TRENTON – The day after the All-Star game is usually a big day for transactions, and yesterday was certainly no exception. Among other things, the Thunder welcomed back two members of their bullpen and said goodbye to an old friend.

The biggest – but sadly least surprising – news of the day was the release of reliever Alan Horne, who had spent the better part of the last four years fighting waves of injuries, the most recent being serious damage to his right rotator cuff.

Horne, the 2007 Eastern League Pitcher of the Year and a former first-round draft choice with the Angels, was simply ineffective in his brief return to the Eastern League, cobbling together an 0-2 record and a 12.79 ERA in 6 1/3 frames.

That, plus the fact that, at 28 years old, he was incapable of staying healthy, spelled the end of his tenure with the Yankees organization. Manager Tony Franklin told him the news a few hours before yesterday’s game and, as always, it was a bitter pill to deliver.

“It wasn’t pleasant, because about four years ago he was the Pitcher of the Year in this league,” Franklin said. “Unfortunately he had an arm injury that set him back, and who knows how you’re going to recover from that. He seems to have recovered from the arm injury but just wasn’t pitching well at this time.”

In his place, the Thunder received Josh Schmidt, back for his second tour of duty with Trenton this season. The curve-slinging corner-painting right-hander is the franchise’s all-time leader in appearances, and has pitched 15 times in Double-A this season.

He was 2-2 with a 1.59 ERA in 22 2/3 innings before being bumped back to Scranton on June 10. Overall, he’s 5-4 with a 2.16 ERA and 51 strikeouts against 19 walks between the levels.

Outfielder DeAngelo Mack was also placed on the disabled list yesterday with an injury to the base of his left hand which has caused him enough pain to believe that surgery may be an option in the near future.

So far, Mack’s only been looked at by trainer by Tim Lentych, but a trip to the doctor and the X-Ray machine is upcoming.

The pain started during the last road swing, and it eventually got to the point where he was struggling with everyday tasks like opening a bottle or holding a baseball bat.

“It’s a little sore right now, it’s pretty sore,” he said before the game. “Whenever the doctor gets here he’s going to check it out and kind of see what’s going on and maybe go for an X-Ray or a CT scan (Friday).”

Ryan Pope, a starter-turned-closer with Trenton last season, rejoined the team during the final road trip before the All-Star break, but didn’t get back to Waterfront Park until yesterday.

Shoulder inflammation kept the right-hander on the shelf to start the season, and when he finally returned he found himself caught in a mix of relievers at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, which has led to reduced time all season.

He had tried to pitch through the pain, but finally reached a breaking point before the season began.

“I feel like I’m healthy. You try to push through some things here and there to get to the big leagues – that’s just the way baseball is,” he admitted. “It gets to a point sometimes where you just can’t push through it anymore.”

He made his first appearance of the season – a rehab outing with Tampa – on April 23 before being bumped to Scranton on May 2. He got into his first game with Trenton on July 7, marking the first time he had pitched in three weeks.

Utilityman Addison Maruszak was returned to Trenton yesterday, catcher Austin Romine was activated from the Temporary Inactive List, and catcher Ryan Baker was placed on the Disabled List to complete the day’s paperwork.

NOTES: Graham Stoneburner, who hasn’t pitched since April, was activated from the team’s DL and assigned to High-A Tampa, where he started last night’s game. He also made four appearances in the Gulf Coast League on the rehab trail. … Phillies broadcaster was inducted into the Trenton Baseball Hall of Fame last night, joining former Thunder manager DeMarlo Hale as this year’s inductees. The team’s broadcast booth was dedicated in honor of McCarthy, who was the Trenton’s first play-by-play man.

The Yankees made six cuts after today's win over the Orioles. Andrew Brackman, Brandon Laird, Melky Mesa and Kevin Russo were optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, while pitchers Ryan Pope and Steve Garrison were sent to Double-A.

Garrison, Mesa and Pope are interesting because you'd figure that, with their relative levels of experience, they'd be sent to different spots.

Mesa, who hasn't played a game above High-A, figures to be the Thunder's opening day center fielder. With 371 1/3 innings of Double-A ball between them, Pope and Garrison both seem ticketed for Scranton.

The options made today are only placeholders, to be sure, but they are a bit intriguing on March 16.

Yes, yes, the Yankees have advanced to the American League Championship Series. That's fine. Over here at Minor Matters, however, we care naught for things that concern the big club.

That means today, even with the Bombers off until Friday, big things are going on. The Arizona Fall League begins at 12:35 p.m., when the Phoenix Desert Dogs (which houses the Yankees players) meet the Mesa Solar Sox.

As I mentioned earlier on the blog, the Yankees on the Desert Dogs roster are:

C - Austin Romine
2B - Jose Pirela
OF - Brandon Laird
P - George Kontos
P - Craig Heyer
P - Ryan Pope
P - Manny Banuelos

In today's matchup, Romine, the Thunder's catcher, will face his brother Andrew, an infielder in the Angels system. Without looking it up, I am fairly certain this is the first time the two have met in a professional setting.

Also featured on the Mesa roster are:

- Justin Wilson, the Altoona lefty who sent the Thunder from the Eastern League playoffs.

- Brett Jackson, who, along with Laird was the other minor leaguer to complete a cycle with a walk-off home run. Carlos Gonzalez accomplished the feat in the MLB.

- Chris Carpenter, a Cubs farmhand who was drafted by the Yankees in 2007 (18th round).

- Matt Rizzotti, a slugging Phillies first baseman who hit an astonishing .343/.430/.985 with 17 home runs and 76 RBIs split among three levels.

- Brad Holt, Mesa's opening starter and a Mets prospect who struggled mightily with control (79 walks in 95 innings) and saw his stock fall dramatically.

After a tip from a very good source this morning, I've been able to find out that Ryan Pope has been added to the Yankees' group of prospects headed to the Arizona Fall League, bringing the list to seven.

Pope was mentioned early as a candidate, but he wasn't on the roster when the season ended. Once Hector Noesi arrived, Pope was converted to the bullpen, and finished the year as the team's closer. He racked up 17 saves and struck out 62 in 57 1/3 IP.

Pope joins Austin Romine, Brandon Laird, Jose Pirela, George Kontos, Manny Banuelos and Craig Heyer on the Phoenix Desert Dogs roster. Coach Danny Borrell and trainer Scott DiFrancesco will also be on the coaching staff.

Today is the first day of the MLB Draft, which begins at 7:00 p.m. on the MLB Network. The first round and the compensation round will be televised. I wrote this story for today's Trentonian about the conflicting strategies of the Yankees and Phillies. Both World Series participants have done well over the last few years of the draft, but their approaches recently couldn't be more different.

Additionally, over the last several days covering the Thunder, I've collected brief interviews with a few players and coaches detailing what they remember from the day they got drafted. Below are clips from those conversations with (from top down) Tommy Phelps, Brandon Laird, Josh Schmidt, Lance Pendleton and Ryan Pope.

After Jeremy Bleich was placed on the 7-Day Disabled List and sent to Florida yesterday, there are a lot of questions about how the new Thunder rotation will shake out. When the team left for its current road trip, its starting five looked like this:

1. Lance Pendleton
2. D.J. Mitchell
3. Jeremy Bleich
4. Hector Noesi
5. David Phelps

Now, with Bleich on the shelf, Paul Bush, a member of last year's Trenton rotation, has been taken off the disabled list. What he is not, however, according to team broadcaster/public relations man Justin Shackil, is a member of the rotation. Neither is Ryan Pope, who was pushed to the bullpen when Noesi was promoted but before Bleich was injured.

So, as it stands now, the Thunder's rotation looks like this:

1. Pendleton
2. Mitchell
3. Noesi
4. TBD
5. Phelps

Before the recent move, Pope had been a starter all his life. Bush made five starts with the Thunder last season, and two more with Scranton. He also made a handful of relief appearances in Triple-A.

Also, we know, again via Shackil, that Wilkin De La Rosa and Cory Arbiso, respectively, will start each game of the doubleheader on Saturday. I assume that one or both of Pope and Bush will see relief work at some point during those games.

So, where does that leave the Thunder as far as a fifth starter goes? As far as I see it, there are two possible scenarios, one that is exciting, and one that is not.

1. Rotating bullpen starts. Josh Schmidt, Kanekoa Texeira and Wilkins Arias made 13 starts last year, and something like that is a definite possibility for the near future. Arbiso or De La Rosa could feasibly take the place of Texeira. Eric Wordekemper could fill that role as well.

2. The other idea is Adam Warren joining Hector Noesi in the Trenton rotation. Nardi Contreras mentioned a few weeks ago that there was a good chance Warren makes his way north sometime this season. He also said Dellin Betances was close to being activated and joining Tampa's rotation.

So far with High-A, Warren is 5-3 with a 1.94 ERA in eight starts. He's struck out 32 and walked just 12 in 46 1/3 innings. By comparison, Noesi had tossed 43 innings and also made eight starts before his promotion last week.

For what it's worth, Warren last pitched Monday, which would put him on track to start Saturday in Portland, one day after Noesi.

Stay tuned, things could get interesting.

Yesterday, while I was watching the Pirates beat Roy Halladay, Grant Duff got promoted to Scranton. To take his place on the Thunder roster, Josh Schmidt was transferred back to Trenton.

This means the Thunder have lost their closer, and have gained a long reliever to go with Ryan Pope. Based on the way Tony Franklin used his pen last night, it seems like Wilkins Arias might be the guy to step into Duff's role.

Of course, Tony really never likes to designate anyone for a specific role, so it might be closer by committee for a while.

Today, after a spate of poor starts, Jeremy Bleich was placed on the disabled list and sent back to Florida yesterday. There is no word on Bleich's injury.

To take Bleich's spot, Paul Bush, a member of the Thunder staff last year, was activated off the DL. He is in New Hampshire with the team, and will be available tonight.

Interesting note: Both Bush and Pope will work out of the bullpen. There's no word on a fifth starter, says Thunder broadcaster Justin Shackil. Also from Shackil, Wilkin De La Rosa and Cory Arbiso will start in games 1 and 2

The Thunder won today, 13-7, over the Binghamton Mets. It was the team's 10th straight win, and provides a huge helping of momentum as the team heads into a seven-game string with division leading New Hampshire and third-place Portland, who are just a half game back of the Thunder for second in the EL East. Here is the game story.

- Brandon Laird had a grand slam and a three-run home run, totaling seven RBIs. It was the fifth multi-homer game of Laird's career. He had three with Charleston, and one with the Gulf Coast League Yankees. He also did it in front of his parents and grandparents.

- Laird's seven RBIs give him 36 for the season, best in the Eastern League.

- In addition to Laird's two bombs, Dan Brewer and Edwar Gonzalez also went deep. The four home runs mark a season high for the Thunder.

- Ryan Pope made his first appearance out of the bullpen. He was perfect for two innings, including four strikeouts. For now, it does not appear he will be used in the late innings. Those slots, manager Tony Franklin said, will be filled by Eric Wordekemper and Grant Duff. I expect Pope to assume a Josh Schmidt-esque, jack-of-all-trades type of role.

Here's some video of Pope fanning Jose Coronado yesterday:

- It was mascot Boomer's birthday today, and several mascots were in the house to help celebrate. The ones I could identify were: Scorch (Trenton Devils), the Rutgers Scarlet Knight, a Canada Goose from Wawa, Buster (Lakewood BlueClaws) and a Philadelphia Wings mascot.

- In the other big news of the day, Yankees prospect Hector Noesi was promoted to Trenton, pushing Ryan Pope out of the rotation. Noesi, who was suspended for the first 50 games of the 2007 season, was 5-2 with a 2.72 ERA. He fanned 53 in 43 innings, and walked just six.
Here's the link to that story.

Here's some postgame audio from (top down) Jeremy Bleich, Brandon Laird, Austin Romine and Tony Franklin:

This win was a total team effort. Every starter but Marcos Vechionacci had at least one hit or RBI, and, aside from a little hiccup from Cory Arbiso with the bases loaded, the pitching was stellar throughout. The Thunder also played error-free baseball and turned two double plays.

Here's a reminder that tomorrow's starter is Jeremy Bleich, not the originally scheduled Ryan Pope. Pope will be moving to the bullpen for the remainder of the series to help give the team a needed lift. They've been down a man since Josh Schmidt was sent to Scranton.

The combination of team on a hot streak, the Mets' minor leaguers in town, postgame fireworks and the best weather all year brought in the biggest crowd of the season, 7,853. Afterward, PR extraordinaire Bill Cook noted that last night's crowd was the biggest walk-up in two years. Impressive stuff.

Here are the postgame sessions with (from top) D.J. Mitchell, Austin Romine and Tony Franklin.

So, there's quite a bit of news around Thunder land today. First, in what I assume is a precursor to a promotion, Ryan Pope has been moved to the bullpen. The staff is running short a man, so the move makes sense. Jeremy Bleich, who was supposed to start Monday, will take Pope's place tomorrow. I spoke with Tommy Phelps, Tony Franklin and Pope himself about the move, and the audio from those interviews is below.

Secondly, Austin Romine is back behind the dish after serving as the designated hitter for a few games. The "tired arm," it seems, is nothing to become alarmed about. We'll see over the next few days how the rest treated him. For what it's worth, it appears Romine's hitting has suffered a little bit from not playing the field.

Finally, in non-Thunder news, the Mets have promoted infielder Reese Havens. He's batting second for the B-Mets and is playing second base. Should be a treat to see him work over the next few days.

Here's today's Thunder lineup:

1. Justin Christian, DH
2. Austin Krum, CF
3. David Adams, 2B
4. Austin Romine, C
5. Brandon Laird, 3B
6. Daniel Brewer, LF
7. Marcos Vechionacci, 1B
8. Edwar Gonzalez, RF
9. Luis Nunez, SS

Here's the audio from today's pregame sessions:

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Ryan Pope gave up five runs in the second inning, putting the Thunder in a hole from which they would never recover during a 5-4 loss yesterday to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats last night at Merchantsauto.com Stadium.
After a scoreless first inning, Pope, who’d performed ably in his first two starts, hit a rough patch.
Eric Thames and Adam Calderone opened with a single and double, producing the opening tally. Two outs later, catcher Brian Jeroloman doubled home Calderone with the second run.
The next man, Darin Mastroianni, singled, and Callix Crabbe connected on a three-run home run that completed the damage.
The Thunder’s offense did all it could, but in the end came up a run short.
In the fourth, catcher Austin Romine — who was 3-for-5 on the evening — singled and stole second before being driven in on Reid Gorecki’s single.
The Thunder got two more in the fifth, when designated hitter Damon Sublett’s double to right brought home Romine and Laird.
In the sixth, with starter Kyle Drabek out of the game, the Thunder tacked on one more against Bubbie Buzachero when Romine’s single brought home Austin Krum from second.
From there, New Hampshire relievers Trystan Magnuson and Daniel Farquhar silenced Trenton’s bats and sealed the home side’s series-opening victory.
Jeremy Bleich matches up against Zach Stewart tonight in the second game of the series. Game time is 6:35 p.m.

Tonight: Ryan Pope (0-0, 1.80) vs. Kyle Drabek (1-1, 5.06)
Tomorrow: Jeremy Bleich (1-0, 1.46) vs. Zach Stewart (1-1, 7.71)
Wednesday: David Phelps (1-0, 1.59) vs. Marty McLeary (0-1, 18.90)

WHO'S HOT:

Thunder: Bleich has looked very much like he's put his terrible 2009 behind him. Five walks in 12 1/3 innings, however, means command may still be something to work on. The six hits in the same time frame have counteracted the walks, though, and kept his WHIP at an excellent 0.89. ... David Adams' average has dropped to .368, but that figure -- and his .979 OPS -- is still good for the team lead. ... Damon Sublett has four hits this year, but two are homers. ... Brandon Laird hit his first home run yesterday, perhaps a sign that he's heating up.

Fisher Cats: Brad Emaus is hitting .375 (9-for-24) with a team-high eight RBIs. He also sports an otherworldly .500 on-base percentage. ... Catcher Brian Jeroloman is hitting .321/.387/.936. ... David Cooper and Jonathan Diaz each have three doubles. ... The Thunder should be thankful they are not facing Luis Perez, who is 2-0 with an ERA of 0.47. ... Daniel Farquhar has three saves.

Notes: McLeary has racked up that 18.90 ERA without giving up a home run. ... New Hampshire's roster features Adam Loewen, the former Orioles pitcher who is trying to make it back to the majors as an outfielder. ... Drabek faced the Thunder once last season with Reading. He went five innings, gave up two runs and got the win. ... The following Thunder have faced McLeary: Austin Krum (1-for-2, BB, 3B, RBI), Marcos Vechionacci (0-for-2, BB), Justin Snyder (0-for-2).

Pictures are as follows: Top Row - Jeremy Bleich, David Phelps. Second Row - Tommy Phelps and Cory Arbiso; Jesus Montero and Eduardo Nunez. Third Row - Ryan Pope, Grant Duff.

RESULT: Thunder sweep, 4-0.
Thursday: Thunder 4, Erie 0
Friday: Thunder 3, Erie 1
Saturday: Thunder 3, Erie 0
Sunday: Thunder 5, Erie 1

Key to the Series: Starting pitching. Christian Garcia, Ryan Pope, Jeremy Bleich and David Phelps combined for 22 2/3 innings of two-run baseball. They've struck out 22 during that time, and walked just three. If Pope and Bleich, two starters who had rocky seasons in 2009, can be as strong as they looked in their opening outings, it's going to be a long year for opposing hitters.

Honorable Mention: David Adams. He's hitting .500 so far (8-for-16) and has driven in five of the team's 15 runs. He's had three multi-hit games so far, including a three-hit effort on Saturday.

Notes: This is the first time the Thunder have won their first four games since 1999, when they won nine in a row to start the year. ... Justin Snyder went 2-for-3 in his 2010 debut.

Good morning. The Thunder won last night, 3-1 over Erie. Here are links to all of Mike Ashmore's game stories that appeared in today's Trentonian. He'll be covering again tonight, and I'll be back on Sunday afternoon through the Akron series. Anyway, enough about me, here are the links.

Laird, Pope lift Thunder to 2-0

No word on Thunder's Garcia yet

Horne puts off surgery

As all who follow the team know, No. 1 starter Christian Garcia got hurt last night. It's not the first time it is happened. It's not the second, third or fourth time, either. He's already had two surgeries on his right elbow and another one to reconstruct his knee. He's also spent time on the disabled list with an elbow strain (2005), a strained oblique (2006) and elbow tendinitis (2009).

He'll have an MRI today, and should know the results before the day is out. Mike Ashmore will be handling the duties for The Trentonian for the next two nights, so he'll deliver whatever news comes of the situation.

Also, the Thunder made a flurry of moves before last night's game. They placed pitcher Cory Arbiso, infielder Neall French and outfielder Edwar Gonzalez on the disabled list, and added pitchers Alan Horne and Paul Bush to the roster. Those two were already on the DL. Those moves left the Thunder's roster shy a man until outfielder Reid Gorecki was sent down from Scranton.

Here's what Gorecki had to say about his demotion:

“I am going to handle it the way anyone who wants to keep playing this game will handle it; just another bump in the road. Over the course of my career I have had some bumps and this is just another one. I am here to play and that’s the bottom line. My job is dependent upon me putting up numbers, so if I wasn’t going to get a chance in Scranton, I am glad to have the chance to do something here.’’

Tonight's contest starts at 7:05 and pits Ryan Pope against Erie's L.J. Gagnier. Once again, Mike Ashmore will have The Trentonian's coverage.

Trenton's lineup:

CF - Krum
2B - Adams
C - Romine
3B - Laird
LF - Sublett
DH - Gorecki
1B - Smith
RF - Brewer
SS - Nunez
P - Garcia

Now, Erie's lineup:

Dirks - LF
Iorg - SS
Ramirez - CF
Bertram - 1B
Nicolas - DH
Scram - RF
DeLeon - 3B
St. Pierre - C
Henry - 2B
Kibler - P

This is going to be quick, but here's a rundown of what I did today and what I plan to do tomorrow.

I interviewed Ryan Pope (check The Trentonian for a feature tomorrow), Brandon Laird, Damon Sublett and Austin Romine. All were very good and well-spoken. Sublett had some interesting things to say about his transition from second base to the outfield, Laird talked with me about facing Stephen Strasburg in the Arizona Fall League, and Austin Romine ... well, you'll just have to wait for his feature in The Trentonian's special section, which prints on April 8, the day of the Thunder's season opener.

Tomorrow I plan to report to minor league camp around 9:00-9:30, as has been the case all week. This time, though, I'm not sure how long I'll be sticking around. One schedule I have says the Thunder are traveling to Dunedin tomorrow to play the Jays again. Another, however, says they are staying in Tampa for a camp day.

There's a Yankees vs. Future Yankees exhibition game across the street at George M. Steinbrenner Field, so that's always an option, if the game features Thunder players.

If I stay at camp, some interview targets will be David Phelps, Pat Venditte and the Thunder coaching staff. More importantly, I will be trying my best to cajole the preliminary roster, which was released today but kept away from the media, out of someone.

That's all for tonight. I'll check back in the morning.

Tepid day for the Thunder offense, which could collect just four singles off of Pirates pitching.

PITCHING
Jeremy Bleich: 5 shutout innings
Ryan Pope: 3 innings, 3 runs
Wilkin De La Rosa: 1 shutout inning

HITTING

Austin Krum: Single
Luis Nunez: Single
Jose Gil: Single
Addison Maruszak: Single

I made an attempt earlier this offseason to predict the Thunder's opening day roster. Considering that was on December 30, a lot has changed. Myron Leslie has been added to the fold. Edwar Gonzalez and Marcos Vechionacci, minor league free agents, have been re-signed. Kyle Anson has retired. Chris Malec and Seth Fortenberry have been released.

With all those changes in mind, here's my second attempt at predicting the Thunder's Opening Day roster:

SP - Jeremy Bleich
SP - Christian Garcia
SP - Hector Noesi
SP - D.J. Mitchell
SP - Lance Pendleton
P - Ryan Pope
P - Wilkin De La Rosa
P - David Phelps
P - Adam Olbrychowski
P - Philip Bartleski
P - Craig Heyer
P - Pat Venditte
P - Jonathan Ortiz

C - Austin Romine
C- Jose Gil
1B - Kevin Smith
2B - David Adams
3B - Brandon Laird
SS - Walter Ibarra
IF - Marcos Vechionacci
OF - Edwar Gonzalez
OF - Austin Krum
OF - Dan Brewer
OF - Myron Leslie