One of the fascinating, and pretty cool, things about following the Valley League pretty closely is stumbling on information about former players all over the place. Gary Kahn (Woodstock 07-08) is playing in South Africa this coming year, for example. Players just don't know where their skills might take them.
Take Wes Timmons (Winchester 00-01) as another example. Wes, a Bethune-Cookman product taken in the 12th round of the 2002 draft, has played in the Atlanta Braves' minor league system for the past eight seasons. He's played at every level of the minor league system, from rookie ball to Triple-A. He was first promoted to Triple-A in 2005, and has played mostly at that level since then.
In 2009, Wes was named the Gwinnett Braves' MVP, after a 283/416/366 season. He hit 20 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run, stole 12 bases, and had a sterling 62/36 BB/K ratio in 322 at-bats.
Congratulations on the honor, Wes- now we need you to get called up to play in Atlanta!
Some of ATVL's faithful readers might remember last spring, when Arizona State coach Pat Murphy toyed with the idea of moving Jason Kipnis (Covington 06-07) from the outfield to second base.
The experiment never gained momentum, for whatever reason. The thought has resurfaced, however, this time with the Cleveland Indians, Jason's new employers.
ATVL ran across this tidbit on a website called Indians Prospect Insider:
The Indians are full steam ahead with the move of Jason Kipnis to second base. They were very encouraged with what they saw out of him in Instructional League at second base and he will go into spring training as a second baseman and likely open the regular season as the everyday second baseman at High-A Kinston. In addition to what the Indians think, two scouts from other organizations commented that it is a great move as he was nothing special as an outfielder and just a regular guy, but as a second baseman his bat and ability there makes him a potential elite level prospect at the position.
ATVL likes this part: "As a second baseman his bat and ability there makes him a potential elite level prospect." Of course, those who watched him dominate in the Valley League are not surprised by such an assessment. If Jason plays at High-A Kinston, that means he'll play in Lynchburg against the Hillcats...
For the uninitiated, there is a whole system of teams and leagues out there that are not affiliated with a major league team- called "Independent" teams. Gerard Haran (New Market 06), for example, played for the independent Lancaster Barnstormers in '09. These players have the same overall goal as players in affiliated leagues- make the major leagues- but they have to be signed by an organization first.
After Baseball America runs through each affiliated minor league, from Rookie-level leagues to Triple-A, they include, almost as an afterthought, a list of the top 10 Independent League players. Of course, here at ATVL, any time a former Valley Leaguer is mentioned on any kind of positive list, it's anything but an afterthought.
Well, Joe Agreste (Winchester 06-08) took a huge step towards that first goal this year while playing for the Gateway Grizzlies in the Frontier League. Baseball America noticed, and JJ Cooper named him the #7 prospect in all of the Indy Leagues. here is his writeup:
Agreste was drafted by the Mariners in the 32nd round in 2008 on the heels of an outstanding junior year at West Virginia (.369/.426/.620). But he didn't sign and his senior year was a disaster (.264/.368/.437) that ensured he went undrafted this year. Signed by Gateway midway through the Frontier League season, Agreste quickly put his senioritis behind him, showing good hands and a plan at the plate.
He hit .303/.402/.537 for the Grizzlies in 175 at-bats while showing a good glove at first base and enough speed (6.7 in the 60-yard dash) and enough arm to be adequate as a corner outfielder.
"He was here early and here late. He had a good lefthanded swing and a good approach—a lot better then most kids you see his age," Gateway manager Phil Warren said.
Agreste uses the whole field well and doesn't sell out for power—his home runs came from line drives that carried and the ball makes a different sound coming off of his bat. His natural swing allowed him to make an easy transition to wood bats, but he does need to learn to pull the ball when pitchers try to bust him inside. At 6-foot-4, 195 pounds he also needs to add some weight and strength to unlock his full power potential.
Agreste had an excellent year for the Winchester Royals in 2008, even being named the #7 hitter in the league by ATVL. He hit 320/374/555 in 34 games and 128 at-bats, with 10 doubles, 6 home runs, and an 11/33 BB/K ratio. He was one of the hard-hitting triumvirate on the team, along with Mickey Wiswall and Tyler Townsend.
ATVL would not be surprised in the least if an organization takes a shot on him- stay tuned!
Former Staunton Brave (03) Gaby Sanchez showed up on Baseball America's top 20 prospect list for the Pacific Coast League- at #20. Sanchez hit 289/374/475 for New Orleans, with 11 doubles, 16 home runs, and a 41/44 BB/K ratio in 318 at-bats.
Here is Jim Shonerd's writeup (subscription only):
Injuries to both knees hampered Sanchez's season. A bone bruise on his left knee in spring training cost him the chance to open the year as Florida's starting first baseman, then he sprained his right knee on a play at home plate in May which knocked him out of New Orleans' lineup for five weeks.
When healthy, Sanchez bolstered his reputation as a mature, professional hitter. He has a compact swing, allowing him to hang in well against breaking pitches and drive the ball to all fields. He has some power, though it's modest for a first baseman. Plate discipline is also one of his strengths, but he could do a better job with pitch recognition.
Sanchez is an average defender at first base. He's a below-average runner, but his hands are serviceable and he has the arm strength to play third base in a pinch, though the hot corner won't be a long-term option for him.
There were rumors about the Red Sox being interested in Sanchez last year. Being coveted by one of the teams that value plate discipline can't be a bad thing!
Here on ATVL, we celebrate when players do great things, and when players are signed by major league clubs.
Unfortunately, sometimes it goes the other way, and a major league organization lets an alum go. That was a case a few weeks ago, when the Chicago Cubs released former Winchester Royal Ryan Sontag (07).
Drafted in the 23rd round of the 2008 draft, Ryan played for Boise in the Northwest League, and hit 218/318/282 in 39 games and 110 at-bats. He was assigned to Boise again in 2009, but this time as a pitcher. He went 2-1, 4.24, with a 1.92 WHIP, 7.6 BB/9, and 7.9 K/9 in 25 games.
Ryan had a dynamite year for the Royals in '07, and was even named the #3 hitter in the league by ATVL. He hit an excellent 361/430/546 in 30 games and 119 at-bats. He scored 19 runs, had 43 hits, 5 doubles, 1 triple, 5 home runs, 32 RBIs, a 12/26 BB/K ratio, and 6 stolen bases. He finished tied for fourth in the league in RBIs, 2nd in batting average, 7th in on-base percentage, and 3rd in slugging percentage.
Well, good luck in the next stage of life, Ryan!
Carlos Gutierrez (Luray 07) was the other former Valley Leaguer who was drafted in the first round of the 2008 draft (Yonder Alonso was the other). Drafted 27th overall by the Minnesota Twins, Carlos split time between Fort Myers in the Florida State League, and New Britain of the Eastern League.
He fared quite a bit better in the FSL than Double-A, and Baseball America named him the 11th best prospect in the league. Here is JJ Cooper's writeup:
There wasn't much to relish about facing the Twins' 2008 first-round pick. When Gutierrez was on, hitting his sinking fastball felt like making contact with a shot put.
At his best, Gutierrez sits at 92-94 mph and piles up groundout after groundout. While at Fort Myers, he had a 4.5 groundout/airout ratio and allowed only one homer and eight extra-base hits in 55 innings. Hitters made contact against him, but very few barreled the ball.
On other days, Gutierrez's sinker parks at 89-91 mph. His slider and changeup still need work, so some scouts believe he'll end up working out of the bullpen. That was his role at Miami, where he was a closer on a College World Series team.
Carlos went 2-3, 1.32 in the FSL, but fell to 1-3, 6.19 in Double-A. He showed up in John Manuel's Eastern League chat, even though he wasn't named to the top 20 prospect list for the league. Here's the exchange:
Jeff (Pittsburgh): Carlos Gutierrez got a fairly high ranking on the FSL top 20. He didn't fare nearly as well after the promotion to AA. Has his struggles ended the starting pitcher experiment?
John Manuel: I'll find out more on the Twins' plans for him in doing their Top 30, but I believe relief suits him better personally. No real harm in trying to start him, and they found out that at higher levels, he needs better fastball command and (or) a better secondary pitch to succeed. That said, he was fatigued in the second half; he basically doubled his workload from college, 50 IP at Miami, then he threw another 25 for the Twins, so going up to 106 this year was a pretty significant jump.
It's true; if a pitcher throws many more innings than the year before, or ever, fatigue can follow, which can make the numbers look worse. ATVL will be watching to see where Gutierrez is assigned; hopefully, he can turn those Double-A numbers around!
