Mariner Minors: 09/24/2006

Mariner Minors

Saturday, September 30, 2006

M's Extend Agreement With Tacoma

Rainiers site.

No, there wasn't really a doubt. Two affiliates available, one in Tacoma and one in Tucson. Did anyone really think the Diamondbacks were going to snatch up Tacoma and leave the M's with Tucson? Probably not.

There's still the issue of what to do with Cheney Stadium, but the new ownership seems to at least be working towards that.

The only word we have on High Desert right now comes from the SBSun, which suggests that the Mavs had their eyes on the M's after the Royals cut out.

I'm going to get the sidebar organized, so be aware of the changes.

posted by Jay Y. @ 11:17 AM

M's Left With High Desert

At least that's what it's looking like now for the Cal League.

posted by Jay Y. @ 12:44 AM

Friday, September 29, 2006

Transaction Update (9/29/06)

Baseball America, again, is reporting the latest transactions, which have the M's signing LHP Michael Wagner and releasing OF Jose Graterol and RHPs Diomny Gaetano and Edgar Guaramato. The week in baseball news continues to get better and better.

Wagner, I have no information on. There are two Michael Wagners in minor league baseball already, but one's an OF in the Giants system (rhb) and the other's a RHP in the Rangers system. It could be a typo, in which case I'd guess it's the latter, as he's a local guy who didn't do so well in a NWL run, or it could be neither, who knows.

Graterol couldn't really get his bat to translate this year after his AZL campaign, which is partially a warining to all those out there who want to make a big deal of AZL stats (also, parts of the T-Rats outfield). He was a mildly intriguing VSL product, but he was still pretty old for the league by the time he was promoted.

Gaetano didn't really pitch that much this season. He almost ran a perfect 0.00 ERA in the VSL last year as one of the oldest prospects in the league. My guess is that he was injured.

That brings us to Guaramato, who I'd had high hopes for after his conversion to a pitcher and stellar (for his relative age and experience) VWL campaign a couple of years back. He started out as strong as anyone in the early part of the year and looked like he was going to get bumped up to Inland the way he was going, but he lost steam rather quickly, got kicked out the closer's role, and was erratic at best for the rest of the season. He had a reputation as being a live arm, but between his performance and the release, I have to wonder if he wasn't injured and just hid it from the club, which they don't take kindly to. Not a big loss given current performance, but he was one of the sleepers I was following from last season.

posted by Jay Y. @ 10:04 AM

Dodgers Take Back Inland Empire

Yeah, not that we didn't all see this one coming. SBSun.

Rumor has it that the D'Backs are heading to Visalia, which means we're heading to one of the bandboxes, it just hasn't been decided which one yet. Random speculation would say, hey, the M's used to be affiliated with Lancaster, so they might as well go back. This would be the same park that allowed Willie Bloomquist to post a .979 OPS in half a season and Antonio Perez to go the better part of a season with a .903 OPS. Awesome.

posted by Jay Y. @ 9:49 AM

Thursday, September 28, 2006

West Tennesse Signs With M's

Well, there you have it, courtesy of Ballpark Digest. Or Baseball America, if you care to continue the trend. Two-year agreement.

It's a better fit as a ballpark than Mobile is. West Tennessee used to be a Cubs affiliate, but the Cubs have moved on to the other part of Tennessee, while the D'Backs look like they'll be stuck with Mobile.

posted by Jay Y. @ 2:40 PM

Missions to Announce Affiliation with Padres

There you have it. From the San Antonio Express-News.

More fuel for the fire. Oh, dreaded interleague rivals, I hate you so much!

Looks like we'll be moving to the Southern League for a while. West Tennessee is the better pitcher's park, but Mobile used to be the Pads affiliate. It could go either way, I guess, but I'd give a slight edge to Tenn.

posted by Jay Y. @ 9:41 AM

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Hawaiian Winter League Rosters Announced

Another league to follow this offseason, and another news piece I'm taking off Baseball America. The M's have affiliated themselves with the Waikiki Beach Boys, and headlining the group is C Jeff Clement for another tour of fall league baseball. Infielder Reed Eastley, outfielder Sebastien Boucher, LHP David Asher, and RHP Joe Woerman will be joining him on the roster, and Rattlers broadcaster Chris Mehring has passed along that former T-Rats coach Dana Williams will be part of the coaching staff.

posted by Jay Y. @ 10:17 PM

BA's Top 20 NWL Prospects

BA released their top 20 NWL prospects this morning. I was guessing that LHP Tony Butler would make it, but I didn't expect it'd be at six, one spot ahead of Rangers' first-round pick Kasey Kiker (who I'd wanted in the second round of various mock drafts) and three ahead of Cubs '05 first-round pick Mark Pawelek. He's looking like a steal right now, but he'll have to keep it up. And the other M's representative? RHP Kameron Mickolio at nineteen. Srsly. Tillman was a DNQ and Halman drew red flags on his plate discipline. I'd make an argument that he did show some nice discipline last year in the AZL and was overmatched in the NWL this year, and probably would've shown more of it in the later weeks had he not busted his hand, but it's really not worth arguing over. Let's go to the chat, where Jonathan got another question in...

Q: JH from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic asks:
No Greg Halman? He was the league's youngest hitter, slugged .500 before going down with a broken hand, and has a really interesting background (Dutch league MVP at age 16). Did he fail to qualify, or was he left off for other reasons? I know he's really raw, but it seems like his upside is huge.

A: Aaron Fitt: Halman is a toolsy, athletic, exciting center fielder, but he is extremely raw. At this point, Halman is a one-dimensional pull hitter who swings and misses a ton (32K-3BB) and has no real feel for the strike zone. He is a good runner with a strong arm, so the upside is there, but he's just very far away. He's a guy to keep an eye on though.

Q: Gatorzone.com from Gville florida asks:
How good of a prospect is Gavin Dickey? He seems to have excellent speed but struggled a bit with the bat. What do you guys project him as long term?

A: Aaron Fitt: Good speed, great makeup, not enough bat. Probably an organizational guy unless he makes some major steps forward.

Q: Jerry from Albany, NY asks:
I have a question about the Mariners prospects at Everett. I was a little surpised that Mickolio made the top-20 over players in the M's organization that I would consider much better prospects, like OF Greg Halman, RHP Chris Tillman, and LHP Steve Uhlmansiek. Where these guys not eligable? Where they close to making the list?

A: Aaron Fitt: Tillman did not pitch enough to qualify, or he would have probably made this list. I've addressed Halman already - an interesting prospect -- and Uhlmansiek did not get much love from managers and scouts. Mickolio is really a sleeper prospect with outstanding size who is starting to figure out how to pitch despite limited experience. I think a 6-foot-8 sinkerballer with as much aptitude as Mickolio seems to have is an intriguing guy.

Midwest League. Tomorrow. I don't know that the M's end up with any reps, but you never know.

posted by Jay Y. @ 10:04 PM