American Baseball Association.

[gehrig38]

• 6/27 FLA 1 STL 0 Luca Martignoni makes his debut 7.1 IP 3 H 7 K 3 BB van Gaalen SV (8)

• 6/28 STL 15 FLA 14 (13) Josh Reddick 4-6 2B 3 R Jorge Ochoa and Jay Spence each with a grand slam

• Nishida 2-5 2B HR 4 R 2 RBI Nabbe 3-6 2B HR 3 RBI (.249-11-34) Juan Tovar 2-8 grand slam and 5 K's Lupe Medina 3 IP 9 H 1 BB 4 HR 9 ER

• 6/29 STL 7 FLA 2 Lorenzana 5 IP 5 H 5 K 2 BB 4 ER (1-6 5.15)

• 6/30 GM 1 NY 9 FLA 0 Almaguer 6.2 IP 12 K (8-2 3.63) Dominic Bruce Grand Slam 4 RBI's

• Baldwin 1 IP 5 H 6 ER (3-11 6.50)

• 6/30 GM 2 NY 13 FLA 4 Mike Meninger 3-3 2B 2 HR 4 RBI

• Tovar 3-5 (.206-10-30 team captain over .200 for first time) Downs 4 IP 5 H 4 K 3 ER 61 pitches

• It's now beyond obvious Darin Downs doesn't have the stamina to go deep enough into games. Every start is a futile exercise in bullpen restraint. So much so today that CF Rudolfo Duenas got the games final out after van Gaalen threw 61 pitches and gave up 5 runs in 2.1 innings. Going to bring Dave Dunham up for a spot start. The pen is dragging ass right now and none of the starters is on the 4th day. AAA will do a by committee game today.

• Detroit's Loan Auffret went 3-4 hitting 3 homers and driving in 5. Coming off a 55 homer campaign last year he's at .347-31-84

JUNE AWARDS
AL POTM- Loan Auffret .364-12-28
NL POTM- Teagan Ings (TEX) .415-9-26 (.337-27-71)
AL PITCHER- Mike Lloyd (MEM) 5-0 2.12 42 K 29 IP (9-4 3.51)
NL PITCHER- Rodolfo Carmona (SD) 6-0 3.29 38.1 IP 26 K (9-3 4.40)
AL ROOKIE- Juan Barranco .309-4-19 (.328-15-58)
NL ROOKIE- Josh Pulice (POR) .258-6-16 (.230-10-32)

• 7/1 NY 5 FLA 2 Dunham 7 IP 11 H 3 K 3 ER 103 pitches (1-8 7.85 but a HUGE effort to save the pen)

• Alvarado 4-5 2 R 1 RBI

• Joe Linn moved to 4-0 3.14 at AA Clovis last night. In 4 starts he's thrown 28.2 IP 28 H 25 K 4 BB

• 7/2 NY 15 FLA 9 Martignoni 5.1 IP 12 H 10 ER (1-1 7.11) 121 pitches Tovar 3-4 2 R SB (4) Barranco 3-4 2 2B HR 3 RBI (.331-16-61)

• Juan Alvarado 3-5 2B 2 HR 4 RBI Andy Domingue 3-5 HR 3 RBI

• 7/3 BRK 2 FLA 1 Tovar 0-5 4 K 7 LOB Medina 4.2 IP 5 H 2 BB 1 ER 82 pitches

• Phoenx Roadrunner centerfielder Dusty Caspary went 5-5 with 5 RBIin 13-6 win over Memphis

AL POTW- Mike Meininger (NY) 14-28 5 HR 16 RBI (.296-29-65)
ML POTW- Jon Riley (KC) 12-22 5 HR 12 RBI (.257-17-49)

[gehrig38]

Subject: Week 15 Notes

Record: 22-69 (St Louis 29-62)
Position: 5th 36 GB
Runs Scored: 345 14th
Runs Allowed: 577 14th
Defense: .683 10th
Power Ranking: 26th
Owner Mood: Happy (down from delighted. Expecting furious to show up at some point if the losing continues)
Fan Interest: Still at 100

• 7/4: BRK 6 FLA 3 4 errors Lorenzana 6 IP 3 H 4 BB 3 K 2 ER ND

• Texas closer Bobby Patterson suffered a strained elbow today and heads to the DL for 6-7 weeks at least. Cowboys bring former closer Eli Alford from a setup role back to the back end of the pen.

• San Diego's Chris Cantor tossed a 3 hit shutout in a 9-0 win over Pittsburgh. 6-5 4.46

• 7/5: BRK 6 FLA 1 Baldwin 3 IP 4 H 4 BB 4 K 4 ER 8 pitches

• Doherty 6 IP 2 H 5 K 1ER (9-1 2.77)

MINOR LEAGUE UPDATES
Alamogordo SS Robbie Flowers went 4-5 HR 2 RBI (.335-6-36) in an 11-6 win
AA 1B Luis Aguilar spent 10 games in Alamogordo before being sent down to Clovis and in 54 games he's hit .372/.430/.740 with 23 HR 69 RBI. He's been called back up to Alamogordo to get everyday at bats.
The Hobbs Blue Claws are 8-7 to start the short season schedule. Their offense has hit 21 homers and scored 125 runs in those 15 games and is hitting a league leading .337 as a team and is 2nd in the league in OBP at .432. They have 6 players with an OPS of 1.000+ 4 players with an OBP of .500 or better 5 more at .400 or better and just 1 with an OBP of less than .324. 4 players hitting .400+ and just 2 players hitting UNDER .300. While it is just 15 games I am reaching out to their hitting coach Masuami Nakamura. His 9,000 contract is up this year and I'd like to see if I can't get him to take on an extension.
2005 6th rounder Marc Gammel went 4-5 and scored 3 times in an 12-7 win at Rio Rancho and is hitting .417/.493/.500 through 14 games over 73 at bats.

• 7/6: FLA 2 ALK 1 Dunham 7 IP 2 H 2 BB 8 K ND van Gaalen SV (9) Wimer HR (2)

• Joe Linn moves to 5-0 3.03 with 7 strong for Clovis. K's 3 walks none

• Rio Rancho lost 26-2 yesterday. They've given up 183 runs in 17 games and are NOT last in runs against....

• 7/7: OFF DAY

• 7/8: ALK 4 FLA 0 Martignoni 6 IP 7 H 5 K 0 BB 2 ER L (1-2 5.79)

• 2005 7th rounder Dave Weller went 3-3 2 HR 4 RBI in a 12-6 loss for the Blue Claws. He's hitting .392-4-15 through the first 18 games.

• 7/9: ALK 4 FLA 2 (10) Greg Westerman hits 2 HR and drives in all 4

• Stevenson hits career homer #605

• Farmington right Romone Dieudonne tore his rotator cuff and will be out for at least the next 12 months.

• 7/10: MIL 2 FLA 0 Omezo Yamamura goes 8 on 3 hits 9 k's and 2 walks. (1-4 6.38) Now we are being shut down by guys with no wins and 6+ ERA's.

AL POTW- Arturo Ramos (MEM) 8-21 4 HR 6 RBI (.241-19-42)
NL POTW- Juan Burruel (WAS) 12-23 3 HR 6 RBI (.334-24-65)

This Week: 2 @ Milwaukee (41-49 8.5 GB AL Centrail) 3 vs Denver (50-41 4 GB AL West) 2 vs Las Vegas (54-37 +4 AL West)

[gehrig38]

Subject: Week 16 Notes

Record: 25-73
Position: 5th 39 GB (St Louis 31-67 +6)
Runs Scored: 376 14th
Runs Allowed: 633 14th
Defense: .681 10th
Power Ranking: 26th
Owner Mood: Happy
Fan Interest: 100

• 7/11: FLA 9 MIL 8 (12) Both score 1 in the 9th and 10th McDowell 15th wins it in the 12th. Geoff Wimer 4-5 2 HR 2 BB 4 R (ties team record) 3 RBI Nishida 3-5 2B HR RBI

• 7/12 MIL 11 FLA 1 Dunham 4.1 IP 14 H 9 ER Braedon Belmore 4-4 3 2B 3 RBI

• Dunham drops to 1-9 7.87 and is optioned back to Alamogordo after the game. Going to recall reliever Ben Herman from Alamogordo and put him into the rotation for a few turns. His changeup is bad at best as a 3rd pitch but it's only going to improve with innings and as a starter he'll have to use it.

• Detroit shortstop Naoaki Fuchigami went 5-5 in a 5-2 win. Jace Camp (SF) fanned 12 in a 2 hit 12-0 CG shutout.

• Joe Linn tossed another solid 7 innings in a no decision. 6 K's 0 BB 6 H and 2 runs. He's 5-0 2.95 and in 42.2 innings he's struck out 34 and walked just 4.

• 7/13: DEN 3 FLA 2 Mike Lochirco CG 5 H 4 K 3 BB (11-5 4.85)

• Reliever Arturo Mercado won the 2004 Goose Gossage award. Given annually to the games best middle reliever. I mention that because San Antonio to Alaska today in return for OF Jian-Zhang Ta. Ta is one of the games premier defenders as well as one of the leagues fastest players. Mercado is on the DL, having gone down with an elbow issue 3 weeks ago and it still out for another 3 weeks. Alaska is 51-43 and 4 games back of Vegas in the NL West. Their pen is ranked 3rd overall and their offense is a dismal 11th in avg and 8th in runs scored. Odd trade of what looks like a player

• 7/14 DEN 12 FLA 1 Alward 8.1 IP 13 K 1 ER (6-7 3.72) Medina 4.1 IP 11 H 10 ER

• 7/15 DEN 9 FLA 2 Lorenzana 6 IP 10 H 7 ER (1-8 5.34) Nishida 4-4 2B HR 2 RBI

• Prospect Jeremy Crimi went 5-7 with a league record 5 doubles in a 10-8 Alamogordo win. In 20 games since his call up he's hit .397/.453/.662 over 68 at bats

• Phoenix SP Whitney Gilmour went down yesterday with a ruptured UCL. The 22 year old will miss at least the next 11 months.

• 24 year old Ismael Ybarra went down 6 innings into the season with elbow chips. He's ready to be activated off the 60 day, so he's headed out for a rehab

• Outfielder Rafael Duenas is taking on a dual role. He's going to provide an extra arm at the same time he's a bat off the bench. He actually pitched in college and he has stuff. He threw north of 700 minor league innings but could never find the command to take on a legitimate role.

• 7/16 FLA 6 LV 4 Baldwin 5 IP 7 H 3 K 3 BB 2 ER

• 7/17 FLA 10 LV 9 (10) Barranco 4-5 3B 3 RBI Fujimoto 3-4 grand slam 4 RBI (1st career ABA HR)

AL POTW- Steve Moden (PHX) 12-27 6 HR 16 RBI (.282-26-74)
NL POTW- Amari Tutson (JAX) 12-23 3 HR 11 RBI (.302-24-61)

This Week: 1 vs Las Vegas Off Day 3 @ Detroit 2 vs Chicago

This Week: San Antonio closer and 5 time all-star Jeremy Schellhammer is just getting warmed up this season having just 4 saves to date. He's a 2 time Rivera Award winner and a 2004 3rd place finisher for the Koufax award. He is coming off a 2 month DL stint. I mention this because the Broncos today announced a 2 year 7.2 million dollar extension to make him the leagues highest paid closer. 40 and 51 with 238 Saves which is 4th all time and 3rd all-time among active players and a career 2.77 ERA he's struck out 828 over 513.1 career innings.

[gehrig38]

Subject: Week 17 Notes

• 7/18: LV 6 FLA 4 Pen coughs up 4 in the 9th on 2 home runs Turner 2 IP 4 H 3 ER Morrison .2 IP 3 H 2 HR 2 ER BS(4)
• Infield prospect Jeremy Crimi has gone 17-37 since his promotion to AAA
• Joe Linn suffered his 1st loss as a professional giving up 6 in 5 IP striking out 8 and walking 2. He's 5-1 3.78 with a gaudy 42-5 K/BB ratio
• Hobbs Blue Claws hit 5 homers en route to an 11-7 win. Teagan Beairston (3-4 2 HR 4 RBI) Luis Salinas (3-4 2 R) and Ian Morfin (3-5 2 R)
• 7/19: OFF DAY Former closer Juan Pedemontes season came to an end today after it was revealed he ruptured a disc. He'll miss the next 6-7 months. He was 3-1 2 SV 3.16 in 30 games since the trade.
• Division leading Detroit coming in. ABA's #1 ranked team (64-35) with an offensive led by leadoff hitter and SS Naoaki Fuchigami (.324-12-48) and anchored by MVP candidate Loan Auffret (.340-34-102). We'll get Chris Mattingly (8-5 3.64) Tim Richardson (9-5 4.72) and Joel Joffrion (7-5 4.45) missing ace CC Sabathia (11-4 3.12)
• 7/20: FLA 7 DET 2 Rafael Duenas got the start and went 6 IP 4 H 7 K 2 BB and 1 ER for his first ever ABA win.
• Auffret solo HR (35)
• 7/21: FLA 4 DET 1 Lorenzana 6 IP 4 H 4 K 4 BB 1 ER (2-8 4.99)
• 7/22: DET 17 FLA 1 Phantom bring Sabathia back and skip their 5th he goes 6 strong (12-4 3.03) and the entire staff gets beat up.
• Kevin Whited hit a 1st inning grand slam and went 3-4 3 R 4 RBI
• Bobby Frazier tossed a 5 hit complete game SHO in a 1-0 win for Alamogordo
• 2 way threat Arturo Mendoza went 6.1 scoreless with 4 H 5 K 2 BB. He is 2-3 5.27 in 7 starts. 42.2 IP 50 H 25 K 20 BB and hitting .320/.374/.505 in 115 plate appearances with 5 home runs and 19 RBI's.
• Joe Linn 8 IP 4 K 1 BB 4 H 2 ER (6-1 3.56)
• 2005 18th rounder Robbe Givens went punched out 12 over 8.2 shutout innings giving up 3 hits in a 15-0 win by Hobbs. He's 3-1 5.59 over 7 starts
• 7/23: FLA 4 CHI 2 Medina 6 IP 5 H 7 K 1 ER (3-4 6.55)
• 7/24: CHI 4 FLA van Gaalen blows 3-2 lead in the 9th BS (4) Martignoni 6 IP 6 H 6 K 3 H 2 ER
• DH Sean Fletcher has just completed a 15 day rehab stint. He hit .333/.419/.574 with 3 HR 9 RBI in 14 games. He must be activated and he has a right to refuse a minor league assignment, he's out of options and I can't get even a bite on the market. He's since been waived and DFA.

AL POTW- Korey Rick (MIN)12-24 4 HR 13 RBI (.275-37-96)
NL POTW- Quinten Cadenhead (LA) 12-25 3 HR 8 RBI (.333-10-42)

This Week: 1 vs Chicago 3 @ Phoenix 3 vs Minnesota

[gehrig38]

• Subject: Week 18 Notes
  
  
• 7/25: CHI 5 FLA 2 Ezekiel Cordero 6.2 IP6 K 7 H 1 ER (8-6 4.48) Luis Rangel 3-5 Orlando Garza SV (24)
• Nakamura 3-4 3B, HR RBI Duenas 5 IP 4 H 3 K 3 BB 2 ER
• Not sure what the thought process is but that's the 2nd start in a week Kevin has given to Duenas and he's thrown decently.
• Some good days around the minors AAA Rommel Palangan 3-4 HR RBI (.320-12-24) Butch Underwood 8 IP 4 K 7 H 2 ER ND (AA) Marc Newby 7.2 IP 7 K 6 H 0 R (9-7 4.66) Ernesto Ramirez 2-3 2B HR 4 RBI in 10-0 win (A) Farmington pounded out 21 hits Seizo Kanno 5-6 2B R RBI Arturo Mendoza 4-6 HR 3 RBI Thung Cu 8 IP 7 H 7 K 2 ER W (7-8 5.61)
• 7/26: PHX 3 FLA 2 Clint Webb 6 IP 6 K 5 H 1 ER W (8-8 5.91)
• 7/27: PHX 9 FLA 1 Caspary 2-4 2B HR (.285-25-63)
• Undrafted minor league FA Aldenis Ring out of OSU has posted a .384/.489/.482 slash line in addition to hitting in 20 straight games at Rio Rancho and 1B Yuusei Nakamura fractured his wrist and will miss at least the next 6 weeks.
• 7/28: PHX 3 FLA 2 Knuckleballer Steven Wright 6 IP 5 H 4 K 1 ER (7-12 5.88)
• The single season record for losses is 108 and I am thinking we will easily surpass that barring some sort of miracle.
• Trade deadline is fast approaching and I am working the phones for anyone and everyone.
• 7/29: MIN 9 FLA 5 Barranco 4-5 HR 3 RBI Coyotl 3-5 3 2B
• Joe Linn moved to 7-1 3.75 going 6.2 IP 5 H 6 K 1 BB 4 ER. Given his health history and his workload this year there is talk about shutting him down soon.
• 7/30: MIN 1 FLA 0 Duenas 4.2 IP 4 K 4 BB 3 H 1 ER L (1-2 2.81)
• Justiniano 8 IIP 7 H 8 K 0 BB (12-7 3.43)
• 7/31: FLA 6 MIN 4 Pen 4 IP 3 H 4 K 0 BB Herman W (2-0) van Gaalen SV (13) Nabbe 3R HR (12)
• Bzios (MIN) 2IP 2 H 3 K 2 ER L (3-6) Yes that Bzios.
  
  
  AL POTM- Juan Alvarao (NY) .348-13-35 (.268-25-64)
  NL POTM- Luis Wordragen (PIT) .327-17-29 25 R (.288-29-71)
  AL PITCHER- Mike Lochirco (DEN) 4-0 1.67 43 IP (12-5 4.45)
  NL PITCHER- Chris Edge (LA) 5-1 3.24 33.1 IP 42 K (13-5 3.46)
  AL ROOKIE- Joe Vertz (OH) .306-8-16 (.273-31-87)
  NL ROOKIE- Deshawm Snowton (POR) .310-6-13 (.273-22-61
  
  MINOR LEAGUE NEWS: Clovis Kangaroo OF Jorge Vaquera to26-year-old EL AA player of the week. The 26-year-old went 11-21 3 HR 12 RBI
  And in Short Season news Blue Claws starter Luis Anglada went 4-0 3.19 fanning 32 in 31 IP. The 25-year-old was floundering at Farmington (0-3 10.69) but appears to have found a groove.
  I am monitoring the 2005 draft class and the pitcher's innings. This is the final month of the minor league seasons and there may be an occasion to shut a young guy down. Especially if that arm had a heavy workload during the NCAA season this year (Looking at Joe Linn in particular)
  
  
  TARPONS GO ALL OUT TO BRING IN SUPERSTAR PROSPECT
  Florida GM Gehrig Schilling held an afternoon press conference to announce the clubs recent siging of international superstar SS/3B Satoshi Kumagai. The 16 year old phenom has been hailed as potentially the best player since Ichiro Suzuki to hail from Japan.
  “Obviously we felt this young man was a generational talent. We went way past the cap for international players and will “pay for that” (or not as the case may be) when next years pool comes out. Even moreso when you consider it's about quantity as much as quality when looking for talent to start, not build, start, a franchise”. He can play both SS and 3B with a well above average arm and enough range we think at 6'1” he could be a prototypical big league shortstop. Luis has me convinced this kid is going to win multiple batting titles as well!”
  
  TRADE DEADLINE COMES AND GOES. ALL SOUND AND NO FURY
  There were quite literally no trades of any significance at this years deadline. Lord knows the Tarpons tried as most every club in the ABA remarked that they'd been on the phone more than once with Florida GM Gehrig Schilling.
  “They know me by now, they all know I am looking for any deal to help this organization top to bottom and am willing to discuss anyone and any deal if I think it may help us. We put feelers out for just about every prospect on the leagues top 100 list. Nothing ever even made it to stage 2 in that arena. We did have 4-5 deals we were on final stages with but in the end couldn't make the dollars or talent work. I will trade, anyone, but I won't make a deal to 'make a deal'.
  
  This Week: OFF DAY 3 @ Memphis (52-58 6.5 GB AL Central) 3 @ Ohio (58-52 .5 GB AL Central)
  
  Pair of central division matchups. Speedster Nate Holland (3rd in AL in SB 18) comes in with the Generals while Memphis will be bringing slugger Chris Pennington and his 1.013 OPS (3rd in AL) with them. Both of these teams likely must win their division to get to October as Brooklyn (67-44) and Las Vegas (64-47) are out front of the Wild Card with Minnesota and Alaska 3 and 5 back respectively.

[gehrig38]

This Week: 19

• 8/1: OFF DAY
• AAA SS Jeremy Crimi broke his thumb today and will miss the remainder of the year. He is out of options and I had planned on giving the 24 year old some September at bats so this is most unfortunate. Jonathan Kunst 5-5 2B 2 R 2 RBI. Luis Figueroa continues to sprint up the prospects chart. He went 3-5 today with 3 HR and drove in 6. He's at .321-14-57.
• Hobbs 3B and top prospect Luis Salinas hit a 2B 3B and HR and scored 3 times. He's hitting .329-5-36 and Dave Weller went 2-5 with 2 HR driving in 4 and is at .340-7-26. Jeremy Moorefield went 3-5 and drove in a run and is at .354-6-28.
• 8/2: MEM 12 FLA 8 Baldwin drops to 3-15 7.85 Fujimoto 3-5 HR (2) 4 RBI
• Arturo Mendoza tossed 6.2 scoreless to move to 3-3 4.28 at Farmington. At the plate he's hitting .326/.382/.496 with 6 HR and 23 RBI in 32 games. It's pretty clear he's much farther along at the plate than on the mound. Question becomes which skill becomes the priority after this year? Do you hold him back to help him progress on the mound at the cost of him not facing better pitching? Or vice versa?
• 8/3: MEM 13 FLA 2 Our pitching is record setting bad. Medina goes 4 giving up 8 H 4 BB and 7 ER to fall to 3-6 6.98.
• At Clovis (AA) Joe Linn had his 1st rough patch. Gave up 5 earned and 8 hits in 5.2 IP. He's 7-2 4.10. I'm giving him one more start because I always feel it's crucial to have a young player go into the off season feeling good about themselves. So I can hope he twirls a gem and then we can shut him down. We will not tell him, things like that are huge problems for young players so you give them the stuff in small doses. Almost on a 'need to know' basis. They tend to have about 14 million more things going on mentally than they need to.
• DH Scott Fletcher has cleared waivers. While perusing the waiver wire it just so happens that Vegas was trying to sneak 26 year old SP Jeff Chase through. He's 5-6 with 1 save and a 4.77 in 31 games 122.2 innings and 17 starts. A definite back end rotation guy on a very good team he'd likely be our #1 immediately. He was the 15th overall selection out of Purdue in the 2000 draft.Chase has no options left. Also put a claim in for 25 year old OF Joe Pankey of the New York Punishers. Joe was a 3rd rounder in 2001 (65th overall) out of Virginia Tech. He's hit at every level, every year. He's made minor league all star teams all three years and was 5-9 in a brief stit this year. A corner outfield with exceptional speed. The bigger reason for the claim was the open spots on the 38 man (4) and most important he has an option remaining AND has already used one this year.
• Denver starter Micah Stolz came out of the game today with a 'sore' shoulder and is headed back to Denver for an MRI. The 30 year old journeyman is having a career year at 13-3 3.85 for a Denver team looking to repeat as World Champions. He's tossed 140 innings giving up 139 hits with 142 punchouts and just 35 walks.
• Talbot Pottle (NY) went 3-4 2 HR and 3 RBI in 12-3 win over Brooklyn. I mention this just so I could type and say his name.
• 8/4: MEM 3 FLA 2 (10)
• SP prospect Jim Mathews will undergo Tommy John and miss the remainder of this year and most likely all of next year as well.
• 8/5: OH 9 FLA 2 Duenas 4 IP 7 H 5 ER 2 BB 1 K (1-3 4.50)
• Ernesto Bandaras 6 IP 6 H 10 K 2 ER (7-7 4.95)
• 25 year old Minnesota Huskie prospect Tim Richards played in a 17 inning affair yesteday. His Brooklyn Park Ramblers (AA) beat the Enterprise Nailers 8-5. In the game Tim went 7-8 with a run and 5 RBI's.
• Jeff Chase is a Tarpon. Jeff Baldwin was optioned out (3-15 7.85) and Chase will take the hill tonight vs Ohio.
• Jahiem Kouassi (OK) went 3-3 3 HR 3 R and 4 RBI in a 8-5 loss to Pittsburgh .283-39-88
• Ezequiel Cordero (CHI) tossed a 1-hitter punching out 8 in a 6-0 win over Phoenix. 9-7 4.08
• Pat Strickland (NE) gave up 2 hits and punched out 6 over 8 scoreless in a 9-0 win over Texas 14-7 3.86
• Filling up the “Who's Not” list.
• Herman 10 G 15.1 IP 18 K 11.15 ERA
• Juan Tovar 9 G 1-22 .045 1 HR 1 RBI
• Geoff Wimer 6 G 2-25 .088 0 HR 0 RBI
  
  
  MEETING WITH MANAGER KEVIN JACKSON
  Kevin's contract is up at years end. He has asked for complete autonomy in the day to day for the seasons final 2 months. Why not? This team cannot perform any worse honestly. I also believe he believes if he's fired at least he would have gone out managing his way. If the team shows marked improvement then there's a discussion to be had here.
  
  
• 8/6: OH 11 FLA 3 Chase (0-1) goes 4 IP 5 H 2 BB 2 K 5 ER. Ben Herman continues to just get hammered. 2.1 IP 4 H 2 HR 5 ER (8.80 ERA)
• Juan Barranco hits his 19th in a 2-5 3 RBI day (.315-19-82)
• Snowton watch: 1-3 RBI Single in the 1st. Streak at 30 games
• Alaska's Omar Samedi tossed the 1st no-hitter of the year and the first in quite a while. He punched out 10 and walked 3 needing just 101 pitches to complete the gem. He's 10-7 4.36 on the year.
  
  
  POST GAME MEETING
  Ben Herman will be optioned out for this next month. It will cost nothing since he's already used this year's option. Ismael Ybarra will come off his rehab. Also outfield Joe Pankey will be rostered and optioned to AAA. He's used his option this year already so nothing hurt by the move.
  
  
• 8/7: OH 8 FLA 5 Barranco 2-5 HR (20) 3 RBI (85) Lorenzana 5 IP 8 H 5 K 1 BB 7 ER (2-10 5.73)
• Snowton Watch: 3-5 HR 5 RBI extended streak with a 2R HR off Chris Edge in the 3rd. Streak at 31.

AL POTW- Sergio Jaquez 14-29 4 HR 11 RBI (.243-18-58)
NL POTW- Josh Barboni (POR) 10-25 7 HR 17 RBI (.268-29-75)





Right around 45 games left and some interesting individual races heating up. Domenic Loetzsch is making a legitimate run at a triple crown. There have been 3 others in the hitting department. Jeff Evans in the ABA's inaugural season (.363-67-172) Sincere Woodgett 1992 (.361-58-162) and Bobby Ramey 1996 (.326-60-136). He's a legitimate threat at the single-season HR record too (68).

Teagan Ings is also a very legitimate candidate but you can see all three categories look like dog fights. Jeremy Horst is having a monster year, 1.4 WAR ahead of the next closest pitcher in ABA legend Chris Edge.

There have been a grand total of 15 300+ strikeout seasons and 8 of them are by future Hall of Famer Chris Towns. Winton Alward has 2 of the remaining 7 as well as a 297 K season in 2000. He is on pace for a career-best 335 K season.

All of this is a bit surreal considering the 2004 world champion is 6-10 with a 4.10 ERA. In '04 he went 16-10 averaging 3.76 runs of support per game and his 6-10 record this year is with 3.78 runs per game of support. Many pitchers believe in the 'not how you pitch but WHEN you pitch” theory.
Meaning that some guys, in some years, are pitching on the 'wrong day'. Weird things happen to the guy who is in the leagues top 10 in ERA but ends a season 12-12. He's lowered his RA/9 10.7 to 9.4, H/9 7.2 – 7.0 BB/9 3.1 – 2.2 K/9 up from 13.4 to 14.2 (that would best the single-season mark he set in 2002 of 13.77 per 9) seen his K/BB ratio go from 4.28 to 6.37 seen his FIP drop from 3.80 to 3.34 and is already at 4.8 WAR with the single-season record being set by future HOF pitcher Juan Espinal, 9.53 in 1995. One of just 2 seasons ever a pitcher recorded a 9+ WAR (9.0 by another future HOF in 3 time Koufax winner Mike Olson. Mike was also a 4-time world series champion and a 10-time all-star)

Meanwhile RJ Stanton aspires to that first 300 punchout season (he's on a 313 pace) but much more important and a major factor in a guy who has never won more than 11 games in a year (12-3 right now) is the fact his 3 year run of BB/9 looks like this 5.7 in 184 IP 6.2 in 181.2 IP to 3.5 in 145.2 IP this year. Right now I'd say he's the Koufax front runner and if he keeps the 17-4 313 K pace he's on he could very put that trophy next to his 2004 Gold Glove.

Also, note in the NL Deshawn Snowton and his 31 game hitting streak. There has been just 3 30+ game hitting streaks in the ABA's history and Chris Frederick of the LA Storm set the record with a 35 games streak in 2002. We'll be giving that special attention in the coming days (which means it'll end tomorrow).




Looks to be Ohio and Chicago again from the Central with what I think will be just one of the two making it. I fully expect the 'loser' of our division between Detroit and Brooklyn along with the loser of the Denver/Vegas race to eat up the 2 wild card spots.

In our own little “race” we are 6 games in back of St Louis. I'd really like to see us play better (sort of a “No really???” comment I know) but I also would definitely like to remain atop next years draft AND the waiver wire given St Louis will be in the mix on the waiver wire for the same exact players we are looking for.

The Denver Saints are 67-50, tied with Vegas in the NL West. News just came down today the Micah Stolz (13-3 3.85 will have season-ending shoulder surgery and best case will be back for the start of the 2006 season. The Saints inked him to a 6 year 22.09 million dollar deal with a 2010 player option. His 3.68 million AAV makes him the games 11th highest paid starter.



Notice not only his salary but the fact Denver has 3 of the top 15, with over 64 million committed to just those 3. But if you're going to have that money committed it's nice to know it's to 3 guys who should be in their primes. Their concern now is 23-year-old Zaire Kirlew. He's toeing the rubber today and is slated to take Stolz spot in the rotation. A top prospect released two different times due to some major off the field concerns, he's just 0-3 7.06 over 4 games (3 starts) and 21.2 innings. A 23-2 K/BB ration and 25 hits are both exceptional and acceptable, but his affinity for giving up the longball is killing him.




Postseason stalwart Pittsburgh is the clear favorite in the East, again. Their oft-injured rotation remains more than serviceable at 3rd in the league for starters ERA (4.34) but their staff is anchored by the leagues #1 bullpen. Speaking of anchors closer Al Alburquerque and his 2.23 ERA to go with a league-leading 32 saves and Gossage award winner (and all-time ABA saves leader with 317) Marc Mundschenk's 2.26 and Greg Sharpes 1.86 ERA's in setting him up have been the sure things in steel town. Luis Andrade (.271-31-83) paces an offense that ranks 12th in the league in Runs, AVG, and OBP while being 6th in HR and 5 in SB.

The question in the central is can the league's top-ranked offense led by MVP candidate Teagan Ings hang on. Their 211 homers rank 2nd as their 673 runs are tops. Their pen has some injuries (closer Bobby Patterson out another 2 weeks but was struggling with a 6+, ERA to go with 14 saves) but new closer Eli Alford has been a godsend with 10 saves and a 2.58 ERA.

In the west, LA paces the 4 teams once again. However, their 2nd ranked rotation is backed by the leagues 2nd ranked bullpen that just saw closer Gerjan Fredericks (4-3 26 saves 3.26) go down with a yet to be diagnosed injury. At 36 his 270 career saves ranks rank him 3rd all time and 2nd active all time.

San Fran is the only other potential champ in the west and their league-best defense has paced an 8-2 run and 2 game pickup on LA in the past 10. They're dealing with injuries to their DH Joe Went (270-18-54) and 3B/INF Andy Lee (.210-17-50) who went down yesteday with a yet to be determined injury. Starter Jace Camp is returning soon and swingman Jorge Castro is still 2 weeks out.

[gehrig38]

Subject: Week 20 Notes
St Louis in town for 3. They're 6 up on us with 45 to play.
Joe Linn makes his final start this year on Monday for AA Clovis. Arturo Mendoza had a rough one his last start as well. He'll make 1 more start and then be relegated to 'normal' status and play 1B every day to close out the year. Finally, 3rd rounder Mike Carpenter has had a rough go in his brief intro to professional baseball. He's made 9 starts and recorded just 2 quality starts. Given he had some issues with his back his senior year he's made his final start of the year for Rio Rancho

Record: 30-93
Position: 5th 46 GB (St Louis is 41-82 +10)
Runs Scored: 457 14th
Runs Allowed: 794 14th
Defense: .683 11th
Power Ranking: 26th
Owner Mood: Happy
Fan Interest: 100

• 8/8: STL 10 FLA 4 Medina 4.1 IP 5 BB 4 H 5 ER (3-7 7.14)
• Dan Berry 5 IP 5 H 4 ER W (3-16 10.07) Beaten by a guy with a 10 ERA in 23 starts
• Snowton Watch: 3-5 2 HR 4 RBI Singled in his 1st AB streak at 32
• 8/9: STL 4 FLA 1 Luis Salazar 2B 2 HR drives in all 4. 2R HR in the 8th to break it open.
• Martignoni goes 6 IP 6 K 0 BB 5 H 2 ER for the loss (1-4 4.38)
• SNOWTON WATCH: 1-4 1B in 1st AB. Streak at 33
  
  TARPONS, MISSIONS LOOK TO WAIVER WIRE DEAL
  Made a potential trade today. Would send Jimmy Owen and 3 prospects to San Diego for 1B Prospect Ajani Foggie (25 year old former 1st rounder) and TJ Rand (24 year old left fielder who can play some D, and puts the bat on the ball like a true 2 hole type hitter) Both would be immediately on the 25 man and immediately become everyday guys I think. Not sure what Kevin will want. None of the prospects are guys I would sweat to part with. Only player in the deal is Owens for me. Problem is it's a waiver deal and I don't see him clearing.
  
  
• Our 35th rounder in the expansion draft Shamar Binney went 3-5 with a HR and 2 RBI to bring his season totals to .324-10-50. 23 year old 'toolsy' guy who is exceeding expectations
• 8/10: STL 5 FLA 3 Duenas 3.2 IP 5 H 5 BB 99 pitches. Experiment is over. Back to the OF for the seasons final 2 months.
• Snowton Watch: K, F4, 1B in the 5th to move streak to 34, one shy of ABA record.
• 8/11: NY 14 FLA 5 Chase 4 IP 7 H 5 BB 8 ER
• Snowton Watch: Wow. Portland Manager Bryan Corey brought Deshawn Snowton into the game as a defensive replacement in the 7th and I am unsure of this but I assume it was because he thought Snowton might not get to the plate? He did, ending the game on an 0-1 flyball to right. His streak ends 1 game short of the league record.
• 8/12: FLA 2 NY 1 Lorenzana 6 IP 1 ER (3-10 5.44) Richardson 2 scoreless van Gaalen SV (14) just how you draw it up...McDowell (16) Tovar (15) solo homers win it.
• Hobbs Blue Claw Hiroshi Inouye tossed a 2-hit shutout today. The 20-year-old punched out 8 and walked 3 in the 9-0 win.
  
  TARPONS DEAL OWENS+ TO SAN DIEGO
  The San Diego Missions acquired 21-year-old centerfielder Jimmy Owens today in a 6 player deal with the Florida Tarpons. San Diego receives Owens, 24-year-old minor league OF Sean Bowden, 26-year-old right-hander Luis Mieses and 18-year-old 1B prospect Yuusei Nakamura as well as the Tarpons 9th round pick in 2006. In return, Florida acquired 24 year old OF TJ Rand and 25-year-old 1B Ajani Foggie.
  
  I may someday regret moving a 21-year-old switch hitting outfielder but his .216/.277/.344 slash line to go with 83 punch outs to just 18 walks as well as what our scouts called 'well below average defense' made this an option. Bowden, Mieses are both 4 A guys in my opinion and Nakamura is a young 1B who may someday hit a bit but no one on our end is convinced of that.
  
  In return, we get a 24-year-old left fielder who struck out a grand total of 39 times in 500+ at-bats between A and AA last year. He was hitting .316/.370/.434 in 95 games at AAA this year and our guys are very high on his ability now and moving forward. Almost a picture perfect 2 hole bat in a good lineup. He's also a bit rare in that he handles lefties almost as well as righties hitting exclusively from the left side. TJ was the 6th round pick (127th overall) for the Missions in 2002 out of Iowa. He's going to head to Alamogordo since it would burn an option to put him on the roster and then send him down.
  
  Ajani was San Diego's supplemental pick in round 1 (20th overall) in the 2001 draft. E was an all American at Maryland in 2000. Can man either corner OF position in a pinch but he is the rare combo of speed and above average power and defense at first base. Somewhat surprising was our fans excitement at the acquisition of this kid. Our scouts want to move him to left where his below average range won't play as much as right and his outstanding arm will compensate. Hidetoshi Fujimoto will be optioned. He's struggled recently and I don't need him on a bench as he is definitely in the mix as this team and franchise moves forward.
  
  
• 8/13: NY 4 FLA 3 van Gaalen BS (5) 1-5 5.13
• Alamogordo 1B Jeff Morea went 5-5 HR 2 2B (.317-14-72) in a 13-9 win
• Arturo Mendoza lost his final start yesterday. He'll move to third for the remainder of the Farmington season. He finishes 3-4 4.85 in 11 starts. 65 IP 76 H 38 K 27 BB. Through 38 games he's hitting .295/.356/.445 with 6 HR and 23 RBI in 163 plate appearances
• 8/14: OFF DAY
• Hobbs Blue Claws 3B prospect Luis Salinas went 2-4 to extend his hitting streak to 20 games. He's at .347-5-33 in 213 at bats
• Fubon Guardian right fielder Luis Romo hit his 53rd home run yesteday, breaking the Chinese Professional Baseball Leagure record of 52 set by Las Vegas superstar Domenic Loetsch.

AL POTW- Dan Allred (MEM) 7-11 3 HR 5 RBI (.261-18-40)
NL POTW- Eddie Anderson (SD) 10-22 3 HR 8 RBI (.321-28-92)


This Week: 3 vs Brooklyn (74-49 3 GB AL East) 3 @ Alaska (66-57 5 GB AL West) 1 vs Milwaukee (57-66 10 GB AL Central)

[gehrig38]

Week 21 Notes

Record: 33-97
Position: 5th 46 GB
Runs Scored: 490 14th
Runs Allowed: 853 14th
Defense: 683 12th
Power Ranking: 26th
Owner Mood: Happy
Fan Interest: 98/100 (first week all year it has dropped below 100)

• 8/15: FLA 4 BRK 1 Martignoni 6 IP 4 H 1 ER 5 K van Gaalen SV (15) Nabbe HR (14)
• 8/16: BRK 11 FLA 7 (11) Duenas 4.2 IP 9 H 4 BB 6 ER (5.72 ERA) van Gaalen BS (6) Turner 0.2 IP 5 H 4 ER L (1-3 6.26)
• 8/18: FLA 6 BRK 3 Chase CG!!!! 6 H 4 K 3 ER Nabbe 3-4 3 RBI (.246-14-50) Nishida HR (4) 2 RBI
• Just the 2nd CG in 126 games.
• Pittsburgh announced a 3 year contract extension for 33 year old bullpen anchor Marc Mundschenk. The contract will be at an AAV of 3.16 mil. A monster deal for a guy not closing anymore. The only reliever in ABA history to take home a Koufax, doing it in consecutive seasons (2002 6-1 46 Saves 1.63 and 2003 5-4 41 Saves 1.46). Also taken home 2 Rivera awards (and a 2nd and 3rd) as well as a 2nd place in the Gossage voting in 1997 he's a 6 time all star.
• 8/18: FLA 10 AK 9 Tovar 3-5 2B HR 4 RBI Wimer 3-5 2B 2 HR 2 RBI hit 5 HR's off Tanaka (7-7 4.20)
• Farmington left field Kiwamu Nishimura went 4-5 2B 3B 4 RBI (.298-6-36) C Adir Ferran went 2-3 3 R 2 BB 2 2B (.334-18-69)
• 8/19: AK 10 FLA 4 Medina 3.2 IP 11 H 3 BB 9 ER (3-8 7.56) Barranco 2-4 HR 3 RBI (.308-21-88)
• Neil Walker 5.1 IP 4 H 3 BB 6 K 0 R (16-3 4.25) Chris Leotta 2-4 grand slam 5 RBI
• 8/20: AK 8 FLA 1 Greinke CG 2 H 13 K (14-6 3.72)
• Mike Eddins (Farmington) went 3-3 2 HR 5 RBI and is hitting .291-12-43 since his demotion
• 8/21: MIL 17 FLA 1 Yulieski Gurriel 3 HR 4-6 7 RBI Dan Harrison 4-5 2B 2 HR 3 R 4 RBI
• Adir Ferran (Farmington) 3-4 2B HR 2 RBI (.336-19-71)
• Knuckleballer Robbie Givens went 6.1 yesterday to move to 5-3 5.58 in 12 starts. He's thrown 71 IP 72 H 68 K and 47 BB. If the walks can come down he could end up a huge steal in the 18th round
• KC 2B Mike Klessig went 5-5 in a 9-7 win over Portland

AL POTW- Eric Hecht (MEM) 15-30 4 HR 8 RBI (.266-37-97)
NL POTW- Alpha Malveaux (OK) 15-29 5 HR 9 RBI (.313-43-89)

This Week: vs Milwaukee 2 3 @ Denver OFF DAY 1 @ Las Vegas
Milwaukee in for 3 and then we head west to meet up with the cream of the crop in the AL West in Denver and Vegas. Doeminic Loetzsch is now pulling ahead in all three triple crown categories at .336 (up .008) 50 HR (up 6) and 141 RBI (up 24). He's making a run at the single season RBI record but would need a pretty big run here to get there. Also possible we see the AL leader in strikeouts in Winton Alward.

[gehrig38]

Subject: Week 22 Notes

Record: 35-101
Position:5th 47 GB
Runs Scored: 512 14th
Runs Allowed: 882 14th
Defense: .685 11th
Power Ranking: 26th
Owner Mood: Happy
Fan Interest: 92. 2nd week in a row it has dropped and I A) Can't blame them and B) not sure I can do much about it. Hoping maybe some young kids will bring a bit of excitement to the last month?

• 8/22: MIL 3 FLA 2 Chase 6 IP 4 K 3 ER L (1-3 7.43)
• Some minor league injuries have forced my hand a bit. I have had to put 1st overall pick Joe Linn back in for a few starts given the DL issues. He'll be on a strict pitch count. Same thing with 3rd rounder Mike Carpenter at Rio Rancho
• 8/23: MIL 4 FLA 1 Deaton 4-4 3B Newbury HR 2 RBI (.303-38-105)
• Luis Salinas (SS A) went 2-6 with a HR and 3 RBI (.329-7-49) and David Weller scored 3 times (.310-11-34) in a 13-9 win. Blue Claws scored 11 times in the bottom of the 1st after falling behind 4-0.
• 8/24: DEN 12 FLA 9 Nishida 3-5 2 HR 3 R 5 RBI (.282-8-22) Barranco HR 3 RBI (.306-22-91)
• Blue Claws win 14-6 Weller 2-5 HR 2 R 2 RBI (.312-12-36) Conover 4-5 HR 2 R 5 RBI (.335-4-25) Strickland 3-5 2B 2 R 2 RBI (.368-4-31) Salinas 2-5 2 R RBI (.331-7-50) Medina 6 IP 8 H 1 R W (2-1 5.19)
• Minnesota outfielder Mike Haupt lined an RBI double in the first inning of their 10-8 win today to extend his hitting streak to 30 games. He's hitting .324-23-78
• 8/25: FLA 2 DEN 1 Martignoni 6 IP 3 H 4 K 1 ER van Gaalen SV (17)
• LA 2B Sean Goldstein was 4-4 scoring 4 times driving in 4 while hitting for the cycle in an 8-6 win over San Antonio
• 8/26: FLA 6 DEN 4 4 run 9th for the win. Foggie 2-4 2B HR 3 RBI Duenas walks 7 in 5 IP 1 H just 1 R
• Alward punches out 10 in 8 dominant innings leaving with a 4-2 lead and in what has become the norm for him and the team in 2005 the pen coughs up 4 to give him another no-decision. He's now 8-11 on the year having won just 4 of his last 15 starts with the team being just 5-10 in those games.
• Clovis righty Luis Gordillo tossed 7 scoreless in a 2-1 loss. He's 6-7 4.75 in 26 starts. He's thrown 134.2 IP 139 H 93 K. He was part of the December deal with Pittsburgh.
• Pittsburgh utility man Luis Orrego ruptured his MCL today and will miss at least the next 9 months. A tough blow for a team just 3 back in their division and 1 back in the Wildcard race.
• 8/27: OFF DAY
• Ben Herman turned in a solid 6 inning effort in Alamogordo today. The reliever has been inserted into the rotation in hopes he develops his change up into something more than a show me pitch as our top scouts think he's physically a guy that could front a rotation. Also in that game outfielder TJ Rand (acquired 2 weeks ago in Sand Diego deal) went 2-4 and in 9 games since coming over he's hitting .375/.405/.550
• In Farmington 2nd rounder Arturo Mendoza, whom we have put at 3B for the final month+ went 3-4 in a 3-1 win and is hitting .306/.361/.434 in 219 plate appearances with 7 HR and 30 RBI.
• Rio Rancho won 10-9 and undrafted free agent Chris Kurzyna went 3-5 with a grand slam and 5 RBI's. In 77 at bats he's hitting .431/.571/.655. Numbers I don't think anyone in our scouting room thought possible after what amounted to a lackluster 3 years at UCLA.
• 8/28: LV 5 FLA 2 Chase 6 IP 4 H 5 K 4 BB 3 ER L (1-4 6.83) Barranco (23) and Tovar (17) homered.
• Humberto Abeyta W (9-6) 7 IP 2 H 9 K 1 ER Dominic Helmrich SV (31)
• Joe Linn went 5 (92 pitches) giving up 5 hits 6 K 0 BB and 2 ER towin his 8th. (8-4 4.50) and his season K/BB ratio sits at 68/15. OF Shamar Biney went 3-4 with 6 RBI to move to .326-11-58.
• Hobbs won today 20-12. I'll just give the top line stuff Salinas 3-5 3 R Conover 1-3 2 R 3 BB Strickland 2-2 3 BB 3 R 4 RBI HR Moorefield 3-6 2 R 7 RBI Morfin 3-5 2B 2 R 2 RBI Modelus 2-5 HR 2 R 2 RBI and Camargo 3-4 BB 2 R Knuckleballer Robbie Givens went just 4.2 IP on 115 pitches, punching out 8 and walking 7. His season totals 75.2 IP 75 H 11 HR 76 K 54 BB with a BABIP of .309

AL POTW- Mike Meninger (NY) 8-17 4 HR 8 RBI (.293-38-93)
NL POTW- Sean Goldstein (LA) 10-19 2 HR 9 RBI 9 R (.326-27-123)

This Week: 2 @ Las Vegas 3 vs Detroit 2 @ Chicago
5 vs Vegas and Detroit isn't what the doctor ordered. September call ups happen on Thursday so there will be a slew of meetings to decide how we are going to handle this. Is this an environment to bring up young players?

[gehrig38]

Subject: Week 23 Notes

Record: 38-105
Position: 5th 47 GB
Runs Scored: 551 13th
Runs Allowed: 932 14th
Defense: 683 12th
Power Ranking:26
Owner Mood: Worried (was wondering how this was going to work....)
Fan Interest: 92


ABA PLAYER PROFILE: DOMENIC LOETZSCH
Born in Melbourne, Australia 33-year-old Domenic Loetzsch was the 1st overall pick in the 1994 Australian Baseball League Draft by the Perth Heat. He would clean up at the awards ceremony that year after hitting .326-17-40 in 45 games. In a weird turn of events, there would be legal issues around his contract with the Heat and he was awarded Free agency that winter. He signed with the Canberra Cavalry for the 1995 season and had that end as the league folded just halfway through.
ABA clubs lined up to throw money at the kid and in what was at the time seen as a stunning turn of events he signed a 1 year deal with the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese professional baseball league. After playing for Australia in the 1996 WBC he was named the CBL's #1 prospect. He would hold that title for 3 straight years before exploding on and taking over the game in the CBL. Over the next 7 seasons, he would hit .326/.464/.699 for an OPS of 1.162. In 726 games he hit 239 homers driving in 646 runs with 142 doubles 46 triples steal 251 bases.
His trophy room grew in rapid fashion. He would amass 18 player of the week awards, 8 player of the month awards Rookie of the year, 1 MVP, 1 gold glove 3 silver sluggers win a playoff MVP and 2 League titles.
Following the 2003 season he would exercise his right to free agency and at age 30 would sign a record (at the time) 5 year 23.4 million dollar deal with the Las Vegas Aces.
He would then go on to win the rookie of the month award once, be selected to 2 all-star games, win a gold glove (2004 in RH) and come into today as the leader by a wide margin in the race for the 2005 Hank Aaron Award in the American League. His #7 jersey is the leagues best seller.
His two-year totals in the ABA look like this. .305/.440/.644. He's hit 91 homers driven in 262 runs in 288 games. Led the league with 129 walks last year. He is on pace to hit 60 homers and drive in 168 runs. He is the clear leader in all three triple crown categories and is also making a run at some single-season records. His tool chest is packed. He does everything you could hope for in a lineup anchoring bat. Those 232 walks in 2 years are tempered against just 162 strikeouts. He puts the bat on the ball very consistently, has the exceptional raw speed to go with tremendous base steal and baserunning instincts. He can man all three OF positions with RF being his best position. Fans love him, his teammates love him and the ABA loves him for his outgoing and charismatic personality.

• 8/29: LV 13 FLA 6 Barranco hits for the cycle 2 RBI (.311-24-94)
• Loetzsch HR (51) Izazaga 4-4 2B 2 RBI
• Alamogordo loses 17-14 Morea 4-6 3B HR 3 R 2 RBI Fujimoto 4-6 2 2B 2 R 2 RBI Figueroa 3-6 Becerra 11 H 9 ER 3.1 IP
• Hobbs won 10-5 1B Jeremy Moorefield 2-5 2 HR 6 RBI (.310-12-56) Salinas 3-5 2B (.340-8-55)
• 8/30: LV 6 FLA 4 Gallegos 6 IP 2 ER W (15-7 3.33) Barranco HR (25) 3 RBI (97)
• Figueroa (Alamogordo) 4-4 HR 2 RBI (.345-20-78 and a 20 game hitting streak) Pat Strickland (Hobbs) 3-5 2 HR 4 RBI (.374-7-39)
• 8/31: FLA 7 DET 6 Foggie HR (5) 3 RBI
  
  SEPTEMBER CALL UPS AND AN ORGANIZATION REPORT ON THE MINOR LEAGUES
  
  Every September 1st this organization requires all scouts and all coaching personnel to submit their reports on their players. As the GM I take those reports and do a basic add/subtract sort of summation to see who our guys think has gotten better and vice versa. It helps me to let them 'police themselves' because if a player shows up at spring training throwing 88 and I've seen 3 years of reports of him hitting 95 someone's ass is chewed. Same thing about tools and intangibles.
  
  I use this stuff, and the coaches know it, to evaluate everyone. From scouts to trainers to anyone in between. I'll give you a topline summation for this year to get you introduced. Understand also that I take into account factors such as AAA players are generally more refined, developed OR on the downside as 'fillers' for our rosters. Whereas I expect EVERY player below AA to be showing improvement in one or more departments else that's a potential job in our organization being filled by a player that has 'peaked' far ahead of the ABA.
  
  (On a side note, as the GM I will give you my approach from a 30k foot level. I look at age groups for minor league players. 17-21 or 22 is my range from Rookie to Short Season. 20-22 is A ball, 20-24 for AA and 25-26 for AAA. Those age ranges represent my 'max' age for prospects. A 23 year old A ball pitcher is to me a touch old to be a prospect. Not to say they can't be, but a true prospect in my opinion would be 18 in rookie ball, in A ball by 20, AA by 23 and AAA by 24.
  
  Alamogordo finished 6th in HR, SB, 7th in Runs, AVG and Starters ERA, 9th in Def 11th in Runs against and Bullpen ERA and 12th in OBP. None of that real sparkling from a performance perspective.
  
  At AAA this year Pitching coach Kevin Sheffield ended up a -4 overall. Meaning his staff as a whole had 4 areas of regression more than they had progression. AAA is also a bit harder to evaluate for the reasons stated above. That being said -4 isn't a great score. Biggest drop came from Jamie Baldwin who has seen his control get worse and they think it's trending that way. No real positives in the group honestly. (Let me also say I entered this knowing almost ALL our AA/AAA talent is minor league free agents, there's a reason we were able to sign them). Given our scouts weren't high on Kevin coming in this year and his outspoken desire and approach being much more tailored to control/finesse arms he will be let go at seasons end.
  
  On the offensive side hitting coach Toshio Isobe (another guy our scouts weren't fond of coming in) ended up accumulating a -6. OF Kevin Curtis whom we acquired based on some great scouting reports got slower which impacted his defense and saw our scouts drop his potential from 1.5 to 1.0. That's on our scouts as much as anything, but that's not how we want to advance this thing. The + reports actually included 2 important notes. Our top two 25 year old sluggers, Luis Aguilar and Luis Figueroa saw improvements. Aguilar showed a much more advanced awareness of the strike zone and improved in that area and Figueroa showed marked improvement in hitting for power both now and we think moving forward. He, however, appeared to lose some of his strike zone discipline. I think I am going to look to bring someone new in here as well.
  
  Clovis finished 4th in Def, 5th in SP ERA, 7th in AVG, SB, 8th in OBP and Runs against, 9th in HR and 12th in Runs and Bullpen ERA
  
  At AA hitting coach Shumikichi Matsuymaya came in young, and we knew that. Every guy but one showed improvement in at least one area. Clearly my most important item here was #1 overall pick Joe Linn. Our guys all said his stuff got better and they all thought his ceiling stuff wise is higher today than the day we drafted him. Great signs. My fear though is control. His control got worse as the year went on even with his insane K/BB ratio and that is a concern. That's one of two things. His fatigue of being on the hill twice as long this year OR the side work and bullpens aren't being used right. Unsure of my decision here but given that I think and hope Joe has a chance to break with the Alamogordo club next year you can see more incentive for me to make the move up there. 24 year old Luis Gordillo showed some very good signs and overall our scouts moved his potential from 1 to 1.5. That's our main number in all this is where our entire team thinks a player is HEADED as opposed to where he's at. When it's unanimous that they think a players ceiling has risen that speaks to many things, coach included.
  
  Hitting coach Zach Palandro was a scramble last minute hire. That's on me. Clovis hit the ball well this year but the net report findings had his total 0. No one seemed to jump out as improved or not, and that's not good given AA is where pretty much every person in the game knows you truly evaluate a player for the 1st time as it relates to MLB potential.
  
  
  Farmington finsihed 6th in Bullpen ERA, 8th in AVG, SB, Runs Against and Def, 10th in Starters ERA, 12th in Runs 13th in OBP and 14th in HR
  
  Farmington actually was off to a great start this year. Above .500 for most of the 1st half.
  
  Pitching Coach Flobert van Gog came in with a less than stellar reputation. Having said that of the 20 some odd arms that went through Farmington only two guys were in the reports. 22 year old Thung Cu an 8th rounder by Milwaukee in 2004 and a guy we signed in April as a minor league FA popped up on the coaches radar as the year went by. His stuff got a tick better and just as important he started getting some more life on his ball. This was pretty much the floor from the standpoint of minor league fillers. Most every player I signed prior to the season for the minor leagues was in A ball or higher. Much of the 'talent' these guys coached were minor leaguers and AAAA players other teams cut, passed on or were ok trading away. That's to say as we move forward we will fill these rosters with more talent across the board and the expectations will grow on our coaching staffs.
  
  Hitting Coach Hirotake Nakagawa was an unknown coming in this year. If the reports hold true he did a great job. A +6 score with some very nice improvements shown by a couple players. The two most exciting things I read were on 3rd rounder Arturo Mendoza and 4th rounder Teagan Beairston. Arturo was our 1st two way player ever drafted and he had a good summer on the mound. Our pitching coaches think his control will be even better and our position guys believe in him enough that they agreed his potential rose from 2.0 to 3.0 as a 3B prospect. Teagan also saw a rise in his rating as our scouts moved him from a 1.5 to a 2.5 as a 2B.
  
  Hobbs and Rio Rancho are where most of our draft choices and complex players made their debuts. The clubs saw a report of +10 combined on the mound and +14 at the plate. The +14 at the plate was 100% made up of Hobbs players while Hobbs was a +4 on the mound to Rio Rancho's +6. 20-year-old Hiroshi Inouye and 18-year-old Roku Higuchi both saw +0.5 as SP improvements and 2B Ignacio Morfin saw improvements in both his ability to put the bat on the ball now and also a belief he'll be better at that than we originally thought. He also ran consistently faster than we had him coming out of the draft. 7th round pick David Weller took home the MVP for Hobbs this year and was the most improved prospect. Across the board, scouts thought he showed marked improvement with the bat and also a pretty excited group in reporting they think he'll hit for 'above average power' which is a HUGE jump forward from what we thought of his power on draft day.
  
  Our pacific rim guys have done an amazing job in conjunction with the lower minors coaching. 3 of our asian kids, Shi-ling Weng (19) Akira Take****a (18) and Satoyuki Ouchi (19) all jumped big time. Shi-ling saw an uptick in avg velocity as did Take****a while everyone ranked Ouchi's future as a 3 star, up from 2.5.
  
  There is 8-12 days left in the upper minors, Hobbs is the only club with a chance at making the playoffs. I am going to make some roster moves today, to be announced next, but also shuffle rosters and get some kids some innings and AB's a level up for those that had great years.
  
  
  Roster moves (#) is # of players on 38 man after the move mentioned ]C Jeff Burwell is called up. He hit .265-9-35 with a .384 OBP and he's an outstanding defensive catcher
  3B Luis Figueroa is added to the 38 man roster and called up after a phenomenal year (.346/.390/.580 with 21 HR 81 RBI) (37)
  Darrin Downs is waived and DFA (36)
  24-year-old Lupe Medina was injured on the 30th. Diagnosis pending but he's put on the 60 day DL to effectively shut him down for the remainder of the year and clear a spot. (35)
  25-year-old Brad Ziegler is waived and DFA (34)
  28 year old OF Chris Barber is waived and DFA (33)
  OF Geoff Gilmore is recalled (33)
  24 year old OF TJ Rand is added to the 38 man and recalled (34)
  23-year-old reliever Eddie Hein is added to the 38 man and recalled (35)
  SP Dave Dunham is recalled (35)
  
  AL POTM- Toshiyoshi Fujii (MEM) .364-11-29 (.297-33-95)
  NL POTM- Rob Anderson (POR) .325-14-30 (.316-39-104)
  AL PITCHER- Zach Greinke (AK) 5-0 1.99 45 IP 57 K 8 BB (16-6 3.52)
  NL PITCHER- Chris Edge (LA) 5-1 2.36 34.1 IP 50 K (18-6 3.22 219 K)
  AL ROOKIE- Joe Vertz (OH) .295-7-18 (.277-38-105)
  NL ROOKIE- Deshawn Snowton (POR) .257-11-24 (.29-33-85)
  
  Luis Figueroa won the IL AAA POTM going .408-10-30
  
  
• 9/1: DET 10 FLA 2 Naoaki Fuchigami 3-5 Grand Slam 2 R 4 RBI
• After the game Detroit announced SP Joel Joffrion (10-9 3.88) who came out the other day suffered a torn flexor tendon and will miss the next 9 months. Journeyman Phil Hughes has taken over his spot in the rotation and will pitch tomorrow against us.
• Teagan Beairston went 4-5 2B 3B 3 R in an 8-7 loss for Farmington and is hitting .305-2-7 in 21 games since his promotion.
• 9/2: FLA 7 DET 5 Chase 6 IP 4 H 2 K 2 BB 2 ER W (2-4 6.17) Luis Figueroa goes 1-3 and hits a HR as his first ABA hit. Van Gaalen SV (20)
• Russell Martin 3-3 HR 2 R 2 RBI (.249-23-53)
• Jonahtan Kunst and Hidetoshi Fujimoto combined to go 5-9 hit 4 HR's and drive in 9 in a 17-3 win for Alamogordo. Fujimoto will be recalled at the end of the Alamogordo season.
• Arturo Mendoza went 3-4 2 2B R RBI in his 1st start at AA Clovis in a 14-3 win. Joe Linn tossed 6.2 innings on 93 pitches giving up 5 hits 2 walks 7 k's and 2 ER for the win (9-4 4.37)
• 9/3: FLA 5 CHI 1 Nabbe 2-4 2 HR 3 RBI (.256-17-57) Lorenzana W (4-12 5.72) 6 IP 2 K 1 BB 8 H 1 ER Allen 3 IP 4 K SV (1)
• SS prospect Robbie Flowers twisted an ankle and is DtD but is going to head to the DL and end his season a little bit early.
• C prospect Adir Ferran went 3-4 with a HR and 4 RBI in his 1st AA start.
• 9/4: CHI 9 FLA 8 (11) Pen blows 8-4 lead in the 9th Dan Risdale (.313-22-80) walkoff HR in the 11th van Gaalen BS (7)
• Juan Gerra (LV) went 5-5 4 RBI in a 13-0 win over Detroit.
• Hidetoshi Fujimoto took home AAA POTW honors 15-33 3 HR 8 RBI (.312-12-44)

AL POTW- Domenic Loetzsch (LV) 14-27 6 HR 10 RBI (.344-56-151)
NL POTW- Dave Manzer (KC) 12-30 4 HR 9 RBI (.326-45-129)

This Week: 1 @ Chicago (72-71 4 GB/9 GB WC AL Central) 3 vs Phoenix (61-82 ELIM) OFF DAY 2 @ Minnesota (76-67 9 GB/5 GB WC AL East)

[gehrig38]

Subject: Week 23 Notes

Record: 41-108
Position: 5th 47 GB
Runs Scored: 586 13th
Runs Allowed: 964 14th
Defense: 682 12th
Power Ranking: 26th
Owner Mood: Worried
Fan Interest: 100

• 9/5: FLA 13 CHI 4 Nabbe 4-5 2B Nakamura Grand Slam Foggie 2-5 2 HR (7) Gilmore 2-5 2 HR (2) McDowell 2-4 2B HR 3 RBI
• 9/6: PHX 4 FLA 0 Alfredo Medina 8.1 IP 5 H 3 K 3 BB Chris Hunt 2-4 2 2B 4 RBI
• Nakamura 3-4
• Arturo Mendoza went 3-5 2B HR 4 RBI (since his call-up 10-18 HR 8 RBI)
• 9/7: FLA 6 PHX 3 Barranco 3-3 HR (.312-27-99) Gilmore 2-3 HR (3-8 3 HR since call-up) Chase 6 IP 7 H 2 K 2 BB 3 ER W (3-4 5.93)
• LA Storm is the 1st ABA team to clinch a playoff spot (91-55)
• 9/8: PHX 7 FLA 2 Steven Wright 7 IP 5 H 6 K 3 BB 2 ER (8-16 6.33)
• Lorenzana 6.1 IP 10 H 3 K 3 HR 6 ER (4-13 5.88)
• 9/9: OFF DAY
• Alamogordo is the only club with games still on the schedule. None of them made a postseason so year ends awards for each are coming up.
• 9/10: MIN 12 FLA 5 Record tying 108th loss. Korey Rick 2-3 2BB 2 3R HR 6 RBI (.283-49-127)
• Seong-chin Yoo, the best player in the Korean Baseball Organization's history hit his record 400th career home run yesterday. He sits atop the all-time leaderboard at 400, while the next closest (Tae-sang Che) ended his career at 279.
• 9/11: FLA 9 MIN 2 Can we win 13 straight? Nah, but not losing our 109th makes it a good day.
• Nakamura 4-4 HR RBI Wimer 3-5 HR 2 RBI Foggie PH 3R HR
• SS prospect Jeremy Crimi returned from his DL stint to take home AAA POTW honors going 11-21 2 HR 7 RBI.

AL POTW- Sergio Robles (OH) 8-19 4 HR 8 RBI (.253-35-79)
NL POTW- Chris Beard (SAN) 11-23 3 HR 8 RBI (.315-34-103)

POWER RANKINGS
1- Los Angeles 110
2- Denver 108
3- San Francisco 107
…..
26 Florida 50.5



Domenic Loetzsch has everything but the batting title wrapped up in his triple crown quest. We'll follow along during the final 2 weeks. Great race for the MVP and Koufax in the National league.




Brooklyn has seized control from perennial series contender Detroit. Memphis and Ohio appear to be taking to the wire and Denver and Vegas are grinding to the final days in the West. Detroit could actually miss out on a berth if Alaska can get hot. That would be a stunning turn of events.




Pittsburgh in the east, again. Texas and KC for the Central and LA already clinched a berth. Only debate seems to be in the Central and a possible fight between KC and Washington for the 2nd WC spot.

[gehrig38]

• Starting at AAA Alamogordo we have 3B Luis Figueroa who hit .346-21-81 with a .346/.390/.580 slash line. 25 years old signed in November of 2004 as a minor league free agent
• Chris Fitzgerald took home pitcher of the year going 2-2 1 SV 2.91 ERA over 43.1 IP. 42 K 19 BB 37 H. 27-year-old minor league free agent signed last November.
• AA Clovis player of the year 1B Luis Aguilar hit .372/.430/.740 with 23 HR 69 RBI in 53 games. 25-year-old minor league Free agent signed last November.
• AA Pitcher was 21 year old Joe Linn. 1st overall selection in the 2005 draft went 9-4 4.37 over 90.2 IP with 75 K 17 BB.
• At Farmington Closer Chris Orr went 6-7 with 25 Saves and a 3.84 ERA. 60 K 31 BB 62 H in 61 IP. 24-year-old minor league Free agent signed last November.
• Mike Evans took home AA MVP with his .293/.394/.549 slash line hitting 13 HR and driving in 48 in 76 games. 24-year-old acquired in December trade with Pittsburgh Miners.
• At Hobbs 2B Pat Strickland (.373/.504/.636 7 HR 40 RBI) and INF Teagan Beairston (.351/.469/.515 5 HR 31 RBI) tied for the team MVP. Beairston (21) was the 4th round draft pick this year and Strickland was a 21-year-old Minor league FA signed after the draft this June.
• 25-year-old Luis Anglada took home Pitcher of the year going 6-6 5.57 with 93 Ks in 82 IP
• 21 year old OF Braedon Pushak went .318/.448/.636 over 36 games with 10 HR and 41 RBI's. Signed as an undrafted minor league free agent in June.
  
  

With the 17th pick in the 1st round of the 1996 draft the San Diego Missions selected slugger Chris Hastings. A power hitting 1st basemen he made it through the minors rather quickly and was a 2001 ABA allstar as well as the 2001 NL Gold Glove winner at 1B. He rejected their qualifying offer after the 2003 season and a radically different free agent market awaited. Thinking he was heading into a massive payday, he instead ended up signing with the Chinatrust Brothers of the Nippon league. He bounced around the next 2 years and never settled in over there and came back after being released on September 1st of this year. We had some conversations with him. He's a major league 1st basemen, just 30 years old and some good years in front of him

[gehrig38]

Record: 45-111
Position: 5th 47 GB
Runs Scored: 621 13th
Runs Allowed: 996 14th
Defense: .683 11th
Power Ranking: 26th
Owner Mood: Worried
Fan Interest: 100

TARPONS, HASTINGS AGREE TO TWO YEAR DEAL
1B Chris Hastings has signed a 2 year deal with the Florida Tarpons and will join their team in Miami later today. In 728 games over 6 ABA seasons, he's hit .270/.339/.485 with 142 HR and 433 RBI. He's won a gold glove and been named an all-star. He was coming off a .280-31-97 year in 2003 before leaving for the NPBL for 2003, 2004 and was let go just 10 days ago.
“This is the ultimate low-risk high reward move,” GM Gehrig Schilling remarked at the press conference. A quality guy in and out of the clubhouse and a legitimate middle of the order bat Chris is also an above average 3B where we think he'll get some at-bats and we fully expect him to be part of the 2006 Tarpon club”.
The deal was for 2 years and 2 million total. Hastings has a solid resume in every way, and will provide a very good veteran presence and a legitimate middle of the order bat.

• 9/12: FLA 5 MIN 4 Wimer 3-4 Barranco 3 R HR (29)
• 9/13: FLA 10 MEM 8 Quiller 3-4 2B 3 R RBI Figueroa 3-4 HR 2 RBI Wimer 2-4 HR 2 RBI Hastings HR in 1st Tarpon At bat
• 9/14: MEM 6 FLA 3 Steve House 7 IP 8 H 1 K 0 BB 3 ER (8-2 4.31)
• Loss 109 sets a new ABA record for futility. Lorenzana 5 IP 8 H 5 K 4 ER L (4-14 5.93)
• Top 4 hitters in the Memphis lineup .250-38-84/.303-41-103/.272-41-109/.300-34-101
• 9/15: MEM 5 FLA 2 Eric Hecht 2-5 HR (42) 3 RBI (111) Mutschler 5 IP 10 K 4 H 2 ER (9-11 4.87)
• Dunham 6 IP 6 H 4 ER L (1-11 8.00)
• 9/16: FLA 10 OH 4 Nakamura 3-4 HR 4 RBI Barranco HR (30) 2 RBI (108) Foggie 2-4 2 HR (9) 2 RBI Martignoni 5.1 IP 6 H 9 K 4 ER W (4-5 4.90)
• Luis Santillan 2-3 BB 2 HR 4 RBI (.285-44-129)
• With less than 2 weeks left in the season the 66-88 Portland Lancers have fired manager Bryan Corey. Lancers have made just one postseason appearance in club wildcard1996 wildcard) and are headed for their 9th straight losing season. Bench coach Rodney Scott will manage the seasons final 8 games.
• 9/17: OH 2 FLA 1 Petit 7 IP 1 H 9 K 0 R Sergio Robles 3-4 HR (36) RBI (81)
• Baldwin 5 IP 6 H 6 K 1 ER L (3-16 7.57)
• Phoenixs' Alfredo Medina tossed a 1-hitter at Chicago today in a 5-0 win.
• OF Prospect Hidetoshi Fujimoto suffered a grade 2 concussion that will end his season.
• 9/18: FLA 4 OH 3 Figueroa 3R HR Chase 6.2 IP 7 H 2 K 3 BB 3 ER (5-4 5.47) van Gaalen SV (24)

AL POTW- Dan Harrison (MIL) 14-27 2 HR 7 RBI (.318-13-46)
NL POTW- Leith Mcnayr (SAN) 14-27 3 HR 10 RBI (.322-27-94)

POWER RANKINGS
1- Las Vegas 113
2- San Francisco 112
3- Brooklyn 110

25- Florida 52

Hey! Out of the cellar. The first week in what seems like forever LA wasn't on top.


This Week: 3 @ St Louis (53-103 30 GB AL Central) OFF DAY 3 vs New York (82-74 10 GB AL East 6 GB WC)

A chance to at least close a little ground on St Louis. New York is on the outside looking in being 6 out with 6 to play in the Wild Card.
End of the season

[Orcin]

Very odd that the owner waited until week 23 to start worrying. Of course, he shouldn’t be worried at all.

[gehrig38]

Seasons Final week and the AL West is tied (Denver and Las Vegas 90-66) as is the NL West (LA and San Fran 95-61). Those 4 teams are almost guaranteed (well LA and SF already clinched post season spots). Memphis up 1 on Ohio in the AL Central.

Here's what the Wild Card looks like.

• 9/19: STL 4 FLA 3 L Lorenzana 5 IP 6 H 4 ER L (4-15 5.98) Valle 6 IP 5 H 3 ER W (10the -14 4.77)
• Denver and Vegas both win, division still tied.
• Brooklyn clinches East,
• Memphis wins Ohio loses Memphis +2 central.
• Detroit loses Alaska wins to move 2 back of them in the WC.
• Pittsburgh and Washington both win, Texas and Kansas City both lose and
• LA wins, San Fran loses to fall a game back. Washington win + KC loss moves KC 2 back in WC.
• Domenic Loetzsch hit #60 and has 161 RBI's. He'll win those two going away. He's 12pts up on Huskie Mike Haupt in the batting race.
• Winton Alward got strikeout #300, RJ Stanton is at 293. Chris Edge and Nate Walker are both sitting on 19 wins.
• 9/20: FLA 6 STL 4 (10) 1 in the 9th and 2 in the 10th. Hastings PH HR Nabbe 3 RBI Dunham walks 7 K's 1 in 6 innings giving up 2.
• Texas clinches NL Central, Pittsburgh clinches a post season spot.
• Memphis loses today and Ohio wins, AL Central back to 1 game.
• LA and San Fran both lose so West still at a game
• Loetzsch .335 Haupt (MIN) and Guerra (LV) .324
• 9/21: FLA 6 STL 5 (11) Martignoni 6 IP 3 H 3 K 2 ER van Gaalen BS (9) W (3-5 5.81)
• Memphis loses Ohio wins, AL central tied with 3 to play
• Alaska loses meaning Vega clinches at least a birth.
• LA loses SF wins, NL West tied. Washington lost KC won, KC 2 behind for NL WC.
• Loetzsch .333 Haupt (MIN) .326 Guerra (LV) .323
• Winton Alward punches out 14 to end season at 314 and RJ Stanton gets 12 to end with 305. Alward went 8 14K's 2 ER and got the win to end the year 11-11 4.24. Stanton went 8 as well, punching out 12 and giving up 2 earned but the pen blew the save so he finishes at 16-6 3.13.
• 9/22: OFF DAY
• 9/23: NY 6 FLA 2 Talbot Pottle 3-4 2 HR 3 RBI (.235-31-64) Almaguer 7 IP 3 H 12 K 0 R W (13-3 3.26)
• Baldwin 3 IP 7 H 5 ER L (3-17 7.77)
• Mexico defeats Tiajuana 4 games to 1 to win the Mexican league World Series for the 2nd time ever.
• Memphis wins, Ohio loses AL Central +1 to Memphis
• Brooklyn, Detroit, Denver, Las Vegas all clinch berths, just no one knows who is where yet. Vegas won and Denver lost so AL West at +1 Denver
• Pittsburgh clinches NL East for their 9th division title and 14th consecutive post season appearance.
• Both LA and SF lose, stay tied but Washington wins to clinch the Wild Card behind whichever one of those teams finishes 2nd.
• Loetzsch .333 Haupt .326 Guerra .324
• 9/24: FLA 6 NY 4 Geoff Gilmore hits a PH walkoff Grand Slam. Chase 6.1 IP 2 K 8 H 3 ER van Gaalen W (4-5 5.71)
• Brooklyn clinches the east. Memphis Loses Ohio does as well Memphis +1 heading into final day
• Denver loses and Vegas wins so the West is tied heading into the final day
• LA wins SF loses LA +1 heading into final day.
• Loetzsch .334 Guerra .325 Haupt .324
• 9/25: NY 7 FLA 4 Pat Stevenson hit 4 HR's over the seasons final 2 days.
• Memphis clinches Vegas wins the west
  
• Quintin Cadenhead (LA) wins the NL batting title at .347.

AL POTM- Domenic Loetzsch .321-10-21 24 R (.333-62-164) Triple Crown winner
NL POTM- Rob Anderson (POR) .302-10-24 (.314-49-128)
AL PITCHER – Sergio Godina (MEM) 0-0 8 Saves 0.00 ERA 24 K's 13.1 IP (4-6 33 SV 2.70)
NL PITCHER- Mike Fankhauser (SD) 2-0 8 SV 0.00 18 K's 11.1 IP (3-5 42 SV 3.68)
AL ROOKIE – Sergio Robles (OH) .316-11-18 (.255-39-85)
NL ROOKIE – L:uis Romero (LA) .407-5-18 (.277-19-74)

[gehrig38]

• 2005 Post Season
• WILD CARD GAMES
• Detroit Ted Barlow (0-0 0.00) @ Denver Winton Alward (11-11 4.24)
• The Phantoms are starting 33 year old Ted Barlow, a 3 time all star. Ted has NOT thrown a pitch in the big leagues since tearing his UCL well over a year ago. Injuries and having to play to the seasons final day has created this matchup. Denver counters with ace Winton Alward.
• Washington Sean Cockley (14-8 3.70) @ San Francisco Andy Messana (11-11 4.90)
  
• Barlow lasts just 1.2 innings before he gets the hook but Detroit knocks Alward around for 5 on 9 hits in 5.2 innings including 3 homers. Chris Hatch comes into PR in the 7th for Loan Auffret but runs into a rally-killing double play. Denver ties it up in the bottom half. Hatch comes up to hit in Auffrets' place in the 9th and promptly delivers a 2R GW homer of Chris McAlhaney. And Detroit moves on.
  
• And in the other gem Washington managed to scratch a 9th inning run to tie the game and then Tony Stockwell hit a solo shot off Jeff Genier in the 13th to give Washington the play in win.
  
• DIVISION SERIES
• NATIONAL LEAGUE
• Los Angeles vs Washington – Washington wins 3-2
• Texas vs Pittsburgh – Texas wins 3-1
• AMERICAN LEAGUE
• Brooklyn vs Detroit – Detroit wins 3-0
• Memphis vs Las Vegas – Las Vegas wins 3-1
  
• LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
• NATIONAL LEAGUE
• Washington vs Texas – Washington wins 4-0
• AMERICAN LEAGUE
• Detroit vs Las Vegas – Las Vegas wins 4-1

WORLD SERIES
Washington vs Las Vegas
Vegas has made 9 playoff appearances and won 1 world series (1996)
Washington has made 6, actually, this year was their 6th year in a row and 3rd wild card. They've never won a series.

[gehrig38]

[gehrig38]

2005-6 Off-Season Begins

SK Wyverns beat the Hanwa Eagles 4-0 to take home their 4th Korean Championship

OWNERSHIP CHANGES AND PERSONNEL MOVES
We had a litany of coaches whose contracts expired. I have no issues with most as there were no true untouchables or keepers in our system based on results this year
Memphis Owner Kevin Koerner Jr sold the club to business tycoon Zachariah Oeltjen in a straight cash sale. The new ownership is said to be willing to spend.
The St Louis Surge ownership lasted just a single season. Luis Crespin bought the club today. He'll spend but rumor has it he's a meddler with control issues.
Crespin immediately announced the firing of GM Randy Smith and Manager Jorge Romero.
San Antonio fired GM Kevin Hooper.



OFF SEASON

10/22: Ownership group meets with the staff. Mr Medina has laid out the 2006 road map. He's expectating a team “close” to .500. I am unsure what that means, and also concerned that we may not be able to meet this one. He wants an attendance increase, which should go hand in hand with the first goal. He wants a “top 13 prospect”. Not sure why that number is out there, I don't like any goal to contain the number 13. He wants, as do I, a top 5 minor league system and more homegrown talent on the ABA roster. Those are all the 'short-term' goals for the next 1-2 years.
His final ask is the postseason. He believes, and I do as well, that we should be in playoff contention by/before 2009.
I was also advised our 2006 budget will rise to 25 million.
We've decided to let go of many of our minor league personnel. I did not like the patchwork makeup of coaches and staff. We'll begin hiring for all 5 teams.

10/23
BEARS, TARPONS AGREE TO SWAP
Jeremy Morrison was a league leader 2 years ago, saving 43 games for the World Champion Denver Saints. Left exposed the Tarpons selected him and he proceeded to have a very up and down season and just never appeared to settle in. That ended today as the 27-year-old righty was dealt to the San Francisco Bears in exchange for 25-year-old SS Josh Klatt. Klatt was a 7th round pick in 2002 out of Virginia and spent most of last year in AAA Boise where he hit .311/.390/.406. An exceptional defender who can also play a serviceable left field if needed.
Rumors out of Florida have 26-year-old Jeff Chase and the club in discussions on an extension. Sources say the deal could be for as long as 5-6 years.

• ABA HANDS OUT HARDWARE
• AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR- Joe Vertz (OH) .280-47-128
• NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR- Deshawn Snowton (POR) .257-35-87
• AL MOST VALUABLE PLAYER- Domenic Loetzsch (LV) .333-62-164
• NL MOST VALUABLE PLAYER- Juan Burruel (WAS) .325-38-112
• AL SANDY KOUFAX AWARD- RJ Stanton (CHI) 16-6 3.13 305 K's
• NL SANDY KOUFAX AWARD- Chris Edge (LA) 20-8 3.21 251 K's 182.1 IP
• AL MARIANO RIVERA AWARD- Roy Berg (DET) 3-5 39 Saves 1.57
• NL MARIANO RIVERA AWARD- Mike Kelly (SF) 9-2 43 Saves 1.97

10/27 AA Manager Rick Burleson PC Goose Gregson hired

10/29
TARPON, CHASE AGREE TO EXTENSION
The Florida Tarpons announced the signing of 26-year-old righthander Jeff Chase to a 4 year 2.25 million dollar extension. The conversations had been going on since his acquisition and talks came to a head as free agency began and GM Gehrig Schilling said “We are trying to get some stability on the mound. Jeff and this contract start that process and we feel we got a great deal on a good young arm that will get better over the next 4 years”.

Manager Shoraku Kokawa agreed to a 1-year deal and will take over our Farmington club.

10/30 Manager Pedro Moran agreed to a 2 year deal and will take his 1st managing job helping teach our prospects in Rio Rancho.

10/31 Leo Gomez has accepted our 2 year offer to become the hitting coach at Class A Farmington. (REALITY CHECK: I played with Leo in the Orioles system in 1989-90. Fantastic human and honestly a guy I expected to be a great big league player. Definitely a teacher too.)

11/2 Forner MLB outfielder Sixto Lezcano has agreed to a 1 year deal to manage our short season Hobbs franchise.
Pitching Coach Jamari Gueye ha2-yeared to a 2 year deal to become the pitching coach at Short-season Hobbs.


11/3 MANAGERS OF THE YEAR
As expected the two world series teams took home their respective Managers of the year awards.

Las Vegas manager Brendan Kelley took home his 2nd Manager of the Year. He won in 1996 when they won their 1st. He's managed the Las Vegas club since its inaugural season.

Jets Manager Joe Girardi took home his FOURTH consecutive manager of the year award. He's managed them since 1991. Their wild card this year broke a string of 3 consecutive division titles.

11/4 Pitching Coach Craig Bjornson has accepted a 1 year deal to be the pitching coach at rookie league Rio Rancho
Former MLB outfielder Thad Bosley has accepted a 1-year deal to be the hitting coach at AA Clovis
Former MLB infielder Tim Bogar has accepted a 1-year deal to manage the AAA Alamogordo club

11/9 54-year-old hitting coach Jim Lett has accepted a 2-year deal to coach our Rio Ranco prospects.

11/12 ARBITRATION HEARINGS
Geoff Wimer asked $317,440 team offered $240,000 TEAM WIN
Mike Allen asked $320,000 team offered $240,000 TEAM WIN
Utemaro Nishida asked $353,100 team offered $330,000 PLAYER WON

I declined everyone else's arbitration and I submitted a qualifying offer to Pat Stevenson both out of respect and in thinking there's no way he would accept. He did. We're on the hook for 2 million and I am actively shopping him.

11/14 FREE AGENTS FILE
Nothing earth-shattering here but there are some big names out there this year. Our only entries into serious free agent discussions will be with pitching. I am going full tilt into the Theo Epstein model. Draft hitters buy pitchers. Let someone else take the risk early on with the arms, then pay for them after they've developed. It's the highest risk you take on young talent (and yes we did exactly that with the 1st overall pick this year!)

[Orcin]

I am going to follow the develop hitters / buy pitchers strategy carefully. I usually end up going the other way and then have to buy my best pitchers anyway. Your way sounds better.

[gehrig38]

• 11/15 That didn't take long. In what would be a stunning turn of events the San Francisco Bears have made it known they're aggressively pursuing their hated in-state rivals ace in Los Angeles' Chris Edge. This would escalate an already intense rivalry to levels no other clubs in this league possess.
  
  
• International Free agents hit the market, Tarpons busy.
• Well I lied. 21 year old 6'4” 210 pd corner outfielder Makata Hayashi has entered the free agent market from Japan. A legit superstar in the making I have made a 4 year 7.6 million dollar offer after some back and forth. There was no chance I could pass this up since his age and the fact he is not a compensation free agent were too lucrative to pass up. A legit franchise cornerstone type player who was asking 2.27 when talks began.
• The other 4 offers I've made are in fact to pitching. Joquin Benoit a 28 year old reliever coming from a championship season in China (3 years 1.41)
• 26 year old free agent from the Dominican Republic Juan Madrid (2 year 2.2)
• 31 year old left-handed starter Jace Camp. 7-9 5.49 in San Francisco last year and 39-44 4.84 in 183 career games, 118 starts. A solid middle of the rotation guy if given the chance. He was a supplemental 1st rounder in 1995 by Alaska and has spent far too much time on the DL but the price and our trust in our staff to manage his workload made the 2 year 800K offer a no-brainer.
• A quick peek back to last years postseason and the name Ted Barlow will pop up. 108-116 3.96 lifetime, the 33-year-old 6'7” left-hander has some great numbers career-wise, outside the wins and losses. In 1913 IP his line looks like this. 1699 hits 1815 K's 743 BB with a career WAR of 39.6 and he's coming off a year in which he made just 9 quality starts in 23 games. Far below his career average of 50+%. This is a gamble, as if you remember he's coming off a 17 month layoff after TJ surgery (his 2nd) but the dollars make it a small gamble. Texas selected him 2nd overall in the 1993 ABA draft out of Clemson University. He wears #38 and hails from Tucson Arizona. The deal is for 1 year at 1.61 million
  
  
• 11/21 word out of the Barlow camp is that he's leaning towards accepting the offer.
• I am also making overtures to Nippon League Star Isoroku Yamanbe. His ask is an off the charts 9 million but I am going to see how serious that is considering he's never made more than 50K in his 9 seasons with the Nankai Hawks. The guy took 2nd in RotY voting, won their “Koufax” in 2002, along with the league MVP, and the MVP in 2003, Koufax in 2004 with 2nd place MVP finish, and won both again in 2005. A 3 time all star and 1-time league champion. He's a true opening day ace with a fantastic work ethic. Huge hurdles to even get this one started but again he is not a comp eligible free agent so we don't mess with our franchise philosophy of build through the draft. Reminder, we have the top overall selection again this year.
  
• 11/22 I started at 4x6 (which is a problem even to begin as a 6 year deal to a 30-year-old is not something I want to do) and he literally “LOL'd” me. I jumped to 5x6 immediately, player option on the 6th year, 100000 k IP bonus, 250K Koufax bonus and 100000 per all-star appearance.
• Apparently this was so offensive we have been told they'd no longer like to talk to us about a contract right now.....
  
  BEARS, EDGE AGREE TO TERMS
  The San Francisco Bears have fired the first 'shot across the bow' in the 2006 season today by announcing the signing of 2 time Koufax winner and 7 time all star Chris Edg33-year-oldear old 2005 Koufax winner is coming off a career high and league leading 20 win season (20-8 3.21). The deal is reportedly worth almost 30 million over 5 seasons.
  
  
• 11/25 Apparently the old adage “What is the worst she can say? No?” holds true for the game too. I've been in love with a young arm out of Canada on the international free agent market. The 17 year old has all kinds of potential. I've already taken myself out of next years pool by blowing past the cap. He was asking close to 3 million. He's been out there a good while too. I was able to talk, and talk, and offer and re-offer to the point he came back today agreeing on a 1m signing bonus. He'll head to our complex and begin his career.
  
  Denver resigned RP Zion Ndiaye to a 3 year 4.94 million dollar extension. The 33 year old took home the 2005 Goose Gossage award as the games best middle reliever/setup man as well as being an instrumental part of the Saints 2004 world series win. He's a 2 time all star.
  
  BEARS ADD ANOTHER STAR
  27 year old Mike Lloyd was someone we'd dabbled in early on this FA period. He's coming off a 15-6 3.82 season and many think he's an ace in waiting. Apparently, the Bears agree as they inked him to a 7 year 44.2 million dollar deal. Lloyd and recently signed Chris Edge will give the Bears the games best 1-2 punch in years.
  
  Pittsburgh signed 2 time world champion Brad Van Ness to a 3 year 7.9 million dollar extension.
  
  11/28 Detroit resigned Free Agent superstar Loan Affret to a 7 year 42.7 million dollar extension
  Word out of NY is that “26” year old CF and franchise Icon Juan Alverado has been caught up in a Visa scandal. Rumor has it that the outfielder is not 26 years old as has been reported but “much older' according to sources who wish not to be named. Fans and the team have reacted with public disdain and Alvarado is said to be deeply upset about both the incident and the fans negative reaction.
  
  11/30 In what feels like a mass exodus out of LA the San Antonio Broncos have announced the signing of superstar Wing-fung Huie to a 2 year 9.36 million dollar deal. There was talk as late as yesterday that the Storm was close to resigning the 36-year-old outfielder. He had spent his entire career in LA hitting .277/.413/.561 with 320 HRs and 915 RBI's in 1191 career games. The 1997 rookie of the year and LCS MVP, he went on to a 1998 Division Series MVP en route to LA's 1998 title. He did the exact same thing in 1999, a division series MVP prior to an LA title. In 2002 he would win yet another Division series MVP and the NL Silver Slugger in Leftfield. He's a 4 time all star as well.
  
  In a follow-up conference, the Broncos announced yet another huge signing as they inked former Roadrunner third basemen Ernie Taub to a 6 year 43.2 million dollar deal. He's a 2-time silver slugger award winner at 3B and a 3-time all-star. A career .291/.376/.520 hitter with 191 homers and 592 RBI's he also took home the 2002 NL Batting title (.342-35-101)
  
• 12/1 TARPONS SIGN VETERAN BARLOW
  
• 33-year-old Ted Barlow has agreed to a 1 year 1.61 million dollar deal with the Florida Tarpons it was announced today. Barlow is coming off almost 18 months of rehab in returning from his 2nd Tommy john surgery. A career 108-116 3.96 he lead the league in Losses in 1995 (22) Games started in 1995, 96, 98 , 2001 and 2003 (34) as well as innings in 1998 (247) and 2001 (212) also led the league in wins in 2001 (16) as well as HR/9 0.6. There was a very clear uptick in season ticket sales online in the hours following the announcement.
  
• I can't call this low risk high reward given his age and physical history. But he can provide enormous stabillity to a rotation should he make his 30-34 starts. It's a 1 year deal, so the 'risk” financially is within a 12 month window. And like most signings at this point his true value to us would be a healthy first half and a huge haul in prospects/picks at the deadline.
  
  Rumors are that Ohio is in the lead on star 2B Toshiyoshi Fujii (.296-35-104 for Memphis last year)
  
  Memphis announced the signing of Chris Kantor to a 4 year 10.8 million dollar deal. 93-64 4.19 lifetime the lefty was 8-12 5.68 for the Jets last year.