Aumont Joins Diamond Jaxx
There’s a press release up at an external site, but if you don’t like that, you can confirm the roster. This doesn’t look like a temporary move for today’s doubleheader either, as they released a player to make room for him.
So, what have we learned about our ’07 first-round pick in the past few months? Aumont struggled out of the gate, with some mediocre command marring his April performances and leaving him with a 9/6 K/BB in 10.1 innings. This improved significantly to a 16/2 in 14.1 May innings, but it was coupled with a few more of his hits leaving the park. In June, his performances were more towards the middle; his control wasn’t quite as good, but his home run rate wasn’t quite as bad and hitters were having some difficulty making contact off of him. It would seem that he’s been in the process of adjusting back and forth over the past few months in response to what’s happening around him, which is definitely a good sign.
One more item of interest is that the difference in his splits versus lefties and righties is almost imperceptible, save for a couple of things. He gets twice as many groundballs against same-handed batters than he does opposite, which could help explain the higher home run rate versus lefties and the higher ERA with it. There’s also a slight increase in walks, which would be expected with him. Otherwise, the numbers are identical.
It really makes you think about what he might be able to do in the rotation, doesn’t it?
Previewing the ’09 Aquasox
The Aquasox will be opening up their season on Saturday in Vancouver (7:05 pm start time), so now is as good a time as any to preview the third local team, should anyone be curious enough to venture up to Everett Memorial this summer. The roster as constructed right now is especially not-reflective of who will be taking the field for the majority of the season. Not only are there just two ’09 draftees that have signed at this point, but a recent change in passport/visa rules for entering the U.S. has left the Aquasox with a limited roster, as not everyone has their papers squared away just yet. There are two pitchers listed as in the rotation, RHs Chris Kirkland and Taylor Stanton, that aren’t going to be with the team on the first roadtrip for this very reason. The players who you see on the team at this moment are the ones that are capable of going to Canada and back without issues, but there’s going to be a noticeable turnover come Tuesday.
Nevertheless, here is more information on the group than you ought to require.
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Minor League Wrap (5/25-31/09)
The top three catchers in the system are all still hitting well, which is good for whenever we get that situation figured out, though I should warn those of you anticipating Moore’s arrival that he has a pretty bad passed ball problem. I don’t have much to work with this week, so I ended up writing about three-quarters of a page on Liddi because it seemed like a good idea at the time. It’s partially to provide a soft letdown for the bad news that follows.
To the jump!
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Minor League Wrap (5/18-24/09)
I’ll be around for a little while to answer questions today, but I’m flying out to New York again in the afternoon, so if you’re asking later on in the evening, I won’t answer it until Tuesday at the earliest.
Minor League Wrap (5/11-17/09)
No intro this week… I was up a bit late working on this, and probably won’t be in to answer questions until late either. This is perhaps a good thing, as you miss any possible references I could make to “statement games”.
To the jump!
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Minor League Wrap (4/27-5/3/09)
This rundown is also slightly clipped, but that should be the last of the time-abbreviated ones for a while. It’s only missing a few of the stories and the happenings in general, but the ground/fly ratios make their triumphant return. I’d say just keeping track of all the transactions for this week gave me more than enough to talk about.
To the jump!
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Minor League Wrap (4/20-26/09)
This week’s rundown will be a bit abbreviated, by my standards at least, as I just haven’t had the time to commit to it after a rather eventful week. Consequently, I had to cut out the quotes, happenings, and ground/fly ratios. They may be back again for next Monday, but it’s hard to tell at this point. Everything else is as it’s been before.
In the meantime, if you’re truly starved for more, I recommend an impressive Baseball America article by Matt Eddy that scouts the Mavericks pitching staff and the kind of things they’ve been doing to avoid the notorious effects of their home park.
To the jump!
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Minor League Wrap (4/13-19/09)
Back for a second week, with more news around the minors. The intro’s a little short this time as I’m battling a vicious head cold, but we’re not lacking on content, no sir. Well, that’s mainly because I’ve been typing it up all week. Enjoy.
To the jump!
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Minor League Wrap (4/9-12/09)
From the shores of the Pacific Coast League (where applicable), to the chilly Midwest, this is your weekly Minor League Wrap-Up.
I’m still trying to nail down a form for these to take, so we’re still in the experimental phase. I’ll try to keep going with most of the features where applicable, but in certain cases, I won’t be including every feature. The news clippings, for example, don’t work if the press is especially spotty. It’s pretty ambitious on the whole. We’ll see how long it can stay that way.
To the jump!
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Previewing the Minor Leagues
Salutations.
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Jay Yencich. I’ve been following the Mariners’ minor league system for the past eight years and covering it for the past five, first on blogspot and on Scout.com with Joe Kaiser and Jason Churchill, and most recently on the MVN network. Five years is a long time in the minor leagues, enough to span entire careers and then some in many cases. Over the time I’ve been a fan, I’ve never lacked for things to write about. Of course, part of that is the around 850 games played last year by M’s affiliates alone, but there are other storylines as well.
I’ve observed three changes each in GM and scouting director, all with varying priorities for the international and domestic domains. I’ve witnessed the signing and failing of the first ever prospects from China and Russia, and I’ve seen the Mariners expand their scouting domain to include El Salvador, Taiwan, and Korea, as well as less common baseball places like Brazil and South Africa. I’ve read translations of scouting reports in at least six different languages. I’ve cheered as work visas for international players were reclassified from seasonal workers to entertainers. I’ve hunted down various sources when you couldn’t get a box score for the Arizona League, let alone the Dominican or Venezuelan Summer Leagues. I’ve watched as the draft-and-follow process ended and the new compensation system began. I’ve covered all fifty rounds of one draft (never again) and found enough information to write a paragraph about each player the M’s drafted.
I remember when Ryan Anderson was the Mariners top prospect.
The point is that, if you care to watch, there’s always something going on in the minors, whether it’s as simple as the development of a top prospect or as groundbreaking as a new market of talent emerging. Along the way, you get accustomed to other sights as well, such as an infielder who used to play pick-up with cardboard glove watching his first dizzy bat race between innings or the latest developments in the field of t-shirt propulsion. Dave asked me to come on so I could bring some of that to you guys on a weekly basis with snapshots of what’s going on. For daily updates, breaking news as it happens, and more bulky analytical posts, you can find me at my current home at Mariner Minors on MVN, linked up on the sidebar, but once a week, usually Monday, I’ll be here to talk shop and cover some of the recent happenings.
In the meantime, here are the top five prospects to watch on each roster for the teams starting up tomorrow.
Tacoma Rainiers (Triple-A)
C Jeff Clement
1B Mike Carp
LHP Garret Olson
LHP Jason Vargas
OF Mike Wilson
(Tui bumps one of the last two off when he comes down)
West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (Double-A)
IF Carlos Triunfel
OF Gregory Halman
C Adam Moore
RH Josh Fields
RH Stephen Kahn
High Desert Mavericks (Advanced-A)
RH Phillippe Aumont
RH Michael Pineda
RH Juan Carlos Ramirez
CF Tyson Gillies
LH Edward Paredes/RH Nathan Adcock
Clinton Lumberkings (Intermediate-A)
SS Mario Martinez
RH Brett Lorin
RH Aaron Pribanic
RH Stephen Hensley
CF Daniel Carroll
Rehabbing, MIA, or Not in Full-Season
CF Michael Saunders
RH Maikel Cleto
RF/1B Dennis Raben
3B Jharmidy deJesus
1B Gerardo Avila
I’ll be hanging around today to answer general questions, should the need arise. For more detail than you require on the rosters, I have some preview posts up in my usual haunt.