Former Thresher Mike Costanzo traded to Astros

Former Thresher Mike Costanzo joins Michael Bourn and Geoff Geary as the newest members of the Houston Astros. The Phillies received Brad Lidge and Eric Bruntlett in the deal.

Mike Costanzo | He spent the 2006 season in Clearwater hitting .258 with 14 home runs and 81 RBIs.

Geoff Geary | He started 19 games for Clearwater in 1999. He was 10-5 with a 3.95 ERA.

Michael Bourn | He was a fourth round pick in the 2003 draft. He skipped Clearwater during his progression to the Majors.

Brad Lidge | He was a starting pitcher in the Florida State League for Kissimmee during the 1999 and 2000 seasons.

Eric Bruntlett | He skipped Single-A ball during his progression to the Majors. He was a ninth round pick in the 2000 draft out of Stanford.

Injuries in Phillies Outfield Good News for Former Thresher

The Phillies placed Shane Victorino and Michael Bourn on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday. To take their place, they re-instated Jayson Werth from the disabled list and also called up former Thresher Chris Roberson from Ottawa.

Werth played in four games for the Threshers during his rehab assignment.

Roberson spent the 2004 season with the Threshers.

Former Thresher Segovia named to US National Team

Former Threshers' pitcher Zach Segovia has been named to the 24-man roster of the US National Team that is now trying to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in China.

The 24 players that will represent the United States at the 2006 COPABE Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Havana, Cuba, Aug. 25-Sept. 5, were officially announced today by USA Baseball. The roster is made up from professional, non-25-man roster players of the 30 Major League Baseball organizations.

See the whole roster and read the press release here.

Segovia and Michael Bourn are the only two players currently in the Phillies organization on the roster.

The Reading Eagle has a story about Segovia and the success of the Phillies minor league teams that can be seen here.

Segovia began this season back at Single-A Clearwater, where he went 5-1 with a 2.19 ERA in seven starts.

He earned a promotion to Reading in mid May, won his Double-A debut with seven shutout innings and proceeded to deliver a string of quality starts. In 17 appearance for Reading he went 11-5 with a 3.11 ERA, just 90 hits allowed in 107 innings and a 3-to-1 strikeouts-to-walks ratio. From June 29 on he went 8-1 in nine starts.

He also put himself in the thick of the race for the Paul Owens Award as the top pitcher in the Phillies organization. He'll vie for that honor with Scott Mathieson (10-2, 3.22 at Reading and Scranton), Lakewood's Matt Maloney (14-8, 2.09), Josh Outman (12-6, 3.07), and Carlos Carrasco (9-6, 2.25), J.A. Happ (9-9, 2.68 at Reading and Clearwater) and Brian Mazone (12-4, 2.13 at Reading and Scranton).

The story also includes a lot of quotes from Segovia, so be sure to check it out.