Like Apprenticeship Programs or Artistic Pursuits: Minor League Baseball reporting 2017

Dodgers prospect Alex Verdugo hit a 385-foot homer at AAA tonight: 360 feet off the bat, 25 feet off Zach Borenstein's head. Holy Canseco. pic.twitter.com/2KzTtvcTpF

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 26, 2017

I'll be making my first visit to a Pawtucket game in 2 weeks.

dayton dragons outfielder jose siri extended his hitting streak to 36 games last night, breaking the midwest league record of 35.

the previous record-holder, tony toups of the 1977 waterloo indians, was there, which is kind of cool

Behold, the most GCL play ever. pic.twitter.com/DJ8aKcuv1Y

— Josh Norris (@jnorris427) August 10, 2017

aahahahahaha

the new york-penn league has selected 56 players to participate in its all-star game tuesday in troy, ny

exactly zero of them are from the staten island yankees, who have the best record in the league

not that i don't approve, but wtf

Columbus 5, Pawtucket 4

37-yo Eric Kratz catching for the Clippers.

They sing Sweet Caroline in Pah-tucket, but no Green Monster replica. (Greenville has one.)

padres infield prospect gabriel arias was added to the class a fort wayne tincaps roster on saturday

he is the first affiliated full-season-team player born in the year 2000

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DHxjzmkXYAAw38U.jpg

http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2017/08/21/249782410/photo-of-the-day-salem-keizer-volcanoes-take-photo-of-2017-solar-eclipse

360° video here, which is p. cool if you make it look up

reportage

https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2017/8/22/16184140/salem-keizer-volcanoes-total-solar-eclipse

The Salina Stockade lost again last night. They're now 16-71. Here's how they got their .184 winning percentage.https://t.co/LDSXM01c4t

— Ben Lindbergh (@BenLindbergh) August 23, 2017

Don't miss #AlternativeFacts Night at UPMC Park TONIGHT. First 1K get a 2016 SeaWolves championship ring.

Tix: https://t.co/DC1MpviqcJ pic.twitter.com/mq7D9e4Qil

— Erie SeaWolves (@erie_seawolves) August 25, 2017

lansing's nick sinay set a new midwest league record with his 38th hit-by-pitch . . . in just 73 games/265 plate appearances.

he also has drawn 27 walks, giving him the rare .219/.414/.265 line

http://deadspin.com/iowa-cubs-player-is-exceptionally-talented-at-being-a-w-1798628763

The New York Mets have announced that All-Star Pitcher Noah Syndergaard will continue his Major League Rehabiliation Assignment with the Brooklyn Cyclones on Thursday, September 7th when they take on the Staten Island Yankees in the 2017 season finale for the Cyclones. Game time is 6:00 PM with gates opening at 4:30 PM. The first 2,000 fans in attendance will receive a Cyclones Wall Calendar and there will be post-game fireworks.

The Cyclones are offering a special $15 ticket with all proceeds to benefit Hurricane Harvey Relief through MiLB Chariities.

the florida state and southern leagues have cancelled their championship series due to the approaching hurricane. a certain small segment of the population is unhappy that these leagues will have co-champions

this is something that appears to happen about once every ten years

brandon mccarthy gets the start tonight for rancho cucamonga in game 3 of its california league semifinal series

Tigers convert Lakeland headquarters to public shelter from Irma

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2017/09/10/tigers-convert-lakeland-headquarters-public-shelter-irma/105469504/

Tigertown’s clubhouses in Lakeland, Fla., already are filling with families that will use its windowless, concrete walls as protection against winds that could, even in central Florida’s interior, surpass 100 mph.

Refrigerated trucks are filled with 4-5 days of provisions necessary to feed families, staffers, players and, most of all, first-responders who will be charged with clean-up and safety after the storm’s greatest intensity arrives, according to best weather estimates, about 2:30 a.m. Monday.

The 84-acre Tigertown complex’s dormitories and cafeterias will be a local headquarters for emergency personnel in Lakeland and Polk County.

the durham bulls are yr triple-a national champions

Bill and Brian Doyle-Murray hit the road for TV

http://deadline.com/2017/11/bill-murray-brian-doyle-murray-extra-innings-facebook-watch-1202207024/

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DOwzM6rW0AEere3.jpg

welcome to the atlantic league

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DQYE8DkUMAIYM0U.jpg:small

feisty green bee with a plaid cap

https://i.imgur.com/tE3q9sS.jpg

stay classy, pat o'conner

http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2017/12/19/in-an-interview-minor-league-baseball-president-pat-oconner-diminishes-the-work-of-his-players

the potomac nationals, who have historically had the best/weirdest bobblehead giveaways in the minors, are having a fan vote to determine one of their 2018 bobbleheads

one of the options is Bobby Bo(nilla) holding a $1.19 million check Bobblehead

We're excited to announce LÜG Vodka - our collaboration with @AmericanFifth! #LugLife

⬇️ FULL STORY ⬇️ https://t.co/lTxhIyA24m pic.twitter.com/uFGjem0GR4

— Lansing Lugnuts (@LansingLugnuts) March 9, 2018

not enough for me to put Lansing on my unemployment road map

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/quantifying-the-effects-of-winning-in-the-minor-leagues-on-player-development

https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/spending-bill-could-quash-minor-league-baseball-players-wage-claims/2018/03/18/d31cd76e-2b0a-11e8-8ad6-fbc50284fce8_story.html?utm_term=.947b4a41d948

@jazayerli
For the $6M annual pension owners are giving Bud Selig, they could have given every minor leaguer in baseball a raise of about $300 a month.

@jazayerli
$300 a month translates into maybe an extra $1.50 an hour. Which means that MLB could comply with federal minimum wage laws instead of lobbying Congress for a damn exemption, for little more than the cost of one man’s pension.

But they won’t.

30-some teams are doing marketing outreach by adopting hispanic/latin identities/uniforms for portions of the season and some of them are actually pretty decent

https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*3JWrwE3u5iA_PCbJ8eHNWQ.png

https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*TIwlE9TJM6BjHcYDb6no1A.png

https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*n_cHuALRbPq-vrtrdP2jiw.png

probably gonna sell a bunch of caps

Congress passes bill depriving minor leaguers of minimum wage rights https://t.co/hNkzJ48Cuk

— HardballTalk (@HardballTalk) March 22, 2018

gross

https://theathletic.com/288633/2018/03/27/sarris-three-days-in-the-life-and-finances-of-a-minor-league-baseball-player (unlocked)

https://www.mlb.com/cut4/here-are-the-100-best-minor-league-player-names-heading-into-the-2018-season/c-270771028

BIG NEWS! 9x @NBA All-Star, former @WakeMBB star and Forsyth County native Chris Paul (@CP3) has become a part owner of our team!

MORE: https://t.co/egtDsy3tmo pic.twitter.com/Qn5v5X88jQ

— Winston-Salem Dash (@WSDashBaseball) April 10, 2018

not to be a total homer or anything but the 2018 memphis redbirds really one of the best AAA teams of all time? the 2017 version was already dominant, and they're even better this year. this year's model:

C Carson Kelly (either #1 or #2 catching prospect in baseball, good enough to start in MLB right now, blocked by Molina)
1B Luke Voit (AAAA, good enough to be on an MLB bench)
2B Max Schrock
3B Patrick Wisdom (not good enough to start in MLB, but a star in AAA and probably a good player in Japan in a year or two)
SS Wilfredo Tovar/Alex Mejia (eh)
OF Tyler O'Neill (all of these outfielders have a lot of talent. Garcia and Arozarena are good all-around players, O'Neill is one of those high K% guys with huge tree trunk arms, a new Randal Grichuk but probably better)
OF Jose Adolis Garcia
OF Randy Arozarena
also OF Oscar Mercado, who is good

SP Jack Flaherty (already good enough to be in any MLB rotation, may be an ace someday)
SP John Gant (could be a backend option right now in many MLB rotations, probably a #3 or #4 in a few years)
SP Dakota Hudson (flashes of brilliance, will be a major league something, either starter or reliever)
SP Austin Gomber (will probably be a MLB 6th or 7th inning kind of guy)
SP Daniel Poncedeleon (cool name, got drilled in the head and lived to tell about it and is cool)

with few exceptions, almost all of these guys will almost certainly be MLB regulars within the next few years, if not later this year.

It's not the high notes of the The Star-Spangled Banner that has Alishia Wolcott turning down a spot to sing at a Reno Aces baseball game this summer.

The 2016 University of Nevada, Reno graduate said no to her chance to sing the national anthem at Greater Nevada Field, the downtown Reno stadium where the Aces minor league baseball team plays, because she can't bring her gun.

Wolcott declined to sing or ever attend another baseball game in a letter to the team after learning of the stadium’s new policy in which everyone will be checked with hand-held metal detectors before entering the stadium.

what a patriot

The firing of Bryan Price--um, googling to see who he managed--led me to check in on my student Darren Shred for the first time in a while. He had the weirdest line last year. In 3.2 IP (Rookie League), he gave up no hits and no runs. He also walked six and struck out no one. He's also a perfect illustration of the old saw about every major leaguer having been Babe Ruth in high school--the best pitcher, hitter, and fielder on the team by a wide margin. As a hitter in grade 8, Darren was so far beyond everyone else it was ridiculous. In two years with Arizona, he has yet to bat. (Obviously a function of him being a pitcher, but I'm sure he'd get to the plate if he was noticeably better than anyone.)

I'm sure he'd get to the plate if he was noticeably better than anyone.

i doubt he has the opportunity to even demonstrate this -- every minor league has the DH (except in AA/AAA when two NL affiliates are playing each other and agree to have the pitchers hit). the reds have a legit two-way (potential) star -- hunter greene was the second overall pick last year and *wants* to do both (he's a shortstop) but is being made to concentrate on pitching this year, at least.

the rays have brendan mckay -- also a first-rounder last year -- and they're letting him play first and pitch, which is interesting. he went to college and is older than greene. he can really hit, but i'm not sure he has the power you'd want in a first baseman. what will they do if his hitting warrants a promotion (he's batting .389 in the first two weeks at low A) but his pitching doesn't?

solid starting pitching is so valuable -- i mean jeff samardzija has a career era+ of 97 and a 5 year/$90m contract -- that i think most teams are much more interested in that. maybe shohei can change things, idk

Yeah, I guess the two-way player is one out of a thousand. Implicit in what I was saying was that--partly due to inactivity, but mostly just due to how much better everyone else is, even in a Rookie League--Darren's probably not anything special as a hitter now anyway.

"Everyone" meaning the best hitters in the league, and also the caliber of pitching he'd face.

It's April 20th and the Buffalo Bisons have played only five games. https://t.co/uWoJfu0YMk pic.twitter.com/DVEqbHku88

— Minor League Stories (@MinorsTeamNames) April 20, 2018

Interesting talk now abt reverting to 154 game schedule, seems like a collective bargaining minefield but would alleviate these April problems, not to mention MLB future and the inevitability of August games postponed due to heat

Collegiate summer-league reporting

We are thrilled to introduce @robneyer as the new commissioner of the West Coast League. See the full release about the former ESPN and Fox Sports journalist joining the WCL. https://t.co/TTOBLQIiuG pic.twitter.com/nvtNB4hyAX

— West Coast League (@WCLBaseball) May 1, 2018

fitting even if SI has a minor-league railroad too

http://gothamist.com/2018/06/11/staten_island_pizza_rats.php

A few years ago, the Staten Island Yankees held a fan vote to decide upon a new name/identity for the organization. As things tend to go with online fan voting, the choices were pretty weird and amusing. But there could only be one ultimate winner: the Pizza Rats.

Apparently embarrassed by being associated with the most popular rat in NYC history, the team officials dragged their feet over changing the name, ultimately announcing that the team would stick with the "SI Yankees" moniker.

lol they weren't embarrassed -- the prissy yankees informed them that if they became the pizza rats, the team would take its affiliation elsewhere at the next opportunity. staten island figured that keeping the affiliation was more important than selling a shitload of merch, which may or may not be true (certainly not for the average non-nyc minor league team). they're finally now doing it as a special one-off thing so they can have it both ways

and, the campaign is pretty much done? they got >50% to sign the union cards

And just like that, minor league baseball players are on the verge of unionizing.

More than 50 percent of minor leaguers signed authorization cards in support of unionization under the guidance of the Major League Baseball Players Association, the organization announced Tuesday. As such, the players union has asked MLB to voluntarily recognize it as the representative for minor league players. The league had yet to comment as of early Tuesday afternoon.

The announcement came just one week after the union made the surprising move to send out the cards to gauge interest, a move made to seize the momentum created by two-plus years of advocacy that pushed the low pay and challenging working conditions of the minors into a brighter spotlight than ever before. That minor leaguers would unionize never seemed imminent. That the MLBPA would serve as the organizing force behind their unionization was never obvious.

But as of Tuesday morning, their combined efforts had hurtled minor leaguers one step closer to unionization.

“Minor league Players have made it unmistakably clear they want the MLBPA to represent them and are ready to begin collective bargaining in order to positively affect the upcoming season,” Tony Clark, executive director of the players union, said in a statement.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/06/minor-league-unionization-mlbpa-authorization-cards/

thumbs up

That's an F7 on your scorecard, but a home run in Delvin Pérez's heart 🤣 pic.twitter.com/05EIE3gH1R

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) September 23, 2022

In 2002, 186 MiLB pitchers threw 150+ innings. This year, five MiLB pitchers threw 150+ innings. We want to honor great pitching seasons (and Painter's is a great season). So that has led to the BA MiLB Pitcher of the Year award.

— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) September 29, 2022

When we said “World’s Largest Horseshoe,” we really meant it. pic.twitter.com/FfgZGCdKmZ

— Springfield Lucky Horseshoes (@ShoesBaseball) October 16, 2022

there once was a minor league team called the Fargo Divorcees

it was way back when. also, i just learned that Fargo used to be well known as a particularly easy and quick place to get a divorce

nice

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/35998626/minor-leaguers-mlb-reach-tentative-deal-historic-1st-cba

4-HR game for Eduardo De Oleo of the Intercounty League's London Majors:

https://lfpress.com/sports/local-sports/london-majors-slugger-rips-four-home-runs-in-one-game#:~:text=De%20Oleo's%20historic%20four%2Dhomer,London%20Free%20Press

Not an important league anymore, but many major leaguers have passed through there, including Fergie Jenkins and Denny McClain.

https://www.theibl.ca/mlb-alumni

(Actually, come to think of it, some of these guys, including Fergie, played there after retirement.)_

on how loaded triple-a teams might fare in the majors (spoiler: not well)

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/terrible-mlb-teams-are-pretty-good-at-baseball

A friend and I got Bisons tickets for late June. Really hope we get to catch Votto:

Friday marked exactly two months since that injury, and Votto has yet to return. His status and recovery timeline have been somewhat of a mystery, with the slugger seemingly making little progress at the Blue Jays' player development complex in Dunedin, Fla.

That has apparently changed, though, with Blue Jays manager John Schneider revealing before Friday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Rogers Centre that Votto has been taking live batting practice and running the bases this week. The hope is that Votto can make his way into game action soon, likely in the rookie-level Florida Complex League.

"He's fine with doing it anywhere as long as pitchers are throwing strikes," Schneider said. "So, it'll probably be [Complex League] before he goes anywhere else."

https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/with-blue-jays-in-need-of-offence-joey-votto-poised-for-return-to-minor-league-games/

Was in Buffalo for that Bisons game today. No Votto, of course, but surprise bonus: Aaron Sanchez started! I wasn't even thinking about that--I'd forgotten the little item I saw about them picking him up and sending him to Buffalo.

He came into the game with an ERA of almost 13.00 over 30 innings, including 9 HR and almost a walk per inning. I don't expect he'll be making his way back to the majors. Today, though, amazing: 7 innings, 1 hit (a HR), a few walks, and a couple of runs. My friend Callum, a pitcher who plays in a London league (he got a call up to Intercounty for one game 20 years ago), figure he was topping out at about 85-90 mph. (No radar readings on the scoreboard.)

Other player of note: Acuña's younger brother (Acuña Jr. Jr.?), leading off for Syracuse. And J. P. Arencibia was one of their coaches. Two times, batters appealed strike calls by touching their helmets; both times the umpire was right. The Bisons won the game with a big 8th inning.

Got a bunch of Bisons baseball cards, and the food of course was much better (and cheaper) than the Rogers Centre. The only negative thing all day was crossing the border. The guard asked me if I was the guy making all those horrible posts on the ILX American political thread; I had to slip him some cash to let me through.

this, if you have a defector login, is v. good

https://defector.com/the-minor-league-shrink-and-the-growing-gap-between-triple-a-and-the-bigs