ex-Threshers and hope to unveil a “Where Are They Now” section to this page soon. If you have a particular player you are interested in hearing from or about, drop me a note.

I expect to be able to get my hands on a new “work groups” roster on Tuesday and will hopefully get a new projected roster up soon. Also, and unfortunately there will still be another round of cuts coming this weekend, and we’ll see more names added to the list above.

In the meantime we can all rest a little easier at night knowing that minor league season will soon be here.