Arguello Released

Releases are hard to read about. When you start following the start of a players career, as we are lucky to do in Greeneville, you expect that you will be reading about the end of those careers. Sometimes, you expect it to come quickly; other times you hope it will be years from their time with the G-Stros.

Today, I learned via Astros County that Douglas Arguello had been released. Arguello was a member of the 2004 Appy League Champ G-Stros. That year, he was 19 and was used exclusively out of the bullpen. Though it was the first year those of us in Greeneville had seen him pitch, it was his second year in the Appy League. He had pitched out of the Martinsville bullpen the year before. He dropped his ERA from 5.26 down t0 2.92 that season and then went on to be stretched out into a starter as he moved up the ladder.

Control has always been an issue for Arguello. This season, he was in AAA Oklahoma City. He started off the year in the rotation but struggled. They moved him to the pen and in the second half of the year, he was showing some promise. In July, after coming off the DL, he had a respectably solid 2.73 ERA in 12 outings. He was getting a good number of ground balls, and his 9 walks in 12 1/3 IP weren't hurting him. In August, he had 9 outings. In 5 of those, he didn't allow a single earned run. In the other 4, his line read this way: 1 2/3 IP, 6 H, 7 earned runs, 4 BB, 4 K. Three of those four outings ended with Arguello not getting anyone out.

But hey, he is left handed. He will likely go to winter ball and if he is successful there, maybe get a minor league invite to spring training from another organization. He will turn 27 in November. Best of luck to the Nicaragua native.

Here are who is left out of the 2004 G-Stros in affiliated ball as the 2011 season wraps up.

Juan Gutierrez - D'backs (MLB 60 day DL)
Felipe Paulino - Royals (MLB)
Troy Patton - Orioles (MLB)
J. R. Towles - Astros (AAA)
Jordan Parraz - Yankees (AAA)
Wlad Sutil - Astros (AA)
Brad James - Astros (AA)
Jimmy Barthmaier - Nationals (AA)
Neil Sellers - Phillies (AA)

That is 9 out of the 36 players who saw playing time in 2004 for the G-Stros. Having 25% of the players off a team being active in affiliated ball 7 years later isn't too bad. Five of the nine have seen MLB action (Towles & Barthmaier in addition to the 3 who are currently on MLB rosters).