The Kansas City T-Bones, in the midst of a playoff race to defend their American Association Championship, announced two moves following Wednesday night’s game against Lincoln.
KC has traded future considerations to the Texas Airhogs for outfielder Stewart Ijames and signed former Colorado Rockies prospect outfielder Omar Carrizales.
Stewart Ijames is no stranger to the American Association, having spent the last two seasons with the Texas Airhogs. With Texas, Ijames was hitting .278 this season with 10 home runs and 50 RBI in 82 games. Last season the left-handed batting outfielder hit .267 in 99 games for the Airhogs with 10 home runs and 46 RBI.
Ijames was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 29th round of the 2010 MLB Draft from University of Louisville (Louisville, Kentucky) but did not sign, instead playing all four years at Louisville.
Following college he signed with the Washington Wild Things in the Frontier League in 2013. In 90 games he hit .297 with 16 home runs and 45 RBI in his first pro season. He spent 50 games with Washington in 2014 before signing as a free agent in with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He spent 37 games at three stops for Arizona, mainly at rookie level Missoula in the Pioneer League. He combined hitting .309 with 12 homers and 36 RBI.
In his second season with Arizona, Ijames made the jump to the California League at high A, playing in 70 games with 18 home runs and 18 doubles, driving in 44 and carrying a .273 average. Those numbers placed him third in home runs on the club and fourth in RBI. He saw 33 games at AA Mobile, hitting .274 with three home runs and 12 RBI.
In 2016 Ijames spent the entire season at AA Mobile, hitting .242 for the Bay Bears with 10 home runs and 33 RBI. His 10 long balls were good for third on the club. In 2017, after starting the year on the disabled list, he spent 52 games at AA Jackson on the Southern League hitting .220 with six home runs and 20 RBI and play another five games at AAA Reno in the Pacific Coast League. He went 2-for-7 with two RBI for the Aces before his release on Aug. 7, 2017. He joined the Airhogs for the 2018 season.
Ijames was also drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 46th round of the 2007 MLB Draft from Owensboro Senior HS (Owensboro, Kentucky). The Kentucky native is a career .275 hitter in 605 games with 100 home runs and 336 RBI with a .357 on base percentage. The 31-year-old Ijames played four years with the University of Louisville with a career .292 average with the Cardinals in 239 games with 45 home runs and 212 RBI. He completed his career as a Cardinal ranked second in RBI, second in at-bats with 828, third in games played with 239, fifth in hits with 256, sixth in home runs with and seventh in doubles with 52. His senior season he was named Second Team All-Big East in 2012.
Omar Carrizales joins the T-Bones from New York Yankees system where the Maracay, Venezuela, native spent part of the last two seasons in their system. Prior to that, he spent 2013 to 2018 with the Colorado Rockies organization. The Rockies signed Carrizales as an International Free Agent in 2013, and he came stateside in 2014, playing 45 games at rookie level Grand Junction. Carrizales made the steady climb up the ladder, reaching AA in 2018. In seven minor league seasons, the left-handed batter is a career .266 hitter with 25 home runs and 233 RBI across 719 games. On the base paths Carrizales has stolen 66 bases in his career.
This season at high A Tampa in the Florida State League, Carrizales hit .254 in 46 games with 14 RBI. He also has three seasons of winter ball experience in his native Venezuela, playing for La Guaira. In 114 games he has 25 RBI with a .256 clip with 19 stolen bases. In is debut with KC Carrizales had an RBI double in last night’s game one win for the T-Bones over the Lincoln Saltdogs.
Tickets to all T-Bones home games are on sale online or by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting the Saint Luke’s Box Office between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Group ticket sales are also on sale.
- Story from T-Bones