How Good was Cliff Lee last night?

Phenomenal pitching performance by Cliff Lee to lead the Phillies to a 6-1 victory in game one of the World Series last night.

As the poll on the right proves, a lot of people that read this blog are picking the Phillies to win. I think that's largely because we consider ourselves fans of the National League, or more importantly, haters of the Yankees.

However, if you look at the national scope, virtually everyone is picking the Yankees (look at yesterday's post where I linked to the ESPN.com writers picks).

That doesn't make sense to me. I realize the Yankees won more games this season, have the highest payroll, and they are the Yankees for crying out loud. But why is everyone forgetting that we are talking about the Phillies -- THE TEAM THAT WON THE WORLD SERIES LAST YEAR. This isn't David vs. Goliath. It's Goliath vs. Goliath.

I realize the Yankees have the more impressive pitching staff and perhaps New York proves that over the next 2-3 games to get the series back on track. However, I'm just amazed at how everyone is sleeping on the Phillies this year. I can't think of another time in history that the defending champs are considered this much of an underdog.

Anyhow, enjoy the Series over the next few days. I am spending Halloween with my adorable 3-year old twin nieces, so the blog is going to get a few days off. I'll be back on Monday with more World Series thoughts. Don't eat too much candy this weekend!

Odds and Ends

A few baseball-related links for you today:

-The Astros have hired Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills as their new manager. For those of you lifelong Midwest League fans, Mills managed Peoria in 1989.

-Former Silver Hawks pitcher Brian Bruney has been added to the Yankees World Series roster.

-ESPN's Jayson Stark tells us that this World Series will determine the Team of the Decade.

-Everyone at ESPN.com is making their World Series predictions, so I will make mine as well. I like the Phillies in 6.

Ugh...Releases

I hate this time of year, because every once in a while I get an email from the parent club (in this case, the Diamondbacks) announcing the release of minor league players.

The first wave of releases hit my email inbox roughly 10 minutes ago, and it always leaves you with a horrible feeling inside. I'll try to seperate my emotions from these posts and think of it from the baseball side, but it's hard when you become friends with these guys over the course of the season.

With that said, here is who was released today:

Brendan Duffy -- Probably the most surprising name on the list in my opinion. I thought Brendan was a tremendous ballplayer whose game (slap hits and speed) plays at every level. That being said, Duffy was a 41st round pick and was "old" for the level he was at this year since he is already 24, and I'm guessing the Diamondbacks decided that he wasn't in their future plans so they should make way for younger guys.

Nelson Gomez -- Nelson might have been the biggest disappointment on the Silver Hawks this season, if only because he led Missoula in home runs and RBIs in 2008. The power numbers were never quite there this season, and he had trouble keeping his starting job. An up and down season for a 23-year old first baseman that wasn't showing a lot of power is a bad combination. Arizona has apparently decided they have better options at the corners with Parker, Wheeler, Conner, and a few others coming up through the ranks.

Jordan Meaker -- Meaker is another player who had a great 2008 and struggled in 2009. After posting a 1.47 ERA with Yakima in 2008, Jordan came back with a 5.67 ERA this season. I thought Jordan showed great growth towards the end of the year, but it wasn't enough apparently. I know I said I'd keep emotion out of it, but I'll say this for Jordan: He was arguably the nicest guy on the team, and I have no doubt that if he doesn't latch on with another team, that he will be successful in whatever field he chooses to go into. He was just a tremendous person to talk to and be around.

Houston Summers -- Houston was the knuckleball reliever that joined the staff for a few games in the middle of the season. He was converted from a position player to a pitcher after a year in the system, and just never quite found the right role. He spent a lot of time bouncing between extended spring training, Missoula, and Yakima. Houston also has the achievement of winning the first ever MiLB.com Moniker Madness tournament.

In addition to those four that played with the Silver Hawks in 2009, the following players were also released from the Diamondbacks organization:

Ariel Brea
Ben Dollar
Astolfo Inciarte
Pedro Rodriguez
Clayton Suss
Greg Thomson (played with South Bend in 2006)

Baseball America, Jarrod Parker, and the Padres

No sooner had I finished the last post about the Padres changes, that I went to www.baseballamerica.com and read this article about the Padres situation and former Silver Hawks pitcher Jarrod Parker.

The first question asks about how far Parker would drop in the prospect rankings with Tommy John surgery scheduled for this week (not very far, according to BA).

The second question addresses the Padres situation, and what Hoyer takes over. Baseball America is not as kind to the Padres farm system as I was in the previous post. While I agree with BA that the major league team stinks, and there's not a ton of talent in the upper levels of the minors, I think they are selling the low level talent short. They admit that they were off when they ranked the Padres farm system 29th of the 30 teams, but they don't seem to give a lot of credit to the young players who had great seasons at the A-level this season.

Click the link above and read it all.

Change with the Padres

So the Padres have a new GM, and thus, they are making a change in their player development director as well.

Jed Hoyer is the new GM, replacing the recently fired Kevin Towers. As soon as Hoyer was announced as GM, Grady Fuson was relieved of his duties as VP of Player Development.

Why should you care?

It's when things like this happen that remind everyone just how little the low levels of the minors ultimately mean to the big league club. We all remember the Fort Wayne TinCaps success this season, right? 102 wins is hard to forget. It was largely Towers and his staff that drafted that great crop of players, and Fuson and his staff that developed that great group of players. And while I'm sure the Padres are happy that they've won at the low-A level in 2009, it's not enough to save the jobs of the top two guys in terms of player personnel.

I don't know whether Towers and Fuson deserved to be fired or not. That's not for me to decide. All I know is that Hoyer is taking over a bad major league team, but has a great crop of prospects -- and that's exactly what every GM in MLB wants.

We'll wait for the fall out and see if the TinCaps staff get to keep their jobs with a new Player Development regime in place.

McGwire as Hitting Coach?

ESPN.com is reporting that Mark McGwire is going to be the next hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Is this really a good idea?

Listen, I don't even care about the steroids issue. Seriously, I don't. What McGwire did was probably illegal by the laws of the country, but not by the rules of baseball. While that doesn't justify what he did, I sometimes feel that McGwire is being unfairly criticized as the poster child for something that a lot more people were doing as well. Baseball also turned a blind eye to the whole thing when they could have easily stepped in.

The reason that I'm questioning this move is because McGwire wasn't that good of a hitter. His career average was .263, and that would be a heck of a lot lower without all the home runs he hit late in his career. He's arguably the most one-dimensional hitter of all time, and I'm saying this as a McGwire fan.

I just don't know that I want a guy who had more homers than singles one season as the guy instructing my players on the finer art of hitting. If you throw in the whole steroids issue, I think this makes it an even worse move.

World Series is Set

Well, it's going to be the Yankees and Phillies battling it out for baseball supremacy.

I'm excited about this matchup for a number of reasons:

1) You have the Phillies trying to become the first National League team to win back-to-back titles since the Big Red Machine of the mid-70's.

2) The Yankees are trying to reclaim their magic and win for the first time since 2000.

3) There are former Silver Hawks on each roster: Scott Eyre with the Phillies and Brian Bruney with the Yankees (Note: Bruney has not been on the postseason roster, but even still, if you are a part of the team, you get a ring).

4) It's the World Series. As baseball fans, this is what we all live for.

Make your predictions for the outcome in the poll to the right. In the last poll, only one person of the seven that voted wanted the Yankees/Phillies matchup. The winner was three people who would have liked to see the Yankees/Dodgers.

Surgery for Jarrod Parker

Ugh...not the news you wanted to hear if you're a Diamondbacks fan. Former Silver Hawks pitcher and future star Jarrod Parker is going to have Tommy John surgery later this month, the Diamondbacks announced yesterday.

Tommy John surgery is so commonplace these days, that not too many people think twice about it. He'll miss the 2010 season of course, and hopefully should be ready to go by 2011. Parker is only 20 years old, so he still has plenty of time to be a star in the majors. However, we can't overlook the fact that this is still surgery on a youngster, and the Diamondbacks plans of having him as a major part of their rotation in 2010 is not going to happen.

Diamondbacks Offseason

What should the Diamondbacks do this offseason? Nick Piecoro has a plan for them.

Gotta Love October Baseball

Both LCS games yesterday were fantastic, featuring a walk-off win in each. First, the Angels took down the Yankees in game three, followed by the Phillies scoring twice in the bottom of the ninth against Jonathan Broxton for a commanding 3-1 series lead.

CC Sabathia is on the hill for the Yankees today on three days rest against the Angels' Scott Kazmir.

The Phillies and Dodgers take a day off before playing game five on Wednesday.

I'm browsing the usual sites for any other interesting stuff, but so far, the only interesting story I've found is about former Fort Wayne Wizard David Freese battling for the starting job at third base with the Cardinals next season. It's a decent read.

Need a Speaker?

I don't usually use this blog for advertising purposes, because that's not what I want this to be about. I like to think of this blog as a forum for on the field news and updates about former players.

That being said, the Silver Hawks are only successful because of you -- the fans -- and I love talking to the fans. Thus, I started the Silver Hawks Speakers Bureau. I (or another member of the Silver Hawks staff) will come out and speak to your club/group/school for free.

If you have any interest in having a speaker from the Silver Hawks (now or during the season), click the link above or contact me at oserey@silverhawks.com.

News from The Boston Globe

I realize that newspapers are a dying breed, but it's nice when a newspaper has an excellent grasp of covering all the top stories of baseball. Since it's the offseason for most teams, that means writing about potential free agents and player movement from across the country.

The Boston Globe does a good job of not just writing about the Red Sox, but branching out to report the top stories everywhere. Click this link to read about a bunch of different stories in baseball, but I've pulled out two interesting Diamondbacks notes and published them below.

Here's the first D'Backs note about Stephen Drew:

"2. Stephen Drew, SS, Diamondbacks - He is expected to be shopped by the Diamondbacks, and there should be discussions with the Red Sox. Stephen is not the OPS machine that big brother J.D. is (.748 this season) but his other numbers weren’t bad for a shortstop: .261, 12 homers, 65 RBIs (only three fewer than J.D.). He also made only 11 errors. Who knows if hitting in a more patient lineup will help his OPS?"

And then a little bit on Mark Reynolds:

"4. Mark Reynolds, 3B, Diamondbacks - The cutoff for the “Super 2’s’’ is 141 days of service time (last year it was 140). Reynolds has 138 days because he was brought up in mid-May of 2007. Instead of something close to a $5 million salary, Reynolds will get about a 10 percent raise to $425,000. Great bargain for the only guy in the majors who hit 40 homers, had 100 RBIs, and stole 20 bases this year."

The first note is interesting because I'm not sure a lot of people are expecting Drew to get traded. The second one is a huge deal financially for the Diamondbacks, when you consider it saves them 4.5 million dollars this season.

Final Top 20 Rankings

Thank God for Baseball America's Top 20 Rankings of each league, because they have been carrying this blog for the better part of two weeks now. The final one is out, with the Pacific Coast League being revealed yesterday. There is only one Diamondbacks player on the list.

Click here to find out who.

Going to be a fun sports weekend. College basketball practice tips off tonight (and no one opens up a season like my Kentucky Wildcats and Big Blue Madness). Then tomorrow is Notre Dame/USC, plus you have other college football and NFL games over the weekend to mix in with the baseball playoffs. Does it get much better?

Pitching MVP

The voting is over for the Silver Hawks pitching MVP award, as determined by you, the readers of this blog. Since this is a completely unofficial poll, there is no prize awarded other than the pride of knowing the fans selected you (and yes, it's unofficial because this basically just turns into a "who can stuff the ballot box?" campaign).

Here are the results
1) T.J. Hose - 8 votes
2) Wade Miley - 6 votes
T-3) Justin Mace - 5 votes
T-3) Taylor Sinclair - 5 votes
5) Ryan Cook - 4 votes
T-6) Trevor Harden - 1 vote
T-6) Keny Sosa - 1 vote
T-6) Bryan Woodall - 1 vote
T-9) Victor Capellan - 0 votes
T-9) Sean Morgan - 0 votes

I don't have a tremendous problem with these rankings, although I'd shuffle a few positions around.

Again, I didn't include everyone in the voting because certain players didn't have enough innings or a good enough ERA to qualify. I set the standards at 35.0 innings and an ERA lower than 4.50.

There's a new poll on the right.

International League Top 20

No former Silver Hawks in this report, but Baseball America has released their top 20 prospects from the Triple-A International League. There are a few former Midwest Leaguers in there though, so check it out.

I would assume the Pacific Coast League will be published tomorrow, so I'll link to that when it's up.

LCS Time

Technically, it's not LCS time yet, because of the stupid Major League Baseball postseason schedule that draws this thing out until early November (can we please get this fixed? Please). However, the matchups are set, so here you go:

ALCS: New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
NLCS: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies

Who I'm Rooting For: I don't like any of them, so who cares really. I'll watch, but I really don't have a huge rooting interest.

Who MLB is Rooting For: Dodgers and Yankees (Think of all the story lines they would have with this matchup: Manny Ramirez and the Dodgers, the Yankees return to glory, Joe Torre vs. his old team, A-Rod in the World Series, etc. etc. etc.)

Former Midwest Leaguers in the LCS:

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Updated)
Jason Bulger - South Bend (2002)
Brian Fuentes - Wisconsin (1997)
Kevin Jepsen - Cedar Rapids (2003-2004)
John Lackey - Cedar Rapids (2000)
Ervin Santana - Cedar Rapids (2002)
Joe Saunders - Cedar Rapids (2002)
Jeff Mathis - Cedar Rapids (2002)
Mike Napoli - Cedar Rapids (2001-2002)
Bobby Wilson - Cedar Rapids (2004)
Erick Aybar - Cedar Rapids (2003)
Howie Kendrick - Cedar Rapids (2004)
Torii Hunter - Fort Wayne (1994)
Gary Matthews Jr - Clinton (1995)

New York Yankees (Updated)
A.J. Burnett - Kane County (1998)
Damaso Marte - Wisconsin (1996)
Jose Molina - Peoria (1994) and Rockford (1996)
Alex Rodriguez - Appleton (1994)
Melky Cabrera - Battle Creek (2004)
Johnny Damon - Rockford (1993)
Eric Hinske - Rockford (1998)

Los Angeles Dodgers (Updated)
Ronald Belisario - Kane County (2002)
Jon Garland - Rockford (1998)
Clayton Kershaw - Great Lakes (2007)
Jeff Weaver - West Michigan (1998)
Ronnie Belliard - Beloit (1995)
Andre Ethier - Kane County (2003)

Philadelphia Phillies (Updated)
Joe Blanton - Kane County (2003)
Chad Durbin - Lansing (1997)
Scott Eyre - South Bend (1994)
Brad Lidge - Quad Cities (1998)
Greg Dobbs - Wisconsin (2002)
Pedro Feliz - Burlington (1996)
Raul Ibanez - Appleton (1993-1994)
Matt Stairs - Rockford (1989)

Did You Miss Me?

Sorry for the long layoff from the blog. I was a groomsman for a wedding this weekend in St. Pete, Florida (yes, I know you are jealous). I have now been a groomsman eight times, but this was the first time I didn't need a tuxedo because the wedding was on the beach. I also hit the links twice with another friend who lives in Tampa, with the temperatures hitting 90 degrees every day I was there. It was a great weekend, but now it's back to work in the cold climate of South Bend.

Since I had a long weekend, I'm trying to get caught up on some things. To get back into the flow though, here are the Baseball America rankings for the leagues that I missed over the past few days.

Southern League -- Where does former Silver Hawks pitcher Jarrod Parker rank? Click and find out.

Eastern League

Texas League -- Headlined by a pitcher who played against the Silver Hawks this season.

Blog Vacation

I will be taking a few days off from the blog over what is going to be a long weekend for me (Friday-Monday). I'll be back on Tuesday afternoon with some more links and all that. Thanks for understanding.

In the meantime, here are a couple of links to top 20 prospects from other high-A leagues. There are no Diamondbacks affiliates in these leagues, but you can browse the lists and see some former Midwest Leaguers that are in the higher level of A-ball right now.

Carolina League - click here

Florida State League - click here

Updated MLB Rosters

I've updated the rosters from the post below to include the Twins. Speaking of the Twins, what a phenomenal game last night between Minnesota and Detroit. I had drifted into football mode the past few weeks but after watching that thriller, I'm totally back to baseball mode and ready for the postseason.

For those teams that I have an updated postseason roster, I've trimmed off the players that didn't make it. I can't find the postseason rosters for every team just quite yet, so I will update this post (as opposed to reposting) when I get them done. I will note next to the team names which ones have been edited and which haven't.

Boston Red Sox (Not updated for playoff roster)
Josh Beckett - Kane County (2000)
Billy Wagner - Quad Cities (1994)
George Kottaras - Fort Wayne (2004)
Alex Gonzalez - Kane County (1996)
Casey Kotchman - Cedar Rapids (2002)
Jason Bay - Clinton (2001)
David Ortiz - Wisconsin (1996)

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Not updated for playoff roster)
Trevor Bell - Cedar Rapids (2007-2008)
Jason Bulger - South Bend (2002)
Brian Fuentes - Wisconsin (1997)
Kevin Jepsen - Cedar Rapids (2003-2004)
John Lackey - Cedar Rapids (2000)
Sean O'Sullivan - Cedar Rapids (2007)
Rafael Rodriguez - Cedar Rapids (2003-2005)
Ervin Santana - Cedar Rapids (2002)
Joe Saunders - Cedar Rapids (2002)
Rich Thompson - Cedar Rapids (2003)
Jeff Mathis - Cedar Rapids (2002)
Mike Napoli - Cedar Rapids (2001-2002)
Bobby Wilson - Cedar Rapids (2004)
Erick Aybar - Cedar Rapids (2003)
Howie Kendrick - Cedar Rapids (2004)
Freddy Sandoval - Cedar Rapids (2005)
Brandon Wood - Cedar Rapids (2004)
Terry Evans - Peoria (2003-2004)
Torii Hunter - Fort Wayne (1994)
Gary Matthews Jr - Clinton (1995)
Chris Pettit - Cedar Rapids (2007)

Minnesota Twins (Updated)
Scott Baker - Quad Cities (2003)
Nick Blackburn - Quad Cities (2003-2004)
Jesse Crain - Quad Cities (2002)
Brian Duensing - Beloit (2006)
Jose Mijares - Beloit (2005)
Carl Pavano - Michigan (1995)
Joe Mauer - Quad Cities (2002)
Jose Morales - Quad Cities (2003)
Mike Redmond - Kane County (1993-1994)
Alexi Casilla - Cedar Rapids (2004-2005)
Brendan Harris - Lansing (2001)
Justin Morneau - Quad Cities (2001) (DL, but still worthy of being on list)
Nick Punto - Quad Cities (2004)
Michael Cuddyer - Fort Wayne (1998)
Denard Span - Quad Cities (2004)
Jason Kubel - Quad Cities (2002)

New York Yankees (Updated)
A.J. Burnett - Kane County (1998)
Damaso Marte - Wisconsin (1996)
Jose Molina - Peoria (1994) and Rockford (1996)
Alex Rodriguez - Appleton (1994)
Melky Cabrera - Battle Creek (2004)
Johnny Damon - Rockford (1993)
Eric Hinske - Rockford (1998)

St. Louis Cardinals (Updated)
Ryan Franklin - Appleton (1994)
Blake Hawksworth - Peoria (2003)
Kyle Lohse - Rockford (1998)
Kyle McClellan - Peoria (2004) and Quad Cities (2005)
Jason Motte - Quad Cities (2006)
Joel Pineiro - Wisconsin (1998)
Yadier Molina - Peoria (2002)
Julio Lugo - Quad Cities (1996)
Albert Pujols - Peoria (2000)
Brendan Ryan - Peoria (2004)
Rick Ankiel - Peoria (1998) and Quad Cities (2005)
Colby Rasmus - Quad Cities (2006)

Los Angeles Dodgers (Updated)
Ronald Belisario - Kane County (2002)
Jon Garland - Rockford (1998)
Clayton Kershaw - Great Lakes (2007)
Jeff Weaver - West Michigan (1998)
Ronnie Belliard - Beloit (1995)
Andre Ethier - Kane County (2003)

Philadelphia Phillies (Updated)
Joe Blanton - Kane County (2003)
Chad Durbin - Lansing (1997)
Scott Eyre - South Bend (1994)
Brad Lidge - Quad Cities (1998)
Greg Dobbs - Wisconsin (2002)
Pedro Feliz - Burlington (1996)
Raul Ibanez - Appleton (1993-1994)
Matt Stairs - Rockford (1989)

Colorado Rockies (Updated)
Rafael Betancourt - Michigan (1997)
Huston Street - Kane County (2004)
Yorvit Torrealba - Burlington (1996)
Carlos Gonzalez - South Bend (2004-2005)

Former MWL Players in MLB Postseason

In my ridiculous on-going quest to do more research for this blog than any human should be allowed, I've checked the rosters of each MLB playoff team for former MWL players. This required searching each name on www.baseball-reference.com, and then checking the minor league stats for each player.

A couple of notes:

1) I have not included the Tigers/Twins yet, because we don't know which team will make it. I'll update this tomorrow with the players from whatever team wins today.

2) The players listed below are from what is listed on mlb.com for each team's active roster. This does not necessarily mean all these players will make the playoff rosters. Once I get ahold of the playoff rosters, I will edit this list for clarity.

3) Cedar Rapids, by far, has the most former players in the playoffs. That's largely because they are an Angels affiliate. You see what I mean by the list below.

So here we go....

Boston Red Sox
Josh Beckett - Kane County (2000)
Billy Wagner - Quad Cities (1994)
George Kottaras - Fort Wayne (2004)
Alex Gonzalez - Kane County (1996)
Casey Kotchman - Cedar Rapids (2002)
Jason Bay - Clinton (2001)
David Ortiz - Wisconsin (1996)

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Trevor Bell - Cedar Rapids (2007-2008)
Jason Bulger - South Bend (2002)
Brian Fuentes - Wisconsin (1997)
Kevin Jepsen - Cedar Rapids (2003-2004)
John Lackey - Cedar Rapids (2000)
Sean O'Sullivan - Cedar Rapids (2007)
Rafael Rodriguez - Cedar Rapids (2003-2005)
Ervin Santana - Cedar Rapids (2002)
Joe Saunders - Cedar Rapids (2002)
Rich Thompson - Cedar Rapids (2003)
Jeff Mathis - Cedar Rapids (2002)
Mike Napoli - Cedar Rapids (2001-2002)
Bobby Wilson - Cedar Rapids (2004)
Erick Aybar - Cedar Rapids (2003)
Howie Kendrick - Cedar Rapids (2004)
Freddy Sandoval - Cedar Rapids (2005)
Brandon Wood - Cedar Rapids (2004)
Terry Evans - Peoria (2003-2004)
Torii Hunter - Fort Wayne (1994)
Gary Matthews Jr - Clinton (1995)
Chris Pettit - Cedar Rapids (2007)

New York Yankees
Brian Bruney - South Bend (2001-2002)
A.J. Burnett - Kane County (1998)
Damaso Marte - Wisconsin (1996)
Sergio Mitre - Lansing (2002)
Edwar Ramirez - Cedar Rapids (2003)
Jose Molina - Peoria (1994) and Rockford (1996)
Alex Rodriguez - Appleton (1994)
Melky Cabrera - Battle Creek (2004)
Johnny Damon - Rockford (1993)
Freddy Guzman - Fort Wayne (2002)
Eric Hinske - Rockford (1998)

St. Louis Cardinals
Ryan Franklin - Appleton (1994)
Blake Hawksworth - Peoria (2003)
Kyle Lohse - Rockford (1998)
Kyle McClellan - Peoria (2004) and Quad Cities (2005)
Jason Motte - Quad Cities (2006)
Joel Pineiro - Wisconsin (1998)
Brad Thompson - Peoria (2003)
Todd Wellemeyer - Lansing (2001)
Yadier Molina - Peoria (2002)
Matt Pagnozzi - Peoria (2004)
David Freese - Fort Wayne (2006)
Tyler Greene - Quad Cities (2006)
Julio Lugo - Quad Cities (1996)
Albert Pujols - Peoria (2000)
Brendan Ryan - Peoria (2004)
Rick Ankiel - Peoria (1998) and Quad Cities (2005)
Colby Rasmus - Quad Cities (2006)

Los Angeles Dodgers
Ronald Belisario - Kane County (2002)
Jon Garland - Rockford (1998)
Clayton Kershaw - Great Lakes (2007)
Jeff Weaver - West Michigan (1998)
Ronnie Belliard - Beloit (1995)
Andre Ethier - Kane County (2003)

Philadelphia Phillies
Joe Blanton - Kane County (2003)
Clay Condrey - Fort Wayne (1999)
Chad Durbin - Lansing (1997)
Scott Eyre - South Bend (1994)
Brad Lidge - Quad Cities (1998)
Greg Dobbs - Wisconsin (2002)
Pedro Feliz - Burlington (1996)
Raul Ibanez - Appleton (1993-1994)
John Mayberry - Clinton (2006)
Matt Stairs - Rockford (1989)

Colorado Rockies
Rafael Betancourt - Michigan (1997)
Joel Peralta - Cedar Rapids (2001-2002)
Juan Rincon - Fort Wayne (1998) and Quad Cities (1999)
Huston Street - Kane County (2004)
Yorvit Torrealba - Burlington (1996)
Mike McCoy - Peoria (2003-2004)
Carlos Gonzalez - South Bend (2004-2005)

Visalia Rawhide Shutout of BA's Top 20 Cal League Prospects

Not terribly surprising, but no Diamondbacks prospects made the California League's Top 20 Prospects as chosen by Baseball America. The Visalia Rawhide had an average season, but they weren't really loaded with the Diamondbacks top prospects (Jarrod Parker only pitched there four games before being promoted).

There are some names you'll recognize on the list however, as many former Midwest League stars were in the Cal League this season. Click the link, and see where the likes of James Darnell, Alex Liddi, and other former Midwest Leaguers rank.

Offensive MVP

The voting is over for the Silver Hawks offensive MVP award, as determined by you, the readers of this blog. Since this is a completely unofficial poll, there is no prize awarded other than the pride of knowing the fans selected you (and yes, it's unofficial because this basically just turns into a "who can stuff the ballot box?" campaign).

Here are the results
1) Justin Parker - 23 votes
2) Jake Elmore - 16 votes
3) A.J. Pollock - 13 votes
4) Brendan Duffy - 11 votes
5) Alfredo Marte - 6 votes
6) Reynaldo Navarro - 5 votes
T-7) Rossmel Perez, Alberto Diaz, Victor Estevez - 2 votes each

Not that it matters, but here is how I would have ranked them:
1) Alfredo Marte (the fans only voting him 5th is a joke)
2) A.J. Pollock (his presence in the lineup made this team better)
3) Justin Parker (would most likely be #1 if not for the injuries)
4) Brendan Duffy (might be #1 if he had played the full season)
5) Jake Elmore (great start, great finish, bad middle)
6) Reynaldo Navarro (steadily improved all season)
7) Rossmel Perez (decent average, too many DPs and no power)
8) Alberto Diaz (maybe should be higher, but power fell off)
9) Victor Estevez (great finish to the year)

Again, I didn't include everyone in the voting because certain players didn't have enough at-bats to really qualify and there's no great way to measure what a guy like Ryan Wheeler did in a week against what Justin Parker did all season. I'm sure I'll be looking for ideas for blog posts later in the winter, so I'm sure I'll get back into ranking every player that played here this year.

In the meantime, you can vote for the pitching MVP on the right. Since I'm determining the "limits", let's say you had to pitch more than 35.0 innings and had to have an ERA lower than 4.50 to qualify (again, this is done to limit the candidates to those that truly deserve to be on the ballot, and try to avoid the "stuff the ballot box" routine that we see happen way too often).

Chat Transcript

Here's the link to the MWL Top 20 Prospect Chat yesterday. I've pulled out the lone question about a Silver Hawks player for you to read below:

Charles (Houston): Not sure if he counted, but what were your initial impressions of Mark Krauss? He seemed to be hitting well before going down with bone spurs.

Jim Callis: I like Mark Krauss and he would have ranked in the 11-15 range if he hadn't gotten hurt just before getting enough at-bats to qualify. I really believe in the bat, and one scout comped him to Lyle Overbay with perhaps more power.

More later this afternoon.

Midwest League Top 20 Prospects

Baseball America has announced the top 20 prospects for the 2009 Midwest League.

One Silver Hawks player made the list. Can you guess who?

Click here for the answer.

I'll have a more detailed post tomorrow about the entire top 20. Sort of busy with a research project this afternoon.

Northwest League Top 20

As promised, Baseball America released the Top 20 Prospects from the Northwest League yesterday. Of course, our interest is with those that played for the Yakima Bears.

Here are the Diamondbacks prospects that made the list:

#6 - 1B Ryan Wheeler (2009 - 5th Round)
#9 - 3B Matt Davidson (2009 - Supplemental 1st Round - 35th overall)

The Midwest League is released later today. I'll get something posted this afternoon about it.