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).

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.

5/15/10 Odds & Ends - Less than a month to go edition

Strange things are done in the midnight sun...
Like the Midnight Sun Baseball Classic.  #4 on ESPN's
Must See list for 2010.

Here we are, just a few short weeks until the opening salvos are fired in the all-out battle that is to be the 2010 Alaska Baseball League season. OK, so maybe that's a little extreme, like I'm trying to sell tickets to the monster truck rally, but I'm seriously stoked. I will unfortunately be out of state for the first couple weeks, but when I get back, watch out because I'm going to be pounding the games hard.

Today also marks my last final exam for the semester, so until I find some sort of job (and unless you guys start clicking the hell out of the ad banners on here, that will happen eventually) I'm going to make this blog my full-time gig. Pretty quick here I'm going to write up a big "to do" list so you can all see what's coming up, and I'm going to knock everything out as fast as I can so I can caught up before the season starts and the real fun begins.

So that's what's going on in jjack-land. Now, for the rest of the ABL world...

- Here's a guy that snuck by me when I was finishing up the Pro Prospects list...Tyson Ross (Bucs, 2006) made the Oakland A's bullpen this spring and has apparently been doing very well. The Bucs' website has a link to this great article on the Minor League Ball blog over at SB Nation. According to those guys, Ross has a mid-90's fastball that he compliments with a "nasty" slider and a decent off-speed pitch. He has had some control problems in the past but seems to be ironing them out. The Minor League Ball blogger also says that he's got the makeup of a starter in the long run, but will stay in the pen for now.