Details from the Arizona Fall League (2007-10-18)
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Arizona Fall League action is rolling, Good Ole' Uncle Manny pulled some strings and secured himself a season-long media pass and now it's time to tell the stories from Arizona Fall League.
What is AFL?
Arizona Fall League was created in 1992 as an off-season "graduate school" for baseball's top prospects. Each Major League team sends a minimum of seven players to participate in the league. It serves as a talent showcase for scouts, an opportunity for players to get playing time coming off injuries or a chance for teams to see what they really have in players they recently acquired.
Over 50% of the players who spent time in AFL have advanced to the majors within two years. Overall, nearly 1,500 players have advanced to the Majors, including 83 players in 2007.
It's also a stepping stone for managers, coaches, trainers and even umpires to leap into the bigs. Nearly 50 managers and coaches, 23 trainers and 29 umpires have advanced to the Show after participating in AFL. 68 former AFL administrators currently hold jobs with MLB and/or it's teams. I wonder how many freelance bloggers will advance?
Also, this year Team USA and Team China are playing games against league teams in preparation for the 2007 International Baseball Federation World Cup in Taiwan in November. These games will count in the standings for the AFL teams.
The Teams
Mesa Solar Sox
Team consists of prospects from the Astros, Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs and Red Sox. Also known as the "Mesa NL Centrals". Mesa plays at HoHoKam Park which is the Spring Training site for the Chicago Cubs and are managed by former MLB player and current manager of Double-A Corpus Christi in the Texas League, Dave Clark.
Peoria Javelinas
Team consists of prospects from the Braves, mariners, Nationals, Rockies and Yankees. They play at Peoria Sports Complex, the Spring training home of the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners. They are managed Double-A Trenton Thunder of the Eastern League manager Tony Franklin.
Peoria Saguaros
Team consists of prospects from the Dodgers, Marlins, Padres, Phillies and Tigers. They also play at peoria Sports Complex. They are managed by former Phillie John Russell who is also the coach of Triple-A Ottawa in the International League.
Phoenix Desert Dogs
Team consists of players from the Athletics, Orioles, Pirates, Twins and White Sox. They play their home games at Phoenix memorial Stadium, Spring Training home of the Oakland Athletics. They are managed by Rafael Santana of Double-A Brimingham of the Southern League.
Scottsdale Scorpions
Team consists of prospects from the Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, Giants, Mets and Rays. They play their home games at Scottsdale Stadium, Spring Training home to the San Francisco Giants and are managed by Chip Hale who is the manager of Triple-A Tuscon of the Pacific Coast League.
Surprise Rafters
Team comprised of prospects from the Angels, Indians, Rangers, Reds and Royals. They play their home games at Surprise Stadium, Spring Training site of the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals. Surprise is managed by Damon Berryhill, who is the catching coordinator for the Texas Rangers Organization.
League Standings
East
Phoenix Desert Dogs 5-3 ---
Mesa Solar Sox 4-4 1GB
Scottsdale Scorpions 0-8 5GB
West
Surprise Rafters 7-1 ---
Peoria Javelinas 5-3 2GB
Peoria Saguaros 3-5 4GB
Current League Leaders (as of Oct 18)
Batting
AVG - .692 - Marc Maddox - 2B - Kansas City Royals
Hits - 10 - Brett Gardner - OF - New York Yankees
HR - 4 - Caleb Stewart - OF - New York Mets
RBI - 9 - Matt LaPorta - OF - Milwaukee Brewers
OPS - 1.722 - Marc Maddox - 2B - Kansas City Royals
SB - 7 - Eugenio Velez - 2B - San Francisco Giants
Pitching
(min. 3 IP)
IP - 7 - Two players
ERA - 0.00 - Fourteen players
K - 8 - David Purcey - Toronto Blue Jays
WHIP - 0.43 - Dusty Hughes - Kansas City Royals
What are games like?
Well, when you slap the best prospects from different teams together it ends up being a sort of All-Star team. And the play represents All-Star game play fairly well. An All-Star game of players you know little about can be VERY boring. There is little team play, I haven't seen any sacrifices, no take out slides and few times where a team will play for one run. Lucky for me, I am getting to know the players, so it is getting more and more interesting each game.
On the other hand, there are many players who try to impress the scouts at every opportunity. I have seen some amazing plays in the field, for sure.
The BEST part (other than ESPN not hovering around) is that the players wear their Major League affiliate's uniforms with their AFL team hat. The players feel special when they strap the REAL unis on and it's just more fun to watch than seeing the old (ugly) AFL uniforms.
Winning seems to take a back seat to the instruction and experience of facing top flight talent. So the game lacks cohesiveness for the regular fans. But the scouts are there for a reason. They want to see the guys display their talents.
As for the fans, there are few. Maybe 700-1,000 at best at most games. Usually around 100 scouts, videographers and MLB personnel will dot the stands around home plate. There is also a contingency of autograph hounds and a smattering of FABs (Future Anna Bensons) at every game. It's not just an instructional league at the game of baseball, but also the game of life. AFL prepares the prospects for all aspects of being a future star.
I've seen each of the teams and all of the stadiums and though the fan groups are respresented at all the parks, I've surmised that there's more quality FABs in Scottsdale and Mesa, more Bluehairs at Peoria and Surprise and more autograph hounds in Phoenix.
Scouting Report - Scottsdale Scorpions
We'll go through each of the teams and focus on the players that have stood out. Today, we look at the winless Scottsdale Scorpions, whom I've seen play the most so far.
Many players came into the league highly touted, some even with a bit of MLB exposure and others have begun to make a name for themselves. It's easy to scout the batters and if you get to the game early enough, you can see them field fungoes, etc. but it's tough to get a guage on the pitchers as the starters only pitch 3 innings at most. The league leader in innings pitched has only 7 innings pitched!
One other note: Some of these guys haven't played baseball in weeks (since the Minor League seasons end earlier) before arriving in Arizona, so some have taken a bit to adjust to playing again.
The team with some of the most highly touted prospects has yet to win a game. Maybe it's the "Manny Stiles is cheering for you, so you must finish last" factor, maybe it's the Rays players, who knows? Maybe it has something to do with the team's .249 batting and 5.82 ERA???
Here is a few of the Scottsdale players that have stood out to Uncle Manny:
Evan Longoria - 3B - Tampa Bay Rays - the guy I came to see has not disappointed me one iota. He is a STAR in the making. Many scouts have compared him to David Wright but with the potential to be better! Even when he swings and misses, you can see he's gonna be good. I was at Phoenix when he hit a jack OUT of the stadium. It was the farthest I've seen a ball hit this whole year (only because Travis Hafner's bomb at Tampa hit the catwalk). Currently hitting .281 (after starting cold) with 3 jacks.
Reid Brignac - SS - Tampa Bay Rays - The "Shortstop of the Future" for the Rays is toiling at the bottom of the AFL in batting (.231 OPS!!!) but his glove, hands, arm and everything not associated with hitting is definitely ready for the Majors. His hands are sickeningly fluid. His glove is so smooth he could probably play piano with it. But until he hits consistently, he's not going to displace Brendan Harris or even Josh Wilson in Tampa. He showed some pop in Double-A Birmingham ripping 17 bombs but only had a .328 OBP, a sign of concern but not worry.
Travis Snider - OF - Toronto Blue Jays - One of the youngest players in the League is a former 1st rounder (2006) and has the skillset to start next season in Toronto. He is 5'11" and 245lbs at age 19! Snider will provide some lefthanded pop for years to come.
Caleb Stewart - OF - New York Mets - a bit old for the league at 25 years old, he is currently leading the league in HR with 4 (all solo) and only has 2 other hits to maintain a .400 avg.
Eugenio Velez - 2B - San Francisco Giants - one of the fastest guys in the league. Wiry but smooth. Slick fielder and smart baserunner, it remains to be seen if he can hit in the Bigs but the talent is undeniable, even if he is a 25 year old who spent the summer in Double-A.
Mike Carp - 1B - New York Mets - decent fielder, pretty good glove and some scouts have compared him to Todd Helton, because he kinda looks like a goatee-less Helton and he's a lefty.
Next team: Mesa Solar Sox
Postcards from the AFL
(a.k.a. ‘’Fear and Loathing in the Arizona Fall League’’)
No matter how many times I looked down, it wasn't there. I retraced my steps. Nope, nothing. Did the gods of baseball know something? Were they trying to tell me something? How wasn't I catching the overt hints?
I never.... never(!) lose stuff. I pray, hope and wish against it. I burn offerings of the finest spiritual herbs in a hooka with a sticker of St. Anthony on it - St "Ant-dawg" was the "Patron Saint of Lost Shit.", and then perform the ancient "Dance of the Lost Shit" on a regular basis. I chant the words, I shout therapy the words at my therapist, I mumble them in my sleep -"mmmrph mrrrph mrrrrph mrph"; it's as if I've been hypnotized into being an unabashed non-loser of things. It should be on my tombstone - He was bad at losing things!
And my press credentials weren't there. They were Gone.
Oh, I looked and looked again as if to hope I magically lost my sense of comprehension and would magically regain it just in time to smack myself in the head, but alas...
Very first game! The credentials I begged to get were gone before the game ended. And I had walked around the stadium in every direction. If there was a story to be found that evening, I was going to locate it.
So I had to get new credentials issued. Tongue don't fail me now! Well, at the least, I made a name for myself - "douche bag who loses press creds". They'll know who I am yet!
And if some fool is going to try to pull himself off as me, WOW they have another thing coming - there is many many styles but there is only one Manny Stiles! Good luck to ALL my imposters! You can't flake the funk and you can't steal the Stiles!
Video Composition of the Week
Opening night in Scottsdale had a ceremony retiring Albert Pujols getting his number retired. I was more impressed with meeting Frank Robinson for the first time. Robby is one of the 5 best players ever in my opinion, so meeting Robby made me way more nervous than meeting Pujols. And Albert's wife was nice as pie. Albert on the other hand was there and gone like an aparition. Here's a low budget production that sums it up - (Robby's stories were actually funny, but not as funny as what I did to them!)
Want to peruse the Official Site of AFL?
Click HERE - find all the stats, read player blogs and educate yourself on the future stars of NOW!
