Minor League Wrap (8/31-9/7/09)
The regular minor league season of 2009, with nearly nine hundred games in the books, is done, so this is the final wrap covering most of the teams. The Rainiers and the Mavericks both made the playoffs, the Peoria M’s won theirs, and the D-Jaxx end up on the out, looking in. I hope it’s been educational and at least somewhat entertaining for you all. Of course, the action never really ends, so I’ll be around with winter league stuff and other reviews in the offseason.
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Report From Everett
Thursday evening, I was up in Everett catching the Aquasox home finale, fan appreciation night, where some guy won $5k on the dice throw and I ended up getting my ticket called to receive a bag of Aquasox goodies. Baseball was played too, and good baseball at that. I don’t know if there will be any revealing remarks as Dave had, what with Everett being a lot closer in proximity to the majority of the fanbase than Pulaski is, but here are some notes I scratched down on my legal pad.
Minor League Wrap (8/24-30/09)
This is the second-to-last wrap of the season, as the affiliates not playing into the post-season won’t be active after the seventh of September. In fact, the Arizona League playoff is tomorrow and Pulaski won’t play after this coming Tuesday, so the end of the recaps is already in wind-down mode.
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Nick Franklin Signs
He ended up getting about $120k over slot, which isn’t terrible. Ackley would figure to get a lot more, though we probably aren’t going to know exactly how much until right around the deadline Monday evening.
Franklin, to refresh everyone’s memory, was the 27th overall pick and was one of the better prep shortstops available, projecting to stay at the position long-term. He’s a switch-hitter, and like many in that category, his left-handed swing is a bit different from his right-handed one, with a bit of an uppercut to it. My guess is that he’ll get a few games in at Peoria and then move on up to Pulaski. I’m not sure at this point whether he’ll be Noriega’s double play partner or if they’ll just try moving Noriega to Everett, pushing Phillips to a utility role.
Minor League Wrap (7/27-8/2/09)
I don’t have much of an intro going as I spent most of Sunday at CitiField, about two hours of which was in rain delay. It was worth it for the field level tickets though, which a friend of mine scored. If you ever happen to be in that part of the country, I’d recommend giving it a look. It’s cheaper than Yankees Stadium, obviously, and plays better too, if you can get past the issue of planes taking off at LaGuardia every few minutes.
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Minor League Wrap (7/13-19/09)
It’s an abbreviated week in a lot of respects, as the All-Star Game meant that most affiliates weren’t playing and the PCL and the Southern League were both on their respective breaks. Nevertheless, we are not lacking for things to write about…
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Minor League Wrap (7/6-12/09)
Yesterday, people were complaining about a lack of baseball over the all-star break (what, 162 regular season games not enough for you? I get to deal with 700-800 in the minors alone). There won’t be much, if any minor league action on the big day, but today you can check out the Southern League All-Star Game and on Wednesday, the PCL plays the International League in the Triple-A All-Star Game. Just saying.
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Minor League Wrap (6/22-28/09)
There are nine affiliates playing now that I’m having to keep track of through the dailies, but I’m only going to be keeping up with the top six here because summer league stuff, in Arizona or Latin America, is not something that’s worth paying a great deal of attention to. I’ll get rehab notes in from Peoria when I need to, but I’ve seen so many hitters/pitchers over the years do almost nothing after a tour of the Arizona League to put much stock in it.
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Two M’s to Futures, Int’l Signings a Week Away
Cheers to 3B Alex Liddi and CF Tyson Gillies, two current High Desert Mavericks who will be headed to the Futures Game during the All-Star Break next month. Liddi, who will be twenty-one in August, logged nearly 1200 at-bats in the minors with the M’s, most of which came in Wisconsin, before breaking out this year. While any gaudy numbers produced in the California League should rightly be met with some suspicion, he’s shown improvements in his batting eye off and on throughout the season and may be legitimately improving. The darling of the Mariners spring training camp this year, Gillies has handled the jump from Everett quite well and continues to show off solid defensive tools (despite being legally deaf) and the hitting potential of a future lead-off man. He hails from the Vancouver B.C. area and, after the season ends, he will also turn twenty-one.
If you’re fond of world baseball, you might also want to note that the international signing period opens a week from today. Currently, the M’s are rumored to be hot after Dominican OF Guillermo Pimentel, a sixteen-year-old outfielder who has plus power from the left side. The Rangers were originally the frontrunner for Pimentel’s services, but the M’s recently pulled away and have been keeping him active at their facilities for the past few weeks. The Mariners are also said to be scouting a Venezuelan outfielder pretty heavily, who is known to have impressive physical tools that haven’t transferred to games yet. I feel like we’ve heard that profile a few times before.
More information will come in as players begin to sign, but the M’s are expected to be big spenders yet again, likely eclipsing last season’s totals given to the likes of Julio Morban, Francisco Valdivia, Jose Martinez, Bertin Sanon, and Junior Nunez.
Minor League Wrap (6/15-21/09)
Dave adds: We’re happy to announce that Jay has agreed to join us full time as a USSM author. He’s done a fantastic job with the recaps, and we were so impressed we asked him to take on a larger role. He’ll still be doing the recaps through the season, but he’s also going to be doing more posts on the goings on below the major league level and generally boosting the site’s coverage of the team’s farm system. We’re really happy to have Jay on board as an author. Welcome to the team, Jay.
A few quick notes before we get things rolling. First off, the Midwest and California League All-Star Games, with M’s farmhands well-represented, will be taking place on Tuesday, not that you would miss a match-up against our hated interleague rivals for the world. Second, Everett and Peoria have started play, with Pulaski also getting going on Tuesday, so be patient as the recaps adjust to the added workload. The first half is over. Let the endurance run begin.
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