Reggie Andrews, a late-season acquisition in Augusta’s failed attempt at a World Series title, was sent packing to Fresno along with another minor leaguer for three prospects. Andrews went 7-2 for the Wind down the stretch, including two playoff victories. Augusta cited contract and a glut of major league pitching as motivations for the deal.
Tyler May also wound up in the Fresno organization. The 23-year-old catcher hit .396 over 99 games at Low A ball for the Wind last year.
Augusta loaded up on minor-league pitching help with the deal. 21-year-old blue-chip pitching prospect Tuck Terry gets a major promotion to AAA in the deal after going 9-3 with 3.10 ERA in Rookie ball for Fresno last season. Fresno also parted with Javier De La Vega, who will start his Augusta career as the closer for the High A team. De La Vega will be joined by Vince Heredia, another relief prospect.
Julio Morales lit up the league in his first full season as a starting first baseman for Augusta, slugging 60 homers in an MVP-like season for the Wind. Dating back to season two, Morales has hit at least 50 homers every year.
This should be good news for the baseball sim …
Congratulations to the four major leaguers who made the cut for the upcoming All-Star Game:
Also, the Wind organizational pitching depth is on display in the Future Games with five players selected to represent the American League:
- SP Harry Martinez(8-2, 1.33 WHIP, 3.97 ERA)
- SP Tony Parrish(7-4, 1.15 WHIP, 3.62 ERA, 54 K)
- RP Ricardo Vega(3-2, 16/19 Saves, 1.31 WHIP, 3.41 ERA)
- RP Davey Blowers(1-2, 13/15 Saves, 1.30 WHIP, 3.57 ERA)
- 2B Benito Guerrero (.326, 9 HR, 63 RBI)
Of note is the fact that both Brownson and Guerrero came to the club shortly after the season began as part of the same trade. Guerrero is a converted shortstop.
After being drafted in the 17th round (540th overall) by the Wichita Wranglers, light-hitting 21-year-old 3B Phil Barnes insisted that he would sign with the Wranglers for no less than an $8,000,000 signing bonus.
Clearly annoyed that a “punk kid” would reward his faith thusly, Wranglers GM Shafty offered Barnes a signing bonus of One Dollar.
It is presumed that Barnes–whose consultant is his own mother–will be returning to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln for his senior season.
In other news, the Wranglers inked their overall top draft pick, 18-year-old shortstop Juan Martinez, who was assigned to Low A Level and is expected to start in the cleanup spot tonight.
This is what I just sent to WIS:
Just some feedback on our first amateur draft for LOCO HBD …
1) The controls are really poor for trying to plan a draft strategy. We have a choice between take any player based strictly on overall ranking, or do the same but limit each position to some number (total of 25). What would really be helpful is a Yahoo style draft, where we can do our own scouting and even draft real time if desired. Second best would be to be able to define our own criteria and create a short list of top talen to pursue.
2) I was a cheapskate on the H.S. scouting, minimizing it. I figured at the time that would mean I would get fewer high school players in my draft and the ones I got would probably not be as good as advertised. I had no controls to screen out that group or to make a philosophical decision to go for older more experience players only. I wound up with a great college player as my top pick (better than anticipated) but I didn’t get another college guy until the 8th round.
3) I tried to compensate using the only other control I had at my disposal: signability. I placed it at the most conservative setting, figuring that would bias me toward (a) college seniors with no other options and (b) guys really interested in playing pro ball. Instead, not only did I wind up with a predominantly H.S. players at the top of my draft — guys who presumably could go to college if they didn’t like my offer — my second pick is also getting recruited to play hoops. So unless that little note is not an indicator of signability, I’m wondering what effect that setting had at all.
This has been a great game thus far, but the controls for the draft have been the biggest disappointment, too. I’m hoping for some big improvements in that area, given that is THE way we get new talent from year to year.
Thanks,
Kevin
I invested in college and international scouting, but not high schoolers, so I’m pretty confident that the two HS players on my first-round radar are either (a) actually that good, or (b) much worse. I’m leaning toward the former since I see so many more college players.
At #12 — and with no second pick until the 80s — I can pretty much ignore anyone below my #12 spot in the scouting list top 25. I can also probably project upwards to the 8-9 players on my list, assuming that there are more high schoolers that are good than I can see. The two HS guys I have any chance of drafting are:
#1 overall SS Ronnie Freel - 89
#10 overall 1B Benito Santos — 76
I’d be curious to know if these numbers jive with what others (who properly scouted HS) see, and if there are many more HS in the top 25. My top 25 ranges from 70-89 and has 5 HS players in the mix
Of course the guy I really want is down at #23 as best catcher available, but I have zero chance of getting him without being able to make C a priority.
I’m going to nominate the following players and owners for awards:
- Cy Young Award — Wade Herzner, Durham Bulls (8-1, 80.1 IP, 1.08 WHIP, 2.46 ERA, 78 K)
- MVP Award — Tony James, Chicago Whodats (.365 BA, .975 SLG, HR, 78 RBI)
- Manager of the Year — John Newfry, Seattle Slew (ML: 42-16, AAA: 34-24, AA: 33-25, Hi A: 33-25, Lo A: 30-28 … 1st in the AL North at every level)
Joaquin Mendoza, a 21-year-old pitcher from Puerto Plata, DO, had a rough greeting from LOCO HBD hitters. Mendoza, making his professional debut in the states, allowed five runs on six hits and didn’t last three innings in a 6-5 loss to AAA Kansas City. Mendoza recently signed a five-year major league contract with the Wind. Expectations are high that he will join the starting rotation by season four.
Big apologies to jakotay and any other Pistons fans out there, but WOO-HOO!
ESPN Source: Big Ben Heading To Bulls
The biggest free-agent prize of the NBA offseason appears to be off the market. Ben Wallace has informed the Pistons he will sign with the Bulls, Insider Chad Ford reports. The deal is believed to be $52M for four years.
