Mariner Minors

MoViN' on up...

2007-03-16T16:31:00.000-07:00

In past years, I made various promises as to the visual direction of the site. This would be the year I learned html, or hooked into WordPress, or did something else to get away from the stock grey and black of the Blogger template. The day for that change has finally come, albeit in a roundabout way.

About a week and a half ago, I was approached by some of the people who run Most Valuable Network, asking me if I wanted to take on their Mariners minor league coverage as they expanded into that field. They offered me better hosting, site format, and internet visibility, among other things, so I decided to come aboard. In the past few years, MVN has been steadily growing, acquiring All-Baseball (former host of Mariner Musings) and 360thepitch (podcasts), and while their minor league coverage is currently in the experimental phase, there’s some potential in it all. Plus, they already have one guy in High Desert ready to do some groundwork and another who catches the D-Jaxx on road trips, which is pretty neat.

For anyone out there who might be worrying, whatever the reason, I’ll add this much: I still have creative control, I still have the right to do guest bits or comment in other blogs, I can keep my links, I still have the same contact accessibility (or lack thereof in some cases), et cetera. The only things that have really changed is that I’ve ceded my right to drop f-bombs or write about not-safe-for-work things (not that I really did in the first place) and MVN gets first dibs to my content.

So what this all means is that I’m packing up here and moving into my new digs. With almost 360,000 hits over three years, not all of which were me, I think it’s a decent entry into the M’s minor league picture, and as such, I’m leaving it up for archival purposes. But if you’re looking for the current content, or want to update your outgoing links, I’ll be posting elsewhere from now on.

Mariner Minors – Most Valuable Network

Triu, Phillips in the Times

2007-03-14T00:31:00.000-07:00

If you ever needed a sign that minor league baseball and the M's international signings are getting more attention these days, well, this is it. Greg Bishop of the Seattle Times had a write-up today about IFs Anthony Phillips and Carlos Triunfel, centering around them both being born in 1990 (for those curious, Mario Martinez was late '89, and didn't fit the mold). There's more on Triu's baseball skill than Phillips, but both get a little bit of coverage on the daily life back home. It's a good read overall, and the kind of depth that you don't ordinarily see.

Dominican Teen to be Showcased

2007-03-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

I don't really know what to say about this. I've been trying to come up with a more clever title for a while and it's just not working. According to the New York Times, the latest Dominican wunderkind is sixteen-year-old outfielder José José. He was just working out at the Mets complex, but word is that his agent it going to be shopping him around, to the Red Sox (who would sign him now if they had the choice, apparently), the Yankees, the Angels, and the M's. The Sox are probably the frontrunners at the moment, but we may hear more should an article ever come up in our local papers.

Picking up this thread from Minor League Ball, I think it's necessary that the joke runs for as long as it can, so we've already seen refernces to Duran Duran, Major Major Major Major, Bhutros-Bhutros Ghali, and Zsa-Zsa Gabore, while I added that he should move to Walla Walla if signed by the Mariners and that his favorite book is William Faulkner's "Absalom, Absalom!". I'm sure there are a few more out there that we could come up with.

Auty Back in the States

2007-03-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

There's not much Mariners prospect news going around at the moment, but in former prospect news, Aussie outfielder and friend of the blog Tim Auty has finally found himself a roster spot, this time, with the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League.

Auty hit .352/.424/.519 in over a hundred at-bats in Peoria during the '05 season, but was released following it. He was picked up by the Phillies, but released again after spring training without really being given a chance. Time in Evansville should help him play his way back onto the radar and get another chance in affiliated ball.

Best of luck to him.

Taiwanese Signing on the Horizon?

2007-03-07T14:32:00.000-08:00

There's apparently rumors going around concerning prep outfielder Che-Hsuan Lin that the Taiwan Baseball Blog is reporting on. There have been rumblings of which MLB teams are interested for some time now, but the most recent ones have the M's and the Chicago Cubs hot on his trail, with the M's possibly having extended an invite to Peoria.

Lin is probably the top prep player in Taiwan right now, a strong defender with some offensive potential. If you follow the labels on the blog over there, you'll be able to see some of the videos of him in action.

There's no telling right now when he'll sign, if he's signing with us at all. There were some other rumors weeks back that the Red Sox had picked him up, but that never materialized. Nevertheless, it's great that the M's are invovled in the bidding for a top international player again and I'll report back if anything else goes public.

The Name Game, 2007

2007-03-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

I got ahold of some of the media guide sections last night (thanks Jason). Going through the names of newly signed players, I think the 2007 winner of most interesting name is RHP Mayekol Guaipe from Venezuela. Mayekol had a stronger case in being a bit of an unknown. Otherwise, if I had decided to give more credit to the guys who debuted last year, but didn't have their names in the '06 guide, I might've gone with RHP Johalbi Chourio, also from Venezuela, or RHP Nelson Germocen and IF Ameilis Carvajal out of the Dominican.

It wasn't a good crop for names this year, with the other interesting entries including RHP Fello Yan (DR), RHP Angel Raga (VZ) [not quite as cool as Angel Pagan], RHP Jose Perdomo (DR), OF Augusto Marte (DR) [Augusto!], and RHP Miguel Celestino (DR). Of course, we already knew about guys like OF Kalian Sams (Netherlands), IF Rudy van Heydoorn (DR), OF Rey Lebron (DR) and IF Yidio Batista (Colombia) from when the signing period opened.

I also found out that L. Eduardo Garcia and L. Alejandro Garcia, signed out of Venezuela, are indeed twin brothers. I wonder how often throughout the history of the game that there have been twins both playing the game at the pro level, and on the same team no less. Edit, 5:30ish: Cripes, I remembered the Papelbon kids driving in today and I'm astonished no one tried to call me on that one. They were nearly in the same org too

...and yes, according to the guide, catcher Craig Hurba is still in the system, so if news items of interest come up, there is still the possibility of a Hurba Blurb at some point in the season. We won't know for sure until camps break, though.

Grasping at Straws

2007-03-04T16:12:00.000-08:00

As if the posting habits weren't evidence enough, this is what could be termed as a slow time of the year for minor league watchers, probably one of the slowest with winter ball over. Baseball is back in town, and that's news enough, even if your hometown nine are four games in the hole in meaningless exhibition standings. We're cycling through the stories that come with every spring, contract this, prove that, but even knowing the trends as most of us do, there's something refreshing about coming full circle again.

This spring, it's been rather quiet so far on the minor league end. There's been a Tui story, a few mentions of Clement, even a Feierabend bit in the TNT, but nothing too in-depth just yet. As we get further into the Cactus League season, we'll start to see that change a little more, and maybe even catch a few surprise names in the box scores. Justin Thomas has already seen gametime, but if you haven't caught it already Carlos Triunfel made a brief appearance in one of today's split squad games, and is listed on the NRI list, along with guys like Jason Mackintosh, Yovanny Olivero (another stunner), and Chris Minaker (edit: nevermind, missed him pinch-running), who haven't quite made it into games yet. It's interesting to see who emerges in that group, as it's sometimes an indicator of who the club has faith in or wants to take a closer look at.

Aside from that, I'll have my hands on a media guide once they hit stores in a few days, and we can go through the more interesting names among the summer league signees. From the looks of it, there's going to be a lot of turnover down there this season, with some talented international players turning up in the lower levels. I'm mote pumped for the start of this minor league season than I have been for most others in recent memory. There's a good chance of the system gaining a lot of momentum this year.

News From the Camp

2007-02-23T00:37:00.000-08:00

A couple of interesting stories are going around that I feel are worth mentioning.

The first concerns NRI RHP Juan Sandoval. Sandoval, as I've mentioned before, didn't play all of last year, but had been an okay role player type within the system for a number of years after it was discovered that he was three years older than his reported age. He gave up too many hits, and didn't strike out nearly enough batters, but he helped fill out rotations on some decent teams and never really embarrassed himself. Now the Seattle Times has the story.
About a year ago, Sandoval was in a restaurant with family members when an argument broke out. One of the men returned with a shotgun and Sandoval turned his head at the wrong time, catching some of the blast in his eye. After some surgeries, he returned to the M's training complex in Santo Domingo to re-learn how to pitch and field, with only one good eye and limited depth perception. I never expected Sandoval to make an impact, but overall, it's a nice gesture on the organization's part to bring him in for one big league camp.

The other bit of local prospecting interest is a story in the Tacoma News Tribune about what Matt Tuiasosopo is doing to get back on track. The article fills in the gaps somewhat predictably, with a few mechanical slip ups becoming a larger mental issue at the plate, but it's nice to get some additional perspective on the guy who might've suffered the most under the new aggressive promotion paradigm.

Rotoworld's Top 10 AL West Prospects

2007-02-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

Rotoworld posted a list of their top 10 for each AL West team.

The M's list starts out much the same as we've seen from others: Jones, Clement, Morrow, Butler. Following that, there's a bit of a hiccup. Anthony Varvaro? Really? I'd consider him a decent candidate to break out if he can stay healthy and keep the velocity up, but I wouldn't dare push him into top 10 territory, and certainly not the middle of the pack there. The list after that follows Feierabend, Triunfel (sort of bold, if BP didn't beat them to the punch), Lowe, Balentien, and Tui. I don't know about the Tui placement either, but at least the author acknowledges that promoting him was a serious misstep.

MiLB.com Radio Show: Mariners and Phillies

2007-02-19T23:38:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow (Tuesday, since it's close to midnight here), there's going to be a MLB Radio segment at 9 am PST covering the Mariners and Phillies (snicker) farm systems. The Around the Minors Blog already has their post up, with the top five Mariners prospects to watch mirroring the list BA put up, save for Butler and Feierabend trading places, which is entirely defensible. The link should be coming up at MiLB.com around 9, but you should already have that one bookmarked anyway. I can't do a link to the archive once it hits the net, due to the mepia player launch codes and whatnot, but if you miss it, check back later. I'll summarize some of the thoughts when I get the chance. As I've said before, it works as a fix.

Hey, look! Morrow's in the P-I. I wonder how many people out there still think he busted his arm reaching for the phone. I wonder if there's more of them, or more of the people who think his last name is spelled "Marrow".

Goldstein Likes the Ms System

2007-02-16T04:54:00.000-08:00

Kevin Goldstein ranks the Mariners' farm system right in the middle of the pack at #16 in his organizational rankings (subscriber only). This is significantly higher than the Ms were rated by Baseball America (24), which is most likely a reflection of the high value Goldstein places on young players with high ceilings. BP Rated pretty much all of the top international signings higher than anyone else this year, including placing Carlos Triunfel at #7 on the Mariners list (#11 BA).

Continued development from last year's draft class, a breakout or two from one of the 8-10 high upside international youngsters at the low levels, and a solid 2007 amateur draft and we're looking at a potential top 10 system next year. As exciting as prospect junkie-ing is, however, the goal of the system is to produce major leaguers, not to have multiple representatives on BA's top-100.

Prospect publications will focus on names like Triunfel, Martinez, Ramirez, Tillman, and Butler next year (and possibly Halman, Liddi, and Peguero if things break right for them). However, the true test of the system in the coming season will be the performances of Adam Jones, Jeff Clement, Brandon Morrow, Ryan Feierabend, Erik O'Flaherty, Wladimir Balentien, and Bryan LaHair. Those are the guys knocking on the door of the majors, and ultimately, what they do this year will be far more important to defining the team for the next 2-3 years than anything that happens in the low minors.

Even so, it's shaping up to be a very exciting year in the Mariners system. If both Triunfel and Martinez start the year in Wisconsin, the Timber Rattlers might just be the minor leagues' #1 all-upside team.

Random aside: want to see me chasing a sea turtle? How about juggling sea cucumbers? If so, check out Jeff Shaw's awesome blog chronicling his Fulbright year in Okinawa.

Huang Won't Pitch in '07

2007-02-14T22:21:00.000-08:00

I received an e-mail from a reader late this evening with a link attached that says RHP Chia-an Huang is doing his military service this year.

I don't read Mandarin Chinese and I've had to run it through two translating systems to make even a modicum of sense out of it. It seems as if he has to fulfill his obligations to the state and the M's are holding out hope that he'll be able to come back when he's done, and with good reason, what with the $710,000 invested in him. I'd love to be optimistic that he'll come back as well, I saw some footage of him pitching in high school way back when and thought he could've been the next big thing in the system, but he shot himself in the foot last year when he want temporarily MIA after the World Baseball Classic. I still don't have the exact details on what went down during that time, but it should go without saying that it hurt his development to miss out on a year's worth of competition, especially with another one coming up.

Bazardo traded to Detroit

2007-02-07T10:17:00.000-08:00

Press Release

We get OF Jeff Frazier back. He was BA's number 21 prospect for the Tigers (Bazardo was unranked for us).

Caribbean Series Expanding?

2007-02-06T09:39:00.000-08:00

Edit: more content
Well, it could happen, says BA.

As early as next year, we might see Nicaragua and Colombia added to the field of the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Venezuela.

It's not the impact thhat adding Cuba would have had, but both leagues have been gaining popularity lately and the series would lose little in having them involved, even if the teams they field are almost certain to be weak initially.

MLB.com, with the Caribbean Series having just wrapped up, is also making mention of it.

BP Mariners' Top 10

2007-02-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

Kevin Goldstein over at Baseball Prospectus has released his Mariners Top Ten (subscriber only). Biggest surprises: Juan Carlos Ramirez clocking in at #10, and Goldstein stating emphatically that Carlos Triunfel (ranked #7) will start the year in Wisconsin.

On Ramirez, the 18-year-old righthander out of Nicaragua, Goldstein writes "Ramirez can already get his fastball into the 95-97mph range, and there's projection for more. Curveball is already a plus pitch - a power offering with hard, late break.

It's not too often that a player straight out of the summer leagues has any buzz at all surrounding him before he's played a game in the US. This is either a testament to how good Ramirez is at a young age, or how unimpressed Goldstein is with the Mariners' System. In any case, you can throw Ramirez's name into the ever-growing "young player with tons of upside" category.

Lehr Pitching for Hermosillo

2007-02-04T12:45:00.000-08:00

Justin Lehr gets the start today against Venezuela in what has become the losing bracket at the Caribbean Series, as both the Naranjeros and Tigres look for their first series win. He hasn't gotten off to a good start, giving up 2 doubles in the first inning to give Venezuela an early 1-0 lead.

I won't be live-blogging today, but there will be a game recap up at GB either late tonight or tomorrow morning.

PECOTA Hates Jeff Clement

2007-02-03T13:46:00.000-08:00

Over at Baseball Prospectus, Nate Silver discusses (subscriber only, sorry) the top catching prospects in the minors, based solely on how PECOTA, his player comp-based projection system, rates them. The results aren't so hot for Mariners' fans, as Jeff Clement clocks in at #18, falling right in the middle of the Average Prospect category . This doesn't really take scouting information into account, and in PECOTA's eyes, his injury is another hit against Clement rather than a mitigating factor to explain away his performance, so take it with a huge grain of salt.

None of the other Mariner catchers made the cut.

Bazardo in Game 1 of the Caribbean Series

2007-02-02T17:20:00.000-08:00

2/2/07

Yorman Bazardo pitched the 9th-11th innings in today's game between the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, which is currently in its 16th inning (I'm live-blogging it over at Global Baseball)

His line: 3.0 IP, 1 H (2B), 0R, 5K, 0BB

That double was on a curveball to Anderson Hernandez that a stronger hitter might have driven out of the park, and Miguel Tejada sent him to the warning track, but he looked pretty darned good. 2 of his 5 Ks were against Nelson Cruz, and he also K'd Tony Bautista for good measure.

Isn't it great when your team DFA's a guy and then he goes on to have one of his best outings in recent memory?

Winter League Stats (2/1/06)

2007-02-01T12:42:00.000-08:00

Arizona Fall League (FINAL)
2B Michael Garciaparra: 19 G, 79 ABs, 13 R, 27 H, 4 2B, HR, 13 RBI, 13/1 K/BB, 2 SB, .342/.388/.430
RHP Craig James: 10 G, 0-0, 3.60 ERA in 10.0 IP, 10 H, 5 R (4 ER), 7/6 K/BB, HB
RHP Stephen Kahn: 9 G, 0-0, 8.64 ERA in 8.1 IP, 14 H, 8 R (8 ER), 7/8 K/BB, HB
LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith: 12 G, 0-1, 5.40 ERA in 15.0 IP, 19 H, 10 R (9 ER), 16/8 K/BB, HB
3B Matt Tuiasosopo: 21 G, 78 ABs, 9 R, 13 H, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, 22/6 K/BB, .167/.235/.205
RHP Sean White: 0-3, 6.35 ERA in 17.0 IP, 18 H (HR), 15 R (12 ER), 12/11 K/BB
OF Mike Wilson: 20 G, 74 ABs, 10 R, 18 H, 2 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 27/13 K/BB, SB, .243/.356/.419

Asian Games (FINAL)
2B Yung-chi Chen: 5 G, 20 ABs, 5 R, 9 H, 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 2/0 K/BB, .450/.450/1.050

Claxton Shield (FINAL)
RHP Tom Ellis: 1 G (1 GS), 4.50 ERA in 4.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R (2 ER), 3/1 K/BB

Colombian Winter League (FINAL)
3B Leury Bonilla: 36 G, 100 ABs, 9 R, 20 H, 5 2B, 2 3B, HR, 10 RBI, .200/.279/.320
RHP Natividad Dilone: 8 G, 5-2, 3.06 ERA in 47.0 IP, 42 H (HR), 18 R (16 ER), 34/24 K/BB, 3 HB, 4 WP
OF Eddy Hernandez: 19 G, 52 ABs, 7 R, 14 H, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 5 RBI, .269/.321/.404
C Jair Fernandez: 16 G, 43 ABs, R, 8 H, 2B, .186/.286/.209
RHP Roman Martinez: 17 G, 3-0, 6 saves, 1.64 ERA in 22.0 IP, 14 H (HR), 8 R (4 ER), 20/11 K/BB, 2 HB, WP

Hawaiian Winter League (FINAL)
LHP David Asher: 10 G (5 GS), 1-2, 5.68 ERA in 25.1 IP, 33 H (2 HR), 18 R (16 ER), 23/15 K/BB, 2 HB
OF Sebastien Boucher: 26 G, 84 ABs, 18 R, 15 H, 3 2B, 3 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 24/14 K/BB, 3 SB, 2 CS, 3 HBP, .179/.317/.321
C Jeff Clement: 21 G, 53 ABs, 4 R, 10 H, 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 13/0 K/BB, HBP, .189/.191/.321
1B Reed Eastley: 26 G, 86 ABs, 4 R, 19 H, 3 2B, 13 RBI, 20/7 K/BB, 2 HBP, SB, .221/.292/.256
RHP Joe Woerman: 17 G, 3-1, 4.26 ERA in 25.1 IP, 21 H, 12 R (12 ER), 28/18 K/BB, HB, 2 WP

IBAF Intercontinental Cup (FINAL)
IF Yung-chi Chen: 9 G, 36 ABs, 7 R, 17 H, 3 2B, 3B, HR, 9 RBI, 3/2 K/BB, SB, 3 HBP, .472/.537/.694
3B Alex Liddi: 9 G, 35 ABs, 4 R, 8 H, 3 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, CS, 9/1 K/BB, .229/.350/.371
OF Kalian Sams: 4 G, 5 ABs, 2 R, 3 H, 3B, 4 RBI, 0/0 K/BB, .600/1.000/.600

Mexican Pacific League (FINAL)
RHP Jorge Campillo: 13 G (13 GS), 5-4, 3.07 ERA in 76.1 IP, 55 H (8 HR), 30 R (26 ER), 67/18 K/BB, 4 WP
1B Bryan LaHair: 19 G, 64 ABs, 11 R, 15 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 16/13 K/BB, CS, .234/.359/.359
RHP Justin Lehr: 9 G (9 GS), 5-1, 3.40 ERA in 47.2 IP, 52 H (7 HR), 19 R (18 ER), 39/15 K/BB, 3 HB, 3 WP

Mexican Pacific League (Playoffs) (FINAL)
RHP Jorge Campillo: 4 G (4 GS), 2-0, 1.32 ERA in 27.1 IP, 21 H (HR), 4 R (4 ER), 19/6 K/BB
RHP Justin Lehr: 3 G (3 GS), 1-0, 2.76 in 16.1 IP, 16 H (2 HR), 5 R (5 ER), 13/3 K/BB

Nicaraguan Winter League (FINAL)
OF Dwight Britton: 42 ABs, 12 R, 11 H, RBI, 14/2 K/BB, 3 SB, .262/.289/.262
IF Ron Garth: 162 ABs, 29 R, 45 H, 6 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 15 RBI, 27/17 K/BB, SB, .276/.360/.393

Puerto Rican Winter League (FINAL?)
SS Jeff Dominguez: 16 G, 13 ABs, 3 R, 3 H, 5/4 K/BB, .231/.412/.231
RHP Sean Green: 3 G (0 GS), 0-0, 1.69 ERA in 5.1 IP, 3 H, R (ER), 3/4 K/BB, HB
IF Erick Monzon: 13 G, 25 ABs, 4 R, 6 H, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, 8/5 K/BB, .240/.367/.360
RHP Mumba Rivera: 7 G (3 GS), 2-1, 5.50 ERA in 18.0 IP, 17 H (HR), 12 R (11 ER), 6/12 K/BB, WP
C Rene Rivera: 19 G, 44 ABs, 2 R, 8 H, 3 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 10/1 K/BB, .182/.196/.318

Venezuelan Winter League (FINAL)
RHP Nibaldo Acosta: 2 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA in 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2/0 K/BB
OF Wladimir Balentien: 41 G, 138 AB, 22 R, 37 H, 7 2B, 4 3B, 9 HR, 23 RBI, 39/16 K/BB, 2 SB, 2 CS, .268/.342/.572
RHP Yorman Bazardo: 21 G, 2-0, S, 1.84 ERA in 30.1 IP, 20 H, 9 R (6 ER), 18/7 K/BB, 2 WP, HB
RHP Cibney Bello: 3 G, 0-0, 4.15 ERA in 4.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2/4 K/BB, WP
RHP Ivan Blanco: 18 G, 2-1, 5.04 ERA in 25.0 IP, 23 H (2 HR), 21 R (14 ER), 24/14 K/BB, 3 HB, 2 WP
LHP Jose Escalona: 7 G, 1-0, 4.50 ERA in 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R (2 ER), 2/2 K/BB, WP
IF Jesus Guzman: 15 G, 21 ABs, R, 2 H, 2B, RBI, 9/3 K/BB, CS, .095/.208/.143
LHP Cesar Jimenez: 15 G, 1-1, 0.49 ERA in 18.1 IP, 10 H, 4 R (1 ER), 12/6 K/BB, HB
IF Jose Lopez: 42 G, 162 ABs, 21 R, 50 H, 8 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 21 RBI, 13/5 K/BB, 5 HBP, 2 SB, CS, .309/.347/.407
IF Oswaldo Navarro: 24 G, 80 ABs, 7 R, 24 H, 2 2B, 9 RBI, 9/5 K/BB, CS, HBP, .300/.349/.325
1B Jon Nelson: 7 G, 25 ABs, 2 R, 4 H, 2B, 2 RBI, 6/3 K/BB, SB, .160/.276/.200
C Luis Oliveros: 14 G, 32 ABs, 6 R, 9 H, 2B, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 4/2 K/BB, .281/.314/.594

Venezuelan Winter League (Semi-Finals) (FINAL)
RHP Yorman Bazardo: 5 G, 1-0, 9.64 ERA in 4.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R (5 ER), 1/1 K/BB, HB
RHP Ivan Blanco: 6 G, 7.50 ERA in 6.0 IP, 7 H (HR), 5 R (5 ER), 3/2 K/BB, HB, WP
LHP Jose Escalona: 2 G, 3.00 ERA in 2.0 IP, R (ER), 1/0 K/BB
IF Jesus Guzman: 4 G, 16 ABs, 4 R, 7 H, 2 2B, 3B, RBI, 2/2 K/BB, .438/.500/.688
LHP Cesar Jimenez: 6 G, 1-0, 3.00 ERA in 6.0 IP, 9 H (HR), 2 R (2 ER), 3/1 K/BB
IF Jose Lopez: 1 G, 3 ABs, 2 H, RBI, 1/0 K/BB, .667/.667/.667

Last update? Well, there might be some items of interest in the Caribbean Series, so it could still last a bit longer. If you didn't check out last week's update, we now have Columbian Winter League stats and added to them are the Nicaraguan Winter League and the Claxton Shield (we had a guy) stats this week, which means we've now covered all the bases (that I know of) as far was winter ball goes. In the Mexican Pacific League, Hermosillo just came out on top in the finals, but Culiacan didn't make it out of the semis, so we never had the possible Campillo-Lehr matchup in the end. Good for Lehr, though. The finals for the Venezuelan Winter League are currently in progress, and Bazardo's team is in there though he hasn't yet made an appearance. Of course, there's the possibility that I'll have to strike his name from the updates soon because Jason is saying that he was put on waivers to make room for Weaver, and Jason usually has his ear on these kind of things. I think that Bazardo's fairly recent tenure in the system might preclude him from being picked up by the Phillies, but you never know.

As is the case around the time of the Claxton Shield, there are four new signings out of Australia, one to the Twins, one to the Phillies, one to the Giants, and one to the Cubs. None of them are Auty, who batted .276/.382/.310 as the New South Wales team got to the final round, but lost to the Victoria Aces. Oh well, there's time yet, and as George Sherrill would say, "anything's possible".

A few more articles before I go, since I haven't had the opportunity to post them yet... the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin talks about Eric O'Flaherty's rise to the big leagues... Central Iowa's Times-Republican has a story on how Jeff Clement's father used to drive him from Marshalltown to Cedar Rapids to get time in the batting cages, roughly an hour and a half to a two hour drive... and The State Journal-Register has a story about how the M's are impressed with Travis Scott's work behind the plate and think he might reach West Tenn by the end of the season.

Only a couple of weeks to go now...

Shameless Plug

2007-01-25T13:15:00.000-08:00

I finally put some new content up at Global Baseball. Very little Mariner-specific news, except for a table that collects all the international signing bonus information I know about from this year in once place (much more recently updated than the Baseball America table of the same purpose). If you want to check out how the Ms' international spending stacks up to the rest of baseball, check it out (hint: very, very well).

NRI List Announced

2007-01-23T18:39:00.000-08:00

Wooooo!

For those of you out there who can't be troubled to click things, for pitchers we have RHP Carlo Alvarado, RHP Jorge Campillo (told ya), LHP Jamie Cerda, RHP Renee Cortez, RHP Jesse Foppert, RHP Justin Lehr, RHP Brandon Morrow, LHP Matt Perisho, RHP Juan Sandoval (still around, after missing all of last year), and RHP Aaron Small. For catchers, we're bringing in Jamie Burke, Jeff Clement, Rob Johnson, and Luis Oliveros. Representing the infield will be Sean Burroughs, Gookie Dawkins, Rey Ordonez, and Matt Tuiasosopo, and on the outfield, we have Rayon Lampe again because it was written into his contract and Tony Torcato.

Spring Training!

(there's another new post below this, but blogger's been acting up)

M's Sign El Salvador Righty

2007-01-23T17:38:00.000-08:00

El Salvadoran? It doesn't sound quite right.

Anyway, while I was sitting around waiting for some news of an Australian signing (from any team, really), this came up on ESPNDeportes. The M's have signed 17-year-old Danny Cruz Ayala, a right-hander from El Salvador.

I did a little looking around, and no, there hasn't been a major leaguer from El Salvador, and only three minor leaguers who've shown up stateside recently, two of them Padres and the other, who was drafted from a U.S. school, a Twin.

The article doesn't mention anything in terms of pitches or velocity, or even projection, which really isn't that unusual from this type of report. What we know about him is that he has some experience in international tourneys in Mexico and Nicaragua, has been playing the game for eight years (not bad), didn't participate in either Nicaraguan or Colombian winter ball this year, and he's a Bob Engle signing. Whether that's a testament to his ability or just because the M's don't have many other scouts in that area, I can't say, but it's a nice little news bit while we don't have anything else going down.

Thanks to Pirata Morado over at SportSpot for finding this initially.

Transaction Update (1/22/07)

2007-01-22T14:23:00.000-08:00

A few more from Baseball America, noting that Mike Flannery has headed off for the Reds.

The M's have signed RHP Aaron Small, LHP Matt Perisho, and OF Jason Grove.

Small, 35, has hung around the upper minors long enough to get limited time with seven different major league clubs over the years, and he's played for a few more purely as a minor leaguer. He doesn't strike out batters, doesn't walk too many, and has given up his share of hits, but he's been around long enough to establish himself as an okay insurance policy if you really don't want to rush the kid.

Perisho, 31, is his left-handed equivalent, with more walks and maybe a K or two. Okay, so they aren't exactly equivalent, but the point is there's a bunch of these guys around and Perisho, like Small, has seen major league time with several clubs. Unfortunately, also like Small, he's coming off a lackluster season. Perisho hasn't broken 70 IP since '02.

Grove, 28, is from Walla Walla and went to Washington State. I have no idea what he did in '05, but he appeared for eleven games last year in the Minnesota system. He usually hits for a decent average, but his slugging is somewhat erratic and he tends to strike out a lot. What he does after a couple of years off is hard to say.

News Around the Minors (1/16/07)

2007-01-16T15:03:00.000-08:00

Just enough to make a post out of, so I'm off and running...
Edit: For those of you who think that you simply do not have enough meaningless numbers to stare at, I've added stats below for the Colombian Winter League, where they don't have THE Manny Ramirez, but do have A Manny Ramirez. I've also added another T-Rats article.

At ESPN, Keith Law wrote an article focusing on top prospects likely to start '07 in the minors, and regarding our own Jeff Clement, he had this statement...

Jeff Clement was the third pick in the 2005 draft, ahead of big leaguers like Ryan Zimmerman (nearly the NL Rookie of the Year in 2006 for the Nationals) and Troy Tulowitzki (already in the majors with the Rockies) as well as top prospects like Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox), Cameron Maybin (Tigers), and Andrew McCutchen (Pirates). Clement went that high because he has big pull power and was expected stay behind the plate, although he was never pretty back there.

Now he's already had his first knee surgery, he didn't hit for power in the power-friendly Cal League, and was awful in the Hawaiian Winter League. At 23, he has plenty of time to put his career back on track, but it looks likely that he's more evidence that drafting for need is usually a bad strategy in the first round.

It's hard to know where to begin with a statement like that, but I'll start with the obvious: Clement wasn't in the Cal League, he was in the Texas League, and he did hit for power. I did a longer analysis of the case presented over at SportSpot, but to tighten it up a bit, I'll reduce it to a single paragraph. Clement's performance in Texas this year, a .288/.386/.525 line in limited time, was fairly representational of his abilities save for the OBP, which was partially the result of him getting hit a few times. He has pretty significant defensive flaws which would have been exposed in time. The problem was that they sent him to Tacoma, where both his defensive flaws and his offensive flaws could have been exploited by the more polished competition, and did so while he was coming off a significant surgery and had a good deal of rust to knock off. It was a poor decision (in time, I may do a longer analysis of the aggressive promotion campaign from this last season), and there's a difference between allowing a player to struggle first in the minors and putting them in a position where they're set up to fail (which really was continued with his usage in the HWL). As a catcher, and one who is still working on his defense, Clement is going to take more development time than some of the "bigger names" on the draft board.

Floating around the web, we now have news that Greg Dobbs was picked up on waivers by the Phillies. Pat Gillick taking his pick off the M's scrap heap again? Surely, you jest! With Burroughs already in the minors, we have another sweet swing with limited results and defensive versatility in the minors, so this isn't much of a loss in terms of organizational depth. Even without Burroughs, it wouldn't be.

This isn't purely minor league news, but InsidePitch, one of the premier Angels analysts that I know of, did an analysis of Bavasi's trades over at the Scout boards. There's enough there to be concerned about, particularly undervaluing his own players and trading system players who didn't respond that well to being rushed.

John Sickels, drawing two names from the T section of his book, posted a prospect review of Matt Tuiasosopo on his blog. Tui's handling, in my opinion, was the biggest mistake of the aggressive promotion campaign, as his average was empty in the Cal League and he wasn't driving the ball with any authority or displaying decent plate discipline. He has a long road ahead of him, and the next season is going to be crucial.

After leading the Canadian team with a .448 average in the regional tournament, Michael Saunders has been named the senior team MVP of 2006. I've gone back and forth on doing a Saunders write-up at some point, because I've wanted to look at him as potential breakout candidate, but the statistical evidence doesn't corroborate and the scouting doesn't quite approve of what it sees either. It's a hunch at best, and should be regarded as such.

The Wisconsin Post-Crescent has a story in anticipation of Ryne Sandberg's managerial debut against the Timber Rattlers on opening day.

I'm going to end by pointing out that there's going to be a spotlight on the M's system (and the Phillies, heh) on Februrary 20th over at MiLB.com. I got this off the He Said, She Said Blog, which has Jonathan Mayo and Lisa Winston posting. I don't have the expectations of it that I would of something like Baseball America, but they're planning on bringing some front office people in and it could be interesting in that sense, plus Mayo occassionally surprises by pointing to a guy like Alfredo Venegas who no one else has ever heard of. I'll do a reminder as we approach the date if I can remember a month from now. At the very least, it might qualify as a "fix".

That link comes via the Rattler Radio blog, which has been a great deal more active than I have this offseason. Bonus points for a Blernsball reference a few days ago.

Winter League Stats (1/14/07)

2007-01-14T14:28:00.000-08:00

Edit: 8:54 pm, hey, now there's Lehr
Arizona Fall League (FINAL)
2B Michael Garciaparra: 19 G, 79 ABs, 13 R, 27 H, 4 2B, HR, 13 RBI, 13/1 K/BB, 2 SB, .342/.388/.430
RHP Craig James: 10 G, 0-0, 3.60 ERA in 10.0 IP, 10 H, 5 R (4 ER), 7/6 K/BB, HB
RHP Stephen Kahn: 9 G, 0-0, 8.64 ERA in 8.1 IP, 14 H, 8 R (8 ER), 7/8 K/BB, HB
LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith: 12 G, 0-1, 5.40 ERA in 15.0 IP, 19 H, 10 R (9 ER), 16/8 K/BB, HB
3B Matt Tuiasosopo: 21 G, 78 ABs, 9 R, 13 H, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, 22/6 K/BB, .167/.235/.205
RHP Sean White: 0-3, 6.35 ERA in 17.0 IP, 18 H (HR), 15 R (12 ER), 12/11 K/BB
OF Mike Wilson: 20 G, 74 ABs, 10 R, 18 H, 2 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 27/13 K/BB, SB, .243/.356/.419

Asian Games (FINAL)
2B Yung-chi Chen: 5 G, 20 ABs, 5 R, 9 H, 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 2/0 K/BB, .450/.450/1.050

Colombian Winter League
3B Leury Bonilla: 36 G, 100 ABs, 9 R, 20 H, 5 2B, 2 3B, HR, 10 RBI, .200/.279/.320
RHP Natividad Dilone: 8 G, 5-2, 3.06 ERA in 47.0 IP, 42 H (HR), 18 R (16 ER), 34/24 K/BB, 3 HB, 4 WP
OF Eddy Hernandez: 19 G, 52 ABs, 7 R, 14 H, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 5 RBI, .269/.321/.404
C Jair Fernandez: 16 G, 43 ABs, R, 8 H, 2B, .186/.286/.209
RHP Roman Martinez: 17 G, 3-0, 6 saves, 1.64 ERA in 22.0 IP, 14 H (HR), 8 R (4 ER), 20/11 K/BB, 2 HB, WP

Hawaiian Winter League (FINAL)
LHP David Asher: 10 G (5 GS), 1-2, 5.68 ERA in 25.1 IP, 33 H (2 HR), 18 R (16 ER), 23/15 K/BB, 2 HB
OF Sebastien Boucher: 26 G, 84 ABs, 18 R, 15 H, 3 2B, 3 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 24/14 K/BB, 3 SB, 2 CS, 3 HBP, .179/.317/.321
C Jeff Clement: 21 G, 53 ABs, 4 R, 10 H, 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 13/0 K/BB, HBP, .189/.191/.321
1B Reed Eastley: 26 G, 86 ABs, 4 R, 19 H, 3 2B, 13 RBI, 20/7 K/BB, 2 HBP, SB, .221/.292/.256
RHP Joe Woerman: 17 G, 3-1, 4.26 ERA in 25.1 IP, 21 H, 12 R (12 ER), 28/18 K/BB, HB, 2 WP

IBAF Intercontinental Cup (FINAL)
IF Yung-chi Chen: 9 G, 36 ABs, 7 R, 17 H, 3 2B, 3B, HR, 9 RBI, 3/2 K/BB, SB, 3 HBP, .472/.537/.694
3B Alex Liddi: 9 G, 35 ABs, 4 R, 8 H, 3 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, CS, 9/1 K/BB, .229/.350/.371
OF Kalian Sams: 4 G, 5 ABs, 2 R, 3 H, 3B, 4 RBI, 0/0 K/BB, .600/1.000/.600

Mexican Pacific League (FINAL)
RHP Jorge Campillo: 13 G (13 GS), 5-4, 3.07 ERA in 76.1 IP, 55 H (8 HR), 30 R (26 ER), 67/18 K/BB, 4 WP
1B Bryan LaHair: 19 G, 64 ABs, 11 R, 15 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 16/13 K/BB, CS, .234/.359/.359
RHP Justin Lehr: 9 G (9 GS), 5-1, 3.40 ERA in 47.2 IP, 52 H (7 HR), 19 R (18 ER), 39/15 K/BB, 3 HB, 3 WP

Mexican Pacific League (Semi-finals)
RHP Jorge Campillo: 2 G (2 GS), 1-0, 1.42 ERA in 12.2 IP, 12 H, 2 R (2 ER), 10/3 K/BB
RHP Justin Lehr: 1 G (1 GS), 1-0, 1.80 in 5.0 IP, 5 H (HR), R (ER), 4.0 K/BB

Puerto Rican Winter League (FINAL?)
SS Jeff Dominguez: 16 G, 13 ABs, 3 R, 3 H, 5/4 K/BB, .231/.412/.231
RHP Sean Green: 3 G (0 GS), 0-0, 1.69 ERA in 5.1 IP, 3 H, R (ER), 3/4 K/BB, HB
IF Erick Monzon: 13 G, 25 ABs, 4 R, 6 H, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, 8/5 K/BB, .240/.367/.360
RHP Mumba Rivera: 7 G (3 GS), 2-1, 5.50 ERA in 18.0 IP, 17 H (HR), 12 R (11 ER), 6/12 K/BB, WP
C Rene Rivera: 19 G, 44 ABs, 2 R, 8 H, 3 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 10/1 K/BB, .182/.196/.318

Venezuelan Winter League (FINAL)
RHP Nibaldo Acosta: 2 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA in 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2/0 K/BB
OF Wladimir Balentien: 41 G, 138 AB, 22 R, 37 H, 7 2B, 4 3B, 9 HR, 23 RBI, 39/16 K/BB, 2 SB, 2 CS, .268/.342/.572
RHP Yorman Bazardo: 21 G, 2-0, S, 1.84 ERA in 30.1 IP, 20 H, 9 R (6 ER), 18/7 K/BB, 2 WP, HB
RHP Cibney Bello: 3 G, 0-0, 4.15 ERA in 4.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2/4 K/BB, WP
RHP Ivan Blanco: 18 G, 2-1, 5.04 ERA in 25.0 IP, 23 H (2 HR), 21 R (14 ER), 24/14 K/BB, 3 HB, 2 WP
LHP Jose Escalona: 7 G, 1-0, 4.50 ERA in 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R (2 ER), 2/2 K/BB, WP
IF Jesus Guzman: 15 G, 21 ABs, R, 2 H, 2B, RBI, 9/3 K/BB, CS, .095/.208/.143
LHP Cesar Jimenez: 15 G, 1-1, 0.49 ERA in 18.1 IP, 10 H, 4 R (1 ER), 12/6 K/BB, HB
IF Jose Lopez: 42 G, 162 ABs, 21 R, 50 H, 8 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 21 RBI, 13/5 K/BB, 5 HBP, 2 SB, CS, .309/.347/.407
IF Oswaldo Navarro: 24 G, 80 ABs, 7 R, 24 H, 2 2B, 9 RBI, 9/5 K/BB, CS, HBP, .300/.349/.325
1B Jon Nelson: 7 G, 25 ABs, 2 R, 4 H, 2B, 2 RBI, 6/3 K/BB, SB, .160/.276/.200
C Luis Oliveros: 14 G, 32 ABs, 6 R, 9 H, 2B, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 4/2 K/BB, .281/.314/.594

Venezuelan Winter League (Semi-Finals)
RHP Yorman Bazardo: 4 G, 0-0, 13.50 ERA in 2.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R (4 ER), HB
RHP Ivan Blanco: 4 G, 7.20 ERA in 5.0 IP, 6 H (HR), 4 R (4 ER), 3/2 K/BB, HB, WP
LHP Cesar Jimenez: 5 G, 1-0, 0.00 ERA in 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3/1 K/BB
IF Jose Lopez: 1 G, 3 ABs, 2 H, RBI, 1/0 K/BB, .667/.667/.667

Not much to update this time, which is not to say that I expected a great deal. I think this is the second season in a row that it's happened, but the guy who updates the Puerto Rican Winter League stats took his Christmas break and didn't come back when the season finished up on January 3rd. The stats I have are only current through the 22nd of December, which is okay, there's not usually anything of interest down there anyway, unless you want to see Rene Rivera hit like a catcher with anemia, and really, you can really see enough in games that matter more and have better coverage.

I've also added some playoff stats for Mexico and Venezuela. Campillo continues to do well for Culiacan. I can't say the same for anyone in Venezuela, save for maybe Jose Lopez. It becomes a little less interesting when you consider that Balentien missed the final few games of the season and hasn't been on the playoff roster for the Cardenales, who don't really have a chance anyway.

Since the M's don't have any current farmhands participating in Australia, the best we have to hope for as far as news goes is a signing (or a few) out of there or elsewhere abroad. Alternatively, I suppose a good minor league FA signing would do, or the announcement of the NRI list.

I recognize that the moves made this offseason went back and forth with little headway in the overall sum of things, but right now, I think I'm more ready for [minor league] baseball season to start up than I have been around the same time the past few years. Naturally, the big story is going to be who emerges from the pack down in the low minors, and personally, I can't wait to see that one unfold.

Claxton Shield Rosters Up

2007-01-11T14:25:00.000-08:00

More of an international baseball note than an M's note this season, but rosters have been posted for Australia's Claxton Shield, one of the major baseball tournaments in the country. Former M's farmhands Craig Anderson and Tim Auty will be representing New South Wales as play starts up on the 19th.

I might check in with a few minor updates on both. The time around and after the tournament tends to be when most Australian NDFAs are signed, so it's worth noting for that reason as well.

Oh, and Jorge Campillo's team has moved on to the second playoff round in the Mexican Pacific League Championships.

Transaction Update (1/9/07)

2007-01-09T14:38:00.000-08:00

Via BA again, it looks like the M's have picked up RHP Shane Loux and OF Prentice Redman and have re-signed C Luis Oliveros.

Loux, 27, was a top-10 prospect in the Tigers org years ago, but has had various issues both physical (not arm injury) and mental over the years that seem to have kept him from putting it all together. He looked like he was gonig to put it together after a double-A tour in 2000, but he hit a wall the following season and, while he walk rates recovered, his hits and Ks have never been the same. Last season he was with the Omaha Royals and pitched 54.1 relief innings, and then, nothing. I don't know why he pitched so few innings this year. Fitting the profile of other signings the M's have made with more money involved, Loux is a groundball pitcher. He has a low 90s fastball and a curve, the reports from years ago claim that his change is a work in progress.

Redman, born ten days after Loux, got his cup of coffee with the Mets back in '03, but was never as highly rated. He had .797 OPS in the Eastern League in '02, and has been mostly around there since that time after some initial struggles with the triple-A level. Tacoma needs outfielders, I guess.

Meanwhile, Adam Pettyjohn, who was released by the M's and went on to tear up the indy leagues, signed on with the Brew Crew. Also, Greg Jacobs has finished doing his time with the Kansas City T-Bones, at least for now, because it looks like he's signed on with the Phillies.

Minor Correction

2007-01-07T06:58:00.000-08:00

In my earlier post on international signings by year, I mentioned the name Javier Rodriguez as the recipient of a $280,000 signing bonus from the Ms. At the time, the only information I had was that the Mariners had signed someone named Rodriguez to a bonus that size. As pitcher Javier Rodriguez was the only new Rodriguez I knew about, I concluded he must be the guy.

Turns out the Ms signed 2 guys named Rodriguez. Javier, and another guy whose first name I still don't know. Either one could be the big bonus guy, and we'll have to wait to find out which one it is, what position he plays, and even what country he's from.

Rohn to the Giants

2007-01-06T22:44:00.000-08:00

Buried in a list of Friday's sports transactions, we have former Rainiers manager and Mariners administrative coach Dan Rohn being named the manager of the Fresno Grizzlies.

Months later, I'm still not quite over the decision to send him and Brundage walking. Yet, in light of recent happenings, if Bavasi and Hargrove are both gone in the near future, the new GM is probably going to bring in his own guy, as was suggested by DMZ at USSM a few days back. If Hargrove wasn't out the door this offseason, then it would be hard to imagine either of them getting in.

The Future of Summer League Ball

2007-01-03T14:53:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are Baseball America subscribers, there's an article up today concerning the effects of the Venezuelan political climate on academy operations. If you're not a subscriber, don't fret, as most of the article relates to Hugo Chavez and some of the Venezuelan business policies with regard to the MLB, but there is a short paragraph there that suggests certain clubs are already looking to Nicaragua, Panama, and Colombia as the next markets to open up and possible academy sites in the event that Venezuelan scouting and development becomes less of a viable option.

This is somewhat relative for fans of the M's minor league system. The Mariners have spent a good amount of money in Venezuela in past years and pursued some of the bigger names as well, but they've also had their foot in the door with the three other countries listed.

Going through Jon's chart below, there are three Panamanian signings in recent memory (Rangel, plus Felix Correa, who hasn't left the VSL yet, and Jonathan Castellanos, who was released without making it to the states), six from Nicaragua (Ramirez, Loaisiga, Duarte, Britton, Garth, Kenly Chang [released]), and eight from Colombia (Batista, Taylor, Fernandez, Vega, Santiago, Fruto, Castro, Arroyo).

Clearly, none of those countries are generating talent at anywhere near the level of Venezuela or the Dominican Republic, but the markets are still emerging there and the M's have a foothold in two of them. Keep in mind that last year we saw history with the first Colombian-born pitcher arriving in the major leagues.

Damn Gillick. Damn Melvin.

2006-12-30T09:41:00.000-08:00

I know it's been done before, but for no real reason, I just got the urge to point out again that if Pat Gillick hadn't decided that Greg Colbrunn was worth more to the Ms than the 19th overall pick in the 2003 draft, the Mariners could have had their pick of Conor Jackson, Carlos Quentin, Chad Billingsley, or Matt Murton.

To be fair, there's enough blame to go around on this one. Bob Melvin reportedly requested Colbrunn, who was a great bench bat against lefties but who hadn't started since 1996, and then never used him.

Between Gillick and Melvin, the Ms chose 58at-bats from Greg Colbrunn over the chance to nab a Jackson, Quentin, Billingsley, or Murton.

Yes, Mattox's drafts were terrible, but that's an indefensible decision from the person entrusted to manage the welfare of a franchise.

Just a little perspective for those who are calling for Bavasi's head (of which I am most definitely one). At least he's not giving away potential all stars for people he doesn't even think of as regulars.

Of course, his idea of what constitutes a regular could use a lot of work.

Winter League Stats (12/26/06)

2006-12-26T12:23:00.000-08:00

International Signing Crops By Year

2006-12-23T10:16:00.000-08:00

If you read this site, you probably follow the Mariners' minor league talent acquisition pretty closely. I'm willing to bet that if polled, most MarinerMinors readers could run off at least the list of Mariners' first round draft picks so far this millenium with very little difficulty, and could probably offer a reasonably educated opinion on the Ms' best draft years in recent memory. What most fans pay much less attention to, mostly because of how restricted the information is, is how the team's international talent compares year-to-year. Without further ado, I give you the Mariners' international crops for the past few years - omitting most of the names who are no longer with the organization, as I really don't have any interest in scouring past minor league rosters to find a list of all released players.

For an easy comparison, I've split the recruiting class into four categories: Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Miscellaneous Latin America, and Miscellaneous International.

Where I know them, I've listed the players' signing bonus as well.

2006

Venezuela
Mario Martinez, $600,000
Jose Rivero
Eduardo Garcia
Alejandro Garcia
Roberto Velazquez

Dominican Republic
Carlos Triunfel, $1,300,000
Rey Lebron, $200,000
Ramon Morla
Rudy Van Heydoorn

Misc. Latin America
Jose Rios, Mexico
Yidio Batista, Colombia
Javier Rodriguez, ????? (no freakin clue where this guy's from), $280,000

Misc. International
Anthony Phillips, South Africa
Kalian Sams, Netherlands

2005

Venezuela (some of these definitely belong to the Misc. Latin America category)
Doug Salinas
Edilia Colina
Jorge Agudelo
Carlos Ramirez
Mario Yepez
Rhonny Acosta
Jesse Nava

Dominican Republic
Bruno Mercedes
Ariel Alcantara, $90,000
Juan Diaz, $50,000
Cristian Rijo
Fray Martinez
Mario Flores
Amelis Carvajal

Misc. Latin America
Rigoberto Rangel, Panama
Juan Carlos Ramirez, Nicaragua
Jonathan Loaisiga, Nicaragua

Misc. International
Kuo-Hui Lo, Taiwan, $155,000
Alex Liddi, Italy, $105,000
Tom Ellis, Australia

2004

Venezuela
Miguel Marquez
Kervin Montbrum
Carlos Sanchez

Dominican Republic
Carlos Peguero, $360,000
Welington Dotel, $180,000
Gregorio Rosario, $180,000
Alfredo Mateo, $45,000
Luis Nuñez
Ogui Diaz
Joel Mendez

Misc. Latin America
Yuniesky Betancourt, $2,200,000
Jorge Campillo, $1,600,000
Victor Duarte, Nicaragua
Israel Nuñez, Mexico
Karlin Taylor, Colombia

Misc. International
Chia An Huang, Taiwan, $710,000 (restricted)
Greg Halman, Netherlands, $100,000
Kent Dixon, Australia, $125,000 (released)
Tim Auty, Australia, $10,000 (released)
Dean Zorn, Australia, (released)
Aaron Thorne, Australia

2003

Venezuela
Jose Escalona
Deybis Benitez
Humberto Espinoza
Jetsy Extrano
Terry Serrano
Jose Jimenez

Dominican Republic
Eddy Fernandez
Maximo Mendez
Juan Beltran
Jairo Hernandez
Carlos Javier
Natividad Dilone
Juan Zapata

Misc. Latin America
Marwin Vega, Colombia
Jair Fernandez, Colombia
Dwight Britton, $90,000, Nicaragua
Rayon Lampe, Aruba, unknown large amount
Alfredo Venegas, Ecuador

Misc. International
Yung Chi Chen, Taiwan, $210,000

2002

Venezuela
Felix Hernandez, $710,000
Asdrubal Cabrera
Luis Valbuena
Gerardo Avila

Dominican Republic
Manelik Pimentel
Leonardo Torres
Jose Suriel

Misc. Latin America
Julio Santiago, Colombia

Misc. International
Chao Kuan Wu, Taiwan

2001

Venezuela
Oswaldo Navarro
Cesar Jimenez
Diomny Gaetano
Jose Graterol

Dominican Republic
Eddy Hernandez
Leury Bonilla

Misc. Latin America
Ron Garth, Nicaragua

Misc. International

2000

Venezuela
Jose Lopez
Jesus Guzman
Ivan Blanco
Nibaldo Acosta
Edgar Guaramato
Luis Oliveros

Dominican Republic
Roman Martinez
Juan Colon

Misc. Latin America
Wladimir Balentien, Curacao
Emiliano Fruto, Colombia

Misc. International
Shin-Soo Choo, Korea, $1,100,000
Travis Blackley, Australia
Ryan Rowland-Smith, Australia

1999

Venezuela
Renee Cortez
Cibney Bello

Dominican Republic

Misc. Latin America
Ismael Castro, Colombia
Carlos Arroyo, Colombia

Misc. International

1998

Venezuela

Dominican Republic

Misc. Latin America

Misc. International
Chris Snelling, Australia, $50,000
Cha Seung Baek, Korea

1997

Nothing

1996

Dominican Republic
Rafael Soriano

1995

Dominican Republic
Julio Mateo

1992

Dominican Republic
David Ortiz

Some interesting tidbits here.

*Wow! Look at that Venezuelan class from 2002. Felix, Asdrubal Cabrera, Valbuena, and Avila are all legit prospects. A truly incredible haul for Fuenmayor, Carrasquel, Engle and crew. Not much happened in the rest of the world that year, but Felix alone makes this the team's best haul in recent history.

*The Ms' Dominican Republic scouting the past 5 years has really, really sucked.

*But, it shows signs of turning around, with several interesting signings in 2004, and of course the big Triunfel signing this year. The 2005 Dominican crop, which I've had the opportunity to witness extensively down at the Epy Guerrero complex in Yamasa, is pretty uninspiring. I like Crisitan Rijo (a wiry, 6'7" lefthanded firstbaseman), Bruno Mercedes (a young kid who throws high 80s with a decent curve), and Juan Diaz (a thin, projectable SS), but there are no high dollar acquisitions in that group and all of them are huge longshots.

*In releasing all of their recent Australian signings, including one they invested a considerable amount of money in (Dixon), the Mariners run the risk of messing up their ability to sign future Australian players. This is not a good thing.

*Check out that 2000 class. Lopez, Choo, Fruto, and Blackley have all spent time in the majors, and Rowland-Smith and Balentien are very good shots to at least get cups of coffee. 6 major leaguers from one international recruiting class is just nuts. I still wouldn't trade that entire package for Felix, though, so 2002 gets the nod for best recruiting class in recent history.

*Worst year: 1999. Second-worst: 2001.

*Again, the Ms' DR scouting has been totally lame for the past decade. Seriously. The Ms signed Rafael Soriano as an outfielder 10 years ago and lucked out in getting a very solid pitcher. They haven't produced a major leaguer out of their Dominican scouting program ever since. This isn't a knock on Patrick Guerrero, who has had to put in years and spend some serious dough rebuilding the Ms' credibility, but the returns from the most baseball rich country in the world are a little bit disappointing. Dominican scouting is a total crapshoot, it's true, but that's a truly awful success rate. Unless I'm mistaken, the team hasn't even had a top Dominican prospect outside of Soriano in that entire time.

*On the flip side, the Ms' Venezuelan scouting team is just money.

*Biggest bust in the system? In my mind it's a toss-up between Huang (jury still out, but early returns not promising), and Lampe. I don't know the exact dollar figure Lampe signed for, but if they promised him a spot at major league training camp 3 years after signing, you can bet he was a high dollar target. His tools are through the roof, but the kid can't seem to figure out how to actually play baseball for the life of him. He might get one more shot to try and turn it around with the amount they invested in him, but there's also a good chance they'll release him and move on.

*Biggest bargain? Snelling. By a landslide.

Looking at this makes me feel like it's not quite as ridiculous for prospect junkies like J. and myself to do such deep prospecting. Even the team's two worst recruiting years have yielded two guys who are pretty likely to spend at least some time in the majors in Cortez and Navarro. Of the classes it's too early to grade yet, 2003 looks pretty weak, though Chen will be a major leaguer in some role or other, while early indications are that 2004 will be a pretty strong class despite the huge sunken costs of Huang (I guess there's still hope there) and Dixon.

Readers looking for something to do in the blogosphere can use this thread as a catchall to discuss Ms international prospects. I'll gladly answer any questions anyone may have about the team's international recruiting efforts here as well.

Up and At Them

2006-12-22T21:51:00.000-08:00

I'm not dead.

I was without power for five days, spending much of those running around town in a search for firewood and batteries, and the internet didn't come back until tonight.

No major damage to this or that. Actually, that's not true, I busted my [pitching] elbow, and that's indirectly attributable to the storm as I was downtown when it was hitting the shore, but it’s nothing more than a bone bruise and I don’t care to go into the details of the hows and whys here. I’ll be in shape for spring training anyway. I don’t think they can dock my pay for acts of nature.

I’d go into some editorial spiel about discovering my own dependence on technology and how I’m turning over a new leaf, but that’s an outright lie and I hate pieces like that. I should hope that people don't require some sort of crisis to actually take time to think about their lives, but that's a weak hope at best. I managed presumably better than the people who were boxing me in at the pump thinking that it would somehow ensure that they got gas.

Things will resume some normalcy in a few days. I can promise that much on my end, at least. As for the Ms, they still got rid of Soriano and still managed to get fleeced by Jim Bowden.

Happy Holidays everyone, and enjoy Gookie Dawkins and Sean Burroughs in Tacoma.

Aggressive Promotion Nets Ms Dubious Title

2006-12-14T15:42:00.000-08:00

Interesting little nugget up at Baseball Prospectus today (subscribers only).

Your Seattle Mariners are by far the youngest organization in baseball, according to Clay Davenport's average league age calculations.

Tacoma and San Antonio were the first and third youngest teams (relative to league average) in all of minor league baseball, and every single Ms affiliate (stateside, at least) was below average.

Overall, the system's affiliates averaged out at .85 years younger than league average.

Given their promotion record, this is hardly a surprise. With at least 3 17-year-olds likely to start out in the states next year (Triunfel, Martinez, Phillips), I don't see this changing anytime soon.

New Bill Prosposed to Change Minor League Work Visas

2006-12-13T14:47:00.000-08:00

Here's something I can get behind with a resounding "WOOT!"

Baseball America is reporting that there is a bill headed to the President's desk that would allow minor leaguers the rights to P-1 visas, which means they would no longer be competing with seasonal farm and resort workers for a limited pool of available H-2B visas.

This could have major impacts for the future of international scouting and academies, the exact ramifications of which I can't quite speculate on just yet, but it should afford international players the same number of chances and opportunities available to domestic players. Good for the overall talent pool, good for players who had previously been shafted by this practice, good for baseball.

Winter League Stats (12/10/06)

2006-12-10T12:10:00.000-08:00

Arizona Fall League (FINAL)
2B Michael Garciaparra: 19 G, 79 ABs, 13 R, 27 H, 4 2B, HR, 13 RBI, 13/1 K/BB, 2 SB, .342/.388/.430
RHP Craig James: 10 G, 0-0, 3.60 ERA in 10.0 IP, 10 H, 5 R (4 ER), 7/6 K/BB, HB
RHP Stephen Kahn: 9 G, 0-0, 8.64 ERA in 8.1 IP, 14 H, 8 R (8 ER), 7/8 K/BB, HB
LHP Bobby Livingston: 6 G (6 GS), 1-3, 10.45 ERA in 20.2 IP, 37 H (2 HR), 25 R (24 ER), 17/3 K/BB, 4 HB
LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith: 12 G, 0-1, 5.40 ERA in 15.0 IP, 19 H, 10 R (9 ER), 16/8 K/BB, HB
3B Matt Tuiasosopo: 21 G, 78 ABs, 9 R, 13 H, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, 22/6 K/BB, .167/.235/.205
RHP Sean White: 0-3, 6.35 ERA in 17.0 IP, 18 H (HR), 15 R (12 ER), 12/11 K/BB
OF Mike Wilson: 20 G, 74 ABs, 10 R, 18 H, 2 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 27/13 K/BB, SB, .243/.356/.419

Asian Games (FINAL)
2B Yung-chi Chen: 5 G, 20 ABs, 5 R, 9 H, 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 2/0 K/BB, .450/.450/1.050

Hawaiian Winter League (FINAL)
LHP David Asher: 10 G (5 GS), 1-2, 5.68 ERA in 25.1 IP, 33 H (2 HR), 18 R (16 ER), 23/15 K/BB, 2 HB
OF Sebastien Boucher: 26 G, 84 ABs, 18 R, 15 H, 3 2B, 3 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 24/14 K/BB, 3 SB, 2 CS, 3 HBP, .179/.317/.321
C Jeff Clement: 21 G, 53 ABs, 4 R, 10 H, 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 13/0 K/BB, HBP, .189/.191/.321
1B Reed Eastley: 26 G, 86 ABs, 4 R, 19 H, 3 2B, 13 RBI, 20/7 K/BB, 2 HBP, SB, .221/.292/.256
RHP Joe Woerman: 17 G, 3-1, 4.26 ERA in 25.1 IP, 21 H, 12 R (12 ER), 28/18 K/BB, HB, 2 WP

IBAF Intercontinental Cup (FINAL)
IF Yung-chi Chen: 9 G, 36 ABs, 7 R, 17 H, 3 2B, 3B, HR, 9 RBI, 3/2 K/BB, SB, 3 HBP, .472/.537/.694
3B Alex Liddi: 9 G, 35 ABs, 4 R, 8 H, 3 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, CS, 9/1 K/BB, .229/.350/.371
OF Kalian Sams: 4 G, 5 ABs, 2 R, 3 H, 3B, 4 RBI, 0/0 K/BB, .600/1.000/.600

Mexican Pacific League
RHP Jorge Campillo: 10 G (10 GS), 3-3, 3.30 ERA in 57.1 IP, 43 H (5 HR), 25 R (21 ER), 52/15 K/BB, 4 WP
1B Bryan LaHair: 19 G, 64 ABs, 11 R, 15 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 16/13 K/BB, CS, .234/.359/.359

Puerto Rican Winter League
SS Jeff Dominguez: 8 G, 6 ABs, 2 H, 2/1 K/BB, .333/.429/.333
IF Erick Monzon: 11 G, 23 ABs, 4 R, 6 H, 2B, 3B, 6/5 K/BB, .261/.393/.391
RHP Mumba Rivera: 6 G (3 GS), 1-1, 5.74 ERA in 15.2 IP, 15 H, 11 R (10 ER), 3/10 K/BB, WP
C Rene Rivera: 14 G, 35 ABs, R, 7 H, 3 2B, 2 RBI, 8/1 K/BB, .200/.216/.286

Venezuelan Winter League
RHP Nibaldo Acosta: 2 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA in 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2/0 K/BB
OF Wladimir Balentien: 32 G, 116 AB, 17 R, 31 H, 7 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 21 RBI, 36/10 K/BB, 2 SB, CS, .267/.323/.560
RHP Yorman Bazardo: 16 G, 2-0, S, 1.44 ERA in 25.0 IP, 15 H, 6 R (4 ER), 15/5 K/BB, 2 WP, HB
RHP Cibney Bello: 3 G, 0-0, 4.15 ERA in 4.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2/4 K/BB, WP
RHP Ivan Blanco: 14 G, 2-1, 3.63 ERA in 22.1 IP, 17 H (2 HR), 16 R (9 ER), 23/12 K/BB, 3 HB, 2 WP
RHP Rich Dorman: 11 G (10 GS), 2-3, 3.21 ERA in 56.0 IP, 54 H (HR), 20 R (20 ER), 51/24 K/BB, 2 HB, 5 WP
LHP Jose Escalona: 7 G, 1-0, 5.40 ERA in 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R (3 ER), 2/3 K/BB, 3 WP
RHP Emiliano Fruto: 17 G, 2-1, 5 S, 2.70 ERA in 18.2 IP, 18 H, 7 R (5 ER), 23/10 K/BB
IF Jesus Guzman: 10 G, 17 ABs, H, RBI, 8/3 K/BB, CS, .059/.200/.059
LHP Cesar Jimenez: 10 G, 0-1, 0.00 ERA in 9.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R (0 ER), 5/4 K/BB, HB
IF Jose Lopez: 27 G, 106 ABs, 13 R, 31 H, 6 2B, HR, 12 RBI, 10/3 K/BB, 2 HBP, SB, .292/.324/.377
IF Oswaldo Navarro: 24 G, 80 ABs, 7 R, 24 H, 2 2B, 9 RBI, 9/5 K/BB, CS, HBP, .300/.349/.325
1B Jon Nelson: 7 G, 25 ABs, 2 R, 4 H, 2B, 2 RBI, 6/3 K/BB, SB, .160/.276/.200
C Luis Oliveros: 12 G, 29 ABs, 6 R, 7 H, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 4/1 K/BB, .241/.267/.552
C Guillermo Quiroz: 15 G, 38 AB, 5 R, 9 H, 2 2B, HR, RBI, 5/4 K/BB, .237/.326/.368

As you'll notice, I've pulled the Dominican stats from the wrap. Mateo hasn't been pitching, and I don't know that anyone would really care if he was anyway. One less league I have to try to follow. Additionally, we have Sean White in the AFL stats. His groundball rate is nearly three to one, but we're banking a lot on his supposedly increased velocity and that just doesn't usually happen with guys his age.

Yung-chi Chen went on a tear for the rest of the tournament and put up some absurd numbers. In five games, anything can happen, but I'd take it as an encouraging sign. A note related to the tournament, the Thai team was kind of intriguing as most of its players were fairly young, with a few of them around sixteen and seventeen. As an international baseball fan, I think it would be neat if the sport picked up there, but I pity whoever ends up having to stitch a name like Jaroenkitsiriwong on the back of a uniform.
Campillo took a hit in the ERA and the K/BB this week in his two starts.
There's not much I can really say about the Puerto Rican stats other than I really expected that one of these years, Rene Rivera might do something with the bat. Mumba keeps on walking guys at an ugly rate. Monzon didn't get into a game. Dominguez didn't do anything with two at-bats.
Dorman pitched seven innings in his start this week, walking one and striking out eight, which is rather unusual for him (usual would be four walks instead of one). Fruity picked up a save. Bazardo and Blanco are about the same as ever, and Jimenez continued the trend of relievers not giving up hits. Wladdy did two important things this week: take a walk and hit a home run. Unfortunately, those were the only two things he did offensively. Jose Lopez kept pace.

Tune in next week when some of these numbers change ever so slightly.

BA's Top 10 M's Prospects

2006-12-08T16:07:00.000-08:00

Wooo. The article is here and the subscriber chat was here, except with all the reports floating around that this was going down on Monday, we didn't see some of the usual names asking questions except Jeff Sullivan. Cheers to the guy who claimed to be Chris Antonetti though, I suppose the campaign is underway already, for all the good it'll do us.

1. Adam Jones, of
2. Jeff Clement, c
3. Brandon Morrow, rhp
4. Tony Butler, lhp
5. Ryan Feierabend, lhp
6. Wladimir Balentien, of
7. Mark Lowe, rhp
8. Chris Tillman, rhp
9. Yung-Chi Chen, 2b
10. Eric O'Flaherty, lhp

Their projected 2010 lineup is basically the same as ours is right now with Adam Jones in right and Clement at DH, not to mention the top three '06 pitchers in the rotation plus Feier. That rotation might be pretty nice, but the idea of signing Sexson to an extension, etc., is freaking people out a little, to which I say, with free agency and trades making a bigger impact overall (generally), this is just fun with present depth charts.

What to say about this list... Well, I appreciate Butler getting the kudos he deserves, I'm a huge fan of his, but so is everyone else lately. Lowe is going to be an enigma until we see what he's like in games again. His meteoric rise was unexpected, and the notion of him pitching with potential bone on bone contact is terrifying. I wouldn't have the slightest idea where to rank him. I'm also not quite as keen on Chen as they are (I think Chen's a neat utility player, but I'm not sure he provides enough in any one area to justify starting him) and think that O'Flaherty might be more interesting if he were still starting, which I haven't really heard any rumblings about in ages. I'd be tempted to shove a higher profile international signing into the list, maybe a Halman or a Mario Martinez or a Triunfel or maybe even a Kuo-hui Lo.

Livingston DFA'd

2006-12-04T22:57:00.000-08:00

One of the notes you get from the Jose Guillen press release is that Bobby Livingston has been designated for assignment.

Livingston has been a popular pitcher in some internet circles for a while now. In past years, we used to moan about how he was left off x league prospect list when he was statistically one of the better pitchers in the league, and the response was always "a low-to-mid-80s fastball is hittable, unless the pitcher has unbelievable command". So far as the M's attempts to find the next Moyer went, this much proved to be true.

In April, Livingston had allowed a .177/.203/.274 line, bolstered by an unreasonably low .204 BABIP and a combination of home park and weather. He had twelve strikeouts to two walks in seventeen innings, and while the Ks were below the league average rate, no one was likely going to complain given his stuff. He was recalled and spent the next twenty or so days on the major league roster being used in a relief role, something that he was unsuited for. The number of relief appearances he had made in the minors could be counted on one hand, and there's a good chance a few of them were part of another pitcher's rehab stint. Nevertheless, they threw him into the fire in a blow out, and the only thing positive one can say about that outing is that he didn't take the loss. He spent the next nine days in the doghouse before getting another chance, and eight days after that before he saw his third outing. Following that, he was gone.

At the time, B-Liv fans were frustrated. Players with superior velocity or better action on their pitches can sometimes get away with not hitting their spots after a lengthy absence, but it should naturally be more difficult when location is the main weapon and the pitcher has no time to practice with it. They saw the month of May as the result of that cycle, with lost time, worse command, and shaken confidence. We kept expecting him to pull out at some point, but...

With the exception of April, which just seemed crazy, Bobby was a below-average PCL pitcher. Even in his better months, like June and August, his park-adjusted OPS was worse than league average. He probably was never as bad as his .415 BABIP in July, or even his .365 in May (with special consideration for the AWFUL home run rate), but how good he might've been, or might still be, is a trickier question. His rate stats have some similarities between his '05 Tacoma tenure and this year, adding about a hit and a half and nearly an entire home run, while knocking off a quarter of a walk and two and a half strikeouts. Two things here really go without saying: the home run rate was probably a bit of an outlier on the chart, given his history, and he can't survive without the Ks (same as any pitcher).

At this point, I expect that Bobby's probably going to come back, because the organization presumably still likes him and the market for guys with his profile on the Rule 5 or minor league FA market isn't great. The 2007 season will likely see him in a return tour of the PCL, with questions to answer as to whether he's a quad-A innings eater or any sort of MLB player. While he didn't statistically (which is really what most of this post is about, having not seen him this year or talked to many people who had) show all of the mental toughness previously attributed to him, he also struggled for really the first time in his minor league career after three and a half years of giving hitters fairly comfortable 0-for-4s.

I don't appreciate the way he was handled by the big league club this year at all. It truly minimized his chances for success, perhaps moreso than any other player brought up, but I also have to think that at some point the pendulum would've swung in the other direction. If this was a simple matter of getting back in a groove, well, one would hope that he would've found it with his remaining 100+ innings. Instead, he merely went from mediocre to painful to watch and back again. I still have faith in him, you can't help but root for a guy who pitched both ends of a doubleheader (one game from each side) and played the field when he wasn't on the mound, but the M's have been hoping against hope that he'd find a few extra MPH stashed in there for years now and it's yet to happen. This could be a mere stop along the way or where the tracks end, but he's beaten the odds a number of times, and I certainly wouldn't bet against him making a stronger contribution in the future.

Winter League Stats (12/3/06)

2006-12-03T12:25:00.000-08:00

One More Minor League FA Signing

2006-11-30T23:25:00.000-08:00

Caught this one just now... it looks like the M's have acquired the contract of C Craig Hurba from the independant Kansas City T-Bones. There's a joke in there about an independant league team managing to operate in the same town as the Royals and survive, but we've known about this for a while now, so...

There was a Hurba blurb in Baseball America when they were going over their top indy leaguers for '06. They were impressed by his power, his ability to hit to all fields, and his unique way of throwing somewhat sidearmed. He hit .269/.341/.506 for the T-Bones this year, and prior to that, he was a Rangers farmhand posting some decent slugging numbers there. He'll be 25 to start next season.

Looks like the annual process of stocking up on catchers has begun...

M's Sign Three Minor League FAs

2006-11-30T12:29:00.000-08:00

This is coming via Jeff, from Lookout Landing, who dropped the note in the comments of the last post, and if we're connecting dots to a similar post on his site, may have been tipped off on all of these by Dave Cameron of USSM. Thanks guys.

The M's have signed RHP Justin Lehr, C Jamie Burke, and LHP Jamie Cerda to minor league contracts.

Lehr, 29, is a former Oakland farmhand noted for being traded along with Nelson Cruz for Keith Ginter. Like a lot of groundball pitchers, Lehr gave up a lot of hits early on in his career and then settled down to around a hit per inning. He puts up better rates than the M's other groundballer experiment, Sean Green, walking two fewer batters and striking out one more per nine, not to mention a clear advantage in outing endurance from his time as a starter, but his groundball tendencies aren't quite so extreme. Nevertheless, I'd probably swap the two without a second thought on the merit of the walks and Ks alone. Lehr isn't great, but we have solid infield defense and he seems like a safer bet to succeed than a number of guys we used this season. He might be one of the best NRI candidates we've brought in in a while.

Before I get to Burke, I'm going to have to set this up a little. Last night, G and I were talking minor league players, and came around to the conclusion that what the Rainiers really needed was another mid-30s to mid-40s catcher to come in and do the "veteran presence" thing. While I thought this meant we were going to dig up what's left of Wiki Gonzalez and have him slug .500 for three weeks before he suffered an unusual season-ending injury, we get 35-year-old Jamie Burke instead. Burke is Craig Kuzmic, just older and without the slugging. He can play the corners, and started out there, but these days you'll see him behind the plate more often that not, and that's earned him cups of coffee in Anaheim and Chicago, which is more than Kuzmic ever got.

Cerda, 28, makes me wish that the splits we have went farther back. Here's what we know about Cerda. For one, he absolutely kills lefties, holding them to a .559 OPS compared to his .976 (!) OPS against right-handers. That's the good thing, if you're in the market for a LOOGY. He has over one hundred innings in the majors too, so that looks rather nice on his resume. We also know that he's walked five batters per nine innings in the majors, and that tendency has recently carried over to his minor league numbers as well, which were previously between two and a half and three per nine. He spent last year pitching in Colorado Springs, and the breakdown between his home and road stats is fairly significant. He got his Ks in bunches on the road, and held batters to a low average, but he also walked close to seven batters per nine out there. Ugly, but there's no risk involved in signing him and if the M's REALLY want that option over O'Flaherty, he's okay.

Mid-Week Prospecting Fix

2006-11-29T21:23:00.000-08:00

I had heard that Pat Rice spent some tmie chatting with the guys on the Hot Stove League show a few nights back talking up various pitching prospects. I didn't tune in, and only got the second-hand take on what was said, but it looks like the Kitsap Sun got their share of the news too, the only thing is that you may have to register (or get around registering).

Among the pitchers Rice found to be interesting, RHP Chris Tillman, who apparently picked up a change-up quickly, RHP Doug Fister, RHP Kameron Mickolio, RHP Juan Ramirez (who is from Nicaragua, according to the media guide, and pitched in the VSL last year), LHP Tony Butler, and RHP Nathan Adcock.

As always, the Wisconsin team is going to be interesting to watch and see who sinks and who swims.

Check out David's post on the Hawaiian Baseball League at Sports and Bremertonians too. It has a few pictures of the guys in action.

Winter League Stats (11/26/06)

2006-11-26T13:38:00.000-08:00

Arizona Fall League (FINAL)
2B Michael Garciaparra: 19 G, 79 ABs, 13 R, 27 H, 4 2B, HR, 13 RBI, 13/1 K/BB, 2 SB, .342/.388/.430
RHP Craig James: 10 G, 0-0, 3.60 ERA in 10.0 IP, 10 H, 5 R (4 ER), 7/6 K/BB, HB
RHP Stephen Kahn: 9 G, 0-0, 8.64 ERA in 8.1 IP, 14 H, 8 R (8 ER), 7/8 K/BB, HB
LHP Bobby Livingston: 6 G (6 GS), 1-3, 10.45 ERA in 20.2 IP, 37 H (2 HR), 25 R (24 ER), 17/3 K/BB, 4 HB
LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith: 12 G, 0-1, 5.40 ERA in 15.0 IP, 19 H, 10 R (9 ER), 16/8 K/BB, HB
3B Matt Tuiasosopo: 21 G, 78 ABs, 9 R, 13 H, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, 22/6 K/BB, .167/.235/.205
OF Mike Wilson: 20 G, 74 ABs, 10 R, 18 H, 2 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 27/13 K/BB, SB, .243/.356/.419

Dominican Winter League
RHP Julio Mateo: 1 G, 0-1, 9.00 ERA in 1.0 IP, 2 H, R (ER), 1/0 K/BB
RHP Rafael Soriano: 4 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA in 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1/0 K/BB

Hawaiian Winter League (FINAL)
LHP David Asher: 10 G (5 GS), 1-2, 5.68 ERA in 25.1 IP, 33 H (2 HR), 18 R (16 ER), 23/15 K/BB, 2 HB
OF Sebastien Boucher: 26 G, 84 ABs, 18 R, 15 H, 3 2B, 3 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 24/14 K/BB, 3 SB, 2 CS, 3 HBP, .179/.317/.321
C Jeff Clement: 21 G, 53 ABs, 4 R, 10 H, 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 13/0 K/BB, HBP, .189/.191/.321
1B Reed Eastley: 26 G, 86 ABs, 4 R, 19 H, 3 2B, 13 RBI, 20/7 K/BB, 2 HBP, SB, .221/.292/.256
RHP Joe Woerman: 17 G, 3-1, 4.26 ERA in 25.1 IP, 21 H, 12 R (12 ER), 28/18 K/BB, HB, 2 WP

IBAF Intercontinental Cup (FINAL)
IF Yung-chi Chen: 9 G, 36 ABs, 7 R, 17 H, 3 2B, 3B, HR, 9 RBI, 3/2 K/BB, SB, 3 HBP, .472/.537/.694
3B Alex Liddi: 9 G, 35 ABs, 4 R, 8 H, 3 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, CS, 9/1 K/BB, .229/.350/.371
OF Kalian Sams: 4 G, 5 ABs, 2 R, 3 H, 3B, 4 RBI, 0/0 K/BB, .600/1.000/.600

Mexican Pacific League
RHP Jorge Campillo: 7 G (7 GS), 3-2, 3.07 ERA in 41.0 IP, 31 H (5 HR), 17 R (14 ER), 38/5 K/BB, 4 WP
1B Bryan LaHair: 19 G, 64 ABs, 11 R, 15 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 16/13 K/BB, CS, .234/.359/.359

Venezuelan Winter League
RHP Nibaldo Acosta: 2 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA in 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2/0 K/BB
OF Wladimir Balentien: 25 G, 93 AB, 14 R, 27 H, 5 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, 19 RBI, 29/9 K/BB, 2 SB, CS, .290/.350/.602
RHP Yorman Bazardo: 11 G, 2-0, S, 1.50 ERA in 18.0 IP, 10 H, 5 R (3 ER), 10/4 K/BB, 2 WP, HB
RHP Cibney Bello: 3 G, 0-0, 4.15 ERA in 4.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2/4 K/BB, WP
RHP Ivan Blanco: 10 G, 2-1, 2.60 ERA in 17.1 IP, 10 H (2 HR), 10 R (5 ER), 19/10 K/BB, 3 HB, WP
RHP Rich Dorman: 8 G (7 GS), 1-2, 3.47 ERA in 38.0 IP, 40 H (HR), 15 R (15 ER), 32/17K/BB, 2 HB, 3 WP
LHP Jose Escalona: 7 G, 1-0, 5.40 ERA in 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R (3 ER), 2/3 K/BB, 3 WP
RHP Emiliano Fruto: 14 G, 1-1, 5 S, 3.07 ERA in 15.2 IP, 18 H, 7 R (5 ER), 19/7 K/BB
IF Jesus Guzman: 10 G, 17 ABs, H, RBI, 8/3 K/BB, CS, .059/.200/.059
LHP Cesar Jimenez: 3 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA in 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1/1 K/BB
IF Jose Lopez: 14 G, 57 ABs, 8 R, 18 H, 4 2B, 5 RBI, 6/2 K/BB, 2 HBP, SB, .316/.361/.381
IF Oswaldo Navarro: 21 G, 69 ABs, 6 R, 18 H, 2 2B, 8 RBI, 9/5 K/BB, CS, HBP, .261/.320/.290
1B Jon Nelson: 7 G, 25 ABs, 2 R, 4 H, 2B, 2 RBI, 6/3 K/BB, SB, .160/.276/.200
C Luis Oliveros: 5 G, 11 ABs, 2 R, 3 H, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2/0 K/BB, .273/.273/.818
C Guillermo Quiroz: 11 G, 29 AB, 4 R, 7 H, 2B, HR, RBI, 5/4 K/BB, .241/.333/.379

The Waikiki Beach Boys lost to the North Shore Honu in the championship game. From what I remember, Eastley had a triple, but that was about all for Mariners contributions.

Boucher had a double and a triple in the final games and boosted his OPS by almost one hundred points, which of course is easier to do when you're not playing that well to begin with. Clement had another home run and that kicked his OPS up about seventy points. Eastley had about the same boost in his performance, hitting two doubles and driving in five runs in thirteen at-bats this week. Can we directly attribute this to the M's hitting gurus coming in for the last week? Maybe, maybe not, but I prefer them ending on a high note anyway. As for the pitcher, Asher seems to have suffered from some pretty bad relief work and pitched decently if not well otherwise. Can't really say the same for Woerman though.
Soriano got four innings in DWL play. Mateo is MIA.
Campillo turned in another goot outing, though how long I'll be able to keep listing him is in question. Nine strikeouts in seven innings, no runs, five hits...
Harris is out of the LVBP stat listing. Blanco continues to do well, and Fruto is getting his time in, but there isn't much to say about the rest of the pitchers. Wlad went the entire week without getting a hit, and the other batters, if they're playing at all, tend to be treading water.

Also of note: Wiki Gonzalez turned up with the Cardenales. Just sayin'.

That's all I have for this round. With the HWL and the AFL done, it doesn't seem quite the same, even though there's a good deal of baseball still to be played.

Here's an article on M's Pac Rim scout Ted Heid for some reading while we wait for some deals to go down.

Oh, and BA is reporting that LHP Lance Beus was released.

M's Add Four

2006-11-20T22:14:00.000-08:00

One of the most important dates in the minor league baseball year... eh, you know, it's probably not that exciting but I still look forward to it.

The official press release is up. As others have already reported, Jeff Harris was signed away by the Indians and Bohn was claimed by the Braves, but two others have gone down as well, as RHP Travis Chick was outrighted to the minors and RHP Jorge Campillo was designated for assignment. Chick managed to survive in San Antonio, as he should have given the park conditions, but the number of walks he allowed was simply unacceptable and he needs to tone them down a bit. I see him as being somewhat similar to Jon Huber when he came into the system, relatively young, live arm, but hasn't quite displayed the kind of success you want out of a starting prospect. Campillo is sent packing again after his impressive return from Tommy John surgery, but given his age and his arsenal, the M's may have made the right decision in protecting a younger guy and leaving Baek and others to duel it out for the five spot, as they have age on their side. On the other hand, Campillo vs Pineiro, hmm... For now, guys like Jimenez and Dobbs have dodged the axe, but they could fall later.

The M's have protected four players, IF Michael Garciaparra, 1B Bryan Lahair, OF Mike Wilson, and LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith. All four were eligible for being picked up in the rule 5 last year. Take that as you will, but I'm pretty sure that the new CBA means that a bunch of the other guys don't need to be added just yet.

Garciaparra, 23, was the M's first pick, 36th overall in 2001, and those who have known me to talk about that draft will be pleased to know I'm leaving it at that. Mini G is one of two examples of the athlete learning baseball skills in this round of additions. He didn't stick at shortstop, but he's a capable enough at second and isn't likely to embarass himself too much at any other position around the infield. Offensively, he has the ability to put the ball in play, doesn't strike out much, and poses a legitimate on-base threat in both walks and HBPs. The downside is two-fold. For one thing, he does not hit for power, with just 22% of his hits going for extra-bases, the same percentage you see from Hustlin' Willie B. The other thing is his overall health. He's played above one hundred games once, and has averaged seventy-seven per year over the past three. The injuries tend to have a fluky quality to them and haven't been recurring or the result of poor conditioning. The best hope you can have for him is basically Bloomquist with a few more walks, but at the cost of awesome baserunning skills and the Port Orchard factor.

Lahair, now 24, is one of the best draft-and-follow additions the M's have made if he doesn't take the top title itself. He's a big guy, with power that might project to even more than his twenty-two Cal League home runs last year indicated, but there was a .300 point disparity in his OPS against lefties versus his OPS against right-handers in San Antonio this year. He managed to cut the gap to .250 in Tacoma, and runs created had him as one of best players on both teams, but some questions remain as to whether he's a platoon hitter. Some don't like him at first because they don't know if he has the classic power, but he could pass in left if you're lacking better options. He still hasn't quite reached his potential yet, but he did scale back the Ks and the double plays he grounded into this year. At worst, he's all right in a platoon.

Wilson, 23, has two profiles at Baseball Cube, the former containing '02 through '05 and this one covering '06. Wilson was signed away from a college football commitment, and for a number of years, public opinion was that he might've been better off staying with it. He put up numbers that were okay, but not great, and there were questions for a while about his conditioning practices. He gave up switch-hitting a few years back, and displayed enough potential last year in Wisconsin to indicate that his showing this year might be legitimate. His K's took a jump this year once he hit Wolff Stadium, and his batting eye overall took a little step back, but he is a good on-base threat and can hit the ball with authority. The numbers have him as a better hitter right now than Lahair, but time will tell.

Rowland-Smith, 23, could be considered another success of the M's Australian scouting efforts even if he isn't quite in the same tier as Snelling and Blackley pre-injury (post-injury, still TBD). The Twins liked him enough to Rule 5 him and see if he could make their '05 squad, but he didn't show quite enough and came back to the M's, going down soon after with an elbow thing. He was missing in action from the World Baseball Classic clear into June this year, but if I ever heard a reason for it, that's escaped my active memory. He uses a fastball, a curve, and a change, but unlike most of his fellow lefties, his FB actually has some zip to it and his name hasn't come up yet in the discussion of "best change-up" in the system, to my knowledge. I don't think there's been any sort of final decision on his role, they've been going back and forth for years, but RRS has always struck out batters, and as a lefty if good stuff, that makes him an interesting commodity.

Speaking of lefties with live stuff who manage to strike out batters, Troy Cate has been added to the Cardinals' 40-man. Nice to see him back in orgnized ball, and succeeding so quickly.

Of the guys left off, there really isn't too much to say. Craig James is probably the most notable of the bunch, and while I like James, his walks were unusually high this year and he has the injury history working against him. I don't think he's running any risk to be picked anyway, but next year he might be in the discussion again.

40-man Roster Deadline

2006-11-20T00:29:00.000-08:00

I have four+ more pages of a paper to write and no time to do a rundown of the pros and cons of each player that is due to be added, even if I tried to do it in quip form as I did last year, but the deadline to protect players from the rule 5 draft is tonight, from what I remember.

With forty-one players on the roster at last check, the M's are due for a flurry of moves that they've been conveniently holding off on for some time now. The odds are good that there will be a few surprises as they start shuffling names around.

I'll get to hammering out an analysis of it late, late tonight or at a similar hour on Tuesday (depending on my degree of sleep madness), by which time everyone else will have thrown their two cents in and resumed tearing their hair out at the condition of the free agent market.

Until that time, open comments section for debate on what we think will happen versus what we want to happen.

Edit: 3:40 pm
Looks like Bohn's been claimed by the Braves and the Indians signed away Jeff Harris, who was a FA.

Winter League Stats (11/19/06)

2006-11-19T12:11:00.000-08:00

Arizona Fall League (FINAL)
2B Michael Garciaparra: 19 G, 79 ABs, 13 R, 27 H, 4 2B, HR, 13 RBI, 13/1 K/BB, 2 SB, .342/.388/.430
RHP Craig James: 10 G, 0-0, 3.60 ERA in 10.0 IP, 10 H, 5 R (4 ER), 7/6 K/BB, HB
RHP Stephen Kahn: 9 G, 0-0, 8.64 ERA in 8.1 IP, 14 H, 8 R (8 ER), 7/8 K/BB, HB
LHP Bobby Livingston: 6 G (6 GS), 1-3, 10.45 ERA in 20.2 IP, 37 H (2 HR), 25 R (24 ER), 17/3 K/BB, 4 HB
LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith: 12 G, 0-1, 5.40 ERA in 15.0 IP, 19 H, 10 R (9 ER), 16/8 K/BB, HB
3B Matt Tuiasosopo: 21 G, 78 ABs, 9 R, 13 H, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, 22/6 K/BB, .167/.235/.205
OF Mike Wilson: 20 G, 74 ABs, 10 R, 18 H, 2 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 27/13 K/BB, SB, .243/.356/.419

Dominican Winter League
RHP Julio Mateo: 1 G, 0-1, 9.00 ERA in 1.0 IP, 2 H, R (ER), 1/0 K/BB
RHP Rafael Soriano: 1 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA in 1.0 IP, H, 1/0 K/BB

Hawaiian Winter League
LHP David Asher: 8 G (4 GS), 1-1, 4.57 ERA in 21.2 IP, 28 H (2 HR), 12 R (11 ER), 15/12 K/BB, HB
OF Sebastien Boucher: 23 G, 73 ABs, 15 R, 11 H, 2 2B, 3 3B, 3 RBI, 21/11 K/BB, 2 SB, 2 CS, 3 HBP, .151/.287/.260
C Jeff Clement: 19 G, 46 ABs, 3 R, 8 H, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 12/0 K/BB, HBP, .174/.191/.261
1B Reed Eastley: 23 G, 73 ABs, 4 R, 14 H, 2B, 8 RBI, 18/7 K/BB, 2 HBP, SB, .192/.277/.205
RHP Joe Woerman: 15 G, 3-0, 3.63 ERA in 22.1 IP, 17 H, 9 R (9 ER), 24/16 K/BB, HB, 2 WP

IBAF Intercontinental Cup (FINAL)
IF Yung-chi Chen: 9 G, 36 ABs, 7 R, 17 H, 3 2B, 3B, HR, 9 RBI, 3/2 K/BB, SB, 3 HBP, .472/.537/.694
3B Alex Liddi: 9 G, 35 ABs, 4 R, 8 H, 3 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, CS, 9/1 K/BB, .229/.350/.371
OF Kalian Sams: 4 G, 5 ABs, 2 R, 3 H, 3B, 4 RBI, 0/0 K/BB, .600/1.000/.600

Mexican Pacific League
RHP Jorge Campillo: 6 G (6 GS), 2-2, 3.71 ERA in 34.0 IP, 26 H (5 HR), 17 R (14 ER), 29/5 K/BB, 4 WP
1B Bryan LaHair: 19 G, 64 ABs, 11 R, 15 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 16/13 K/BB, CS, .234/.359/.359

Venezuelan Winter League
RHP Nibaldo Acosta: 2 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA in 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2/0 K/BB
OF Wladimir Balentien: 21 G, 81 AB, 14 R, 27 H, 5 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, 19 RBI, 22/9 K/BB, 2 SB, CS, .333/.396/.691
RHP Yorman Bazardo: 9 G, 1-0, S, 1.32 ERA in 13.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R (2 ER), 8/3 K/BB, 2 WP, HB
RHP Cibney Bello: 3 G, 0-0, 4.15 ERA in 4.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2/4 K/BB, WP
RHP Ivan Blanco: 9 G, 1-1, 3.00 ERA in 15.0 IP, 10 H (2 HR), 10 R (5 ER), 14/8 K/BB
RHP Rich Dorman: 7 G (6 GS), 1-2, 3.44 ERA in 34.0 IP, 33 H, 13 R (13 ER), 28/14 K/BB, WP
LHP Jose Escalona: 7 G, 1-0, 5.40 ERA in 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R (3 ER), 2/3 K/BB, 3 WP
RHP Emiliano Fruto: 13 G, 1-1, 5 S, 3.07 ERA in 14.2 IP, 18 H, 7 R (5 ER), 18/7 K/BB
IF Jesus Guzman: 9 G, 14 ABs, H, RBI, 6/3 K/BB, CS, .071/.235/.071
RHP Jeff Harris: 5 G (5 GS), 2-1, 3.14 ERA in 28.2 IP, 22 H (3 HR), 10 R (10 ER), 12/5 K/BB, 2 WP, 3 HB
LHP Cesar Jimenez: 1 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA in 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0/0 K/BB
IF Jose Lopez: 11 G, 45 ABs, 7 R, 14 H, 4 2B, 3 RBI, 5/2 K/BB, 2 HBP, .311/.367/.400
IF Oswaldo Navarro: 18 G, 62 ABs, 4 R, 17 H, 2 2B, 7 RBI, 7/4 K/BB, CS, HBP, .274/.328/.306
1B Jon Nelson: 7 G, 25 ABs, 2 R, 4 H, 2B, 2 RBI, 6/3 K/BB, SB, .160/.276/.200
C Luis Oliveros: 5 G, 11 ABs, 2 R, 3 H, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2/0 K/BB, .273/.273/.818
C Guillermo Quiroz: 10 G, 26 AB, 4 R, 7 H, 2B, HR, RBI, 4/4 K/BB, .269/.367/.423

New this week, we have stats from the Dominican Winter League. One inning for Rafael Soriano! Woooo! One innning for Julio Mateo! Meh!

And so, the AFL fades from view for another year or so. Kahn and RRS made minor improvements in the last few days, Mini G had a double and a home run to finally lift his SLG over his OBP, and Tui had his standard one hit per six at-bats. Ouch.
The HBL will end in a few days as well. As bad as the M's showing has been there, their team has pretty much locked up a playoff spot, so I may have that to recap next week. Clement had his first double this week, but he's still yet to take a walk. Asher lowered his ERA, but did so while giving up a bunch of hits and walks. It's kind of sad when the top ten in ERA for the league has two guys over 5.60 rounding it out. Woerman picked up another win, his third on the season, and that has him tied for third in the league.
The Intercontinental Cup is over too. All I can say about that is, wow, Yung-chi Chen...
Campillo got roughed up in his one start in the MPL. Still no signs of Lahair...
That brings us to the LVBP. Cesar Jimenez made his debut this week, though rumors have been going around for a while that he won't be starting as he usually does down there. I also noticed an Eduardo Perez down there for the hitters, but... the M's bought out his option, from what I remember, they haven't resigned him yet, there are actually TWO Eduardo Perezs down there (one of them Eduardo A. Perez, the same middle initial as the M's one), most of the LVBP sites don't keep an updated roster on hand, and Perez is from Puerto Rico anyway. Eh, I'll post something if the M's re-sign him. Jose Lopez and Balentien have come back down to earth (as much as Wlad can while still maintaining a OPS of over 1.000), Dorman and Harris struggled a little, well, pretty much everyone who was hot has cooled off a little and everything is tending back towards where one would expect the numbers to be. Bazardo's still keeping pace though. It depends on what role they decide for him (survey says reliever), but he could contribute next year.

Clement and the HBL

2006-11-18T00:54:00.000-08:00

Baseball America has been going over their top prospects for the two American winter ball leagues and have named Clement as their number 13 HBL prospect, despite his struggles at and behind the plate.

The guys have cited lack of playing time and the four catcher rotation as part of why Clement never got into a groove (despite a few monster BPs), but there's another story up today that indicates that the Mariners have taken heed of their offensive prospects' hitting woes, and have sent Jeff Pentland and minor league hitting coordinator Alonzo Powell, along with catching coordinator Roger Hansen and Frank Mattox, to see if they can help Clement and the others make a few adjustments in the final week (and who wouldn't want to be in Hawaii this time of year?). A little surprising, but it's a good thing for the organization to be doing, both to keep the hitters from getting discouraged and to make sure they aren't getting into any bad habits with their swings.

M's Sign Nine

2006-11-14T16:22:00.000-08:00

and they're in the bidding for a tenth... that tenth being some sort of content editor, I'm hoping.

Edit, 9:53 pm: hey look, it's done.
Edit, twelve hours later, releases too.

I don't know when they're going to change the press release, but right now, the title is "Mariners announce agreements with nine Minor League players" (emphasis my own) and the first paragraph reads "Seattle Mariners Director of Player Development Frank Mattox today announced that the Mariners have come to agreement on 2007 minor league contracts with ten minor league free agents." And then, they list off nine players. Awesome.

In addition, they've repeated the idea that the Michael Wagner who was a signing from a while back is the one in the Rangers system who is from around here, when it's actually this dude. You're killin' me, guys.

I've gone over Wagner and Kite in the past, so I'll skip over them.

Bello, now 24, led to some fussing over at LL, mostly because everyone remembers him as an undeserving all-star last year who walked more guys than was reasonable by any conceivable standards and maintained a flukey-low ERA for much of the season. Bello was one of the guys I would harp on a lot in past years, and I didn't think anyone would ever get through to him, but check his walk rate from July on. It's down to 3.73, after averaging over five for his career. Even his season stats are an improvement that I didn't anticipate over his Wisconsin numbers, shaving off two walks per nine innings and tacking on a K. I'm thinking Scott Budner finally got through to him sometime in the season and helped with this improvement, and it doesn't hurt that he's gone from the second most flyball prone pitcher in the system (0.59, to Julio Mateo's 0.53 career average GO/AO) to slightly more passable (0.76), and yes, the light went on around the time he stopped walking guys too (just under one, after that). Helfgott and I seem to be in agreement on this one, he has a serious risk of flaming out, but he's a live arm and displayed notable improvement at a level where pitchers should not be expected to do so. It's enough to take a flier on, since he seems to be able to start now.

Cortez, 23, failed to build on his '05 "breakout", and was walking batters at a worse rate than he previously had at any point in his career (five per nine, to a career average of three). His hits jumped a bit too, so he's gone back to what looks like a triple-A player. He could make a comeback, but I can't say I'm banking on it.

Eichelberger, 23, is a random insurance arm who struck out and walked a ton of guys in Peoria. I don't know if there's a story to go along with this.

Foppert, 26, pitched just over ten innings last year before being shut down with what everyone suspected to be arm troubles. Pitchers can recover from TJ at different rates, and Foppert may be a little different as he wasn't even really a pitcher 'til college. The M's would probably know best as to what's going on with his arm, so I don't mind that they signed him. For anyone who wants to drop the token "Winn trade" reference, I'll point out that, technically, we have Jose de la Cruz too, from turning Torrealba into Carvajal into de la Cruz.

Ordonez, 34, is not to be confused with Rey Sanchez, who also played with the Mets, the Devil Rats, and the M's, but is five years older. He wasn't in affliated ball last year. Maybe he makes a play for backup utility IF, maybe he doesn't.

Torcato, 27, was a first-round pick by the Giants out of high school in '98. He was once in their top five prospects, four years running, and described as their best hitter. He also suffered a bunch of weird injuries and never quite turned into anything after moving from third base to the outfield, and then to first. He played in Charlotte last year in the White Sox system and did nothing of note. He provides Greg Dobbs with some competition for prettiest swing, apparently, but we'll see who does more with it.

Ust, 28, is a corner infielder who hits like an all-glove shortstop. I can't think of anything more to add to that.

It looks like the M's have also released Bryan Sabatella, Juan Guzman, and Alex Gary.

2007 Minor League Coaching Staffs Announced

2006-11-13T21:37:00.000-08:00

Hooray for any kind of news.

The M's announced their coaching staffs today. As speculated earlier, Eddie Rodriguez did take the minor league job and is now the manager of the Diamond Jaxx.

The manager rundown goes like this...

Tacoma: Daren Brown (up from San Antonio)
West Tenn: Eddie Rodriguez (from the Nats)
High Desert: Scott Steinmann (former T-Rats manager, took last year off)
Wisconsin: Jim Horner (returning)
Everett: Mike Tosar (from the Padres)
Peoria: Jose Moreno (up from VSL)
DSL: Raymond Mejia (returning)
VSL: Russel Vasquez (new to system)

There's a whole chart there describing the various moves.

I wonder if the Francisco Gerez on the DSL staff is the same guy who, during a cup of coffee in Tacoma, revealed himself to be several years older than his listed age. Hmmmm...

Winter League Stats (11/12/06)

2006-11-12T12:14:00.000-08:00

Arizona Fall League
2B Michael Garciaparra: 17 G, 73 ABs, 10 R, 25 H, 3 2B, 11 RBI, 13/1 K/BB, 2 SB, .342/.392/.384
RHP Craig James: 9 G, 0-0, 4.00 ERA in 9.0 IP, 10 H, 5 R (4 ER), 7/6 K/BB, HB
RHP Stephen Kahn: 8 G, 0-0, 9.82 ERA in 7.1 IP, 14 H, 8 R (8 ER), 6/8 K/BB, HB
LHP Bobby Livingston: 6 G (6 GS), 1-3, 10.45 ERA in 20.2 IP, 37 H (2 HR), 25 R (24 ER), 17/3 K/BB, 4 HB
LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith: 10 G, 0-1, 6.23 ERA in 13.0 IP, 16 H, 10 R (9 ER), 14/8 K/BB, HB
3B Matt Tuiasosopo: 19 G, 72 ABs, 9 R, 12 H, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, 20/6 K/BB, .167/.241/.208
OF Mike Wilson: 20 G, 74 ABs, 10 R, 18 H, 2 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 27/13 K/BB, SB, .243/.356/.419

Hawaiian Winter League
LHP David Asher: 7 G (3 GS), 1-1, 5.60 ERA in 17.2 IP, 23 H (2 HR), 12 R (11 ER), 15/8 K/BB, HB
OF Sebastien Boucher: 21 G, 66 ABs, 15 R, 11 H, 2 2B, 3 3B, 3 RBI, 20/11 K/BB, 2 SB, 2 CS, 3 HBP, .167/.313/.288
C Jeff Clement: 17 G, 40 ABs, 2 R, 6 H, HR, RBI, 12/0 K/BB, HBP, .150/.171/.225
1B Reed Eastley: 20 G, 66 ABs, 4 R, 13 H, 2B, 7 RBI, 16/7 K/BB, 2 HBP, SB, .197/.289/.212
RHP Joe Woerman: 13 G, 2-0, 3.12 ERA in 17.1 IP, 15 H, 6 R (6 ER), 20/11 K/BB, 2 WP

IBAF Intercontinental Cup
IF Yung-chi Chen: 4 G, 17 ABs, 3 R, 6 H, 3B, HR, 5 RBI, 2/1 K/BB, HBP, .353/.421/.647
3B Alex Liddi: 4 G, 20 ABs, 3 R, 6 H, 3 2B, 3 RBI, 3/0 K/BB, .300/.300/.450
OF Kalian Sams: 1 G, 3 ABs, 3 H, 2 R, 3B, 4 RBI, 0/0 K/BB, 1.000/1.667/1.000

Mexican Pacific League
RHP Jorge Campillo: 5 G (5 GS), 1-2, 3.72 ERA in 29.0 IP, 20 H (5 HR), 14 R (12 ER), 27/4 K/BB, 3 WP
1B Bryan LaHair: 19 G, 64 ABs, 11 R, 15 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 16/13 K/BB, CS, .234/.359/.359

Venezuelan Winter League
RHP Nibaldo Acosta: 2 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA in 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2/0 K/BB
OF Wladimir Balentien: 15 G, 55 AB, 13 R, 21 H, 5 2B, 3 3B, 5 HR, 13 RBI, 15/8 K/BB, 2 SB, CS, .382/.460/.855
RHP Yorman Bazardo: 7 G, 1-0, S, 1.50 ERA in 10.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R (ER), 5/2 K/BB, 2 WP, HB
RHP Cibney Bello: 3 G, 0-0, 4.15 ERA in 4.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2/4 K/BB, WP
RHP Ivan Blanco: 7 G, 1-1, 0.93 ERA in 10.0 IP, 7 H (HR), 6 R (3 ER), 9/4 K/BB
RHP Rich Dorman: 6 G (5 GS), 1-1, 2.63 ERA in 27.1 IP, 23 H (HR), 8 R (8 ER), 23/11 K/BB, WP
LHP Jose Escalona: 6 G, 0-0, 6.75 ERA in 4.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R (3 ER), 2/3 K/BB, 3 WP
RHP Emiliano Fruto: 10 G, 1-1, 5 S, 3.18 ERA in 11.1 IP, 14 H, 6 R (4 ER), 11/3 K/BB
IF Jesus Guzman: 7 G, 12 ABs, H, 5/2 K/BB, CS, .082/.214/.082
RHP Jeff Harris: 4 G (4 GS), 2-0, 2.35 ERA in 23.0 IP, 16 H (2 HR), 6 R (6 ER), 9/2 K/BB, 2 WP, 3 HB
IF Jose Lopez: 4 G, 19 ABs, 2 R, 10 H, 3 2B, 2 RBI, 1/0 K/BB, HBP, .526/.550/.684
IF Oswaldo Navarro: 14 G, 50 ABs, 4 R, 14 H, 2 2B, 5 RBI, 4/4 K/BB, CS, HBP, .280/.345/.320
1B Jon Nelson: 7 G, 25 ABs, 2 R, 4 H, 2B, 2 RBI, 6/3 K/BB, SB, .160/.276/.200
C Luis Oliveros: 5 G, 11 ABs, 2 R, 3 H, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2/0 K/BB, .273/.273/.818
C Guillermo Quiroz: 7 G, 17 AB, 3 R, 5 H, HR, RBI, 2/4 K/BB, .294/.429/.471

New this week, we have stats from the International Baseball Federation's Intercontinental Cup, where the M's have three prospects currently playing.

Wlad continues the bombing campaign of Operation Beat The Snot Out of the Ball (official title pending), with three more doubles and two more home runs this week. Jose Lopez has joined him and currently has hits in more than half of his at-bats. The pitchers didn't have quite as many appearances on the radar, with Blanco as a no-show this week, but Bazardo, Dorman, Harris, and Fruto continued to fare well.
Campillo pitched another six innings, giving up another two hits (including a solo home run) and striking out six. Lahair is still MIA.
There's not much to be said about the HWL at this point because the M's hitters aren't living up to the billing, and that's nothing new. Woerman continues to have a good ERA, but he walked five in just three innings this week and that's no good. Asher continues to improve in small degrees.
The biggest leap forward by any of the AFL pitchers this week went to Bobby Livingston, but when your ERA is over fifteen, it shouldn't be too difficult to shave five points off. For the week, he had nine innings pitched, with four runs on nine hits and nine Ks. Not too shabby. Slight imrpovement all around for the rest of the pack. Mini G finally won himself some playing time, and though his overall production slipped a little (still trying to figure out where his walks have gone), he's remained a contributor. Mike Wilson hit a triple this week. Your "positive" note for Tui this week is the 2/2 K/BB.

While I'm here, we have had a series of international baseball articles in the local papers lately, with the P-I looking at the possibility of an Israeli professional league, and the Times doing a Rich Dorman / LVBP feature and an article on the issue of steroid testing in the summer leagues.

Aquasox Pics From 8/9/06

2006-11-09T00:19:00.000-08:00

I can't get used to blogging only once a week, and the winter league stats comment section is getting a little crowded, so here are some pictures I took of Tony Butler pitching. Sorry about the one time I left the flash on, dude.

Better pictures from a better camera once I get the money.

More pictures from the same camera a few more times through the offseason.

Winter League Stats (11/05/06)

2006-11-05T11:44:00.000-08:00

Arizona Fall League
2B Michael Garciaparra: 11 G, 46 ABs, 9 R, 17 H, 2 2B, 10 RBI, 9/1 K/BB, .370/.420/.413
RHP Craig James: 7 G, 0-0, 5.14 ERA in 7.0 IP, 10 H, 4 R (4 ER), 5/4 K/BB, HB
RHP Stephen Kahn: 6 G, 0-0, 11.81 ERA in 5.1 IP, 12 H, 7 R (7 ER), 5/6 K/BB, HB
LHP Bobby Livingston: 4 G (4 GS), 0-2, 15.43 ERA in 11.2 IP, 28 H (HR), 21 R (20 ER), 8/3 K/BB, 4 HB
LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith: 8 G, 0-1, 7.36 ERA in 11.0 IP, 15 H, 9 R (9 ER), 11/6 K/BB, HB
3B Matt Tuiasosopo: 15 G, 60 ABs, 9 R, 10 H, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, 18/4 K/BB, .167/.231/.217
OF Mike Wilson: 15 G, 56 ABs, 8 R, 14 H, 2 2B, 3 HR, 18 RBI, 18/9 K/BB, .250/.353/.446

Hawaiian Winter League
LHP David Asher: 6 G (3 GS), 1-1, 5.94 ERA in 16.2 IP, 22 H (2 HR), 12 R (11 ER), 13/8 K/BB, HB
OF Sebastien Boucher: 17 G, 54 ABs, 14 R, 11 H, 2 2B, 3 3B, 3 RBI, 15/9 K/BB, SB, 2 CS, 3 HBP, .204/.348/.352
C Jeff Clement: 14 G, 33 ABs, 2 R, 5 H, HR, RBI, 7/0 K/BB, HBP, .152/.176/.242
1B Reed Eastley: 15 G, 51 ABs, 4 R, 11 H, 2B, 6 RBI, 13/7 K/BB, 2 HBP, SB, .216/.341/.263
RHP Joe Woerman: 11 G, 2-0, 3.14 ERA in 14.1 IP, 15 H, 5 R (5 ER), 17/6 K/BB, 2 WP

Mexican Pacific League
RHP Jorge Campillo: 4 G (4 GS), 1-2, 4.30 ERA in 23.0 IP, 18 H (4 HR), 13 R (11 ER), 21/4 K/BB, 3 WP
1B Bryan LaHair: 19 G, 64 ABs, 11 R, 15 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 16/13 K/BB, CS, .234/.359/.359

Venezuelan Winter League
RHP Nibaldo Acosta: 2 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA in 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2/0 K/BB
OF Wladimir Balentien: 10 G, 36 AB, 9 R, 14 H, 2 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 9/5 K/BB, 2 SB, CS, .389/.463/.861
RHP Yorman Bazardo: 4 G, 0-0, S, 1.50 ERA in 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R (ER), 3/0 K/BB, WP
RHP Cibney Bello: 3 G, 0-0, 4.15 ERA in 4.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2/4 K/BB, WP
RHP Ivan Blanco: 7 G, 1-1, 0.93 ERA in 10.0 IP, 7 H (HR), 6 R (3 ER), 9/4 K/BB
RHP Rich Dorman: 5 G (4 GS), 1-1, 3.10 ERA in 20.1 IP, 20 H (HR), 7 R (7 ER), 19/10 K/BB
LHP Jose Escalona: 6 G, 0-0, 6.75 ERA in 4.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R (3 ER), 2/3 K/BB, 3 WP
RHP Emiliano Fruto: 8 G, 1-0, 4 S, 2.79 ERA in 9.2 IP, 10 H, 3 R (3 ER), 11/3 K/BB
IF Jesus Guzman: 6 G, 9 ABs, 4/2 K/BB, CS, .000/.182/.000
RHP Jeff Harris: 3 G (3 GS), 1-0, 2.81 ERA in 16.0 IP, 12 H (HR), 5 R (5 ER), 7/2 K/BB, WP
IF Oswaldo Navarro: 10 G, 35 ABs, 3 R, 8 H, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 4/3 K/BB, SB, .229/.308/.286
1B Jon Nelson: 7 G, 25 ABs, 2 R, 4 H, 2B, 2 RBI, 6/3 K/BB, SB, .160/.276/.200
C Luis Oliveros: 3 G, 8 ABs, 2 R, 2 H, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 1/0 K/BB, .250/.250/1.000
C Guillermo Quiroz: 7 G, 17 AB, 3 R, 5 H, HR, RBI, 2/4 K/BB, .294/.429/.471

I appreciate that MLB.com has gone the extra mile and started posting their own weekly stat wraps for the winter leagues, after all, I wouldn't know if that was really Jon Nelson down there otherwise, but statements like "it hasn't taken long for Emiliano Fruto to blossom into a top prospect" kind of get to me. Fruto was in the minors for six years, most of them bouncing back forth between roles and posting numbers that were impressive mostly considering his age. Even then, he only got himself straightened out a couple years back, and some would argue how much of a top prospect a guy currently slotted as a reliever can be. Nit-picking again, I suppose.
The pitchers are improving all around by small degrees, with the exception of Bobby Livingston, who continues to get beaten up every time he takes the mound. The one outstanding performance this week from that group would have to go to Jorge Campillo, who pitched six innings and gave up just a solo home run and a walk while he struck out seven. That's not going to happen every time out, obviously, but if he continues to perform down there, he may get himself back into consideration for the fifth spot in the rotation.
For the hitters, it's mostly small improvements as well. Mini G is hitting far better than Wilson or Tui, but still can't get the regular playing time out there. Clement still struggles to find regular at-bats and logged ten this week. Lahair hasn't played in the last three games, near as I can figure, and I'm not sure why exactly. Both of Oliveros' hits this winter season have been grand slams, from the looks of it. Balentien continues to destroy the league's pitching.

In the files of "this was interesting, but I didn't want to devote a separate post to it", former blog favorite Ryan Ketchner was picked up by the Padres as a minor league free agent. After all, where else to old Mariners players go? Former Mariner outfield and Moyer trade centerpiece Darren Bragg is now the hitting coach for the Dayton Dragons.

Brundage to the Braves

2006-11-01T22:59:00.000-08:00

Former Rainiers manager Dave Brundage is going to be named the manager of the Richmond Braves, according to sources online.

Still no word on who might be taking the helm for Rainiers. It might be Nationals bench coach Eddie Rodriguez, with a recent blurb linking him to a minor league job with the M's, but that's as much specualation as I can offer.

Winter League Stats (10/29/06)

2006-10-29T11:50:00.000-08:00

Arizona Fall League
2B Michael Garciaparra: 8 G, 34 ABs, 7 R, 11 H, 2 2B, 7 RBI, 7/1 K/BB, .324/.361/.382
RHP Craig James: 5 G, 0-0, 7.20 ERA in 5.0 IP, 9 H, 4 R (4 ER), 5/4 K/BB, HB
RHP Stephen Kahn: 4 G, 0-0, 13.50 ERA in 3.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R (5 ER), 5/4 K/BB, HB
LHP Bobby Livingston: 3 G (3 GS), 0-2, 16.62 ERA in 8.2 IP, 23 H (HR), 16 R (16 ER), 7/2 K/BB, 3 HB
LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith: 6 G, 0-1, 8.00 ERA in 9.0 IP, 13 H, 8 R (8 ER), 9/5 K/BB
3B Matt Tuiasosopo: 11 G, 47 ABs, 7 R, 7 H, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, 12/4 K/BB, .149/.216/.213
OF Mike Wilson: 11 G, 43 ABs, 7 R, 11 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 12/8 K/BB, .256/.365/.442

Hawaiian Winter League
(which started before the Fall League, you know...)
LHP David Asher: 4 G (3 GS), 0-1, 6.94 ERA in 11.2 IP, 15 H (HR), 10 R (9 ER), 8/7 K/BB, HB
OF Sebastien Boucher: 13 G, 41 ABs, 10 R, 7 H, 2 2B, 3 3B, 3 RBI, 11/6 K/BB, CS, 3 HBP, .171/.320/.366
C Jeff Clement: 9 G, 23 ABs, R, 4 H, 7/0 K/BB, HBP, .174/.208/.174
1B Reed Eastley: 11 G, 38 ABs, 3 R, 9 H, 2B, 5 RBI, 10/4 K/BB, HBP, SB, .237/.341/.263
RHP Joe Woerman: 8 G, 2-0, 4.35 ERA in 10.1 IP, 13 H, 5 R (5 ER), 11/5 K/BB, 2 WP

Mexican Pacific League
RHP Jorge Campillo: 3 G (3 GS), 0-2, 5.39 ERA in 17.0 IP, 17 H (HR), 12 R (10 ER), 14/3 K/BB, 3 WP
1B Bryan LaHair: 16 G, 53 ABs, 10 R, 13 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 13/12 K/BB, CS, .245/.379/.396

Venezuelan Winter League
RHP Nibaldo Acosta: 1 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA in 0.2 IP, 2 H, 1/0 K/BB
OF Wladimir Balentien: 4 G, 11 AB, 4 R, 4 H, 2B, 3B, HR, 4/4 K/BB SB, CS, .364/.533/.909
RHP Yorman Bazardo: 4 G, 0-0, S, 1.50 ERA in 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R (ER), 3/0 K/BB, WP
RHP Cibney Bello: 3 G, 0-0, 4.15 ERA in 4.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2/4 K/BB, WP
RHP Ivan Blanco: 4 G, 1-0, 0.93 ERA in 9.2 IP, 2 H (HR), 2 R (ER), 9/2 K/BB
RHP Rich Dorman: 3 G (2 GS), 0-1, 3.24 ERA in 8.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R (3 ER), 8/6 K/BB
LHP Jose Escalona: 3 G, 0-0, 4.50 ERA in 2.0 IP, 3 H, R (ER), 1/2 K/BB, 2 WP
RHP Emiliano Fruto: 5 G, 1-0, 2 S, 2.70 ERA in 6.2 IP, 8 H, 2 R (2 ER), 9/2 K/BB
IF Jesus Guzman: 5 G, 9 ABs, 4/2 K/BB, CS, .000/.182/.000
RHP Jeff Harris: 1 G (1 GS), 0.00 ERA in 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2/1 K/BB
IF Oswaldo Navarro: 4 G, 12 ABs, 4 H, 2B, 2 RBI, 2/3 K/BB, .333/.467/.417
C Luis Oliveros: 2 G, 7 ABs, R, H, HR, 4 RBI, 1/0 K/BB, .143/.143/.571
C Guillermo Quiroz: 5 G, 12 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 1/4 K/BB, .250/.438/.250

Balentien, Harris, and Navarro sightings in the LVBP. Balentien tore it up, but for the most part, the players tended to slip this week. The pitchers in the AFL continue to get punished for throwing that white thing with the red stitches anywhere near the plate (and sometimes when they aren't), and the HWL ones aren't exactly exciting either, though both improved this week. Meanwhile, down south, Ivan Blanco has turned into one of the Cardenales' more dominant relievers. Who'd have guessed?

More Releases

2006-10-27T16:20:00.000-07:00

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.

The Labor Deal and You

2006-10-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

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.

Winter League Stats (10/22/06)

2006-10-22T11:54:00.000-07:00

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...

News Around the Minors (10/19/06)

2006-10-19T16:35:00.000-07:00

An Ohio paper has an article on Grafton product Ryan Feierabend and his encounter with his childhood idol, Jim Thome, late in the Mariners' season.

The Victoria Times Colonist has a feature on the recent successes of Canadian baseball that no one seems to be paying attention to, with the national team qualifying for the Beijing Olympics, earning a Bronze back in the '04 games, and recently earning the same distinction with its youth team in the junior baseball championships. There's a little comment on Mike Saunders at the end there. I think the M's have done a decent job keeping Canada on their radar (even if it may be one-sided), and it's too early to talk much about DFEs, but I am a little interested in OF Tyson Gillies.

Not really "news", but I recently noticed on the Aquasox site that the same group owns the Lancaster Jethawks, which makes the M's move to High Desert all the more surprising. Perhaps the Jethawks just decided they liked the Red Sox affiliation better.

Finally, fans of winter baseball (of which there are, hey, four or five of you out there?) can rejoice, as there's going to be one more league joining the fold soon, to which I say: it's about time. The Australian Baseball League looks like it will be open for business in November of next year, fielding six teams initially. Major league teams will be able to affiliate with the new teams and send prospects and players as they see fit. With the world of Australian baseball scouting growing by the year, it only makes sense.

M's Announce Minor League Awards

2006-10-19T16:10:00.000-07:00

Usually, we'd have to wait about a month for these to come out, but while doing my news search, I came across the article right here. Not sure exactly how they got it, as this is my first experience with the site, but it seems to have a variety of sources already and the information appears to be about what I'd consider right.

To get to the content itself, the M's have named 1B Bryan Lahair their minor league player of the year and RHP Mark Lowe as their pitcher of the year. The rest of the list goes as follows:

Level Team Player Pitcher
AAA Tacoma OF Adam Jones RH Cha Seung Baek
AA San Antonio OF Wladimir Balentien LH Ryan Feierabend
A Inland Empire INF Tyler Eastley RH Jose De La Cruz
A Wisconsin INF Ron Garth RH Nick Allen
Short-A Everett INF Manelik Pimentel RH Doug Fister
Rookie Peoria INF Gerardo Avila RH Douglas Salinas
Dominican INF Luis Nunez LH Eddy Fernandez
Venezuelan INF Edilio Colina RH Juan Carlos Ramirez

Yeah, Reed is just his middle name while Tyler is his first name.

There's nothing much out of the ordinary in these listings. I would've made a case for Halman or Joe White in Everett, but Pimentel was a regular producer for the Sox and was noted for his contributions to the community (bonus points). I'd also like to throw some kudos Tony Butler's way, but Salinas and Fister aren't bad choices by any means.

Congratulations to all!

Mike Wilson: AFL Player of the Week

2006-10-16T17:13:00.000-07:00

Saw that coming.

Sure, it's only the first week of play, and a short one at that, but grand slams in consecutive games is a pretty big deal.

In the AFL today, the league's best offense in the Javelinas met up with the league's best pitching staff in the Mesa Solar Sox, and being the AFL, the former came up on top by seven.

It's worth noting for two reasons: Tui had a pair of hits, including a double, and drove in two, and KAAAAAHN made his first appearance in the sixth, striking out one.

Winter League Stats (10/15/06)

2006-10-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, after that Hawks game I'm still trying to get my bearings straight. I only tuned in for the fourth quarter, but I think that one had enough action to make up for what I missed...

(and Fox is using The Rat by The Walkmen for their playoff commercials...)

Anyway, this is the first update of the winter league stats. As such, some of these stats are even less meaningful than usual.
Edit: 7:03 pm PDT, more goodies below...

Arizona Fall League
2B Michael Garciaparra: 3 G, 13 ABs, 4 R, 4 H, 3 RBI, 4/0 K/BB, .308/.357/.308
RHP Craig James: 1 G, 0-0, 27.00 ERA in 0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R (2 ER), 0/2 K/BB
LHP Bobby Livingston: 1 G (1 GS), 0-0, 27.00 ERA in 2.1 IP, 8 H, 7 R (7 ER), 1/0 K/BB, HB
LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith: 2 G, 0-0, 2.25 ERA in 4.0 IP, H, R (ER), 5/1 K/BB
3B Matt Tuiasosopo: 4 G, 17 ABs, 4 R, 2 H, 3B, 2 RBI, 3/2 K/BB, .118/.211/.235
OF Mike Wilson: 4 G, 17 ABs, 5 R, 5 H, 2B, 2 HR (grand slams in consecutive games), 11 RBI (leads league), 5/2 K/BB, .294/.350/.706

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: 6 G, 19 ABs, 2 R, 2 H, RBI, 5/2 K/BB, CS, .105/.190/.105
C Jeff Clement: 4 G, 10 ABs, 2 H, R, 2/0 K/BB, HBP, .200/.273/.200
1B Reed Eastley: 6 G, 19 ABs, R, 3 H, RBI, 6/2 K/BB, HBP, .158/.273/.158
RHP Joe Woerman: 4 G, 0-0, 1.42 ERA in 6.1 IP, 7 H, R (ER), 7/2 K/BB, WP

I'll add the VWL next week. There's only two games in the statbooks on the Cardenales site right now and the LVBP main site has nothing at the moment.

What we do have now, is Rich Dorman's journal as posted via the Tacoma Rainiers site, which includes an e-mail you can use to ask him questions.

BA'S Top TL and PCL Prospects

2006-10-12T13:35:00.000-07:00

Two loaded leagues. Two M's representatives.

Balentien came in last in the top 20 for the Texas League, with this comment in the chat...

Q: Jaypers from Illinois asks:
What's happened to Balentien's swing this year? His K's were off the charts. Assuming he fixes this, when is the earliest you could see a callup in his future?

A: Will Lingo: Perhaps the most intriguing prospect for me in the league this year. One scout described Balentien as taking a "Cuban approach" at the plate, meaning he's not going to get cheated on any swing. He has massive tools but has not shown the ability to make adjustments yet, so it's hard to see him in the big leagues until something clicks with that. I think sending him back to Double-A would be the best idea. I wouldn't expect him to contribute until 08 at the earliest.

In the loaded, PCL, Adam Jones was eighth and had a couple of questions about him in the chat...

Q: Jerry from Albany, NY asks:
Bill, I was wondering if you could compare Adam Jones and Chris Young. They both seem like pretty similar players: athletic CFers with power. Both draw comps like Eric Davis and Mike Cameron. You have Young ranked above Jones. However, Jones' numbers were nearly as good, despite the fact that he is two years younger than Young (who is actually 23, not 22). The M's have been ultra agressive with their promotions, hoping that prospects can rise above adversity. Thus, I think that the fact that Jones even held his own in the PCL at age 21 is pretty impressive, especially considering his position switch. Does the M's agressive promotions (and the resulting underwhelming stats) have an effect on how these guys are rated?

A: Bill Ballew: To answer your last question first, no, Jerry, the M's aggressive promotion really didn't have anything to do with the rankings. Young is just a little more polished than Jones at this point. You're right in that they are both similar, and I really like the potential both have. In fact, I'm a huge Adam Jones fan. He has a big upside and continues to get better and better. That should continue to be the case, especially as he gets more comfortable in the middle garden.

Q: Tom from Mineola asks:
Regarding Adam Jones, I keep reading comps to Mike Cameron, but given his relative low number of walks, wouldn't Torii Hunter be a more accurate comparison? I mean, a typical Cameron season would include 70-80 BBs. I just don't see Jones having that type of patience. Would you agree?

A: Bill Ballew: I like the comparisons to Hunter better than to Cameron, too. I think Adam will draw more walks as he gets experience. He's moved so fast in the past two years all the while making a defensive position change. If he can stay in one place for a while and gain his bearings, he'll be a solid all-around player.

Lara Cardenales Preliminary Roster

2006-10-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

It's a little slow again, but fret not, the AFL is on the way and if you can't deal with that, there's always the LVBP, and the Lara Cardenales.

Right now, it looks like the players with M's ties (past or present) who are participating include RHPs Rich Dorman, Emiliano Fruto, Jeff Harris, and Felix Hernandez (limited work, if any), C Guillermo Quiroz, IFs Asdrubal Cabrera (Indians), Oswaldo Navarro, Jesus Guzman, and Jose Lopez (limited work, if any), and OF Wladimir Balentien. It looks like Felix's brother Moises is going to be in the rotation too. No word on Cesar Jimenez, who usually works there.

I've thought for a while that Balentien could probably benefit from a little time in winter ball, so that'll be one interesting storyline to watch. Quiroz' performance could also help determine what the org does with him.

I'll keep up with the stats when I can.

Interview w/ Doug Fister

2006-10-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

Conor Glassey did an interview with 2006 Aquasox favorite RHP Doug Fister, posted on Friday, that gives some insight into him as a player and his approach out there. It's good stuff, so give it a read.

2006 Runs Created and Secondary Average

2006-10-05T22:48:00.000-07:00

I've been sitting on this for a little while and figured now was as decent a time to get it all together and post it while minor league content elsewhere is scarce and
For those of you out there that are still new to the gig, Runs Created is a formula that attempts to measure a player's overall offensive performance and Secondary Average accounts for their extra-base hits, walks, and ability to steal bases. Neither of them use strikeouts in the calculations. The formula I use for Runs Created is {[Hits + Walks + Hits by Pitch - Caught Stealing - Grounds into Double Play] * [Total Bases + .26(Walks - Intentional Walks + Hits By Pitch) + .52(Sacrifice Hits + Sacrifice Flies + Stolen Bases)]} / (At Bats + Walks + Hits by Pitch + Sacrifice Hits + Sacrifice Flies). Secondary Average is a helluva lot simpler, with the formula just being (Total Bases - Hits + Walks + Stolen Bases - Caught Stealing) / (At Bats).

For helping maintain my sanity throughout the process of the switch to HTML, I'd like to thank TV on the Radio's Return to Cookie Mountain and Morphine's Like Swimming (though I'm seeing The National tomorrow night). As promised months ago, "mmmm, drrrr, *droool* new TV on the Radio". I'd also like to thank tonight's Chicken Katsu, which really pulled through in the clutch.

(get your Pg Down buttons and mouse scroll wheels ready...)

Tacoma Runs Created
Name	Age	Pos	AB	RC	RC/27
*Choo, Shin-soo	24	OF	375	81.90	8.38
*Lahair, Bryan	24	1B	202	43.32	8.12
*Dobbs, Greg	28	3B	379	64.09	6.22
Garciaparra, Michael	24	2B	136	22.80	6.16
Nelson, Jon	27	OF	271	44.40	5.85
Jones, Adam	21	CF	380	61.17	5.72
Quiroz, Guillermo	26	C	138	20.64	5.41
Brown, Hunter	27	UT	385	58.51	5.25
Bohn, T.J.	27	OF	378	54.71	5.13
Castro, Ismael	23	2B	175	25.21	5.12
*Sears, Todd	31	1B	172	23.67	4.84
#Youngbauer, Scott	28	IF	243	29.94	4.08
#Cabrera, Asdrubal	21	SS	203	24.07	3.89
Morse, Michael	25	UT	206	23.62	3.80
*Snelling, Chris	25	OF	241	28.76	3.79
*Clement, Jeff	23	C	245	26.20	3.63
Navarro, Oswaldo	22	IF	183	18.77	3.33
Johnson, Rob	23	C	337	25.79	2.46

Tacoma Secondary Average
Name	Age	Pos	AB	SECA	OPS
*Choo, Shin-soo	24	OF	375	.355	.893
*Lahair, Bryan	24	1B	202	.327	.918
Brown, Hunter	27	UT	385	.304	.762
Jones, Adam	21	CF	380	.295	.829
Nelson, Jon	27	OF	271	.284	.856
*Snelling, Chris	25	OF	241	.261	.667
*Dobbs, Greg	28	3B	379	.259	.828
#Youngbauer, Scott	28	IF	243	.251	.714
#Cabrera, Asdrubal	21	SS	203	.251	.683
*Sears, Todd	31	1B	172	.250	.743
Bohn, T.J.	27	OF	378	.249	.758
Castro, Ismael	23	2B	175	.223	.817
Garciaparra, Michael	24	2B	136	.221	.797
Morse, Michael	25	UT	206	.218	.702
Quiroz, Guillermo	26	C	138	.203	.787
Navarro, Oswaldo	22	IF	183	.180	.642
*Clement, Jeff	23	C	245	.147	.668
Johnson, Rob	23	C	337	.145	.578

San Antonio Runs Created
Name	Age	Pos	AB	RC	RC/27
*Lahair, Bryan	24	1B	222	36.62	6.10
Chen, Yung-chi	23	IF	149	25.11	5.80
*Hubbard, Marshall	24	1B	242	37.57	5.57
#Youngbauer, Scott	28	IF	118	18.08	5.25
Garciaparra, Michael	24	2B	105	15.40	5.20
Wilson, Mike	23	OF	241	37.00	5.10
Balentien, Wladimir	22	OF	444	67.10	4.99
Bourgeois, Jason	25	UT	411	57.94	4.90
Navarro, Oswaldo	22	IF	266	35.01	4.52
Guzman, Jesus	22	IF	408	53.32	4.35
Monzon, Erick	25	IF	269	31.88	4.02
Nelson, Jon	27	OF	162	18.28	3.95
*Boucher, Sebastien	25	OF	416	49.30	3.87
Castro, Ismael	23	2B	112	9.90	3.00
Ruchti, Justin	26	C	144	11.77	2.76
Tuiasosopo, Matt	20	3B	216	13.08	1.92
*Harris, Gary	27	CF	160	9.37	1.84
Oliveros, Luis	23	C	153	5.99	1.21

San Antonio Secondary Average
Name	Age	Pos	AB	SECA	OPS
Balentien, Wladimir	22	OF	444	.378	.772
Wilson, Mike	23	OF	241	.313	.781
Chen, Yung-chi	23	IF	149	.282	.808
*Boucher, Sebastien	25	OF	416	.254	.656
#Youngbauer, Scott	28	IF	118	.254	.766
*Hubbard, Marshall	24	1B	242	.248	.790
Guzman, Jesus	22	IF	408	.248	.718
Bourgeois, Jason	25	UT	411	.246	.732
*Lahair, Bryan	24	1B	222	.243	.798
Monzon, Erick	25	IF	269	.238	.668
Navarro, Oswaldo	22	IF	266	.218	.706
Nelson, Jon	27	OF	162	.185	.704
Castro, Ismael	23	2B	112	.161	.613
Garciaparra, Michael	24	2B	105	.152	.756
Ruchti, Justin	26	C	144	.139	.578
Tuiasosopo, Matt	20	3B	216	.129	.477
*Harris, Gary	27	CF	160	.119	.499
Oliveros, Luis	23	C	153	.033	.402

Inland Empire Runs Created
Name	Age	Pos	AB	RC	RC/27
Wilson, Mike	23	OF	200	41.89	7.69
Chen, Yung-chi	23	IF	278	53.17	7.11
#Falcon, Omar	24	C	174	34.41	6.99
*Craig, Casey	22	OF	245	39.16	5.56
*Eastley, Reed	23	IF	349	54.14	5.43
*Womack, Josh	23	OF	412	60.37	5.11
Johnson, Brent	24	CF	500	67.44	4.63
Monzon, Erick	25	IF	130	17.40	4.56
Hargrove, Andy	25	1B	117	16.06	4.52
Tuiasosopo, Matt	20	3B	232	28.93	4.41
*Hubbard, Marshall	24	1B	226	28.83	4.40
Arroyo, Jack	23	UT	182	22.55	4.35
*Rogelstad, Matt	24	IF	127	15.71	4.20
*Prettyman, Ron	25	3B	378	39.67	3.61
Meneses, Alex	23	IF	115	12.51	3.56
*Valbuena, Luis	21	2B	163	17.09	3.47
Colton, Chris	24	OF	381	40.11	3.38
Tucker, J.B.	25	C	154	14.86	3.04
Oliveros, Luis	23	C	153	13.09	2.85
#Dominguez, Jeff	20	SS	163	13.02	2.60

Inland Empire Secondary Average
Name	Age	Pos	AB	SECA	OPS
#Falcon, Omar	24	C	174	.402	.856
Wilson, Mike	23	OF	200	.340	.944
Hargrove, Andy	25	1B	117	.316	.714
Chen, Yung-chi	23	IF	278	.266	.866
Monzon, Erick	25	IF	130	.238	.723
*Eastley, Reed	23	IF	349	.235	.759
Tucker, J.B.	25	C	154	.234	.609
*Craig, Casey	22	OF	245	.233	.816
*Womack, Josh	23	OF	412	.228	.763
Colton, Chris	24	OF	381	.223	.650
*Hubbard, Marshall	24	1B	226	.221	.773
Arroyo, Jack	23	UT	182	.220	.662
Johnson, Brent	24	CF	500	.200	.721
*Valbuena, Luis	21	2B	163	.184	.677
Meneses, Alex	23	IF	115	.174	.677
*Rogelstad, Matt	24	IF	127	.165	.661
*Prettyman, Ron	25	3B	378	.142	.661
Tuiasosopo, Matt	20	3B	232	.129	.736
#Dominguez, Jeff	20	SS	163	.104	.578
Oliveros, Luis	23	C	153	.092	.597

Wisconsin Runs Created
Name	Age	Pos	AB	RC	RC/27
Minaker, Chris	23	SS	162	27.33	6.31
Tucker, J.B.	25	C	128	23.41	6.26
*Valbuena, Luis	21	2B	325	50.84	5.49
*Craig, Casey	22	OF	220	31.96	4.96
Moore, Adam	22	C	165	23.46	4.87
Garth, Ron	22	2B	404	56.13	4.83
*Saunders, Michael	20	OF	359	46.27	4.32
*Limonta, Johan	23	LF	212	25.30	4.11
Lo, Kuo-hui	21	OF	107	13.02	4.09
Ledbetter, Curtis	25	DH	174	20.71	3.94
Hudson, Robby	23	SS	400	45.03	3.90
*Hernandez, Eddy	22	OF	403	41.66	3.55
#Dominguez, Jeff	20	SS	247	25.16	3.47
*Scott, Travis	21	C	132	12.47	3.09
Prosise, Nick	22	C	106	8.94	2.77
Sabatella, Bryan	22	LF	176	14.67	2.69
Flaig, Jeff	22	CIF	336	25.39	2.45
Gary, Alex	23	OF	129	9.68	2.22
Hernandez, Jairo	21	OF	133	8.12	1.92

Wisconsin Secondary Average
Name	Age	Pos	AB	SECA	OPS
Tucker, J.B.	25	C	128	.359	.809
*Craig, Casey	22	OF	220	.304	.736
*Valbuena, Luis	21	2B	325	.292	.771
*Saunders, Michael	20	OF	359	.281	.674
Lo, Kuo-hui	21	OF	107	.280	.634
Moore, Adam	22	C	165	.248	.773
*Limonta, Johan	23	LF	212	.236	.692
Minaker, Chris	23	SS	162	.228	.812
Ledbetter, Curtis	25	DH	174	.224	.708
Garth, Ron	22	2B	404	.210	.753
Gary, Alex	23	OF	129	.201	.547
Sabatella, Bryan	22	LF	176	.176	.549
Hudson, Robby	23	SS	400	.170	.682
*Hernandez, Eddy	22	OF	403	.161	.651
#Dominguez, Jeff	20	SS	247	.150	.624
Prosise, Nick	22	C	106	.132	.595
Flaig, Jeff	22	CIF	336	.122	.575
*Scott, Travis	21	C	132	.121	.611
Hernandez, Jairo	21	OF	133	.120	.520

Wisconsin Secondary Average
Name	Age	Pos	AB	SECA	OPS
Tucker, J.B.	25	C	128	.359	.809
*Craig, Casey	22	OF	220	.304	.736
*Valbuena, Luis	21	2B	325	.292	.771
*Saunders, Michael	20	OF	359	.281	.674
Lo, Kuo-hui	21	OF	107	.280	.634
Moore, Adam	22	C	165	.248	.773
*Limonta, Johan	23	LF	212	.236	.692
Minaker, Chris	23	SS	162	.228	.812
Ledbetter, Curtis	25	DH	174	.224	.708
Garth, Ron	22	2B	404	.210	.753
Gary, Alex	23	OF	129	.201	.547
Sabatella, Bryan	22	LF	176	.176	.549
Hudson, Robby	23	SS	400	.170	.682
*Hernandez, Eddy	22	OF	403	.161	.651
#Dominguez, Jeff	20	SS	247	.150	.624
Prosise, Nick	22	C	106	.132	.595
Flaig, Jeff	22	CIF	336	.122	.575
*Scott, Travis	21	C	132	.121	.611
Hernandez, Jairo	21	OF	133	.120	.520

Everett Runs Created
Name	Age	Pos	AB	RC	RC/27
*White, Joe	21	1B	196	36.41	6.38
Lo, Kuo-hui	21	LF	58	10.23	6.14
Moore, Adam	22	C	63	9.02	5.30
Sabatella, Bryan	22	LF	207	29.12	4.79
Minaker, Chris	23	SS	83	10.70	4.74
Halman, Greg	19	CF	116	16.10	4.67
Dickey, Gavin	23	OF	176	22.42	.415
Pimentel, Manelik	22	1B	223	26.72	3.99
*Santin, Danny	22	C	78	8.75	3.94
Bonilla, Leury	22	3B	196	21.46	3.53
Fernandez, Jair	20	C	135	14.83	3.51
Graterol, Jose	22	RF	88	8.67	3.21
*Wu, Chao Kuan	22	C	89	8.22	3.04
*Reynolds, Kevin	24	OF	149	12.60	2.81
#Zorn, Dean	20	2B	170	14.47	2.79
Diaz, Ogui	21	SS	225	18.04	2.74
#Villezcas, Marcos	23	SS	140	11.08	2.56
*Peguero, Carlos	20	RF	93	6.25	2.22

Everett Secondary Average
Name	Age	Pos	AB	SECA	OPS
*White, Joe	21	1B	196	.403	.807
Lo, Kuo-hui	21	LF	58	.379	.804
Halman, Greg	19	CF	116	.328	.804
Dickey, Gavin	23	OF	176	.307	.674
Sabatella, Bryan	22	LF	207	.280	.692
Pimentel, Manelik	22	1B	223	.265	.748
Bonilla, Leury	22	3B	196	.250	.674
Graterol, Jose	22	RF	88	.227	.575
Fernandez, Jair	20	C	135	.200	.652
Moore, Adam	22	C	63	.174	.809
#Villezcas, Marcos	23	SS	140	.171	.598
Minaker, Chris	23	SS	83	.169	.736
*Wu, Chao Kuan	22	C	89	.169	.602
*Santin, Danny	22	C	78	.154	.674
#Zorn, Dean	20	2B	170	.147	.595
*Reynolds, Kevin	24	OF	149	.121	.588
*Peguero, Carlos	20	RF	93	.129	.554
Diaz, Ogui	21	SS	225	.089	.560

Peoria Runs Created
Name	Age	Pos	AB	RC	RC/27
*Peguero, Carlos	20	OF	134	33.47	9.41
*Avila, Gerardo	20	1B	132	27.62	8.20
Liddi, Alex	18	3B	182	33.54	6.91
*Posluszny, Stan	24	OF	141	18.33	4.85
Dotel, Wellington	21	OF	207	28.60	4.62
Benitez, Deybis	19	SS	190	22.96	4.10
Liverpool, Marquise	21	OF	144	18.08	4.03
Ruiz, Donato	24	1B	73	7.99	3.66
Henson, Julian	20	C	69	8.02	3.61
Beltran, Juan	20	UT	89	8.43	.321
Hernandez, Jairo	21	OF	51	4.09	2.63
Vogel, Matt	24	2B	108	7.71	2.26

Peoria Secondary Average
Name	Age	Pos	AB	SECA	OPS
*Peguero, Carlos	20	OF	134	.440	1.029
*Avila, Gerardo	20	1B	132	.295	.929
Liddi, Alex	18	3B	182	.291	.855
Dotel, Wellington	21	OF	207	.271	.787
Liverpool, Marquise	21	OF	144	.229	.688
Henson, Julian	20	C	69	.217	.616
Ruiz, Donato	24	1B	73	.205	.594
Benitez, Deybis	19	SS	190	.179	.681
Hernandez, Jairo	21	OF	51	.176	.560
*Posluszny, Stan	24	OF	141	.142	.747
Beltran, Juan	20	UT	89	.101	.621
Vogel, Matt	24	2B	108	.074	.543

Santo Domingo Runs Created
Name	Age	Pos	AB	RC	RC/27
*Mendez, Maximo	20	OF	178	39.31	6.80
Nunez, Luis	20	IF	190	35.38	6.78
Peguero, Luis	20	IF	163	21.11	4.10
#Rodriguez, Wilfredo	21	C	103	11.99	3.85
Mercedes, Hector	19	C	156	18.65	3.84
Mendez, Joel	19	OF	160	17.77	3.72
Zapata, Angel	19	SS	126	14.09	3.59
Mateo, Alfredo	19	IF	211	22.68	3.50
Rangel, Rigoberto	17	OF	88	9.21	3.27
Arias, Jonathan	19	C	76	8.17	3.20
#Diaz, Juan	18	IF	178	17.48	2.99
Carvajal, Ameilis	18	SS	78	6.79	2.78
*Rijo, Cristian	18	OF	98	2.62	0.79

Santo Domingo Runs Created
Name	Age	Pos	AB	SECA	OPS
*Mendez, Maximo	20	OF	178	.567	8.20
Arias, Jonathan	19	C	76	.276	.597
Nunez, Luis	20	IF	190	.274	.817
Mercedes, Hector	19	C	156	.263	.661
Zapata, Angel	19	SS	126	.254	.648
#Diaz, Juan	18	IF	178	.253	.605
Peguero, Luis	20	IF	163	.233	.695
#Rodriguez, Wilfredo	21	C	103	.233	.673
Carvajal, Ameilis	18	SS	78	.231	.590
Mateo, Alfredo	19	IF	211	.223	.675
Rangel, Rigoberto	17	OF	88	.182	.630
Mendez, Joel	19	OF	160	.156	.697
*Rijo, Cristian	18	OF	98	.112	.323

Regarding the Recent Transactions...

2006-10-03T16:39:00.000-07:00

I managed to find out who LHP Michael Wagner is, and indeed, as some have pointed out already in comments and e-mails, it is a THIRD Wagner, not the one affiliated with the Rangers.

This time around, the M's turned again to the Winnipeg Goldeyes, former team of Bobby Madritsch, and used their relationship there to pick up not one, but two left-handers in Wagner and Josh Kite. Glenn Bott remains on the team, near as I can figure.

Kite, 24, was signed as a NDFA by the Indians after spending his college career at East Tennessee State. He had a 1.96 ERA in 43 appearances this year, held opponents to a .205 average, and had fifty-four strikeouts to sixteen walks in 46.0 innings. He appears to have served as the team's closer for a time. The third Wagner, 21, also pitched in a relief capacity, though in somewhat longer stints as he got 49.1 out of 37 appearances. He kept his opponents at a .215 line and had fourty-two Ks to eleven walks.

Now you know.

High Desert Deal Official

2006-10-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah. It's done, and as I expected, it's a two-year deal. There's the possibility of more, but...

BA's Top 20 Cal League Prospects

2006-10-02T20:38:00.000-07:00

An actual M's representative this time, even if it was only 2B Yung-chi Chen as sixteen of twenty. That's partially the effect of a lot of promotions, but partially because the team itself wasn't that loaded, even considering its playoff run. I think that given their criteria, we might see a few more on the Texas League list though. Let's head to the chat for a little more insight...

Q: Don from Rosemont, IL asks:
What type of power do you think Matt Tuiasosopo will hit for and what position will he ultimately play?

A: Aaron Fitt: He's a big strong kid, but he needs to do a better job handling inside pitches -- he doesn't do a good job turning on the ball right now. He's got enough raw strength for a corner, though, and I think he's got a shot at third base. He's certainly not a shortstop.

Q: David from Seattle asks:
Does mark lowe not qualify for this list? He may not be a first round pick but he tore through the cal league and everywhere else for that matter. He threw 17 23 scoreless innings in the majors and has an upper 90s fastball.

A: Aaron Fitt: He did not qualify -- he had 13 appearances, and relievers need 20 to qualify in a full-season league. Had he qualified, he would probably have ranked No. 6, thanks to a lively mid-90s fastball and perhaps the best slider in the Cal League this year.

Q: Mike from Riverside, CA asks:
Was there any talk about LHP Robert Rohrbaugh? He did a pretty solid job once he earned a AA promotion. He isn't a hard thrower, but is a strike-throwing machine who does a nice job of moving the ball around and challenging hitters. Also, I'm guessing that LH reliever Eric O'Flaherty wasn't around long enough to warrant consideration?

A: Aaron Fitt: Rohrbaugh is a groundball pitcher with a good downward angle and deception - not great stuff, but could be a reliever in big leagues. O'Flaherty did not qualify.

For comparison's sake, the Texas League has two fewer teams, and O'Flaherty and Kahn (reach there, in spite of his stuff) both had the number of appearances required, while Lowe still didn't.

Tune in a week from now to figure out who turned up, because this is going to be one of the last times we look at the Texas League for a while. And thanks to the local fan down there for asking about Rohrbaugh and O'Flaherty. It's better for the Sixers to have the Dodgers as their affiliate, but I'm going to be sad to leave them.

M's Extend Agreement With Tacoma

2006-09-30T11:17:00.000-07:00

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.

M's Left With High Desert

2006-09-30T00:44:00.000-07:00

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

Transaction Update (9/29/06)

2006-09-29T10:04:00.000-07:00

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.

Dodgers Take Back Inland Empire

2006-09-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

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.

West Tennesse Signs With M's

2006-09-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

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.

Missions to Announce Affiliation with Padres

2006-09-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

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.

Hawaiian Winter League Rosters Announced

2006-09-27T22:17:00.000-07:00

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.

BA's Top 20 NWL Prospects

2006-09-27T22:04:00.000-07:00

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.

AFL Roster Changes

2006-09-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

Just took a look and founded an updated roster, accurate as of about a week ago.

It looks like Eric O'Flaherty is off the list, but Bobby Livingston and Ryan Rowland-Smith will both be pitching for the Javelinas.

M's Sign Truinfel

2006-09-22T15:56:00.000-07:00

Hey, Jerry, what's up?

Baseball America is reporting that the M's have signed Dominican SS Carlos Truinfel, and it wasn't even the highest offer. I don't have much of an opinion on the signing, as he wasn't one of the guys I had been looking at heavily, but our SS depth, which has taken a hit, got a shot in the arm with this one.

I may add a little more later, but I'm heading out the door now.

(also it's my assumption that the second to last paragraph means to refer to OF Greg Halman)

Alonzo Powell Named Hitting Coordinator

2006-09-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

Press release.

What is there to say about Powell? Well, he's a former Mariner ('91) and had some all-star seasons in Japan, which makes him the type of guy that would catch their eyes.

He's taking over Glenn Adams old role, near as I can figure. Adams took the fall earlier in the season. This wasn't exactly a year for premium offense out of our guys, from what I've gathered from the RC's I've been doing (full-seasons done), and that's not to say that there wasn't some talent to work with.

We're going to see more changes, of course. The Tacoma News Tribune has it that Dave Myers won't be returning, and while most of us will eternally associate the name with the temporary derailment of a promising career, Myers has been in the organization as a manager forever and deserved better treatment. (I won't get started on Rohn, rumored insubordination and all).

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, there are so many managers switching around that being able to identify any one is often a talent, but I have respect for the abilities of a few of them (Brundage and Thurman, namely) and wouldn't be keen on replacing them.

Potential affiliation shuffles and definite house cleaning on the minor league level.

Should be an interesting offseason.

Dotel Tests Positive

2006-09-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

After leading the league in this category last year, I had hoped that we would skip through an entire year without one, but sadly, it wasn't to be.

Baseball America is reporting that OF Wellington Dotel tested positive for a banned substance and will sit for 50 games next season.

Dotel is an outfielder with interesting tools who tore through the DSL last year, earning the nod for league MVP. He struggled by comparison this year, hitting for a low average and striking out frequently, though his peripherals remained decent. After this, though, I'm not sure exactly what's to be said about him or how this will effect my ranking him. The instinct is to assume the worst, but sometimes it's hard to tell what tested positive and why.

BA's Top 20 AZL Prospects

2006-09-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

Without warning, Baseball America dropped their Top 20 AZL Prospects list this mornning, with 1B Gerardo Avila coming in at twelve and OF Carlos Peguero coming in at eighteen (Tillman/Morrow/Butler did not qualify).

The chat was also good and site contributor Jonathan Helfgott also got a question in.

Let's go to the chat...

Q: Ryan from Seattle asks:
No Alex Liddi? He seems to have a good bat for a 17 year old from Italy with good all-around athleticism. His advanced game for a 17 year old out of Europe are pretty impressive. What kept him off the list?

A: John Manuel: Liddi had a nice debut and was right on the cusp of the 20. It sounds like his game is advanced for a European, but not necessarily for the AZL. He does have some tools though, arm strength (upper 80s off the mound in Italy, I'm told), and he has some power, but it sounds like his swing's a bit long, and that's going to be an issue as he faces more experienced pitching. Definitely a guy who could have made the list; the AZL is really a crap-shoot, to be honest.

Q: JH from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic asks:
How is the Brewers' strategy of focusing on top-dollar Latin American talent and bypassing the academy system working out for them? The top two Dominican talents on their AZL squad, Pascual and Peralta, sure didn't have impressive seasons statistically. Is there any concern that the aggressive assignments along with the culture shock of moving to the states at 17 without speaking the language will stunt these players' development?

A: John Manuel: Those two pitchers definitely struggled this year, but judging how the system of not having a DSL team is working can't be judged on how a pair of 17-year-olds performed in the AZL in their pro debut,j at least it can't be judged from afar. You'd have to know how those players responded to their struggles, and that's something I wasn't able to find out. I do know the lack of a DSL team was a consideration when the Brewers signed these players; they signed them because they thought they were the kind of players who could debut in the U.S., and perhaps they over-estimated that aspect of these two players.

Q: Elliot Legow from Youngstown OH asks:
I read in BA that there's a Hawaii league this winter. What level of prospects will be playing there? Are rosters available?

A: John Manuel: There is; it starts in two weeks. I just received email yesterday from the league that the rosters are not yet official, and as soon as they release them, we'll be posting them. We intend to cover HWB like we do the AFL, though no one has drawn the assignment of traveling there to see games, like we do for the AFL. Pity. I am excited to see Lenn Sakata managing out there, and if Vegas will put odds on it, I'll bet on his team to win the league.

Q: Mike from Boston asks:
Where would Brandon Morrow and Chris Tillman have ranked had they qualified?

A: John Manuel: Very, very high. I think you can look at this list and figure out the talent in the AZL was modest; there's a 6-foot RHP who didn't dominate at No. 10, a 5.88 ERA at No. 2 . . . it wasn't slim pickin's but it wasn't a loaded league either. Morrow and Tillman would have both been top 5, and Morrow actually would have ranked second. Tillman vs. Jeffress is tough, Tillman obviously worked more off his fastball in the AZL than he did this spring, which was a big problem scouts had with him; he threw a lot of split-fingers for a high school kid with a 94 mph fastball. There's a lot to like with Tillman, tall frame, some pitchability, he probably would have been No. 4 behind Morrow and Jeffress.

Q: Steve from DeKalb, IL asks:
What rookie league (not including SS-A) was the most talented this year?

A: John Manuel: Not to offend Matt Eddy, but looking at the lists, I'd have to say Pioneer League, but that's usually the case. Several organizations use the Pioneer as their "advanced Rookie" instead of a short-season team. Plus, Missoula (Diamondbacks), which is not one of those teams, had some interesting albeit older arms I like, such as Osbek Castillo and Hector Ambriz, and Billings had nice college players such as Chris Valaika and Red Turner to go with the league's young talent at teams like Ogden and Orem and Casper. Good league.

Q: Adam from Davis, Ca asks:
Do rookie ball players usually improve when they get promoted to another level just because they don't have to go through the rigors of hanging out in 100+ degree heat day in and out?

A: John Manuel: Adam, that's a good question, always good to hear form you. My experience talking to players has been that it is very hard to perform in complex-league conditions, if you are used to more. Big-time HS kids often have trouble adjusting; not to spoil Alan Matthews' GCL chat, but that was what we heard re: Kyle Drabek's struggles in the GCL. I think it's less of an issue for Latin American players, who have so much else to worry about (learning the language, being hundreds or thousands of miles from home at such a young age, etc.) to worry about how many fans are in the stands or how hot it is. But players I've talked to over the years have indicated that yes, they get a lot more adrenaline flowing once they leave the complex leagues.

Q: Mario66 from Toronto asks:
Is Anthony Vavarro back to where he was at St. John's, and does he project as at least a solid back of the rotation type guy (assuming continued health)?

A: John Manuel: I don't know what he projects to be anymore; it's impossible to evaluate that at this time. I'm not trying to be difficult, but he threw 11 innings in his first games since May 2005, and he was shut down for a time when he first came back from TJ and his subsequent rehab. How can a player be evaluated on that body of work? I'll tell you what I learned: his fastball wasn't quite back to the 92-94 mph range he threw in college. His curveball, which was basically a snapdragon before, showed some signs. But his job in the AZL was just to get on the mound and build arm strength, build some confidence, not show his full repertoire. So evaluating his future based on that brief, rehab look, I don't think I'd be very fair to Anthony Varvaro if I did that.

Q: Paul from Kansas City asks:
Brent Fisher repeated the league and dominated, then also pitched well when moved up at the end of the season. What accounts for his incredible strikeout rate (i.e., what's his stuff like)? And the Royals had a nice showing - does this speak well to Ladnier's draft strategy?

A: John Manuel: Love Brent Fisher; he was in our Top 30 last year, and he's got a lot going for him. Deceptive fastball, solid velocity, improved changeup, and a curveball that can be a plus pitch. He also has a reputation as a good competitor and good kid who takes to instruction well, and he will move a lot quicker in the future. The Royals did have a nice showing, they had a lot of speed, which is a tool you can work with, and a team with some younger players surrounded with older guys who put those younger players in position to succeed. The Royals and Padres had the most talented teams in the league, with the Mariners and Angels also right up there.

For my part, I tried to get questions on Liddi and Salinas in, since I figured Dotel might be pushing it. Liddi was answered in another form, but Salinas fell off the radar, and that's all right given where he's at. No Butler mentions, but I'm sure we'll get those in once the NWL Top 20 rolls around.

Sixers Take the Title

2006-09-18T22:06:00.000-07:00

I was going to make a comment about the Empire striking back, but I was never as into those movies as everyone else and MiLB.com beat me to the punch. Aaaaand I try to avoid obvious punning, which means I'm not cut out for this job anyway.

Visalia 1, Inland Empire 2
Here’s something I haven’t been able to say in too long: a Mariners farm team just took their league’s title. RHP Mumba Rivera (0.00) exceeded expectations in his first start of the season, giving up two hits and a walk while striking out four in four innings of work. RHP Ivan Blanco (4.50) gave up a run on a hit, two wild pitches, and two walks against a K in the next two innings, but that was as far as the Oaks got, as RHP Jon Lockwood (3.00, W) hit one and struck out three in the next two innings and RHP Jose de la Cruz (1.50, S) gave up two hits and punched out two in the ninth.
For series MVP, I’d be hard pressed to not go with DH Johan Limonta (2B, RBI, .250) for pulling the Sixers out of it yesterday and hitting the go-ahead RBI double tonight to drive in 1B Reed Eastley (R, .321), who had two hits and a walk in the game. LF Josh Womack (HR, .250) also had a couple of hits and 2B Luis Valbuena (2B, .263) doubled, but Limonta seemed like the most clutch hitter in the lineup.
Cheers to Cal League Co-Manager of the Year Gary Thurman as well, as he helped push the team over the top in spite of losing some of his better players throughout the year. I didn’t have great expectations for the Sixers coming into the year, but they pulled off what no other team in the system could (though the Santo Domingo M’s came close).

News Catch Thread

2006-09-18T12:10:00.000-07:00

I'm still trying to get up to speed for the past week of news, so I'm using this thread to get things together as I notice them.

Steve Nelson posted at Lookout Landing and elswhere that the San Antonio Missions may be looking for a new affiliation, just as the Sixers may be. The papers claim that the M's haven't been ruled out, but there are sources close to the situation that have said that the M's are more interested in developing players than winning at the double-A level, which is sometimes the trade-off. I honestly thought that the Missions had a shot in the second half this year, but no one really anticipated Tui dropping off quite as much as he did or the team basically losing what fight it had in it during the fnial stretch (from what I've heard). As far as pitching went, it was a fairly solid team considering the overall strength of hitting, though it lacked the Ks of its counterparts, but the offense was pretty much seven teams around the same tier and the Sixers falling below that. I can understand the furstration in that it was a level where a lot of guys only stopped over on their way up (Lowe, O'Flaherty, Jimenez, Huber, Lahair, Nelson, Garciaparra), but it didn't seem as bad as it was made out to be, anemic offense aside. Regardless, there's no other team in the Texas League that's open for affiliation, which means that the M's would have to move to the Eastern League or Southern League, and while some parks there are decent matches, I've been a fan of keeping the affiliates as close to the ML team as possible. Missions broadcasts online were a large part of what got me into minor league baseball, so I'm hoping they don't lose them.

Next up, we have a new round of transactions in from Baseball America. The Cubs have signed Mac Suzuki and the Blue Jays picked up Craig Kuzmic!... but in more current Mariners-related news, it looks like the M's have signed LHP Fabian Williamson, a 22nd-round pick this year, and have released 3B Pablo Orfila and RHP Oliver Arias while trading C Chao Kuan Wu to the Indians for future considerations. Williamson was one of the HS arms I was still hoping for (along with Walden and Nobles, and no, I still don't have any new reports on the latter), as he's a lefty with a live-arm who kind of got lost without a college commitment in the greater competition of California. I had him pegged for a DFE as soon as they hooked him up with a community college down there, but there's nothing wrong with picking him up now. Orfila was a corner IF down in the VSL that never quite hit for as much power as hoped, and Arias was a decent arm who couldn't stay healthy and was most recently seen as a fill-in pitching coach for the T-Rats rather than an actual pitcher. He could return in a similar capacity somewhere, for all I know, but if he thinks his arm can still cut it he'll probably try to find work elsewhere. Wu... well, there were a few guys that I wasn't too sure about spending another work visa on coming into the offseason and Wu was one of them, as he's been one of those weird tweener catchers who can't quite cut it behind the plate and never got the bat going full speed when he was. Through four minor league seasons, he had all of 350 at-bats and had a serious injury where he dislocated his shoulder last season. I liked the potential when he signed, but that was back before we had any real catching depth to speak of and there wasn't really any place for him anymore. Here's to hoping that visa goes to someone good next year.

Playoff Game Recaps (through 9/17/06)

2006-09-18T11:10:00.000-07:00

Inland Empire 3, Lake Elsinore 4 (9/11/06)
The bad RHP Cibney Bello (2.25, PO) showed up and allowed one run to score in four innings of work after four hits, six walks, and three Ks. RHP Aaron Trolia (0.00) gave up three hits and a walk while striking out three in the next two and two-thirds, and then LHP David Asher (54.00) walked one before recording the final out of the seventh. To start out the eighth, he walked one batter, and things fell apart from there as RHP Joe Woerman (0.00, BS) walked two in two-thirds of an inning, with a run scoring against Asher and an unearned scoring against Woerman. RHP Ivan Blanco (9.00, L) let that run score, along with the decisive run as he pitched one inning, allowing a hit, a wild pitch, and three walks while striking out one.
2B Luis Valbuena (3B, 2 R, .273) and SS Jeff Dominguez (.333) both had a couple of hits and C Omar Falcon (2B, 2 RBI, .400) added a double.

Inland Empire 9, Lake Elsinore 5 (9/12/06)
Gotta love six-run outbursts late in the game. RHP Justin Jordan (4.50) pitched four innings and gave up a couple of runs on three hits, a hit batter, and three walks against a couple of Ks. RHP Juan Done (9.00) put the Sixers in a bigger hole as he gave up solo home runs in each of the next two innings and while striking out two, and RHP Jon Lockwood (9.00, W) also got into trouble, allowing a run to score on a hit, a wild pitch, and two walks in the seventh. RHP Jose de la Cruz (0.00, S) managed to hold on as the runs started to come in, giving up one hit and two walks while striking out two in the final two innings, and that was that.
The ninth inning had three runs of offense as well, but it was really the eighth that put the Sixers over the top in the series…

Inland Empire Top 8th
· Pitcher Change: Matt Varner replaces Manny Ayala.
· Jeffrey Dominguez called out on strikes.
· Luis Valbuena singles on a ground ball to left fielder Adam Bourassa.
· Brent Johnson doubles (1) on a fly ball to center fielder Yordany Ramirez. Luis Valbuena scores.
· Reed Eastley hit by pitch.
· Pitcher Change: Ryan Klatt replaces Matt Varner.
· Johan Limonta doubles (1) on a ground ball to right fielder Josh Howard. Brent Johnson scores. Reed Eastley to 3rd.
· Omar Falcon singles on a line drive to center fielder Yordany Ramirez. Reed Eastley scores. Johan Limonta to 3rd.
· Offensive Substitution: Pinch runner Jack Arroyo replaces Omar Falcon.
· Pitcher Change: John Thomas replaces Ryan Klatt.
· Casey Craig out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Yordany Ramirez. Johan Limonta scores.
· Pitcher Change: Neil Jamison replaces John Thomas.
· Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Alex Meneses replaces Ronnie Prettyman.
· With Alex Meneses batting, Jack Arroyo steals (1) 2nd base.
· Alex Meneses reaches on fielding error by shortstop Skip Adams. Jack Arroyo to 3rd.
· Josh Womack singles on a fly ball to center fielder Yordany Ramirez. Jack Arroyo scores. Alex Meneses to 2nd.
· Jeffrey Dominguez singles on a line drive to left fielder Adam Bourassa. Alex Meneses scores. Josh Womack to 2nd.
· Luis Valbuena called out on strikes.

CF Brent Johnson (2B, 2 R, RBI, SB, .333) had three hits while batting second, 1B Johan Limonta (2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, .125), C Omar Falcon (2B, RBI, .429), RF Josh Womack (3 RBI, .200), and SS Jeff Dominguez (RBI, .385) each had two, and LF Casey Craig (R, RBI, .385) had a hit and a walk. Lots of offense.

Inland Empire 13, Visalia 0 (TB)
And still, not nearly the thrashing the Sixers gave the Oaks in game one of the championships, and that goes for pitching too. LHP Justin Thomas (0.00) gave up three hits, hit one, handed out three free passes, and punched out seven through seven innings of work to start things out. RHP Ivan Blanco (0.00) struck out one in the eighth and RHP Mumba Rivera (0.00) gave up three hits without letting a run score in the ninth.
This was one of those rare games where every one of the starters had a hit. 1B Johan Limonta (2B, R, 2 RBI, .800) collected four of those, CF Brent Johnson (2B, 3 R, 4 RBI, .500) and 1B Reed Eastley (R, 2 RBI, .600) had three each, SS Jeff Dominguez (2B, R, RBI, .400) had two, and 2B Luis Valbuena (2B, 4 RBI, .250) and LF Josh Womack (2B, R, RBI, .250) both had doubles. On top of all that, Valbuena and 3B Ron Prettyman (R, RBI, PO, .250) both had two walks and Limonta had one.
Inland Empire 5, Visalia 10
RHP Andy Baldwin (10.12, L) took his first serious beating, giving up eight runs (six earned) on eleven hits, a hit batter, two walks, and a K in five and a third innings, though LHP David Asher (27.00) let one of those score while walking one in an inning and a third, and RHP Aaron Trolia (6.75) would let Baldwin’s remaining runner, Asher’s walk, and a run of his own score on two hits, a walk, and three Ks in an inning and a third. RHP Juan Done (0.00) gave up a couple of hits in the eighth.
2B Luis Valbuena (3B, 2 R, RBI, SB, E, .444) had three hits in the game, CF Brent Johnson (R, 2 RBI, A, E, .455) had two, and 1B Johan Limonta (RBI, .625) and RF Chris Colton (R, .333) both had a hit and a walk, but the Sixers couldn’t push anything across the plate after the first two innings, and the four errors on the field didn’t help things.

Visalia 1, Inland Empire 0
A contrast from the first two games, the offense wasn’t even really present here, though the Storm did get one run on seven hits, three walks, and five strikeouts as RHP Cibney Bello (1.64) pitched the first seven innings. RHP Joe Woerman (0.00) managed to hold it close, giving up one hit and striking out four in the final two, but…
CF Brent Johnson (2B, .400) had two hits, 1B Reed Eastley (.304) had a hit and a walk, and that was about it for the offense.

Visalia 2, Inland Empire 8
With their backs against the wall, the pitching and hitting came together and forced a decisive game five. RHP Justin Jordan (1.50) gave up a run on five hits (HR) and walked one through six innings of work, and RHP Aaron Trolia (2.70) turned in two perfect innings and struck out two after that. RHP Jose de la Cruz (9.00) gave up a run on three hits and struck out one in the ninth, but that was as far as the Oaks got.
I’ve liked the six-run innings so much in this year’s playoffs that I think I’m going to highlight another, and reminisce about the old “two outs, so what?” years…

Inland Empire Bottom 5th
· Ronnie Prettyman called out on strikes.
· Chris Colton pops out to catcher Josh Arhart in foul territory.
· Jeffrey Dominguez singles on a ground ball to center fielder Fernando Perez.
· Luis Valbuena singles on a ground ball to left fielder Mark Schleicher. Jeffrey Dominguez to 2nd.
· Brent Johnson singles on a line drive to center fielder Fernando Perez. Jeffrey Dominguez scores. Luis Valbuena to 2nd.
· Johan Limonta homers (1) on a fly ball to right field. Luis Valbuena scores. Brent Johnson scores.
· Pitcher Change: Nick Moran replaces Jonathan Barratt.
· Omar Falcon walks.
· Casey Craig homers (1) on a fly ball to right field. Omar Falcon scores.
· Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Reed Eastley replaces Alex Meneses.
· Reed Eastley flies out to center fielder Fernando Perez.

LF Casey Craig (3B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, .312) had three hits in the game, SS Jeff Dominguez (R, .267) had two, and 1B Johan Limonta (HR, 3 RBI, .375) and C Omar Falcon (HR, 2 R, .067) had home runs. CF Brent Johnson (R, RBI, PO, .471) and Falcon both had two walks to add to their hits and 2B Luis Valbuena (R, .294) had one walk with his one hit.

The decisive game five, tonight, San Bernardino, 7.11 pm PDT, with Mumba Rivera taking the hill.

Back

2006-09-17T18:36:00.000-07:00

I'm back from my vacation.

Over the course of it, I drove 3600 miles in seven days, and that includes one day when my car broke down...

I'll get back to the Cal League Championship recaps once my eyes and brain adjust to processing information that doesn't center around white and yellow lines, and whether they're solid or broken.

Playoff Game Recap (9/10/06)

2006-09-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

Lake Elsinore 0 (SD), Inland Empire 1
This one lasted just over two hours, as RHP Andy Baldwin (0.00) was dealing in his own unique way, going the full nine innings and giving up three hits and two walks while striking out five.
LF Casey Craig (2B, R, .500) and C Omar Falcon (2B, .500) both had a couple of hits and a walk and RF Chris Colton (2B, .500) had a double and a walk.

RHP Cibney Bello, tomorrow, Lake Elsinore, @ 7:05 pm PDT, Sixers lead 2-0

And with that, I’m out.

Playoff Game Recap (9/9/06)

2006-09-09T23:16:00.000-07:00

Lake Elsinore 1 (SD), Inland Empire 2 (eleven innings)
While the M’s were doing their own extra-inning thing, the Sixers were doing the same. LHP Justin Thomas (0.00) gave up five hits and a walk and struck out ten through six innings of work. RHP Mumba Rivera (0.00) followed suit, giving up two hits and striking out two in two innings, but then LHP David Asher (---) gave up a hit and was pulled in favor of RHP Jose de la Cruz (0.00, BS), who let that run score while giving up two hits and ringing up two in a couple of frames. RHP Joe Woerman (0.00, W) struck out two in the eleventh and picked up the win.
Eleventh inning went like this…

Inland Empire Bottom 11th
· Pitcher Change: John Thomas replaces Matt Varner, batting 6th, replacing Sean Kazmar.
· Casey Craig flies out to center fielder Adam Bourassa.
· Omar Falcon singles on a line drive to center fielder Adam Bourassa.
· Offensive Substitution: Pinch runner Jack Arroyo replaces Omar Falcon.
· Reed Eastley singles on a line drive to right fielder Nick Crosta. Jack Arroyo to 2nd.
· Josh Womack strikes out swinging.
· Jeffrey Dominguez reaches on fielding error by shortstop Skip Adams. Jack Arroyo scores. Reed Eastley to 2nd.

Not much in the way off offense, but RF Casey Craig (2 SB, .333) had a hit and two walks, SS Jeff Dominguez (R, SB, .000) had just the two walks, and CF Brent Johnson (RBI, SB, .250) had a hit and a walk.

RHP Andy Baldwin, tomorrow, San Bernardino, @ 6:11 pm PDT

Affiliation News (9/9/06)

2006-09-09T01:46:00.000-07:00

Every year, tens of baseball reams change their affiliations and I spend the better part of the season trying to memorize them again, sometimes with success, sometimes without. Again, we are coming up to that time, with the signing period starting up on the 16th and lasting until the 30th.

I've never had to cover one of the home town affiliates switching places, but that may be ending soon as the SBSun is reporting that the Dodgers have their eye on the Cal League again.

A few years back, the Dodgers decided to move a few of their affiliations further east around where their training complexes are in Florida, so as they departed San Bernadino and San Antonio, the M's affiliates, previously located in Lancaster CA (bandbox) and New Haven CT, rolled in and snatched them up. I thought it was a little stange for the Dodgers to abandon their Cal League post, but as long as it suited us, I was fine with it.

But if the Dodgers do have their sights set on Inland Empire, the M's will be hard pressed to find another affiliate in the Cal League that plays like a pitcher's park, a trend they've tended towards since Safeco opened. Lancaster and High Desert are available, but both are among the most hitter-friendly parks in all of minor league baseball. Visalia is only other one that's open, and it's only slightly better. Inland Empire is rated as the best pitcher's park in the league, and that's the main reason why I hope they retain it.

Game Recap (9/6/06)

2006-09-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

Everett 5, Vancouver 0 (OAK + 2)
Well, if there was any team it’d wanted the Sox to beat in the last days of the season, it was Vancouver, and if there was a pitcher I would’ve wanted to see a dominant outing from (and a first win for), it was LHP Tony Butler (2.76, W). Check, and check. Butler dominated Vancouver, allowing just three runners through seven innings via a hit, a hit batter, and a walk, while he rung up nine. To be honest, I can’t recall ever seeing a high school pitcher drafted by the M’s who was as dominant as Butler has been statistically, but it’s a refreshing change and something I’d like to get used to. RHP Kameron Mickolio (2.78) gave up a hit in the next inning and RHP Doug Fister (2.25) did the same in the ninth.
CF Kevin Reynolds (2 2B, R, RBI, .242) had three hits out of the leadoff spot, DH Jair Fernandez (2B, R, .230) had a double, and C Chao Kuan Wu (2 R, .236) and 3B Leury Bonilla (RBI, .230) both had a hit and a walk.

And just like that, the season is over, save for however deep the Sixers go in the playoffs. I’ll get the Saturday and Sunday recaps in, but after that, I’m going on vacation for a week and whatever happens, happens. It’s been an interesting year in minor league ball, as we’re finally seeing the results of aggressive promotions and solid drafting. In the previous years, we would’ve seen more playoff teams, but those teams wouldn’t have been as prospect-laden and I don’t know that I miss it if this is the alternative. The dynamic of the system is shifting and the switch one director to the next will be about complete by the end of next year. There are some prospects to talk about before we roll around to spring training, a few calculations to do here and there once I find my TI-83, and some winter ball to cover throughout. I hope you’ve enjoyed the season as much as I have, though the records weren’t always exceptional, it’s been another fun year in prospect watching.

Today’s Starters:
Tacoma: Season over, second place
San Antonio: Season over, fourth place
Inland Empire: Playoffs (TBA, in San Bernardino, on Saturday, @ 7:11 pm PDT)
Wisconsin: Season over, seventh place
Everett: Season over, fourth place
Peoria: Season over, fifth place
Aguirre: Season over, fourth place

Tacoma Rainiers: 74-70, .514, 7 GB in PCL Pacific North
San Antonio Missions: 33-37 (60-78), .471, (.435), 9.5 GB in TL South
Inland Empire 66ers: 33-37 (73-67), .471 (.521), 5 GB in CAL South
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers: 27-43 (54-86), .386 (.386), 15.5 GB in MWL Western
Everett Aquasox: 31-45, .408, 23.5 GB in NWL West
Peoria Mariners: 11-16 (25-30), .407 (.454), 7.5 GB, in AZL
Aguirre Mariners: 37-28-5, .564, 3.5 GB in VSL
Santo Domingo Mariners: 42-24, .636, 1st in Santo Domingo Norte
Organizational Record: 396-430-5, .480

Game Recap (9/5/06)

2006-09-05T22:38:00.000-07:00

Marwin Vega is the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week. Woot!

Everett 4, Vancouver 6 (OAK + 3)
LHP Steve Uhlmansiek (4.07, L) finally got on the mound, but the results were less than pleasant as he let six runs score on nine hits, a hit batter, a wild pitch, two walks, and two Ks in three and two-thirds innings. RHP Justin Souza (3.99) gave up a couple of hits, hit a batter, and struck out three over the next two and a third innings, and LHP Jose Suriel (3.89) was perfect in the last two, punching out five of the six batters he faced.
The offense had two hits apiece from 2B Marcos Villezcas (R, .215), LF Bryan Sabatella (2B, R, 2 RBI, SB, .261), and 3B Leury Bonilla (HR, 2 R, .227), and a hit and a walk from 1B Manelik Pimentel (.256).

Tomorrow’s Starters:
Tacoma: Season over, second place
San Antonio: Season over, fourth place
Inland Empire: Playoffs (TBA, in San Bernardino, on Saturday, @ 7:11 pm PDT)
Wisconsin: Season over, seventh place
Everett: TBA, at Vancouver, @ 1:05 pm PDT
Peoria: Season over, fifth place
Aguirre: Season over, fourth place

Tacoma Rainiers: 74-70, .514, 7 GB in PCL Pacific North
San Antonio Missions: 33-37 (60-78), .471, (.435), 9.5 GB in TL South
Inland Empire 66ers: 33-37 (73-67), .471 (.521), 5 GB in CAL South
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers: 27-43 (54-86), .386 (.386), 15.5 GB in MWL Western
Everett Aquasox: 30-45, .400, 24 GB in NWL West
Peoria Mariners: 11-16 (25-30), .407 (.454), 7.5 GB, in AZL
Aguirre Mariners: 37-28-5, .564, 3.5 GB in VSL
Santo Domingo Mariners: 42-24, .636, 1st in Santo Domingo Norte
Organizational Record: 395-430-5, .479

Game Recaps (9/4/06)

2006-09-05T01:33:00.000-07:00

Tucson 2 (ARI + 27), Tacoma 3
RHP Francisco Cruceta (4.38) gave up two runs on seven hits (HR) and two walks while punching out ten through six innings of work. RHP Scott Atchison (2.34) struck out two in the next two innings and ended up with the win. LHP Cesar Jimenez (4.36, S) gave up a hit and struck out one in the ninth.
1B Jon Nelson (HR, 2 RBI, .284) had his fourteenth home run at triple-A. RF T.J. Bohn (.283) and C Jeff Clement (R, RBI, .257) had two hits apiece and LF Alex Gary (SB, .143) had a hit and a walk.

Lake Elsinore 9 (SD + 5), Inland Empire 5
RHP Justin Jordan (5.19, L) gave up eight runs on nine hits (HR), two walks, and a K through four and a third innings. RHP Ivan Blanco (3.66) let one of those score, along with one more on two hits (HR) and two Ks in two and two-thirds innings. RHP Joe Woerman (2.67) had a perfect inning and RHP Jose de la Cruz (2.97) struck out one in the ninth.
DH Chris Colton (2B, R, 2 RBI, .239) had three hits in the game, 2B Luis Valbuena (2B, .252), 1B Johan Limonta (R, .462), and SS Jeff Dominguez (2 RBI, .245) had two apiece, and CF Brent Johnson (.284) had another night where he had a single and a walk.

The first playoff game for the Sixers will be at 7:11 pm PDT on Saturday.

Wisconsin 7, Clinton 6 (TEX - 26)
LHP David Asher (4.31) closed out his season and kept the T-Rats from having their all-time worst record by going seven innings and giving up three runs on eight hits (HR), two wild pitches, two walks, and six Ks. RHP Roman Martinez (3.98, BS) almost blew it by giving up three more runs after two hits, a hit batter, and two walks in the eighth, but RHP Brain Kappel (1.61, W) salvaged it, pitching two innings without allowing another baserunner while he struck out three.
The top five in the order, 2B Ron Garth (2B, R, RBI, .275), LF Jeff Flaig (2 R, .220), SS Chris Minaker (2 R, RBI, .315), DH Adam Moore (HR, 2 RBI, .267), and C Curtis Ledbetter (2B, 2 RBI, .247), all had two hits. The AZL grads in 1B Gerardo Avila (RBI, .159) and 3B Alex Liddi (R, .184) also had a hit apiece. Garth scored the winning run after he doubled and Minaker drove him in on a single.

Everett 1, Vancouver 2 (OAK + 2)
RHP Ricky Orta (5.20, L) gave up two runs on four hits while he rung up five. RHP Joe Kantakevich (2.48) had a hit, a walk, and a K to show for the eighth.
3B Leury Bonilla (R, CS, .221) had three hits in the game and 1B Joe White (RBI, .254) walked twice.

Today’s Starters:
Tacoma: Season over, second place
San Antonio: Season over, fourth place
Inland Empire: Playoffs (TBA, in San Bernardino, on Saturday, @ 7:11 pm PDT)
Wisconsin: Season over, seventh place
Everett: TBA, at Vancouver, @ 7:05 pm PDT
Peoria: Season over, fifth place
Aguirre: Season over, fourth place

Tacoma Rainiers: 74-70, .514, 7 GB in PCL Pacific North
San Antonio Missions: 33-37 (60-78), .471, (.435), 9.5 GB in TL South
Inland Empire 66ers: 33-37 (73-67), .471 (.521), 5 GB in CAL South
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers: 27-43 (54-86), .386 (.386), 15.5 GB in MWL Western
Everett Aquasox: 30-44, .405, 23 GB in NWL West
Peoria Mariners: 11-16 (25-30), .407 (.454), 7.5 GB, in AZL
Aguirre Mariners: 37-28-5, .564, 3.5 GB in VSL
Santo Domingo Mariners: 42-24, .636, 1st in Santo Domingo Norte
Organizational Record: 395-429-5, .479

A New Spin on the Old "Hidden Ball Trick" or Why I Love Minor League Baseball

2006-09-04T15:43:00.000-07:00

Cruising around various websites in attempt to kill time before I'm obligated to be in one place or another, I came across this little gem of a story concerning a backup catcher for the 1987 Williamsport Bills of the double-A Eastern League.

After hitting .141 through 51 games, with his team in last place, Dave Bresnahan came up with a novel idea: would a potato, peeled into the shape of a baseball and thrown into left field, be enough to dupe a runner on third into breaking for third while he still held on to the actual ball?

The full story can be found at The Baseball Report.

Two More '06 Draft Signings

2006-09-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

Baseball America has it in their most recent Transaction Update that the Mariners have signed a couple more players in LHP Greg Moviel (26) and 1B Brandon Fromm (41).

Moviel is out of Vanderbilt, but there isn’t much of a track record to go on for him. He only pitched 22 innings in his entire career there, and almost half of them came as a freshman, when he gave up a couple runs on three hits, FOURTEEN WALKS, and eight Ks through ten and a third innings. Coming out of high school, he was highly regarded, and BA had him as their 50th best HS prospect following his junior year, it’s just that he hasn’t done much in the past few years due to various injuries. Left-hander, with potentially good stuff, but slipped off the radar due to various circumstances. This is the kind of signing the M’s have loved to make in the past few years.

Fromm spent his time at San Jose State and saw more time there, with 435 at-bats worth of info, though only 83 of those came this season. He’s a left-hander, is praised throughout the conference for his on-base skills, has flashed some solid power on occasion, and is supposedly a good defender. He’s done pretty well, but the teams he’s been on have been somewhat mediocre with a couple of standouts here and there. It seems like he’d translate to a low-average guy with decent peripherals.

DSL Ms Advance!

2006-09-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

Riding their steller starting staff, the Santo Domingo Norte Mariners advanced to the DSL championship series yesterday, beating the San Cristobal Tigers 2-0.

LHP Richard Ortiz went the distance, giving up 4 hits and 5 walks against 8 ks. The offense did next to nothing for the second day in a row, and again scored 2 runs thanks to Detroit´s poor defense. Juan Diaz and Luis Peguero had the only hits of the day. Still no production out of Welington Dotel, but he´ll get at least 2 more chances to do something against the DSL Yankees 1 in the finals.

Gregorio Rosario pitches against the Yankees in Boca Chica in game 1.

Game recaps (9/3/06)

2006-09-04T01:27:00.000-07:00

Tucson 7 (ARI + 28), Tacoma 6
RHP Rich Dorman (4.55, L) gave up five runs on eight hits (HR), a balk, two walks, and four Ks. RHP Jason Snyder (1.50) pitched three after that, giving up three runs (one earned) on three hits, a hit batter, and two walks against a K. RHP Kyle Parker (0.00) and RHP Rocky Collis (0.00) both turned in perfect, but uneventful innings.
2B Ismael Castro (2B, R, RBI, E, .304) had three hits in the game, 3B Greg Dobbs (HR, .314) had a home run, and 1B Hunter Brown (.262) had a hit and two walks.

Corpus Christi 7 (HOU 0), San Antonio 0
LHP Ryan Feierabend (4.28) gave up a solo home run, hit one, walked one, and struck out three in three innings. After that, RHP Chad Fillinger (3.44) got kicked around, giving up five runs (two earned) on four hits (HR), a walk, and a K. LHP Jason Mackintosh (3.38) gave up one hit and punched out two in the next three innings, and RHP Stephen Kahn (6.23) gave up a run on three hits and struck out one in the frame following that. RHP Craig James (2.61) struck out one in the ninth.
3B Matt Tuiasosopo (2B, .185) had a couple of hits, including a double, so he’ll end the year with five extra-base hits in double-A, with 12.5% of hits going that way. Hope he rebounds next year. Wlad didn’t walk.

Lake Elsinore 11 (SD + 4), Inland Empire 4 (eleven innings)
LHP Jared Thomas (4.10) had an awesome start go for naught, as he gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits, a wild pitch, and three walks while he struck out eleven in six and two-thirds innings. During his Cal League tenure this year, he struck out about nine and a half per nine innings. LHP Rollie Gibson (0.00) walked one before recording the final out of the seventh. RHP Cibney Bello (3.94) came in for some relief work, but gave up a run on a hit, a wild pitch, and two walks in two-thirds of an inning. RHP Aaron Trolia (4.80) gave up two hits and struck out one in an inning and a third after that. By the time it got to extras, the relief corps were pretty much done for, so for giggles, they brought in RHP Jack Arroyo (31.50, L), who turned it into a real laugher by giving up seven runs on three hits (HR) and five walks in the final two innings, though his tenth went pretty quickly.
1B Johan Limonta (3B, 2 RBI, .435) and SS Jeff Dominguez (2B, E, .239) had a couple of hits, 3B Alex Meneses (2B, R, 2 RBI, .265) had a double and a walk, DH Andy Hargrove (R, .226) walked twice, and CF Brent Johnson (2 R, .284) had a single and a walk. A good amount of offense, but not enough.

Wisconsin 4, Clinton 3 (TEX - 25)
RHP Marwin Vega (5.40, E) pitched a good one, going five innings and giving up an unearned run on four hits and a wild pitch while he struck out four. Vega has also more than doubled his IP total from last year, but his old single-season high was 53.2 in Aguirre back in 2004 and there’s no way he’s going to get double that this season. RHP Edgar Guaramato (5.74) didn’t do so well in the next inning, giving up two runs on three hits (HR) while striking out one, but he did tie Mike Hrynio in the record for relief appearances in a single season at 54, which Chris Mehring has been keeping track of. RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx (1.95, W) struck out two in the next two innings and RHP John Sullivan (0.00, S) gave up a hit and punched out two in the ninth.
It’s tempting to pass the gameball to DH Curtis Ledbetter (R, RBI, .243) for going 3-for-3 with a sac fly to tie the game in the eighth, but credit should also go to CF Eddy Hernandez (RBI, .246) for singling in the winning run in the top of the ninth. 2B Robby Hudson (2B, R, E, .270) also doubled and SS Chris Minaker (R, .310) had a hit and a walk.

Vancouver 20 (OAK + 1), Everett 7
If not for the seven-run outburst by the Sox, this game would be very difficult to recap. RHP Mike Schilling (6.25, L) gave up seven runs on four hits (2 HR), a wild pitch, and three walks with only one K. RHP Stephen Richard (6.08) gave up four runs on five hits in the next two-thirds of an inning, and RHP Aaron Solomon (3.06, E) let two (one earned) score on a hit, a wild pitch, two hit batters, and two walks in two-thirds of an inning after that. RHP Ari Kafka (4.66) gave up four runs on four hits (HR) and a hit batter against three Ks in the next three innings, and RHP Doug Fister (2.31) let on of those score along with two of his own on two hits (HR), two walks, and two Ks in an inning and two-thirds. RHP Matt Vogel (9.00) had to come in for the ninth and gave up a solo home run.
· Everett scored ALL of their runs in the bottom of the fifth. Curiously, it was the only inning in which Vancouver didn’t score any runs.

Marcos Villezcas doubles (4) on a fly ball to right fielder Lorenzo Macias.
· Julian Henson singles on a line drive to right fielder Lorenzo Macias. Marcos Villezcas to 3rd.
· Leury Bonilla homers (6) on a fly ball to left field. Marcos Villezcas scores. Julian Henson scores.
· Ogui Diaz singles on a ground ball to third baseman Samuel Hernandez.
· Kevin Reynolds doubles (7) on a fly ball to center fielder Jermaine Mitchell. Ogui Diaz to 3rd.
· Gavin Dickey out on a sacrifice fly to left fielder Andre Piper-Jordan. Ogui Diaz scores.
· Joseph White singles on a line drive to right fielder Lorenzo Macias. Kevin Reynolds to 3rd.
· Bryan Sabatella lines out to third baseman Samuel Hernandez.
· Manelik Pimentel homers (10) on a fly ball to center field. Kevin Reynolds scores. Joseph White scores.
· Marcos Villezcas flies out to left fielder Andre Piper-Jordan.

RF Bryan Sabatella (.256), 1B Manelik Pimentel (HR, 3 RBI, .259), C Julian Henson (R, PB, .300), 3B Leury Bonilla (HR, 3 RBI, .210), and SS Ogui Diaz (2B, R, .242) each had two hits, with Henson and Bonilla adding walks. CF Kevin Reynolds (2B, R, .A, .237) had a double.

Today’s Starters:
Tacoma: RHP Francisco Cruceta, in Tacoma, @ 1:35 pm PDT
San Antonio: Season over, fourth place
Inland Empire: TBA, in San Bernardino, @ 5:11 pm PDT
Wisconsin: LHP David Asher, at Clinton, @ 12:05 pm PDT
Everett: LHP Steve Uhlmansiek, at Vancouver, @ 7:05 pm PDT
Peoria: Season over, fifth place
Aguirre: Season over, fourth place

Tacoma Rainiers: 73-70, .510, 8 GB in PCL Pacific North
San Antonio Missions: 33-37 (60-78), .471, (.435), 9.5 GB in TL South
Inland Empire 66ers: 33-36 (73-66), .478 (.525), 4 GB in CAL South
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers: 26-43 (53-86), .377 (.381), 15.5 GB in MWL Western
Everett Aquasox: 30-43, .411, 23 GB in NWL West
Peoria Mariners: 11-16 (25-30), .407 (.454), 7.5 GB, in AZL
Aguirre Mariners: 37-28-5, .564, 3.5 GB in VSL
Santo Domingo Mariners: 42-24, .636, 1st in Santo Domingo Norte
Organizational Record: 393-427-5, .479

Another Game Recap

2006-09-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

An independent trainer I've had the pleasure of interviewing a few times was keeping score at yesterday's playoff game between the DSL Ms and the DSL Tigers, so I was lucky enough to get a copy of the official boxscore after the game. I'll try my best to mirror J's recap format, but I'll probably mess up. Bear with me.

DSL Ms 3, DSL Tigers 1

After dropping the first game of the series, the Ms won this do-or-die matchup by sending out their best pitcher (but not best prospect), Eddy Fernandez. Fernandez (0.50 playoff ERA, W) straight-up dominated, going the distance and giving up 4 hits (HR) and one walk while striking out 13. I think it's pretty safe to say he's simply out-classed the DSL at this point. We will definitely see him stateside next year. More on Fernandez's stuff/future after the season ends.

The offense took advantage of 4 Tigers' errors, 3 of them in the first, to get three runs off of Detroit ace Angel Castro, who struck out 12 Ms in 7 innings. The top of the order, Luis Nunez (R, .300), Maximo Mendez (R, .125), and Alfredo Mateo (R, .190) all scored, with Nunez and Mateo getting the only hits of the inning. Hector Mercedez (.267) and Cristian Rijo (.300) added the only other hits of the game.

Some game notes:

-The Ms decided to use Welington Dotel, back from the AZL season, as their ringer. Dotel was hitting cleanup, but didn't do any damage against Castro. He seemed really eager, and seems to have totally abandoned the patient approach he was using during instructional league and early in the AZL season. He's an interesting player, but he might take a few years to develop.

-Several of the Ms' dominican prospects returned from rookie ball and watched the game from the press/family section. Watching them watch the game, it was like they had come back to see their little brothers' play. It was a blast.

-According to Donato Ruiz, Jairo Hernandez is also back in uniform and will play in the final game of the series. I don't know if this is considered cheap or not, but Detroit did not have any of their rookie-ball players on the field.

-The Mariners' academy, on the road to a small town called Yamasa about half an hour north of Santo Domingo, is by far the best place in the Dominican Republic to watch a DSL game. They have the biggest, most passionate fan base, and the players, coaches, and fans care more about the outcomes of these games than at any other academy I've been to (actually, more than any minor league baseball game I've ever been to). It's awesome.

Game Recaps (9/2/06)

2006-09-03T00:17:00.000-07:00

Tucson 7 (ARI + 28), Tacoma 6
RHP Jeff Harris (5.52, L) gave up five runs on nine hits (HR) while striking out three in four innings of work. RHP Justin Huisman (8.10) gave up a run on five hits and struck out two over the next three innings. RHP Mike Flannery (5.32) gave up another run on a hit and four walks against a K in the next inning, and RHP Scott Atchison (2.44) gave up a hit in the ninth.
RF T.J. Bohn (HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, .284) had four hits in the game and CF Adam Jones (2B, 2 R, .290), 3B Greg Dobbs (R, RBI, .315), and LF Jon Nelson (HR, 3 RBI, .288) each had two.

Corpus Christi 2 (HOU - 1), San Antonio 7
RHP Jorge Campillo (2.53, W) gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits, a wild pitch, a walk, and a K in five innings. The next four innings carried a common thread for the pitchers in a hit and a strikeout, but LHP Jason Mackintosh (3.48) also threw a wild pitch and walked one in his inning, and LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith (2.83) pitched two innings, while RHP Byron Embry (2.31) just got the one inning.
LF Jason Bourgeois (2B, R, RBI, SB, .278) and 2B Jesus Guzman (2B, 2 R, .260) both had a couple of hits and 1B Marshall Hubbard (2B, RBI, .289) had a double in his only at-bat. RF Mike Wilson (RBI, .248) added a hit and two walks. CF Wladimir Balentien (R, RBI, E, .231) had another walk, and he only had one to go to double his walks for his career just this season, but he only has tomorrow to do it.

Lake Elsinore 4 (SD + 4), Inland Empire 3 (thirteen innings)
Phew. RHP Brandon Morrow (0.00) got the call and pitched three perfect innings, striking out four. RHP Mumba Rivera (4.19, E) got the next three, and gave up a couple of unearned runs on a hit, two walks, and two Ks, and RHP Aaron Trolia (4.94, BS) gave up another unearned run on one hit while striking out two in the next two innings. RHP Joe Woerman (2.76) balked, hit a batter, and walked two while striking out two in the next two and a third innings. LHP Rollie Gibson (0.00) walked one and struck out one in the next third, and while RHP Jose de la Cruz (3.02, L) got out of a jam with two runners on, he ended up letting the winning run score on two hits and two Ks in an inning and two-thirds. RHP Juan Done (6.83) came in for two-thirds of an inning and struck out one, but by that time, the damage was done.
CF Brent Johnson (2B, R, 2 RBI, SB, .285), 1B Johan Limonta (RBI, .421), and RF Casey Craig (.302) all had three hits and LF Josh Womack (CS, .286) had two.

Wisconsin 4, Clinton 1 (TEX - 24)
RHP Juan Colon (6.04) gave up a run on two hits, a hit batter, four walks, and four Ks in the next three+ innings. RHP Ruben Flores (5.04, E) gave up a hit and a walk and punched out five in three innings after that. LHP Lance Beus (4.46) gave up two hits in the first two-thirds of the seventh, and then RHP Cory Koliscak (3.68, W) gave up two more hits in the inning and a third that followed. RHP Brian Kappel (1.7.3) had an uneventful ninth.
CF Eddy Hernandez (R, .246) had a couple of hits, C Adam Moore (R, .262) had a pair of walks, and SS Chris Minaker (2B, R, .310) and 1B Curtis Ledbetter (HR, 3 RBI, .229) had extra-base hits, with Ledbetter’s bomb giving the T-Rats the lead that stuck in the eighth.

Vancouver 8 (OAK 0), Everett 6
A bit of a bludgeoning for both sides. RHP Chris Tillman (7.98) took the brunt of it for the Aquasox pitchers. Even though he had six hits, a wild pitch, a hit batter, and a walk through five innings and had struck out nine batters, four of those hits left the park, all in the fifth inning. RHP Justin Souza (5.40) let two more unearned runs score on two hits and struck out three in the next two innings, and LHP Jose Suriel (4.13) gave up two more on three hits (HR) and struck out two in the final two frames.
SS Ogui Diaz (2B, 2 R, SB, .237) busted out four hits while batting ninth in the order. LF Gavin Dickey (HR, 4 RBI, E, .231) had two, including a grand slam in the fifth, and 1B Manelik Pimentel (HR, .256) and C Chao Kuan Wu (2B, R, RBI, .241) both had extra-base hits, with Wu adding a walk.

Today’s Starters:
Tacoma: RHP Rich Dorman, in Tacoma, @ 1:35 pm PDT
San Antonio: LHP Ryan Feierabend, in San Antonio, @ 4:05 pm PDT
Inland Empire: RHP Aaron Jensen (?), in San Bernardino, @ 6:11 pm PDT
Wisconsin: RHP Marwin Vega, at Clinton, @ 12:05 pm PDT
Everett: LHP Steve Uhlmansiek, in Everett, @ 2:05 pm PDT
Peoria: Season over, fifth place
Aguirre: Season over, fourth place

Tacoma Rainiers: 73-69, .514, 7 GB in PCL Pacific North
San Antonio Missions: 33-36 (60-77), .478, (.438), 9.5 GB in TL South
Inland Empire 66ers: 33-35 (73-65), .485 (.529), 3 GB in CAL South
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers: 25-43 (52-86), .368 (.377), 16.5 GB in MWL Western
Everett Aquasox: 30-42, .417, 23 GB in NWL West
Peoria Mariners: 11-16 (25-30), .407 (.454), 7.5 GB, in AZL
Aguirre Mariners: 37-28-5, .564, 3.5 GB in VSL
Santo Domingo Mariners: 42-24, .636, 1st in Santo Domingo Norte
Organizational Record: 392-423-5, .481

Game Recaps (9/1/06)

2006-09-02T02:01:00.000-07:00

Tucson 4 (ARI + 27), Tacoma 2
LHP Bobby Livingston (4.59, L) took the loss, as he gave up four runs on ten hits (HR), while striking out three. Looking at his month by month ERA and average against, you had 2.12 and .177 for April, 9.35 and .390 in May, 2.76 and .260 in June, 6.44 and .380 in July, and 2.63 and .272 in August. This took me a little by surprise because I had the feeling that he lost in April and never got it back, but the K/BB seem to be the bigger culprit here, because he’s been walking an extra batter and a half or so per nine and has lost a couple of Ks off his usual, which is probably hurting him worse. Most of his good months haven’t been that good in that regard. Without those stabilizing his line, he ends up with wildly divergent BABIP from month to month and nothing he can really do aside from hope that he gets out of it. Oh yeah, there was another inning too, wasn’t there? RHP Aaron Looper (5.98) struck out a pair in the ninth. He’s still not that good.
1B-3B Greg Dobbs (3B, .313) keeps having the hits drop in for him, with another three tonight. CF Adam Jones (3B, 2 RBI, PO, A, .288) was plunked twice and had a triple.

Corpus Christi 7 (HOU 0), San Antonio 1
RHP Yorman Bazardo (3.64, E, L) gave up six runs, four of ‘em earned, on four hits (HR), a wild pitch, and four walks against seven Ks. Wacky. RHP Nate Mateo (5.80) let another score on three hits and a walk in the final two.
DH Jesus Guzman (HR, .258) had a solo home run in the ninth, and 2B Yung-chi Chen (.301) had a couple of hits.

Lake Elsinore 2 (SD + 3), Inland Empire 1
Run for the hills, because RHP Andrew Baldwin (0.82, PO, L) gave up a couple of runs and lost a game, with five hits (HR), a hit batter, a walk, and six Ks in seven innings. RHP Juan Done (7.00) gave up two hits and a walk in the next inning and a third and LHP Rollie Gibson (0.00) walked one and struck out one in the final two-thirds.
RF Casey Craig (RBI, .297) had a couple of hits and LF Josh Womack (R, SB, .285) had a hit and a walk.

Wisconsin 2, Clinton 3 (TEX - 23)
LHP Paul Fagan (4.94, L) let three score (two earned) after six hits, a wild pitch, two walks, and five Ks in five and two-thirds innings. He’s an interesting stat study case too, but I think I’ll save that for the offseason. Suffice to say, he’s better than he seems. RHP John Sullivan (0.00) struck out three of the next four batters he faced, and RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx (2.08) struck out two of the next three. Horner used good relievers to keep the game within reach. I know, it’s a crazy concept to most Mariners fans, but some people do it.
LF Jeff Flaig (2B, R, .219) had a double, and 2B Robby Hudson (R, .271) and RF Stan Posluszny (RBI, .171) both had a hit and a walk.

Vancouver 1 (OAK - 1), Everett 5
RHP Natividad Dilone (3.38) gave up two hits, a wild pitch, and two walks while striking out five in six innings. RHP Andrew Fiorenza (4.55) gave up a run on couple of hits and a walk in the next inning and a third, and RHP Kameron Mickolio (2.87, S) had a hit, a walk, a K, and the save to show for the final inning and two-thirds.
RF Bryan Sabatella (2B, R, SB, A, .253) had two hits and a walk, LF Gavin Dickey (HR, 3 RBI, .226), DH Carlos Peguero (3B, RBI, .210), and 3B Leury Bonilla (2B, R, .206) all had extra-base hits, C Julian Henson (R, .143) had two walks, and CF Kevin Reynolds (R, RBI, .244) had a hit and a walk.

Today’s Starters:
Tacoma: LHP Jeff Harris, in Tacoma, @ 7:06 pm PDT
San Antonio: RHP Jorge Campillo, in San Antonio, @ 5:05 pm PDT
Inland Empire: RHP Aaron Jensen, in San Bernardino, @ 7:11 pm PDT
Wisconsin: RHP Juan Colon, at Clinton, @ 5:05 pm PDT
Everett: RHP Chris Tillman, in Everett, @ 7:05 pm PDT
Peoria: Season over, fifth place
Aguirre: Season over, fourth place

Tacoma Rainiers: 73-68, .518, 5.5 GB in PCL Pacific North
San Antonio Missions: 32-36 (59-77), .471, (.434), 9.5 GB in TL South
Inland Empire 66ers: 33-34 (73-64), .493 (.533), 2 GB in CAL South
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers: 24-43 (51-86), .358 (.372), 17.5 GB in MWL Western
Everett Aquasox: 30-41, .423, 22 GB in NWL West
Peoria Mariners: 11-16 (25-30), .407 (.454), 7.5 GB, in AZL
Aguirre Mariners: 37-28-5, .564, 3.5 GB in VSL
Santo Domingo Mariners: 42-24, .636, 1st in Santo Domingo Norte
Organizational Record: 390-420-5, .482