8/21/10 Odds & Ends - Marban Goes Pro Edition

2010 Oiler Jorge Marban is the latest ABLer
gone pro.

Time again for another Odds & Ends post! This one is a little late in the day -- my apologies -- because it's been kind of a wild day for me. But thankfully I had most of the content rounded up in advance, so I was able to pound this one out before nightfall. So let's cut to the chase, because there's some good stuff this weekend...

- First things first, some great news: Oilers' RHP Jorge Marban has signed as an undrafted free agent with the Texas Rangers organization. Apparently he was scouted and signed out of the NBC tournament, so it was definitely worth the trip despite the Oilers' somewhat disappointing finish. If there are any Rangers prospect watchers out there looking for scouting reports or video, I'm afraid I don't have much (I only saw him once in person). He finished the season in Alaska with a 1.38 ERA, 4-0 record, surrendered 13 hits and just 8 walks on 26 innings of work, and struck out a whopping 32 batters. For his efforts he was chosen first-team All-ABL. Jorge is a great NDFA signing for the Rangers, and I'm stoked to see him get his chance at the pro leagues. Best of luck.

- I caught wind of a great blog post on Twitter this week, from the Kentucky Wildcats blog "Cat Scratches", entitled the "20 Greatest Games Since 2006". #10 on the list is a performance by former Glacier Pilot and Kentucky pitcher James Paxton, who (as you probably know considering my recent posts) was the #4 draft pick by the Seattle Mariners in the most recent draft. Great read, check it out.


- Tomorrow will be my last day in Alaska for the summer! I'm headed back to Montana for another year at college. Hopefully I can round up a sweet internship in Anchorage for next summer so I can make the sweet moolah AND cover lots of ABL games. But the important thing, here, is that while the ABL season is over, the Pioneer League -- a rookie-level affiliated minor league -- is still coming down the home stretch, and a lot of recent draft picks to come out of the ABL have been assigned there. I'm hoping to catch at least one game in either Helena or Missoula (I know there are ABLers on both squads) and come back with some photos or game reports for you folks.

- 2010 AIA Fire players Tyler Bersano and Keith DePew were honored in the Horizon Air Summer Series year-end awards. The HASS bills itself as a "league of leagues", that is, they rank teams from various summer leagues. The Fire played their preseason games against some other HASS teams and their ABL games were counted in the summer series standings. In any event, Bersano was picked Pitcher of the Year and first-team All-HASS; DePew was chosen second-team All-HASS. Congrats guys!

Well, as always, have a great Saturday night. Have fun and be safe this weekend, and check back next week for more great ABL blogging stuff.