A semblance of a minor league tracking thread

[PhilipNelsonFan]

Tacoma Rainiers (AAA) roster

Names to watch out for: Ryan Feierabend, Tomo Ohka (the f**k is he doing in Tacoma?), Jeff Clement, Bryan LaHair, Wlad (the Impaler) Balentien, Adam Jones, Jeremy Reed (for the love of God, get him off this team), and Mike Morse (steroid user).

West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx (AA) roster (the f**k kinda name is "Diamond Jaxx"???)

Names to watch out for: Rene Rivera if you want a good laugh. Outside of him, I don't recognize a single name.

High Desert Mavericks (high-A) roster

Names to watch out for: Austin Bibens-Dirkx, Chris Tillman, Carlos Triunfel.

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (A) roster (finally, a cool name)

Names to watch out for: Tony Butler, Nolan Gallagher.

Everett AquaSox (low-A) roster

Names to watch out for: Gregory Halman, Joe Dunigan.

Arizona Rookie League Mariners roster

Names to watch out for: Matt Mangini, with an extended "f**k you" to Johnny DuRocher.

Uh...outside of that, do with this what you will.

[BlackMamba]

my thought too: tomo ohka

[Basketball Jesus]

Yeah, it's High Desert but Adam Moore has been slugging the hell out of the ball.

[Ex-hippie]

West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx (AA) roster (the f**k kinda name is "Diamond Jaxx"???)

Names to watch out for: Rene Rivera if you want a good laugh. Outside of him, I don't recognize a single name.

I'm familiar with a few of these guys, but not too many of them. Overall there probably isn't a single future impact Major Leaguer on this roster, but a couple of guys who could see the Show in a year or two.

Justin Thomas is probably the most highly regarded prospect here, though you wouldn't know it from this year's stats. He's still on the Future Forty on ussmariner.com, for whatever that's worth, and could be in the back of the rotation someday.

Douglas Fister is an intriguing physical specimen who could also be a rotation pitcher.

I think Michael Wilson's name has also shown up on some prospect lists.

Travis Chick was acquired for Eddie Guardado last year and was called up to the Majors in September.

Andrew Baldwin was one of the two guys acquired in the Moyer trade.

Matt Tuiasosopo (son of Manu and brother of Marques) is a former first-round pick who is still considered by some to be a decent prospect.

But other than that, it looks like a pretty anonymous group. I'm also struck by the age of the players on this team; I have to figure that anyone who's at least 25 and hasn't risen above AA yet is pretty much a non-prospect, and there are many such players on the roster.

EDIT: everybody click on Rene Rivera's stats for the year at AA. That's pretty brutal. How was this guy ever a Major Leaguer??

ANOTHER EDIT: I just noticed that they also have Prentice Redman, who had a cup of coffee with the Mets in 2003. Now approaching his 28th birthday and putting up an OPS of 784 at West Tenn, I'm not holding my breath for his triumphant return to the Bigs.

[PhilipNelsonFan]

I thought I read somewhere that Tuiasosopo was a marginal prospect at best, so I left his name off there. If he can turn into something, cool, but I won't hold my breath.

Rene Rivera was so laughably bad as a Major Leaguer he made Yorvit Torrealba look like an All-Star. (Incidentally, while I have no complaints about Jamie Burke, I wouldn't mind Torrealba as a backup catcher.)

I looked at USSMariner's future forty and...it's a little depressing. There are like three LHPs on the whole list, and there are guys like Jeremy Reed and Mike Morse who shouldn't be on a prospect list.

[sunshinekids99]

Just wondering if you guys heard of Lahair maybe being called up for Sept? I know he's having a down year, but he has talent.

[Basketball Jesus]

I don

[Ex-hippie]

Lahair went on a tear last year for about two months, but doesn't have much else in his track record indicating that he'll do much in the Majors. When he was at his peak in '06, I remember reading somewhere that he could be a late bloomer and that rare M's prospect who actually does better at the Major League level than projected, in the mold of Lyle Overbay. But since he hasn't maintained that level of production, I can't see how anyone would be that bullish on him anymore.

[PhilipNelsonFan]

Today the Mariners signed Philippe Aumont, the Canadian high-schooler who we drafted with the 11th overall pick instead of guys like Rick Porcello, Michael Main, et. al. As a liberal projection, I'll say he's in the majors by 2013.

I'd also like to be on the record as stating that Lyle Overbay is a pretty good player and I'd be happy with him, but we obviously have no need for him.

[Basketball Jesus]

Greg Halman's having quite the season, hitting .300/.368/.570 with 17 doubles and 13 HRs in 207 AB. The strikeouts are a bit disconcerting (71), but his IsoP is .270.

Scary to think he's only 20.

[PhilipNelsonFan]

Greg Halman's having quite the season, hitting .300/.368/.570 with 17 doubles and 13 HRs in 207 AB. The strikeouts are a bit disconcerting (71), but his IsoP is .270.

Scary to think he's only 20.

Halman looks real promising. He's an athletic guy who can really cover ground in the outfield. The best part about him, though, is he's straight outta Haarlem. (The original one, that is.)

[PhilipNelsonFan]

I'll have a three-game series with Everett that I get to watch so I'll be sure to do some reporting for this thread on the AquaSox prospects.

[Bulltalk]

Today the Mariners signed Philippe Aumont, the Canadian high-schooler who we drafted with the 11th overall pick instead of guys like Rick Porcello, Michael Main, et. al. As a liberal projection, I'll say he's in the majors by 2013.

I'd also like to be on the record as stating that Lyle Overbay is a pretty good player and I'd be happy with him, but we obviously have no need for him.

Please don't be Ryan Anderson.

[PhilipNelsonFan]

This just in: Everett's prospects aren't very good. Halman and Dunigan are the two best prospects on the team. There are a couple of pitchers that may have a chance (especially Aaron Brown) but I wouldn't bet on it.

[PhilipNelsonFan]

So, not that anyone really cares, but the AZL Mariners won the championship game against the AZL Giants. Some guy named Jake Wild dominated a team with a lot of offense.

He'll either blow his arm out in 2009 or amount to absolutely nothing.

[Ex-hippie]

So, not that anyone really cares, but the AZL Mariners won the championship game against the AZL Giants. Some guy named Jake Wild dominated a team with a lot of offense.

He'll either blow his arm out in 2009 or amount to absolutely nothing.

"Jake Wild." Wow. Cue the Rick Vaughn music from Major League....

I can't think of a worse name for a pitcher. Perhaps Homer Bailey, or Bob Walk.

[Basketball Jesus]

Two updates:

1. I stickied this as it will make for easier locating

2. Kevin Goldstein over at Baseball Prospectus released his Top 11 Mariners prospects (subscription needed):

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/artic ... cleid=6991

Five-Star Prospects
1. Jeff Clement, C

Four-Star Prospects
2. Chris Tillman, RHP
3. Carlos Triunfel, SS

Three-Star Prospects
4. Wladimir Balentien, OF
5. Juan Ramirez, RHP
6. Phillipe Aumont, RHP
7. Michael Saunders, OF

Two-Star Prospects
8. Tony Butler, LHP
9. Robert Rohrbaugh, LHP
10. Greg Halman, OF
11. Danny Carroll, OF

Just Missing: Matt Mangini, 3B; Edward Paredes, LHP; Matt Tuiasosopo, 3B

I let my BP subscription lapse, so I don't know his justifications for some of these but his slotting of Balentien does lend some credence to my belief that he's a marginal prospect. The Ramirez selection startled me because the real-life M's don't seem to be too enamored with him; we barely hear anything about him.

[Ex-hippie]

I'd be curious to know how BP assigns "stars." Only 11 players in the organization merit as many as two stars out of five? In the world of movie ratings, two stars out of five basically means "avoid." Three stars would mean "you might like it as long as you're easily amused and not very sophisticated." I can't imagine this is what they're saying about the M's prospects. Do you know what the ratings were in some other organizations?

Also, it's hard to sort out prospects with a single rating system like that. There are some prospects who are close to the majors (Clement) and others who are far away but with big upside (Triunfel). How do you compare one to the other with a simple 1-5 rating?

[Basketball Jesus]

Judging by his other reviews, a five-star prospect seems to equate to a potential All-Star caliber prospect that

[Ex-hippie]

Know what I just did, Jesus? I went and shelled out five bucks for a one-month BP subscription. That's the second time I've done that.

If you're a mod, tell me how much premium content I can post here. I assume I can at least put up this quote about Wily Mo Balentien: "He has a patient approach and waits for his pitch to hit, while also being comfortable in taking a walk if it doesn