10/9/10 Odds & Ends: slim odds & short ends edition

It's been kind of a slow week, and quite honestly, I can't think of much to write for this post. I can, however, think of plenty of things that are worthy of their own posts. I've sat here for an hour or two poking around on the web for news bytes and just can't come up with anything, so I reckon I should just leave you with what I've got so far and go right to work on something much cooler to post in the coming days. So this is what I've got.

- Have you voted for the 49th State Hardball ABL-to-MLB Year-end awards? If not, hit this link up and fill out your official ballot. It's a quick and easy way to get your favorite ABLers in MLB recognized. After the first wave of voting there are some clear front-runners but there definitely haven't been enough votes for anyone to seal the deal yet. So it's not too late to help your favorite guy get over the top. Go vote!

- The College Baseball Blog has honored a former ABLer, and one of my favorites, in its top-100 ranking: 2010 Mat-Su Miner Andy Mee of Florida Atlantic. I highly recommend that you read the short piece by Brian Foley (link), the hardest working blogger in college ball. Of course, for more Andy Mee goodness, check out our very own scouting video.

Told you that would be short & sweet!

Fastest Guns in the ABL

Six of the quickest catchers of the 2010 ABL at a glance

As someone who's just kind of dabbling into the scouting world, one thing I really liked to take to the park with me this season was the stopwatch. A lot of other scouting info can only be gained only through experience and judgment, and while I think my talents in those areas are developing, there's nothing like empirical evidence. And one area in which I managed to gather data was catchers' moves from home to second base.

This can be accurately defined as a "glove to glove" time; that is, from the time the pitch hits the catcher's mitt until the ball hits the glove of whoever is covering the bag. Therefor it includes not only the strength of the catcher's arm but the quickness of his hands.

Below I've included all the catchers who've shown what I consider to be above average moves to second in 2010. And since we're prospecting here, I'm going to by MLB standards. Obviously this is significantly higher than college standards, so the handful of guys listed below are exceptional in this category. Sometimes a catcher will also make a "lazy" throw down to second, or maybe they juggle the ball a bit, so I've thrown out any obvious statistical outliers and averaged what was left.

But first, I'd like to make a few caveats. First off, these are all based on a small sample size so there may be a significant margin of error. Second, just because a guy didn't make this list below doesn't necessarily mean that his arm sucks. There could be plenty of other reasons why so-and-so didn't make the cut, up to and including the fact that I never got a time for some catchers in the league. so with that out of the way, here's the data:

Scouting Video: Andy Mee

RF/RHP Andy Mee
2010 Mat-Su Miners
Height: 6'0" - Weight: 190lb
Bats: Right - Throws: Right
2010 Level: DI Junior
2010 School: Florida Atlantic
Draft Eligibility: 2011 (DI Senior)
Previous Draft: N/A
Posts regarding Andy Mee

9/25/10 Odds & Ends

All the random bits for the past week or so.

PG agreed with the league and picked Piscotty
to be the #1 prospect of 2010.

Hey guys. What a week it's been; we had three articles posted right off the bat and then I got bogged down in that dang Goldpanners draft eligible list (which I posted last night). But I had time to jot down some quick odds & ends for the week, and there's some decent ones here this time, so check out these little pieces of news from around the ABL world:

- 2007 AIA Fire OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, now one of the top prospects in the New York Mets' farm system, is apparently joining the contingent of ABL players in the Arizona Fall League. According to Adam Rubin of ESPN.com's Mets blog, Nieuwenhuis was headed to the Dominican winter league before some roster shuffles deposited him in Arizona.

- It seems like the last season just barely ended, but the teams are out there recruiting like crazy. According to Miners GM Pete Christopher's statement on the team website, they've recruited about 80% of a team for next year. One of those players appears to be UMass Lowell standout Cam Kneeland, who made appearances in both the Cape and New England collegiate league last summer.

Three transfers and a commit

Dickson, Newalu and Vawter-Scoggins move up from juco; Richter goes DI

Zach Vawter-Scoggins is headed to Valdosta
State for the 2011 NCAA season

 Fall semester is in full swing and the boys of college ball are already into full-on team practice and gearing up for fall scrimmages. As we try to catch up with who went where in the summertime college-ball shuffle, we've uncovered three more ABL players who will be transferring from junior college up to four-year ball, and one former prep star who will be moving into the college game.

2010 third-bagger and Glacier Pilots masher O'Koyea Dickson will be moving up from the College of San Mateo, will be a Seawolf in 2011. No, Alaska Anchorage isn't adding a baseball program; Dickson has transferred to Sonoma State of the Division II CCAA conference. Sonoma State is one of the more noteworthy DII baseball programs in the country, turning out three mid-draft picks and an indy-ball signee in 2010. Dickson was a mid-summer pickup for the Pilots in 2010 and brought a sweet power swing (scouting video) to the Anchorage club.

Another 3B, Blake Newalu of the 2008 Mat-Su Miners, is on the move. Newalu will be leaving Chipola CC behind for the University of Mississippi. "Ole Miss", of course, plays in the Division-I Southeastern Conference (SEC) and gave rise to first-round, #5 overall pick in the 2010 MLB amateur draft, Drew Pomeranz. The Rebels have also been awarded eight consecutive NCAA regional seeds, so Newalu will be in good company talent-wise and have a good opportunity to continue making a name for himself.

9/18/10 Odds & Ends - Blogging on Blogs edition

Alright folks, I'm off to my usual late start, but my struggles with punctuality have been compounded this week by a crippling addiction to the computer game Hearts of Iron III and an obligation to channel every ounce of dad-ness in my bones as my wife attempts to get a handle on her grad school projects. Fortunately, I had a few little leftovers from the week that didn't get written about, including a few things about some blogs that are probably a million times cooler than this one:

- Jonathan Cisneros (Miners, 2009) has made the jump to pro ball after going undrafted this spring, spending some time in the independent United League. Cisneros was signed by Amarillo and spent a whopping eight games with the club before being traded to Laredo for a player to be named later despite hitting .406 with two homers. In 70 total games in the indy league, Cisneros posted a .375 batting average with 6 HR and 47 RBI. Congrats to Cisneros on inking the deal and posting some big numbers, and let's hope that he might  make the jump to affiliated ball.

- As a newbie prospects blogger, one guy I have come to greatly admire and even relate to is Mike Newman at the blog "Scouting the Sally", in which he scours the Single-A South Atlantic League for big-name prospects and sleepers alike. It occurred to me the other day to look through his backlog of posts for former ABL players, and I turned up a few. Mike's got reports on Matt Thompson (Oilers, 2007), Sean Ratliff (Bucs, 2007) and Joshua Satin (Miners, 2004). I wholeheartedly suggest giving those a read!

- Speaking of other blogs,  I have been invited to participate in the very awesome Bus Leagues Baseball year-end awards voting. I have received my ballot in the good ol' electronic mail and will be doing my duty to baseball to help pick the most awesome minor league players of the year for recognition. A cursory glance over the options shows that at least a couple former ABLers are up for some of the very coveted awards, but of course I will be as unbiased as possible and not let my man crush on all players to have ever come through the ABL taint my voting...at least not a whole lot anyway.

The end! Scouting video on Monday!

2011 Draft Eligibles: Mat-Su Miners

Bermudez, Mee and Scott headline big class of potential picks.

Senior Andy Mee made a case for himself in the ABL,
but where will the scouts slot him for the 2011 draft?

It's never too soon to look ahead to next year's draft, so why wait until spring time to start going over next year's potential draft picks? This year, we'll go in the order of last year's league standings (because I thought that would be a fun way to do it, I guess) and that brings us to the Mat-Su Miners for our first stop. And man, do the Miners have a big ol' list of potential draft picks. There's a lot of names below, mainly due to the big number of Sophomores and Juniors recruited by the valley club in 2010. And just like the famous Matanuska Valley giant produce, the Miners farmed some pretty big draft prospects this last year. Here's a couple who've caught my eye; feel free to suggest your own if you're so inclined:

Pablo Bermudez: One of my favorite players in 2010, a real electrifying guy. Good power and ability to drive the ball to all fields, and great instincts in the outfield. Ranked by Perfect Game as #4 prospect in the league last year.

Andy Mee: I think Andy very possibly had the best season in the whole ABL in 2010. He can pitch, he can hit, he can play the field, he can do it all. I think he'd be drafted as a RF because he can rake, he really flies in the field, and his pitcher's arm gives him a good cannon from right. He'll also be a senior in 2011, and I can't imagine him falling through the cracks and becoming an insurance salesman or something.

Andrew Berger's whirlwind pro tour

Former Miner inked a free-agent deal with the D-Backs, scaled minor-league ladder this summer.

When Andrew Berger was passed over in the MLB amateur draft this spring, it looked like his dreams of pro ball were over. College degree in hand, the former Lehigh and Mat-Su right-hander was about to leave the game behind and take on the grind of the "real world" that the rest of us know so well.

Little did he know that his dreams would be resurrected so quickly.

Their minor-league staffs depleted, the Arizona Diamondbacks followed up on their draft by scouring undrafted free agents for experienced arms that might flesh out their crippled farm teams. A couple weeks later, and Berger was inked to a free-agent deal and on his way to Yakima of the low-A Northwest league.

ABL to AFL: First look at 2010

A look at the former ABLers on the initial rosters for the Arizona Fall League

Chris Kissock will state his case in the AFL
this off-season.
Photo courtesy of Goldpanners.com

One of the coolest things, if you're a prospect watcher, once the pro season ends is winter baseball. Particularly the Arizona Fall League, which has become the most notable prospect winter league. For those of you unfamiliar, the AFL runs six teams (plus, this year will feature appearances from Team USA and Team China) to which each MLB team can designate a handful of their minor league players.

What makes the AFL interesting is that the players are usually those poised to make some sort of a move. On the one hand, you've got guys who are considered some of the top prospects in a system and are sent to polish up their games before making the final push toward the majors. On the other, you have a lot of guys who might have struggled in their pro careers and are getting some extra work to figure out their issues and hopefully avoid getting the cut. In a nutshell, there are plenty of compelling stories to follow in the fall.

Of course, anywhere you find an assortment of professional baseball players, you're bound to find a few guys who have logged time in Alaska, and the Arizona Fall League is never an exception. The AFL teams have released their initial rosters, and I've caught wind of some ABL alumni who are going to Arizona to represent their organizations. Last year I followed all the former ABLers in the league with a little blurb on each and concluding with a "report card"; I imagine I'll do at least as much this year. But first, let's just have a look at who made the initial rosters (which are, of course, subject to change).

9/4/10 Odds & Ends

Hey everyone, it's Saturday, you know the drill. I'm really at a loss for good things to "fill out" this post this weekend, so I figure I'll just throw up the two things I've got real quick and go to work on one of the real articles I've got ready to post up next week. Here we go:

- If all goes well, the Mat-Su Miners will have a new concession stand at Hermon Brothers Field next season. According to their website, the new foundation has been poured and will begin construction after the state fair (at the adjacent fairgrounds) ends. I personally don't know what was wrong with the old one, it seemed as good as any I'd seen in the league. It also seems like the clubhouse/restrooms could use some work and possibly giving the umpires a better shed to dress in would be nice. But hey, as a person who loves food almost as much as I love baseball, I will not complain about any measures that will increase my face-stuffing pleasure.

- In other ballpark related news, for those of you who are sitting around in Fairbanks with nothing to do, why not head down to Growden for the Goldpanners' park cleanup work/party? It starts at 10 AM Alaska time, and I'm sure they won't mind if you show up a little late either.

That's all for this weekend. Told you it would be short. Assuming your employer is not a fascist, you should have a three day weekend coming up, so be safe and eat lots of hot dogs. Come back Monday for our next scouting video and check back shortly thereafter as I preview the ABL alumni who will be going to the Arizona Fall League this year. 

Scouting Video: Scott Sitz

RHP Scott Sitz
2010 Mat-Su Miners
Height: 5'9" - Weight: 215lb
Level: DI Freshman
School: Florida State
Draft Eligibility: 2012 (DI Jr.)
Prev. Draft: N/A
Posts regarding Scott Sitz

Reflections: Goldpanners @ Miners, 7/30/2010

DJ Crumlich: his glove really is gold

Yesterday's doubleheader between the Goldpanners and the Miners at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer was a pivotal one. At stake in this four-game, back-to-back doubleheader series is first place in the Alaska Baseball League. It's come right down to the wire and this is it. The Panners and Miners split the twin-bill, which sets up a dramatic finish today. On the one hand, the Miners have to win both of these final games to clinch the championship, and the Goldpanners only have to force a split. On the other, the games will go down on the Miners' home turf. So the title really is up for grabs.

Before we get into the nuts and bolts, I'll share a little tale with you. I give the Goldpanners bullpen credit for being classy. After reading The Bullpen Gospels, I expect talk of boobies, lots of poop jokes, and all sorts of hijinx from bullpen crews. Imagine my surprise when I rounded the corner to walk down the left-field line when I overheard the pen having a civil and seemingly informed discussion comparing the religions of the world and sharing opinions on the afterlife. I was impressed, if not a little disappointed to miss my daily dose of boob jokes. So, kudos to the Goldpanners bullpen for being more mature than I.

Anyway, when I wasn't fielding trash-talk from Goldpanners who apparently thought I was a spy for the Miners, or trying to get my daughter to quit playing in the giant mud puddle near the Panners bullpen (unsuccessfully, I might add), I got some good notes on some players I need to round out my reports on. So on that note, I'd like to share some quick observations on strengths & weaknesses of some players.

Pre-Game: Oilers @ Miners, 7/28/2010

While the boys of the Cape Cod League are prancing about Fenway Park in their 2010 All-Star Game Brought To You By Whichever Big Corporate Sponsor(s) Ponied Up The Money (TM), the blue-collar players of the Peninsula Oilers and Mat-Su Miners will be grinding out one of the last games of the long season that will, in part, determine the winner of the most coveted summer-ball crown this side of the Mississippi: the Alaska Baseball League championship.

CBS might not be there to broadcast the game nation-wide, but this is a very important match-up. The Oilers have to win tonight to keep their championship hopes alive. They're still in contention but they're hanging by a thread. If the Miners take tonight's game, they'll knock the Oilers out of the picture and set themselves up to make a run at the first-place Goldpanners, all on home turf.

Someone will be broadcasting, though. AM 1430 will be airing the Valley Sports Huddle live from Hermon Brothers Field at 5:00pm, and I've been invited to come and talk ABL with host Jeremiah Bartz. You should tune in! The game follows immediately with the first pitch scheduled for six. I'll be there and would suggest that any and all Miners fans, or fans of baseball in general, head on down to the park to check out this pivotal game.

If you can't be there, tune into AM 1430 in the valley, ESPN 1140 down on the Peninsula, or catch the live feed on either station's websites. And check out my Twitter feed. Assuming my BlackBerry behaves from the park today (no promises) I'll bet live tweeting some scouting notes throughout the game.

2010 Player Profile: Scott Sitz

#13 Scott Sitz
RHP - Mat-Su Miners
Bats: Right - Throws: Right
Height: 5'9" - Weight: 215lb
School: Florida State
Year: Freshman
Hometown: Jacksonville Beach, Florida
All articles regarding Scott Sitz

The Mat-Su Miners, and the Alaska League in general, has had great success bringing up Florida kids this year, the least of which is valley hurler Scott Sitz straight out of Jax Beach. Sitz did his freshman season at Florida State this year, splitting his time between the starting rotation and the relief corps (six starts in 17 appearances). Sitz held opposing batters to a .207 average in Division I play for the Seminoles before coming up to Alaska.

Since heading north for the Miners, Sitz has been even more stellar. The rightie has posted a 2.74 ERA and has been even stingier with his BAA, dropping it down to .160. The highlight of his season was quite possibly the complete game no-hitter he threw -- one measly walk away from a perfect game, no less -- at the Scout's Showcase in Anchorage against the Fire. That was definitely one of my most memorable experiences at a baseball game, that's for sure.

7/24/2010 Odds & Ends

Reagan Moczygema gets some high-fives.

Here we go, down the home stretch! It seems like this season has just been flying by, and with about a week left to go, we've got a lot of updates. We've seen a lot of players come (and, unfortunately, go) and the championship picture is coming into focus. Here's some odds & ends for the past week:

- If you're interested in the Alaska League for the prospects, you should definitely check out this article in the ADN. They talked about last weekend's Scout Showcase and interviewed some of the scouts who came up. Angels scout Casey Harvie -- who may or may not have been the one who hooked me up with the funky beach towel out of his door prize box (thanks dude!) -- described the league as "the breeding ground of the future". I overheard at the event that there were scouts from 25 teams in attendance, and the ADN article linked above states that a dozen have already been through Anchorage. So I'd say it's pretty safe to say that every MLB team has sent someone through the ABL at least once this season.

- Elsewhere in the media, the Frontiersman has a great article on Miner Reagan Moczygemba, the mid-season pick-up third baseman for the Mat-Su squad. The story is that Moczygemba -- pronounced, I believe, "Moochy Gomba", or just "Mooch" as his teammates call him -- was attending the College World Series as a spectator when he was instructed via text message to call Russ Raley about the spot on the Miners' roster. I've been pretty excited about Moczygemba since he got here, and as the article says, he really helped Anchor the Miners' infield.

Photo Post: Fire @ Miners, 2010 Showcase

CLICK HERE FOR THE ENTIRE GALLERY
38 Photos

Scouting Video: Nick DeBiasse, 1B, Mat-Su Miners

#5 Nick DeBiasse
1B - Mat-Su Miners
Bats: R - Throws: R
Height: 6'3" - Weight: 220lb
School: Central Missouri
Year: Junior
Hometown: Lawrence, Kansas

The following is a scouting video on Mat-Su Miners first baseman Nick DeBiasse. DeBiasse is a right-handed batter out of DII Central Missouri, and will be eligible for the 2011 MLB amateur draft.

2010 Player Profile: Pablo Bermudez

Pablo Bermudez
CF - Mat-Su Miners
Bats: Right - Throws: Right
Height: 5'11" - Weight: 190lb
School: Florida International
Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Miami Shores, Florida
All posts regarding Bermudez

I've been writing plenty about the Miners, that's for sure. But did you know that they're the only team I haven't written a player profile for (until now)? And if I'm going to rectify that situation right here and now, and I have to pick one guy to be my first Miner profile of 2010, who better to choose for a subject than the one guy who gets every Miners fan hooting and hollering every time he comes to the plate? The big fan favorite this year is Pablo Bermudez, and here's his profile.

Bermudez was Florida International's starting center fielder this past season and appeared in all of their games. For his effort he was awarded second-team all conference honors. Last summer he played in the Valley League, and I exchanged e-mails with John Leonard of the fine blog All Things Valley League for his take on Pablo. John pointed out that one of the more unfortunate parts of Pablo's legacy out there is his free-swinging plate approach which led to 58 strikeouts in 170 at-bats. However, people who saw him play in the Valley last year should note that he has tightened up his pitch selection and is reaping the benefits, striking out only 15 times in 86 at-bats, which is actually really good. As a result, he's getting some good pitches to hit, putting up a .372 average and a .973 OPS (.426 + .547). His walk-to-strikeout ratio is 7/15 which is pretty decent as well.

7/10/2010 Odds & Ends - the Brett and Bret edition

Brett Atwood is Back in Black (and gold)
Photo courtesy of AnchorageBucs.com

Well, it's Saturday, and as happens on (nearly) every Saturday, I'm writing an Odds & Ends post. This week I actually have some interesting stuff to write about. You see, I started taking notes for the O&E throughout the week so I didn't forget all the interesting stuff, and go figure, now I don't have to scratch around for boring junk to fill a page with. How awesome is that?

- Great news: Brett Atwood is in Alaska. He was originally scratched from the Anchorage Bucs' opening day roster, and I had crossed him off the Players to Watch list. Well, he's finally made the trip up and been added to the team. Great to see, because he's a very exciting player and a second-year Buc. Accordingly, I've un-crossed him from the Players to Watch list, and while I was at it I fixed some table wonkiness that I hadn't noticed until that point.

- On the other side of the Bucs transaction coin, their roster has been updated, and just look at how many people are on the DL. We talked about Brian Bello last week; he's one of the DL-listed players so I guess that's a pretty good indication that he went home with an injury. Bummer! Maybe we'll see him next year.

Reflections/Photo Post: Miners @ Pilots, 7/6/2010

Gene Escat: The Smaller Unit

Hello again, friends. I promised some scouting notes on last night's Miners at Pilots match-up, and here they are. I also said that I wouldn't take many photos...well, I took a few. I'm running a little behind though, so I'm going to forego the typical introduction and cut straight to the notes.

- Gene Escat (Pilots) reminds me of Randy Johnson in so many ways. It was like hopping into a time machine and going way way back. He doesn't throw sidearm like The Big Unit but geez. Tall, skinny, a little bit of a wild man (from his control to the mop of hair sticking out the back of his hat), all wrapped up in the same Glacier Pilots uniform. He's listed as 6'3" 175lb; but he looks taller than that, probably due to his lankiness. Maybe we should call him the Smaller Unit? Anyway, Escat threw a lot of pitches and looked like he had trouble finding the zone, and the Miners hammered him early on. After a bad first inning, though, he looked like he settled down a bit and looked pretty decent in innings 2-4. By that point, though, he was just out of gas and had to get the hook.

- Pablo Bermudez (Miners) showed us some of that power when he took Escat yard. There are several things that I noted watching Pablo. First of all, he drove that homer to the opposite field and sent it sailing over the right field wall. It's great to see a guy hit a ball the other way with authority. Second, he got way ahead in the count and jumped on a good pitch. Last year he played in the Valley League and his strikeout rate was atrocious. I don't remember what it was, and I don't care to look it up, because I would hardly believe it if I did. His rate in Alaska this season is far better; still not fabulous or anything but within an acceptable range. In any event, it seems like he may be working on his plate discipline and in this case it paid off. Third, I observed his stance and compared to the other guys around the league these days, and he's got some different swing mechanics. Other players (Matt Ozanne is a good example) take a batting stance with their legs spread wide, and when they load up they barely go up on their front toe before shifting forward. Bermudez starts with a narrow-legged stance and takes a big stride forward. There are various reasons why players would choose not to take this stance (it can jolt the batter's eyes off the pitch for one) but he makes it work for him and it seems intuitive that it might generate more power.