[ayaghmour2]

Despite the absolute lack of success for the major league roster, the minor league system is loaded with good players who win games! Our "worst" teams were Milwaukee and La Crosse who both finished 80-60. La Crosse was the only team who didn't make top two while Mobile and San Jose both won their respective titles. In fact, only the Hattiesburg Top Hats won more games (103) then San Jose (94) in the entire minor league affiliation ladder. Plus, our system still ranks 3rd in the league and we've graduate two top 10 prospects (Leo Mitchell and Ray Ford), a top 25 prospect (Rich Langton), and a bunch of others the past two seasons. Let's take a look at how each team did:

Milwaukee Blues (AAA Century League: 81-59, .579, 2nd: 1 GB):
Milwaukee generally have a lot of veteran players, but at the end of the season 1 through 5 in the lineup are all under 25 and at one point they had a young ace in Pug Bryan. Starting with Bryan, who had 20 impressive starts between his two injuries. He was 8-3 with a 3.38 ERA (131 ERA+), 1.18 WHIP, 31 walks, and 56 strikeouts in 125 innings. Art Black managed to find success despite the walks, 11-8 with a 3.32 ERA (134 ERA+), 1.44 WHIP, 77 walks, and 52 strikeouts in 146.1 innings pitched. Didn't quite earn him a job back, the walks are still going to be crazy high, but at least it was a step in the right direction.

Pitching wasn't the rosters strength, that would be the bats, led by Leo Mitchell who showed us a glimpse of the future. He didn't spend the whole season there, but he slashed .359/.396/.479 (130 OPS+) with 4 homers, 10 steals, and 70 RBI's in 505 trips to the plate. This might be what he ends up hitting in the big leagues, but the 23-year-old seems likely to return to Milwaukee next season too. Once the glove is down, he'll be up everyday. We had a few other who should be up in the big leagues soon. 1B/RF Johnny Waters is more or less a lock to get his contract purchased to protect him from the Rule-5 draft after an excellent season. He only made 406 plate appearances, but he hit an impressive .347/.393/.507 (136 OPS+) with 7 homers and 78 RBI's. He hasn't shown much power, but this was approximately 10 homers on a full season. Not only that, he's struck out just nine times in the past two years. He's a switch hitter so he can hit lefties and righties equally well and opposing pitchers can almost never best him. Another guy likely to join the 40 would be the recently turned 25-year-old Orlin Yates. Part of the Tom Taylor trade, Yates spent half the year in Mobile and the other half in Milwaukee. The skilled gloveman hit .305/.382/.447 (118 OPS+) with 4 homers, 13 steals, and 43 RBI's with an excellent +10.6 zone rating and 1.113 efficiency out in center. Both Yates and Walters profile as bench bats, but center field is a weak spot now and he'll get a shot to win the starting job as well.

Not all the prospects in AAA are ready for the big leagues, especially #4 prospect in all of baseball Billy Hunter. Just a quick 20 game stint, but the 21-year-old hit just .274/.304/.393 (83 OPS+) with a homer, steal, and 16 RBI's. He spent 76 games at short and 44 at third this season, but short is easily his spot. A +11.3 zone rating and 1.061 efficiency in a short period of time is pretty impressive for a youngster, but I finally found the first downside of Billy Hunter. It took four seasons to find one, but his personality is now "Hunter is an underachiever" so I can't imagine how talented he would be with a different one. If top 10 prospect since draft day is underachieving, I'm scared to find out what could happen if he decided to try a little harder. There's also 23-year-old Phil McKenna, who despite being a year and a half older, is only in year two of his pro career. Most of his season was in Milwaukee as well, and he slashed .285/.360/.425 (106 OPS+) with 6 homers, 63 RBI's, 43 walks, and 13 strikeouts. The 1934 5th Rounder has flown up the system and he's chomping on the bit to get in. The glove is improving, still not great at third, but I think he could be a middle tier starter at third. Last guy up close is Johnnie Williamson, also part of the 1934 draft. Our 8th Round selection is also up in AAA, spending his last 48 games there. It was tough, he hit just .262/.339/.298 (69 OPS+) with 21 RBI's in just under 200 PA's. He looked much better in Mobile, but he'll get another run in Milwaukee before having a chance to overtake Mike Taylor. Harry Mead is right behind him in AA, so it may not be a long starting time for Williamson, but rumors have it that Mead may or may not be involved in a potential trade.

Mobile Commodores (AA Dixie League: 87-53, .621, 1st: 9 GA):
One of our two championship teams, the next generation of Cougars pitching really showed off while seeing the position players progress past them. Harry Parker's last nine starts came in Mobile, and the now 58th ranked prospect in the FABL continues his Pug Bryan-esque rise up the system. A 7th Rounder from 1934, the 21-year-old was 5-4 with a 3.09 ERA (148 ERA+), 1.10 WHIP, 19 walks, and 33 strikeouts in 75.2 innings with the Commodores. It's been a while since we've had a mid round pitcher blossom like this, giving us throwback vibes to Dean Astle and Ben Turner. The towering Parker seems to throw a complete game every time he's out, five straight to end the season and 17 with 9 or more total innings in 24 starts. I always thought Parker was going to overachieve, but even I did not see this coming.

He wasn't even the highest ranked pitcher on the staff, behind our number 2 pitching prospect Karl Wallace. Wallace, however, was the only member of the rotation to struggle, and a tough second half of the season soured his season line. He finished 10-7 in 18 starts, but with a 4.81 ERA (95 ERA+), 1.44 WHIP, 48 walks, and 50 strikeouts in 147.2 innings pitched. The 22-year-old is the final member of the top 50 prospects in the FABL, but he seemed to lose a little control after his promotion from Lincoln. His excellent command is one of his best features, but each time he gets promoted he seems to walk more batters then he did before. He's corrected the trend with his second go at things, so I think a few more Mobile starts will do him well. Same goes for Cal Knight, who skipped A ball (in our system) and made 22 starts for the Commodores. The 23-year-old southpaw had a nice 13-6 record with a 3.96 ERA (116 ERA+), 1.40 WHIP, 74 walks, and 54 strikeouts in 170.1 innings pitched. He has had control issues in the past, unlike Wallace, but never an almost 4.0 BB/9. I don't expect him to patch up the walks like Wallace, as I knew walks may be an issue with Knight. Still, he tends to strikeout much more hitters and I think with another year under his belt the walks and strikeouts will come closer to each other.

I do have a pair of Rule-5 eligible pitchers in John Hartz and Chet Peacock, but I think only Hartz gets protected. Our 2nd Round selection from 1931, the 23-year-old worked his way back into our future plans with a strong season. He was 16-8 with a 3.51 ERA (131 ERA+), 1.33 WHIP, 68 walks, and 46 strikeouts in just under 200 frames. This all came after 15 okay starts in Lincoln last season, but Hartz took the next step this year. We do not have many options for our pitching staff, but Hartz still has a season or two before he can be trusted in the big league rotation. Peacock, however, had a rough 9 start stint in Milwaukee, but his 13 starts in Mobile were much better. At 7-5 he had a 3.02 ERA (152 ERA+), 1.31 WHIP, 24 walks, and 21 strikeouts in 110.1 innings pitched. They are great numbers, but the 24-year-old has generally underperformed in his six minor league seasons. Last pitcher worth mentioning was Joe Foote, who's sprained ankle ended his season a little early. In 23 starts he was 10-11 with a 3.28 ERA (140 ERA+), 1.34 WHIP, 56 walks, and 64 strikeouts. He just turned 22, and he's always been very high developed for his age. I could see him pitching in Chicago next year, potentially out of the pen, but he's got a future in the rotation.

Enough about the pitchers, the lineup has a lot of prospect power as well, but a lot of those players didn't finish the season in the lineup. A fractured knee ended Hank Stratton's season early, but that didn't stop him from raking while he was healthy. He hit .353/.373/.476 (123 OPS+) with 42 doubles, 3 homers, and 85 RBI's. Stratton looked okay at both first and third, but Stratton's talent is being able to put the ball in play frequently. He won't walk very much, but he's really worked on cutting down the strikeouts. I want to see a little more power from him, but knee injuries are tough. He's not much of an athlete, so I can see him recovering rather well, but this likely ends any chance of having a double digit home run season in the majors. There was also Billy Hunter, who hit .307/.385/.450 (120 OPS+) with 3 homers, 3 steals, and 51 RBI's before getting the call to Milwaukee.

There was a lot of pop too courtesy of Henry Cox and Bobby Mills. Cox struggled when he started the year in Mobile, but after a quick demotion to get back on track, he finished the season with 17 homers and 60 RBI's in 80 games. He hit a strong .259/.343/.503 (121 OPS+) and the 20-year-old finished the season with 30 combined homeruns in 140 games. Cox has never gotten much love from the prospect people, but that's now 72 homers in two seasons. Mills, however, usually ranks in the 80-120 range for top prospects, and he launched 15 homers and drove in 115 runs in 620 trips to the plate. "Nutball" hit .305/.363/.477 (120 OPS+) with 41 doubles, 53 walks, and 38 strikeouts. He'll turn 23 next season and I imagine he'll start all of next season in Milwaukee. I never expected the Snohomish native to last this long in our organization, but he's done everything he can to force his way into our lineup.

We had another trio of top prospects who are a little further off in Ducky Jordan, Carlos Montes, and Harry Mead. Jordan spent all of this season in Mobile after a little time in Milwaukee, hitting .266/.338/.448 (106 OPS+) with 36 doubles, 18 triples, 8 homers, 25 steals, and 74 RBI's in one less then 600 plate appearances. The "Hot Springs Hotshot" can hit from both sides of the plate and while most of his time was spent at second, he filled in at first, second, third, and center too. I thought Montes would be in Chicago already, but after a rough stretch in Milwaukee I moved him back down to Mobile. He spent almost an equal time at both level, with the .270/.357/.418 (104 OPS+) line in AA. He combined to steal 24 bases, hit 26 doubles, 12 triples, and 8 homers with 57 RBI's. He's only 20, so I probably just expected a bit too much, but he should still turn out to be an elite defender and hitter. I mentioned Mead was involved in trade talks, but he really broke out this season. He spent almost equal time in Lincoln and Mobile, and while the Lincoln numbers were better, he still hit an impressive .313/.387/.485 (129 OPS+) with 4 homers and 47 RBI's. He walks (69) a lot more then he strikes out (21) and he doubled 48 times between both stops. The Harvey, Illinois kid is a lefty thrower who kind of makes it work. None the less, he's a tremendous receiver who makes his pitchers better. Both clubs ranked top 3 in nearly every pitching category and played better when he was on the roster.

Lincoln Legislators (A Heartland League: 83-57, .593, 2nd: 2 GA):
They gave it a good run, but the Legislators fell just two games short of winning their league. As I kept bringing guys up, they kept dropping a bit, but even after guys like Harry Parker moved up, they maintained a dominate pitching staff throughout. They did finish the season with our #1 pitching prospect Cy Sullivan, and he looked like the ace he could end up being. The 22-year-old was 8-6 with a 3.14 ERA (135 ERA+), 1.26 WHIP, 32 walks, and 25 strikeouts in 143.1 innings with the Legislators. The strikeout numbers were really low, but he had the best walk rate of his pro career and Cy consistently went the distance when on the mound. I haven't decided where he'll start next year, but this was a perfect season for the 6'6'' former high school shortstop.

22-year-old Sam Hodge put together a strong season as the 1934 6th Rounder is approaching the top 200 for prospect rankings. He made 20 starts in Lincoln and was an effective 12-3 with a 3.39 ERA (125 ERA+), 1.16 WHIP, 31 walks, and 38 strikeouts in 151.1 innings pitched. He'll be 23 next season and my scout thinks he can work his way into the back of a rotation. The now 74th best prospect Stumpy Beaman had an okay season in Lincoln, 13-8 with a 3.92 ERA (108 ERA+), 1.33 WHIP, 41 walks, and 58 strikeouts in 190.1 innings. He'll get another go at A ball, but I really like how he's developed. He didn't spend much time in San Jose, and more then held his own in Lincoln. Unlike most of our towering starters, Stumpy really is stumpy (5'6'') and he's profiling as a righty Dick Lyons. Both are short (Lyons is 5'8''), keep the ball on the ground, and keeps walks low without striking out too many. Before moving onto the hitters, I do have to share Harry Parker's dominated stats: 10-3, 2.78 ERA (153 ERA+), 1.02 WHIP, 21 walks, and 66 strikeouts. Sure, he allowed almost a homer a start (11 in 15), but I can't imagine how good his numbers would be without the homers.

The offense was a rag tag group of prospects, but former 8th Rounder Elias Canady found his own this season. The glove has never been a problem, but the bat finally came around! He hit .284/.383/.445 (122 OPS+) with 39 doubles, 79 walks, 11 homers, and 76 RBI's. You think a great defender would steal bases, but Canady has never been much of a base stealer. He'll turn 22 in a few weeks, but it has been a slow climb for Canady until this season. I'm hoping he's found his stride, as you can never have too many guys who can play center. Our 5th Rounder Jimmy Bach spent all season in Lincoln, and the "Maestro" spent some time at second, third, and short. He hit fine too, an averageish .289/.335/.409 with 16 doubles, 11 triples, 6 homers, 12 steals, and 59 RBI's. I expected Bach to crash and fail and end up in San Jose, but he's already 23 and isn't one of those high upside guys you can really "ruin" by rushing. Former 19th Rounder Larry Robison looked okay in Lincoln after a demotion from Mobile, slashing .299/.356/.468 (120 OPS+) with 20 doubles, 5 homers, 20 steals, and 38 RBI's. Lot's of speed, low strikeouts, passable walks, a little gap power, and he's worked his way into the top 200.

San Jose Cougars (B California-Oregon-Washington League: 94-46, .671, 1st: 9 GA):
One of the bests minor league teams we've ever had, the San Jose Cougars finished September 16-4 in what was easily the most successful season they've ever had. A lot of guys had breakout season, including 1932 22nd Round Pick Cuno Myer who hit an astronomical .372/.430/.513 (136 OPS+) with 11 homers and 104 RBI's. He walked 55 times and struck out just 26 times and added 32 doubles in a much more successful season with the Cougars. Our #6 starter Rusty Watts, turned into an ace, 13-4 with a 3.42 ERA (152 ERA+), 1.31 WHIP, 35 walks, and 46 strikeouts in 17 starts and 6 relief appearances. I didn't even plan on giving him starts this year until injuries hit, but after increasing his fastball to 95-97, the 1934 13th Rounder continues to just put up absurd minor league numbers. Is Watts a new hidden gem? Who knows! You never can quite tell with young pitchers.

Looking at some more established prospects, 1933 2nd Rounder Tommy Wilson hit an impressive .302/.401/.468 (118 OPS+) with 10 homers, 24 steals, and 96 RBI's. What's more impressive, is the almost 60 point gap between his walks (71) and strikeouts (14). This plate discipline is absolutely amazing, nothing like anything Wilson has displayed before, but this is a nice little perk. Especially considering how awesome he was defensively at second, third, and short this season, Wilson's prospect spark continues to rise. He's up to 116th in the league and 15th in our system, and projects to be another viable infield starter. Oscar Panduro spent half his season in San Jose, with a still impressive .368/.388/.498 (121 OPS+) batting line to go with 4 homers, 62 RBI's, and 3 steals. Not quite his crazy La Crosse numbers, but still an excellent performance from the Chicago kid. He move to center after last year's 3rd Rounder John Johnson ruptured a tendon in his elbow. Before that, he got into 111 games and hit a strong .329/.388/.507 (123 OPS+). He added 20 doubles, 15 triples, 9 homers, 13 steals, and 79 RBI's in an all around productive year.

On the mound there were some struggles, but the COW is a very hitter friendly league. It may not look it, but when last year's 2nd Rounder Doc Smith was 5-3 with a 4.98 ERA (105 ERA+), 1.52 WHIP, 7 walks, and 18 strikeouts in his 9 starts, he actually pitched pretty well. Sure, he had a 2.66 ERA (182 ERA+) and 1.13 WHIP before the promotion, but these were strong numbers for a lefty in his first season. Illinois native Joe Brown started all 23 of his appearances and was 9-8 with a 4.89 ERA (107 ERA+), 1.48 WHIP, 46 walks, and 42 strikeouts. 1934 9th Rounder Jim Miller was 6-6 with a 4.51 ERA (116 ERA+), 1.50 WHIP, 37 walks, and 34 strikeouts in 101.2 innings pitched. A lot of Miller's starts were really short, so my guess is he might not be making too many more starts. Still, if he pitches like this, I'll find a way to make it work.

Final shoutout to Otis Campbell. A former failed starter move to the pen and tossed 65.1 excellent innings in a semi-stopper role. He was 5-3 with 17 saves, a 2.76 ERA (189 ERA+), 1.45 WHIP, 36 walks, and 27 strikeouts.

La Crosse Lions (C Upper Mississippi Valley Association: 80-60, .571, 3rd: 9 GB):
If I really wanted to, La Crosse could have been top two as well, but I kept promoting guys up to get more guys playing time. That includes Hal Wood, who hit .335/.415/.512 (128 OPS+) with 4 homers, 5 steals, and 61 RBI's before a late season callup. Or Grover Donahue, who was 10-5 with a 2.92 ERA (165 ERA+), 1.33 WHIP, 49 walks, and 56 strikeouts in 19 starts before a late season call of his own. Add in the Art Saunders and Harry Peterson injuries and the previously mentioned Panduro and Smith, a lot of important roster pieces moved up.

One of the guys who didn't move up was 19-year-old Chubby Hall. A projected first round pick, we managed to get Hall 34th Overall last season and he was instantly added to the top 100 prospect list. Up to 47th now and 5th in our organization, he really showed he has a lot of way to go. Hall hit just .294/.324/.376 (72 OPS+) as he watched his strikeouts jump to 59, more then twice his 21 walks. In high school it was much different, 15 walks to 1 strikeout, and he only hit one more homer in 132 games with the Lions. Am I worried? Not one bit! How many teenagers can consistently hit college pitchers and more experienced prep guys? Most of our prep draftees struggled, including Jocko Pollard, Sonny O'Callaghan, Steve Mountain, and Harl Haines, because most C ball teams have age ranges from 18 to 25. Sure, for us, all the guys that play are 22 and under (as is the case for most), but even two years pitching in the low minors is a lot more then a few high school at bats. I knew Hall was extremely raw and a long developmental project, but now at least a floor is established.

I do want to focus on some of the success, including last year's 7th Rounder Izzy Sevilla. He had a tough start to his year, but finished with a strong .314/.398/.483 (117 OPS+) batting line. He swiped 46 bags, doubled 31 times, tripled 16 times, homers 7 times, and drove in 59 while scoring 104 times. Excellent leadoff skills, solid defense, and strong bat speed are his strengths, but I still see fourth outfielder when I look at him. Our other 7th Rounder from last year Stu Johnson hit fine too, .317/.377/.473 (109 OPS+) with 9 homers and 70 RBI's. Both were college guys who were much further along the development path, and I expect both in San Jose next season (Johnson was there for a little, didn't work out), if not to start, to finish.

We had a ton of different guys starting games, including Bill Seabolt who started his year in San Jose and finished in La Crosse. He was much better down here, 7-3 with a 3.29 ERA (147 ERA+), 1.19 WHIP, 21 walks, and 27 strikeouts in 76.2 innings pitched. Ralph Kendall held his own despite being a prep guy, 7-11 with a 4.29 ERA (113 ERA+), 1.59 WHIP, 64 walks, and 55 strikeouts. He was our 5th Round pick purely because my scout liked him, and this strong performance propelled him up to 497th in the league, just inside the top 500.

This ended up being far longer then I expected, but there were a lot of good things in the minors this year. It makes the losing in Chicago a little easier to handle knowing that at each level our top guys are able to out preform the rest of the league. Very few of our highly ranked guys struggled this year, and if they did, it wasn't necessarily unexpected or devastating. There's a lot of things for the Cougar faithful to be excited for, assuming I don't trade the prospects early the second we start to overperform.