Ugh. This is the worst part of spring break. I'm going to rattle this off fast and go get out in the sunshine while I still can. Then back to having my lifeforce drained by school...
Box Score:
- In case you haven't heard, Panners recruit Darian Sandford has reached an impressive milestone in his career. The lightning-fast outfielder has stolen his way into Park University history, becoming the school's #1 career steals man. I predict that this will be just one small milestone in the course of Sandford's career, but congratulations are definitely in order.
- I've launched the Pro Prospects "Big List". The big list is a sortable table of every ABL-turned-pro prospect I can find. It includes active minor league, independent, and international prospects. Guys who have enough MLB experience to shed the prospect title have been omitted, and the data is from 2009. I'll be going through it this spring to see who's dropped off the list, if anyone's been traded or whatever, and determine where all the players are likely to end up on 2010 opening day. Also, while I estimate it's at least 90% complete, I'm sure I've missed someone, so if you notice that your favorite ABL alumnus is missing please drop me a line and let me know. I will be very thankful for any additions or corrections anyone can make. Anyway, check it out and see what you think!
- Speaking of pro prospects, it's that time of year where the big league clubs start to decide who's going where in the organizations to start 2010. The Arizona Diamondbacks have optioned Daniel Stange (Miners, 2004) to AA Mobile of the Southern League. Stange has had a couple tries at cracking Double-A before and has struggled a bit despite success in the low minors. Hopefully this year will be the season he sticks in the higher part of the organization. In less-optimistic news, the Houston Astros have released Jarred Holloway (Panners, 2007). Holloway missed all of 2009 with injuries, so perhaps he's still struggling with that. Whatever the case, best of luck to Jarred in baseball or wherever it is that life takes him.
- If you haven't seen it yet, I've launched a new feature on here: the ABL Mailbag. If you have questions about the Alaska League, check this out. You send me your questions, I find the answers, and write them up in a nice little article. I'm still looking for submissions to wrap up the first edition, so go ahead and send in your questions.
- The Glacier Pilots have posted up another biography of one of their returning players, P/1B Charlie Robertson. It's definitely worth reading, so check it out.
On Deck:
- Tuesday will mark the final installment of our All-Time Top ABL Players countdown. That's right, we're coming up #1, the greatest baseball player to ever play for an Alaskan team. It's a big one. And a controversial one. Get ready for this, folks.
- Now that I've got my big list of pro prospects up, I'll be adding a Top Prospects ranking to it. I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to do organize it...Top 15? Top 50? Split the batters & pitchers or lump them together? But that's another project. I'll also begin to work on the Draft Prospects list.
- As always, we'll follow ABL recruits through their collegiate games and report back any big events. I've got some other ideas, too, so keep checking back.
I'd like to see a top 50 list. I'm really interested to see the names I know and don't know.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the input. It's just hard to say right now where a good cutoff will be. Ideally the rankings will have some mostly sure-thing prospects and a handful of sleepers. When the "sleepers" and longshots start outnumbering the strong prospects, though, it's probably time to stop!
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