Winter Meetings — It’s 73 degrees in Charlotte!!
Hello and welcome to the Winter Meetings edition of
“Knight Fever”. It’s my first December living in South Carolina — and I am loving the weather! Back in the Northeast the weather is cold, damp, foggy, and there is snow on the ground. Not here! It’s baseball weather today and I am in the baseball mood!
The Winter Meetings began this week in Nashville and I did not make the trip. Every year I say I am going to go, but I just never end up going. I’ll enter my seventh year in baseball in 2013 and I have yet to make the trip. I say this every year, but next year I plan to go. We’ll see.
With that, let’s take a look at some of the recent Charlotte Knights news from last week. I’ll be back with more updates again a couple of times this week. Stay tuned!
Anthony Carter — Carter was among two players non-tendere
d by the Chicago White Sox on Friday. As a member of Chicago’s 40-man roster, Carter spent the entire 2012 campaign with the Knights. The right-handed reliever compiled a 4–6 record with a 4.60 ERA and two saves in 39 games (one start).
Originally a 26th round selection of the White Sox out of the June 2005 draft, Carter also appeared in 35 games with the Knights in 2011. The Georgia native posted a 0–2 mark with a 7.23 ERA with three saves that year.
Perhaps his best season as a reliever came back in 2010 when he posted a 1–4 mark with a 3.92 ERA and a Southern League-best 22 saves. He was a Southern League Mid-Season All-Star that season and his 22 saves led all Sox farmhands. He entered the 2011 season ranked as the 10th-best prospect in the White Sox organization by Baseball America.
Carter, who is now a free agent, is currently pitching for Indios de Mayaguez of the Liga de Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (Puerto Rican Winter League). In nine games, he is 0–1 with a 5.06 ERA (10.2 IP, 13 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 6 BB, 8 SO).
Dan Johnson — Johnson had one of the finest seasons in Knights franchise history in 2012
. The Minnesota native led the Knights in nearly every offensive category. He hit .267 with 28 home runs, 85 RBIs, and 77 runs scored. He was an International Mid-Season and Postseason All-Star.
His impressive season earned him a promotion to the Majors and he appeared in 14 games with the Sox. He hit .364 with three home runs and six RBIs over that span. All three of his home runs came in one game. On October 3, Johnson became just the 15th player in White Sox franchise history to hit three home runs in a game.
On Friday, Johnson was also non-tendered and became a free agent. It will be interesting to see where he ends up for 2013. Johnson has been a force in the International League in four of the last five years. He’s averaged 24 home runs and 79 RBIs over his four years in the International League span. Overall, he has 96 IL home runs and 315 RBIs.
For his career, Johnson has hit 200 home runs at the Minor League level with 754 RBIs.
Philip Humber — Humber, who made two rehab appearances with the Knights in 2012, was claimed off waivers by the Houston Astros on Friday. It was a season to mostly remember for Humber, who tossed the 21st Perfect Game in MLB history on April 21 against Seattle.
From June 17-July 17, however, Humber was on the disabled list with a right elbow flexor strain. He made three rehab appearances — one with Birmingham and two with Charlotte. He threw 2.1 innings against the Gwinnett Braves in Gwinnett on July 1 and then four innings against Norfolk at Knights Stadium five days later.
Humber talked to the Charlotte media after his start on July 6 at Knights Stadium. Here are all four parts of his post-game press conference from Fort Mill:
Part 1 — http://bit.ly/MPSBi7
Part 2 — http://bit.ly/MPUvPK
Part 3 — http://bit.ly/LUmxbN
Part 4 — http://bit.ly/PnOlaD
