MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com-LAKEWOOD, NJ - Eight former BlueClaws are among the top ten Phillies prospects, as ranked by Baseball America, in a list released on Monday. Domonic Brown, a BlueClaws OF in 2008, topped the list for the second straight year.


RHP Kyle Drabek (2007) was ranked second and OF Michael Taylor (2008) followed in third.


Four members of the BlueClaws 2009 championship team were next (C Travis d'Arnaud, RHP Trevor May, OF Anthony Gose, and C Sebastian Valle). RHP Jarred Cosart was ranked eighth. 2007 LHP Antonio Bastardo was ninth and OF Domingo Santana was ranked tenth.
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"We've been very fortunate over years that the Phillies have sent their best young players through Lakewood," said BlueClaws General Manager Geoff Brown. "It's always exciting to look back in a few years when these guys are in the big leagues and say that we saw them first in a BlueClaws uniform."


Brown, 22, hit a combined .294 between Clearwater and Reading this year with 14 home runs and 64 RBIs. He spent 2008 with the BlueClaws and after being ranked sixth on this list entering that season, he is ranked first for the second straight year.


Drabek, 21, went 13-3 between Clearwater and Reading while striking out 150 in 158 innings. A former first-round pick, Drabek spent 2007 with the BlueClaws and the 2009 season was his first after Tommy John surgery. He was ranked 5th last year.


Taylor, 23, hit .333 with 15 home runs with Reading before a July promotion to Lehigh Valley, where he hit .282 and added five more homers. The 2007 fifth round pick (Stanford) hit .361 with the BlueClaws in the first half of 2008 before a promotion. He was ranked sixth last year.


d'Arnaud, 20, is the first of four members of the 2009 SAL Champion BlueClaws on the list. He moves up from seventh last year after hitting 13 home runs and driving in 71 runs. d'Arnaud also led the South Atlantic League in doubles with 38.


May, 19, moves up from 28th last year after pitching to a 4-1 record and 2.56 ERA with the BlueClaws in 2009. May ended the year by throwing 21 straight shutout innings and gave up three runs in his last 36. May threw 11 shutout innings in two playoff starts for Lakewood.


Gose, 19, led all of Minor League Baseball with 76 stolen bases in 2009, and shattered Chris Roberson's six year-old BlueClaws team record of 59. He was ranked 15th on this list last year.


Valle, 19, spent the first half with Lakewood before hitting .314 with Williamsport in the second half. He returned to the BlueClaws for the post-season and hit a three-run home run in game two of the Division Series against Kannapolis. He was ranked outside the top 30 last year.


Cosart, 19, was drafted in 2008 and made his debut this year with the GCL Phillies, going 2-2 with a 2.75 ERA and being ranked among the top five GCL prospects. He could be with the BlueClaws in 2010.


Bastardo, 24, went 9-0 with the BlueClaws in 2007. This year, he pitched primarily for Reading and was on the Phillies active roster for all three post-season series.


Finally, Santana, who turned 17 in August, hit .288 with six home runs and 28 RBIs for the GCL Phillies.


May, Gose, Valle, Cosart, Bastardo and Santana are new to the top ten this year. The Phillies traded away four members of last year's top ten (Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, Jason Donald, and Jason Knapp, all BlueClaws at one time) for Cliff Lee in July.


The 2010 season will mark the BlueClaws tenth season of play, and the team will have a new logo and new uniforms for the first time in team history.


The BlueClaws won their second South Atlantic League title in 2009, and led the league in attendance for the ninth straight year. The team also won the league's Club Merit Award and became the fastest in New Jersey and SAL history to reach 4-million fans.

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