News and notes (7/16)

M's Farm Report at the Seattle Times has a bit on Matt Mangini:

Matt Mangini knows he is capable of hitting for power.

The Everett third baseman says he just needs the right mechanics to make it happen.

"There are certain things you have to do in the course of a swing that allow you to hit with power," said the left-handed-hitting Mangini, who is batting .276 with two homers in 76 at-bats for the AquaSox. "In my baseball career that is something I've yet to do, but I'm really starting to try to put that into my swing so I will be able to."

At 6 feet 4 and 220 pounds, Mangini looks like a player who should have power. Count the Mariners among those expecting it to happen, as they selected Mangini with their supplemental first-round pick and the No. 52 choice overall.

The Everett Herald has a story on current AquaSox players and former Timber Rattlers Greg Halman and Kalian Sams.

Who could have predicted this?About 10 years ago Gregory Halman and Kalian Sams began roaming the same baseball fields in the Netherlands, a pair of friends enjoying a sport considered secondary in their native country.

But who could have imagined that a decade later they'd be reunited on the diamond halfway across the world?

Yet the baseball fates determined the Everett AquaSox would be going double Dutch in the outfield this season.

Halman and Sams are undergoing an unlikely baseball reunion this summer as teammates in Everett, renewing a friendship that was forged 5,000 miles away.
...
Halman, 19, is an athletic freak of nature. The 6-foot-4, 190-pounder has that rare combination of speed and power, allowing him to one moment flag down every ball hit in the air in center field, then the next moment to launch the ball over that same center-field fence he had just been guarding. Going into Monday night's game at Salem-Keizer Halman led the AquaSox in virtually every offensive category, including batting average (.333), home runs (five), RBI (14) and stolen bases (nine).

Sams, 20, is a picture of strength. A muscle-bound Goliath at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, Sams cuts an intimidating presence at the plate. He has yet to make the same kind of impact as Halman - going into Monday he was batting .145 with one homer and seven RBI - but those numbers have crept upward since he suffered through an 0-for-31 slump early in the season.

Fort Wayne's new downtown baseball stadium is continuing to move forward:

Talks wrap up on Harrison Square pacts

Harrison Square deals finalized