More ABL Pro Prospects cut from MLB camp

Beau Mills will have to wait a little
longer before he gets to the show.
Photo courtesy of
Goldpanners.com

Opening day for Major League Baseball is right around the corner, and this is the time of year when the big league clubs are paring down their rosters to the 25 men who will start the season with them. What happens to the rest of them? Some are assigned to minor-league clubs to get some everyday work as they try to work their way up to the big team. Others are released and will have to hunt for work in affiliated minor, independent, or international leagues if they want to keep their dreams of playing ball for a living alive.

And some players, as we shall see, get stuck in a revolving door for a while and end up right back where they started.

With several former ABL players on the cusp of breaking into big-league baseball, a few of our boys are finding themselves in one of those two boats these days. Today we'll check up on some players of interest who have been involved in some recent transactions.


Sent to the back lot:

Beau Mills (Panners, 2006) has been sent down to minor league camp by the Cleveland Indians. Mills was a first-round pick by Cleveland in 2007; he made good progress through the farm system before being held back by injuries. Some fans think that Mills is Cleveland's answer at 1B this year. Personally, I feel he's at least a year off from that. His defense is not his strong point, so if he comes up this year it will be in a role that will take advantage of his potent bat without compromising on D (backup DH & pinch hitter). If he's going to be an everyday fielder, regular play in the minors will do him good in 2010. Mills hasn't been designated to a team but my guess is that he'll start at AA Akron of the Eastern League.

Another top prospect sent back to the farm was the Mets' Ike Davis (Bucs, 2006). Ike had been tearing it up in MLB spring camp and caught the eye of the team's brass. Davis has been a fan favorite in camp this spring, and much to the chagrin of those Mets faithful, the team seems to be pretty confident in Mike Jacobs as the backup on the right corner. It's pretty obvious that Davis is close, though. He's just a trade or injury away from breaking into the big leagues. He's been sent back to AAA Buffalo and I feel pretty certain that he'll be there on opening day.

An ex-Glacier Pilot has also been cut from camp. Danny Valencia (Pilots, 2005) was designated to AAA Rochester this week. Valencia had a chance to make one of the last bench spots on the Twins' roster this spring, but didn't quite make the cut. The third-baseman made an impact, homering off Johan Santana, but apparently the club thinks he could use some work with the glove and hitting breaking pitches. He'll get some everyday work while he waits in AAA for his big break.

In the unemployment line:

While some players might be bummed to be sent down to the minor league camp, the following ex-ABLers would feel lucky to have a job at all. A few of our guys are going to be looking for work with another team after being released.

Alex Jamieson (Pilots, 2002), who signed with Tampa Bay as an undrafted free agent, has been let go by the parent club. Jamieson is an "Alaska Grown" prospect, coming out of Service High in Anchorage. The catcher stuck around AAA with the Durham Bulls for a couple seasons prior to being sent packing. I wouldn't write him off as done quite yet; if his intentions are still in baseball, he should be able to latch on with another organization or, failing that, an independent league club.

An Anchorage Bucs product, Wade Townsend (Bucs, 2002) has also been cut. Townsend was once highly regarded as a starting pitching prospect of the Tampa Bay Rays. His career took a wrong turn during an injury-prone spell where he lost a couple MPH off his fastball and just struggled in general. The consensus seems to be that Townsend could get his game back on track by being converted to a reliever & spot starter, and if so, he wouldn't be far from the majors. The Blue Jays apparently picked him up as a depth pick, hoping he could provide rotation or bullpen help if they get into a bind and need to call someone up. Unfortunately, as we will see in the next section, the Toronto Blue Jays are an indecisive bunch and had second thoughts about carrying Townsend. He'll be looking for another team that needs to add some depth.

Should have bought a round-trip ticket:

One ABL-linked player might have spent more time moving his stuff from locker to locker this spring than actually training. After an intriguing series of transactions, Casey Fein (Pilots, 2005) will be headed right back where he left off in 2009: the Detroit Tigers' minor league system. In a series of trades and waiver claims that I don't even really understand, Fein went from Detroit, to Boston, to Toronto. After the Blue Jays made room for him on the 40-man roster, they promptly dumped him for being a "liability". And then, finally, he agreed to a minor-league deal which brought him right back to Detroit. This all occurred over the past month, by the way. I'm glad to see that when it was all said and done, he still had a job with a familiar team. Hopefully he won't be outrighted to the Mexican League next week.

We'll keep an eye on the transactions wire to see where everyone else ends up. If you have any tips on where a player is headed, leave me a comment and let me know.