First, a weekly reminder to join in on voting for the OTM Top Prospects list here.
Arizona Fall League
Luis Exposito: 3-7, 2B, BB, 2 K -- .314/.364/.431
-A solid showing for Luis Exposito, if not quite as good as he did in Portland. Expo kept his strikeouts down and earned as many walks as he did in AA in about half as many ABs. Not a big step forward, but also not a step back.
Jose Iglesias: 1-8, 3 K -- .275/.324/.420, 3/3 SB
-Iglesias ends on a down note, but once again the story is that he wasn't completely overwhelmed in the small sample size (73 plate appearances) against higher-level minor league competition. This showing may have cleared the way for Iglesias to start in AA next year, which would be nice if only to keep him with buddy/interpreter Exposito. Also of note is the 2 home runs, which hopefully indicate some unpredicted power potential.
Ryan Kalish: 3-11, 2B, BB, 4 K -- .301/.384/.384, 6/7 SB
-While Kalish didn't exactly carry his hot streak from late in the year over to the AFL, he put on another good OBP performance. The power was a bit lacking, but this is coming on the tail end of a year in which he hit 18 home runs during the regular season—far more than he ever had before. Kalish also put on a good show on the basepaths, as he has done in years past (for instance, stealing 12 bases in 13 attempts in the 2008 winter leagues while getting under 100 plate appearances).
Casey Kelly: 0-12, 6 K -- .171/.261/.244, 1/1 SB
-Kelly keeps moving towards full time pitching. While the level of competition was predictably way over his head, he struck out in nearly half of his at bats, which is a bit too much no matter how advanced the opposition. This performance may have cleared the way to full-time pitching in 2010.
Randor Bierd: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K – 6.04 ERA, 17:12 K:BB, 1.47 WHIP
-An uninspiring performance by an uninspiring pitcher.
Richie Lentz: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 HR, 1 BB, 3 K – 4.11 ERA, 16:3 K:BB, 1.04 WHIP
-Lentz ended the year very poorly, giving up 6 ER over his last 2 appearances to squander a great start to the AFL. But the huge improvement in K:BB shouldn't be overlooked, and if nothing else maybe this will help him be ignored in the Rule 5 Draft.
Chris Province: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K – 3.46 ERA, 9:5 K:BB, 1.08 WHIP
-Not too bad for Province, if not as good as his year in Portland. Would have liked to have seen some K:BB improvement.
Dustin Richardson: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K – 5.40 ERA, 18:10 K:BB, 1.97 WHIP
-Certainly not as good as his regular season performance, which brought Richardson back into the picture as a prospect. Should still get a shot for a bullpen spot during spring training, though.
Columbian Winter League
Reynaldo Rodriguez: .255/.360/.394
-The CWL does not have the best record keepers in the world, let it be known.
Dominican Winter League
Neither Navarro nor Wagner have played in a long while. I'm guessing their years are over.
Jose Capellan: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 HR, 9 BB, 4 K – 3.86 ERA, 8:19 K:BB, 1.67 WHIP
-Well, if ever there's been an example of unsustainable results, it's Capellan. Even if he has a 3.86 ERA, this has been an awful winter league for him. 8 strikeouts to 19 walks? Awful!
Mexican Winter League
Robert Coello: 2.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K – 2.70 ERA, 30:16 K:BB, 1.35 WHIP
-This is Coello's first real chance against competition that's close to being age appropriate since he became a pitcher, and he's actually done a pretty good job of it. This last outing sort of sucked, but still, something to be said for the righty getting his first shot at starting (he's gone 5 or more innings 4 times so far).
Puerto Rican Winter League
Reymond Fuentes: 1-5, 2 K -- .200/.200/.200
-I can't imagine this is going to be a good stint for Fuentes. He played in the GCL last year and is playing in the same league as Jimenez and Bates. I don't exactly know what level this league is supposed to be at, but it's certainly over his head.
Jorge Jimenez: 2-3, 2B, BB -- .400/.538/.800
Ken Roque: 2-6 -- .333/.333/.33
-Roque very quietly put up a .317/.400/.520 line in his 3rd year in the GCL, finally breaking through into the A-levels where he put up 32 nice ABs in Lowell without looking too overwhelmed. Roque falls into that "sleeper middle infielder" crowd with guys like Derrik Gibson.
Andrew Dobies: 2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K – 13.50 ERA, 2:0 K:BB, 3.00 WHIP
-After missing 2008 due to injuries, Dobies put up a fair 2009 in Portland. This, so far, has not been an extension of that...
Sydney Winter League
Boss Moanaroa: 0-3, BB, K -- .393/.485/.571
Moko Moanaroa: 2-4 -- .308/.419/.385
Venezuelan Winter League
Yeiper Castillo: .2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K – 5.14 ERA, 5:6 K:BB, 2.00 WHIP
Leandro Marin: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K – 2.25 ERA, 4:1 K:BB, 1.25 WHIP
40-Man Roster Finalized, Rule 5 Draft
MLB teams had to finalize their 40-man rosters on Friday, leaving some tough decisions for teams as to which minor leaguers to protect. For the Red Sox, Jose Iglesias, Michael Bowden, Junichi Tazawa, Dustin Richardson, Mark Wagner, Aaron Bates, and Dusty Brown comprise the Minor League contingent. The most notable unprotected players available in the upcoming draft are Kris Johnson and Richie Lentz.