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.