Mariner Minors
Friday, October 27, 2006
  More Releases

Baseball America has another one up, and it looks like the M's are cleaning up on the lower levels, getting rid of IF Dean Zorn, LHP Jose Suriel, OF Donato Ruiz, and RHP Juan Colon.

None of these moves are really in the least bit surprising. The organization lost confidence in Zorn's ability to play short and he never really came through on the offensive potential he was suppose to have as a seasoned switch-hitter. Suriel looked great at certain times, but was the worst reliever out of the pen at others for the Sox. The loss of Ruiz, in my mind, sheds some of the last remaining evidence of the old M's Dominican scouting. He had put up okay numbers in the DSL, but he was never really a prospect, just a guy they had around to fill a few different roles. Colon, again, wasn't that good after they found out his real name amd age (at least I'm assuming that he and the other Colon from years back are one and the same). I would characterize this as the typical visa-related house cleaning that seems to fall every year around this time as the M's player development staff starts to go over who they want to bring stateside next year.

In addition to these names, we have a list out of minor league free agents, which includes Cs Omar Falcon, Luis Oliveros, and Guillermo Quiroz, IFs Jason Bourgeois, Ismael Castro, and Scott Youngbauer, and RHPs Scott Atchison, Cibney Bello, Rich Dorman, Jared Eichelberger, Mike Flannery, Jeff Harris, Justin Huisman, Aaron Looper, Nate Mateo, and Clint Nageotte. As some of these guys are active in the LVBP right now, I'm going to keep listing them until they sign elsewhere. I won't speculate much as to who I think will be retained and who won't just yet though.
|

Tuesday, October 24, 2006
  The Labor Deal and You

The details of the new major league baseball labor deal are out to the public.

As usual, a lot of the changes are on top. Revenue sharing is now capped a little and the threshold before a team has to pay it will be steadily increased (good for the Yankees). Players traded in the middle of a multi-year contract no longer have the right to demand a trade again (bad for Javier Vasquez). The deadlines surrounding players being offered, accepting, and being able to re-sign with the same team are also being removed (good for Roger Clemens).

As the minors and the draft go, bigger changes have been made. Type C free agent compensation has been eliminated entirely, which I would say is good for all parties involved. Type A has been reduced from the top 30% to the top 20%, and Type B is cut down from 50% to 40%, which would probably mean less pondering as to how a Greg Colbrunn-type player ended up being a Type A.

Another practice added is that teams who fail to sign a first-round pick will, instead of getting a supplemental rounder, get the pick immediately after that slot in the next year's draft. Good overall, as I don't think that it's something that's likely to be abused and it does help ease the talent drain.

Fans worried about protecting players for the Rule 5 Draft will have less to lose sleep over, as the deadlines to be added have been upped by a year for both classes. In some cases, this may lead to some prospect stagnation in the higher levels, but really, if a player has proven himself, he will be (barring wackiness) up in the big leagues, and if a player hasn't proven himself by the end of those time periods, he probably won't. In this instance, I think that the M's, and other teams who have shifted towards signing young Latin American talent, benefit as they don't run as much risk of having low minors players snatched up because they spent a few extra years in the DSL as sixteen and seventeen-year-olds. Good for baseball, good for everyone.

Perhaps the most crucial change to the draft itself is that, starting next year, teams will have until August 15th to sign their players, effectively eliminating the draft-and-follow practice. On one hand, this encourages negotiations between teams and players to remain active and make their intentions known right away. On the other, JuCo players suffer because their performance at a level of mixed competition will come under heavier scrutiny, and the incentive of performing better while under the drafting rights of a MLB team is gone. For the M's, it also means they can't hook up random high school draftees with potential with some JuCo to keep them under observation, and having reaped some of the benefits of the old practices, that will sting a little. Aspiring athletes will either have to work hard to get their scholarship or a spot on the team right away, or be left in the dust.

Of all the proposed changes to the minor leagues, among them, eliminating the complex leagues and instituting and international draft (snicker), this is probably one of the better agreements they could've come up with. The extention of the period before Rule 5 eligibility does little to streamline things, and some would argue that baseball continues to waste money on a system that appears to yield little for the investment, but with the impact of high school drafting and international signing, trying to speed things up any more wouldn't necessarily be feasible. Regardless, college baseball doesn't lose out. It's influence remains the same, but they can also bank on certain recruits being involved right away instead of holding out for the money.

Baseball, in all areas except Junior Colleges, seems like it will benefit from the new deal.
|

Sunday, October 22, 2006
  Winter League Stats (10/22/06)

Arizona Fall League
2B Michael Garciaparra: 6 G, 26 ABs, 6 R, 11 H, 2 2B, 7 RBI, 5/1 K/BB, .423/.464/.500
RHP Craig James: 3 G, 0-0, 6.75 ERA in 2.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2/4 K/BB
RHP Stephen Kahn: 3 G, 0-0, 7.71 ERA in 2.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2/4 K/BB, HB
LHP Bobby Livingston: 2 G (2 GS), 0-1, 20.65 ERA in 5.2 IP, 17 H, 13 R (13 ER), 3/2 K/BB, 2 HB
LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith: 4 G, 0-0, 7.94 ERA in 4.2 IP, 4 H, 5 R (5 ER), 7/3 K/BB
3B Matt Tuiasosopo: 8 G, 34 ABs, 7 R, 6 H, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, 8/4 K/BB, .176/.263/.265
OF Mike Wilson: 8 G, 34 ABs, 6 R, 8 H, 2B, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 11/3 K/BB, .235/.350/.441

Hawaiian Winter League
(which started before the Fall League, you know...)
LHP David Asher: 3 G (3 GS), 0-1, 8.38 ERA in 9.2 IP, 15 H (HR), 10 R (9 ER), 7/7 K/BB, HB
OF Sebastien Boucher: 11 G, 32 ABs, 10 R, 7 H, 2 2B, 3 3B, RBI, 9/5 K/BB, CS, 3 HBP, .219/.375/.469
C Jeff Clement: 7 G, 19 ABs, R, 3 H, 5/0 K/BB, HBP, .158/.200/.158
1B Reed Eastley: 10 G, 35 ABs, 2 R, 9 H, 2B, 5 RBI, 10/3 K/BB, HBP, SB, .257/.333/.286
RHP Joe Woerman: 7 G, 1-0, 5.40 ERA in 8.1 IP, 12 H, 5 R (5 ER), 10/3 K/BB, WP

Mexican Pacific League
RHP Jorge Campillo: 2 G (2 GS), 0-1, 5.73 ERA in 11.0 IP, 11 H (HR), 9 R (7 ER), 10/2 K/BB, 2 WP
1B Bryan LaHair: 9 G, 35 ABs, 9 R, 10 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 7/5 K/BB, CS, .286/.375/.514

Venezuelan Winter League
RHP Nibaldo Acosta: 1 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA in 0.2 IP, 2 H, 1/0 K/BB
RHP Yorman Bazardo: 2 G, 0-0, 3.38 ERA in 2.2 IP, H, R (ER), 1/0 K/BB
RHP Cibney Bello: 2 G, 0-0, 7.71 ERA in 2.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R (2 ER), 0/4 K/BB
RHP Ivan Blanco: 1 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA in 1.1 IP, 3/0 K/BB
RHP Rich Dorman: 2 G (1 GS), 0-1, 2.70 ERA in 3.1 IP, H, R (ER), 3/3 K/BB
LHP Jose Escalona: 2 G, 0-0, 9.00 ERA in 1.0 IP, 2 H, R (ER), 0/1 K/BB
RHP Emiliano Fruto: 2 G, 1-0, 6.00 ERA in 3.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R (2 ER), 4/1 K/BB
IF Jesus Guzman: 2 G, 3 ABs, 1/1 K/BB, CS, .000/.250/.000
C Luis Oliveros: 1 G, 3 ABs, .000/.000/.000
C Guillermo Quiroz: 5 G, 12 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 1/4 K/BB, .250/.438/.250

The Dominican Winter League has started up, but I've yet to see any Mariners representatives and the odds seem good that they'll be limited to Rafael Soriano and Julio Mateo, for obvious reasons, with the chance of a de la Cruz sighting.

This year marks the first year I've seen stats for the Liga Paralela, the Venezuelan Winter League's equivalent of a minor league system. It's broken down into east and west divisions, and the west, where the M's affiliate is, has five teams, the Mariners, the Giants, the Cardenales, the Caribes, and the Indians. The M's affiliate has mostly VSL players (at least they're keeping them active), with a few former VSL M's mixed in as well, if they're not quite polished enough to contribute with the big team. While this is all somewhat interesting to me, I'm not going to be reporting any of those stats because they're updated irregularly, it seems, and if regular winter league stats are regarded as meaning nothing...
|

A closer look at the minor league system of the Seattle Mariners baseball club.

Contact me: marinerminors"at"hotmail.com
Replace the "at" with @, used in foiling spambots.
Or on AIM or YIM as "MarinerMinors"

2006 Minor League Splits
2006 Organization Stats
2006 Runs Created and SECA
2005 M's Minor League Review

Top Prospect Lists:
MLB.com's Mariners System Review
InsideThePark's 41-50 Mariners Prospects
Baseball America's Top 10 Mariners Prospects
John Sickels' Top 20 Mariners Prospects
Diamond Futures' Top 10 Mariners Prospects
Rotoworld's Top 10 Mariners Prospects
Sportsblurb's Top 10 Mariners Prospects
Creative Sports' Top 10 Mariners Prospects

Charts and Data:
2004 Minor League Hitting Review
2004 Minor League Pitching Review


Around the Minors:

General
SeattleHardball (it's dead, Jim)
ProspectInsider Blog
FanHome Mariners Forum
Global Baseball Blog
Sportspot Minor League Forum
Tacoma Rainiers (AAA):
Official Website
Current team stats
Schedule
Roster
Recent news
Listen online
West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (AA):
Official Website
Current team stats
Schedule
Roster
Recent news
Listen online
High Desert Mavericks (A+):
Official Website
Current team stats
Schedule
Roster
Recent news
Listen online
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (A):
Official Website
Current team stats
Schedule
Roster
Recent news
Listen online
Broadcaster Blog
Everett Aquasox (SS-A):
Official Website
Current team stats
Schedule
Roster
Recent news
Listen online
Peoria Mariners (R):
Current team stats
Roster
Aguirre (VSL):
Current team stats
Schedule
Roster
Santo Domingo (DSL):
Current team stats
Schedule

Recent Blogosphere Updates:
Blogosphere Links:

U.S.S. Mariner
An essential Mariners blog
Lookout Landing
Formerly Leone for Third
Detect-O-Vision
Mad baseball science, without all the nasty chemicals
Rain Delay
M's and Braves coverage from not-so-sunny Oregon
Mariners Morsels
Free GS52, Free RP23
Mariner Ramblings
M's vs A's, now without the A's
Nice Guys Finish Third
Self-described fine line between stupid and clever
Mariner Optimist
Because 2001 took many by surprise too...
Seattle Marinerds
M's coverage + NPB coverage
Mariners Revolution
A weekly column... oh, and revolution.
Hope Springs Eternal
Balanced optimistic perspectives
Caffinated Confines
From the guy who brought us Mariner Bullpen
Sodo Oh No
Fortunately, not the illegitimate child of Sodo Mojo and Yoko Ono
Grand Salami Blog
From the people who bring you the magazine
Sports and Bremertonians
Sports. Bremertonians. 'Nuff said
From Basketball to Baseball...
M's and Zags content
Seattle PI Mariners Blog
Articles and angry fans galore
SportSpot Info and Forums
Formerly the Mariners Top MLB forum
Minor League Ball
The return of John Sickels
JDM's Rookie Reports (Minors)
Tireless reporting on the minors and winter legaues
Baseball of Tomorrow (Minors)
General minor league reports and news
Independant Thinking (IND)
News from all around the indy leagues
Taiwan Baseball
Self-explanatory
Frank's Field of Dreams
More focus on the Far East part of the game
No Pepper (Atl)
A high standard to live up to
Just North of Wrigley Field (ChC, Sea SD)
Fans from three different regions discuss sports
Rooftop Report (ChC)
Cubbies equivilant of Mariner Musings, Wheelhouse, etc
Athletics Minors (OAK)
Texan's perspective on A's and their minor leagues
Baseballblogs.org
All the blogs that have an RSS feed hooked up
Baseball Almanac
The complete history of baseball, abridged
MLB Center
Baseball forums and more

ARCHIVES
01/25/2004 - 02/01/2004 / 02/01/2004 - 02/08/2004 / 02/08/2004 - 02/15/2004 / 02/15/2004 - 02/22/2004 / 02/22/2004 - 02/29/2004 / 02/29/2004 - 03/07/2004 / 03/07/2004 - 03/14/2004 / 03/14/2004 - 03/21/2004 / 03/21/2004 - 03/28/2004 / 03/28/2004 - 04/04/2004 / 04/04/2004 - 04/11/2004 / 04/11/2004 - 04/18/2004 / 04/18/2004 - 04/25/2004 / 04/25/2004 - 05/02/2004 / 05/02/2004 - 05/09/2004 / 05/09/2004 - 05/16/2004 / 05/16/2004 - 05/23/2004 / 05/23/2004 - 05/30/2004 / 05/30/2004 - 06/06/2004 / 06/06/2004 - 06/13/2004 / 06/13/2004 - 06/20/2004 / 06/20/2004 - 06/27/2004 / 06/27/2004 - 07/04/2004 / 07/04/2004 - 07/11/2004 / 07/11/2004 - 07/18/2004 / 07/18/2004 - 07/25/2004 / 07/25/2004 - 08/01/2004 / 08/01/2004 - 08/08/2004 / 08/08/2004 - 08/15/2004 / 08/15/2004 - 08/22/2004 / 08/22/2004 - 08/29/2004 / 08/29/2004 - 09/05/2004 / 09/05/2004 - 09/12/2004 / 09/12/2004 - 09/19/2004 / 09/19/2004 - 09/26/2004 / 09/26/2004 - 10/03/2004 / 10/03/2004 - 10/10/2004 / 10/10/2004 - 10/17/2004 / 10/17/2004 - 10/24/2004 / 10/24/2004 - 10/31/2004 / 10/31/2004 - 11/07/2004 / 11/07/2004 - 11/14/2004 / 11/14/2004 - 11/21/2004 / 11/21/2004 - 11/28/2004 / 11/28/2004 - 12/05/2004 / 12/05/2004 - 12/12/2004 / 12/12/2004 - 12/19/2004 / 12/19/2004 - 12/26/2004 / 12/26/2004 - 01/02/2005 / 01/02/2005 - 01/09/2005 / 01/09/2005 - 01/16/2005 / 01/16/2005 - 01/23/2005 / 01/23/2005 - 01/30/2005 / 01/30/2005 - 02/06/2005 / 02/06/2005 - 02/13/2005 / 02/13/2005 - 02/20/2005 / 02/20/2005 - 02/27/2005 / 02/27/2005 - 03/06/2005 / 03/06/2005 - 03/13/2005 / 03/13/2005 - 03/20/2005 / 03/20/2005 - 03/27/2005 / 03/27/2005 - 04/03/2005 / 04/03/2005 - 04/10/2005 / 04/10/2005 - 04/17/2005 / 04/17/2005 - 04/24/2005 / 04/24/2005 - 05/01/2005 / 05/01/2005 - 05/08/2005 / 05/08/2005 - 05/15/2005 / 05/15/2005 - 05/22/2005 / 05/22/2005 - 05/29/2005 / 05/29/2005 - 06/05/2005 / 06/05/2005 - 06/12/2005 / 06/12/2005 - 06/19/2005 / 06/19/2005 - 06/26/2005 / 06/26/2005 - 07/03/2005 / 07/03/2005 - 07/10/2005 / 07/10/2005 - 07/17/2005 / 07/17/2005 - 07/24/2005 / 07/24/2005 - 07/31/2005 / 07/31/2005 - 08/07/2005 / 08/07/2005 - 08/14/2005 / 08/14/2005 - 08/21/2005 / 08/21/2005 - 08/28/2005 / 08/28/2005 - 09/04/2005 / 09/04/2005 - 09/11/2005 / 09/11/2005 - 09/18/2005 / 09/18/2005 - 09/25/2005 / 09/25/2005 - 10/02/2005 / 10/02/2005 - 10/09/2005 / 10/09/2005 - 10/16/2005 / 10/16/2005 - 10/23/2005 / 10/23/2005 - 10/30/2005 / 10/30/2005 - 11/06/2005 / 11/06/2005 - 11/13/2005 / 11/13/2005 - 11/20/2005 / 11/20/2005 - 11/27/2005 / 11/27/2005 - 12/04/2005 / 12/04/2005 - 12/11/2005 / 12/11/2005 - 12/18/2005 / 12/18/2005 - 12/25/2005 / 12/25/2005 - 01/01/2006 / 01/01/2006 - 01/08/2006 / 01/08/2006 - 01/15/2006 / 01/15/2006 - 01/22/2006 / 01/22/2006 - 01/29/2006 / 01/29/2006 - 02/05/2006 / 02/05/2006 - 02/12/2006 / 02/12/2006 - 02/19/2006 / 02/19/2006 - 02/26/2006 / 02/26/2006 - 03/05/2006 / 03/05/2006 - 03/12/2006 / 03/12/2006 - 03/19/2006 / 03/19/2006 - 03/26/2006 / 03/26/2006 - 04/02/2006 / 04/02/2006 - 04/09/2006 / 04/09/2006 - 04/16/2006 / 04/16/2006 - 04/23/2006 / 04/23/2006 - 04/30/2006 / 04/30/2006 - 05/07/2006 / 05/07/2006 - 05/14/2006 / 05/14/2006 - 05/21/2006 / 05/21/2006 - 05/28/2006 / 05/28/2006 - 06/04/2006 / 06/04/2006 - 06/11/2006 / 06/11/2006 - 06/18/2006 / 06/18/2006 - 06/25/2006 / 06/25/2006 - 07/02/2006 / 07/02/2006 - 07/09/2006 / 07/09/2006 - 07/16/2006 / 07/16/2006 - 07/23/2006 / 07/23/2006 - 07/30/2006 / 07/30/2006 - 08/06/2006 / 08/06/2006 - 08/13/2006 / 08/13/2006 - 08/20/2006 / 08/20/2006 - 08/27/2006 / 08/27/2006 - 09/03/2006 / 09/03/2006 - 09/10/2006 / 09/10/2006 - 09/17/2006 / 09/17/2006 - 09/24/2006 / 09/24/2006 - 10/01/2006 / 10/01/2006 - 10/08/2006 / 10/08/2006 - 10/15/2006 / 10/15/2006 - 10/22/2006 / 10/22/2006 - 10/29/2006 / 10/29/2006 - 11/05/2006 / 11/05/2006 - 11/12/2006 / 11/12/2006 - 11/19/2006 / 11/19/2006 - 11/26/2006 / 11/26/2006 - 12/03/2006 / 12/03/2006 - 12/10/2006 / 12/10/2006 - 12/17/2006 / 12/17/2006 - 12/24/2006 / 12/24/2006 - 12/31/2006 / 12/31/2006 - 01/07/2007 / 01/07/2007 - 01/14/2007 / 01/14/2007 - 01/21/2007 / 01/21/2007 - 01/28/2007 / 01/28/2007 - 02/04/2007 / 02/04/2007 - 02/11/2007 / 02/11/2007 - 02/18/2007 / 02/18/2007 - 02/25/2007 / 03/04/2007 - 03/11/2007 / 03/11/2007 - 03/18/2007 /

2003 Prospect Lists:
Rotoworld Top 100 Prospects
Rotoworld Top 10 Mariners Prospects
The Minors First Top 100 Prospects
Inside The Park's 21-30 Mariners Prospects
On Deck Baseball's Mariners Prospect Rankings
On Deck Baseball's Future 500
On Deck Baseball's Future 500 (AL Only)
Wait Til Next Year's Top 50 Prospects
Wait Til Next Year's 51-90 Prospects
The Sports Network's Top 10 Mariners Prospects
Creative Sports' Top 10 Mariners Prospects
CBS Sportsline's Top AL West Prospects
FoxSports.com's Top 10 Mariners Prospects
MLB.com's Top 50 Prospects
Seattle PI's Top 15 Mariners Prospects
2003 Runs Created (Current system players)
2003 Runs Created (New acquisitions)
2003 Secondary Avg. (Current system players)
2003 Secondary Avg. (New acquisitions)
2003 WHIP Charts (Current system players)
2003 WHIP Charts (New acquisitions)
2003 K/BB Charts (Current system players)
2003 K/BB Charts (New acquisitions)

Free Web Counters
Spiegel


Powered by Blogger