LYNX: BRENT ABERNATHY'S LONG ROAD TO CANADA?

The Lynx lineup has been posted. A lack of time and the Jays playing a 1 p.m. opener defy doing a full rundown (although you should check out Carl Kiiffner's Ottawa Lynx Blog if you are a diehard Lynx loyalist), but here's a few factoids:

• One of the foremost Quad-A types on the Lynx -- that's guys who aren't necessarily young but have figured out Triple-A ball pretty well, is second baseman Brent Abernathy. The 29-year-old vet never actually made it to second base in Toronto, which is where everyone expected him to be in the late '90s when he was a .300 hitter in the farm system. In 2000, another major-league team (the Devil Rays, but still) gave up two pitchers off its roster (Steve Trachsel and Mark Guthrie) to get Abernathy, whom the Jays had made a high draft choice after he was the U.S. high school athlete of the year in 1995, when he also helped the Americans win the world junior baseball championship.
  
  Abernathy capped off 2000 by winning Olympic gold for Team USA in Sydney and began playing every day for in mid-2001. Everything was looking ducky, but he went backwards as a hitter in '02. Following that season, the Rays made a typical smacking-of-desperation move, signing retread Marlon Anderson to play second base rather than see if Abernathy, who was still only 25, would get better.
  
  He was traded to the Royals, but they were set at second. Since then, Abernathy has had a new address every year in Triple A, but his average has stayed close to .300 (with a low secondary average). He's been a part of winning teams, but not at the major-league level.
  
  That might segue into a theme for the Lynx this season. At first glance, the Phillies' urge to get to the National League playoffs is reflected in the Lynx roster -- it's full of experienced players who could be good replacements if they need a backup or an extra arm for a couple weeks, not kids who might be overmatched mentally. In the dream scenario, all those guys who never gained a foothold could take it out on the whole International League all summer long -- and maybe some more Ottawans will notice and help build a case that baseball, in some form (indie league) will continue in the capital.
• Here's reliever Joe Bisenius' strikeout rates (per nine innings) from his four minor-league stops, in chronological order: 6.79, 7.83, 9.20 and 12.79 (the last was only 24 innings at Double A).
  
  (UPDATE, 11 p.m.) The Phillies have purchased Bisenius' contract, so he'll open the season with the big team although he's never pitched above Double A.
• The other pitcher to get excited over is left-hander Fabio Castro -- although one can't be too sure how well a leftist named Castro will be received in Stephen Harper's Ottawa. He's only 5-foot-7, 175 lbs., but he throws serious gas. Castro was drafted out of the White Sox organization and traded to the Phillies, where pitched well in limited action over the last three months of '06.
• There might come a day when manager John Russell sends out an entire outer patrol of second-time Lynx -- Ron Calloway, Lou Collier (you all remember Lou, he was traded for Jason Bay once) and Pedro Swann, one of baseball's longest-tenured Delawareans. (Seriously, it's between Pedro and Delino DeShields.)
  
  The other outfielders, though, are the cheese: Chris Roberson, who at 27 is the youngest of the bunch, stole 25 bases for Scranton last season. Lefty-hitting Jim Rushford, who began his career as a pitcher, has hit .303/.374/.449 in his minor-league career.
  
  Swann, 36, played for the Lynx in '03-04 (the Baltimore years). He's hit 181 homers in his minor-league career. Wonder if he could have a big year and get to the magic 200 mark
• The position player with the highest major-league upside is 24-year-old catcher Jason Jaramillo, who comes in with a rep for defence -- although word is he struggled a bit in fallball down in Arizona. Hit hitting numbers (.248/.320/.388) took a hit last year at Double-A Reading. Interesting factoid: Jaramillo is going to have an ex-catcher, John Russell is his manager, but they played for rival colleges -- Jaramillo at Oklahoma State and the skip at Oklahoma.
• One Lynx who might not care one way or the other how long it takes for the weather to warm up in Ottawa is right-hander Justin Miller. You might remember when Miller pitched with the Blue Jays and he was forced to wear a full-sleeved undershirt even at the peak of summer since his fully tattooed arms were distracting to batters. Has the IL made a similar edict?

Related: Ottawa Lynx Blog

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.