Your Mariners are Rookie-level Arizona League champions!

OK, so don’t go crazy, but the Mariners beat the Giants 8-5 yesterday to win the league thanks in part to a four-run first inning outburst. That was more than enough for righthander Jacob Wild, who struck out 14 in eight innings for the victory.

It’s a great way for Wild to end his strong pro season. A former Bakersfield (Calif.) JC product (and 17th round pick of the White Sox in 2004), Wild is coming off two rough years at Pacific, when he went 3-13, 5.88. The 23-year-old righthander is 6-foot-5, 190 pounds and had a great year (as he should at his age) in the AZL, going 3-1, 1.88 with 62 strikeouts in 48 innings.

Mario Martinez–who signed for $600,000 last year–finished strong in the AZL this year and went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI to lead the team’s 11-hit attack.

The Mariners had won the first half of the AZL season and owned the AZL’s top record at 37-19, while the Giants won the second half.

We have our first champion of 2007 thanks to Jacob Wild’s dominating 14-strikeout performance for the Arizona League Mariners. The GCL Dodgers ensured that the Gulf Coast League title won’t be decided until today, and Nick Adenhart got a little testy.

Triple-A

After hitting seven home runs in the first four months of the season, Jason Pridie hit his seventh home run this month to beat Richmond and help take Durham a step closer to a playoff spot. The Bulls now lead Richmond for the Southern Division crown by two games with four games to go. [...] Continue Reading »

The Brewers’ top three prospects entering the year were Yovani Gallardo–check–Ryan Braun–check–and Will Inman, since traded to the Padres. No. 4 was Jeremy Jeffress, the flamethrowing prep righthander whom the Brewers drafted in the first round in 2006.

Now Jeffress, who was finishing his first full season at low Class A West Virginia, has been suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball after testing positive for a drug of abuse in violation of the minor league drug prevention and treatment program. Jeffress was 9-5, 3.13, and had struck out 95 in 86 innings for the Power. West Virginia is headed for the South Atlantic League playoffs, and Jeffress was slated to be the team’s No. 2 starter.

“It’s a very unfortunate thing,’” Power pitching coach John Curtis told the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette. “We’re very concerned about him. Whatever the suspension is for, hopefully it’s getting better and he can come back and be a better human being and a better pitcher.”

Jeffress is the second high-profile pitching prospect suspended this year for a drug of abuse, following Twins righthander Anthony Swarzak.

Rangers infielder Matt West, the club’s second-round pick in June, was suspended for 50 games for failing a performance-enhancing drugs test, the commissioner’s office announced today.

Selected from Bellaire (Texas) High with the 80th overall selection, West hit .301/.397/.388 in 103 at-bats for the Rangers’ Rookie-level AZL affiliate. Most of his starts came at second base, but West, 18, also had seen time at third base and shortstop.

Brandon Waring is going to hate to see the season end as it will halt an impressive home run binge. Jeff Samardzija is still glad to be out of the Florida State League and the Gulf Coast League Yankees are one win away from winning their league title.

Triple-A

Luke Hochevar put together one of his best starts since being promoted to Triple-A, little did he know that his Omaha Royals still have seven innings to play when he left the game after eight innings. Omaha’s Mike Aviles‘ hit his 16th home run in the 15th inning to break the deadlock.

[...] Continue Reading »

Peter Abraham’s fine LoHud Yankees Blog reports (as I’m sure others do) that Ian Kennedy will join Joba Chamberlain on the Yankees pitching staff. He’ll start Saturday, taking Mike Mussina’s place in the rotation as yet another sign that Southern California is the real pitching factory in the Pac-10, not Stanford.

That will make Kennedy the sixth pitcher from last year’s draft to reach the majors in 2007, joining Chamberlain, Brandon Morrow, Andrew Miller, Tim Lincecum and Joe Smith. So that’s three Pac-10 pitchers from last year (Morrow went to Cal, Lincecum to Washington) already in the major leagues—damn. He’ll also join former La Quinta High teammate Ian Stewart (Rockies) in the big leagues; Stewart of course signed out of high school in 2003, when he was drafted ninth overall, while Kennedy went 21st overall last year after a disappointing junior season for the Trojans. [...] Continue Reading »

This week’s installment considers all transactions reported between Aug. 18-27. Last week’s transactions available here. Or visit the transactions archive for the full array.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Released: OF Joel Melendez
Traded: 1B Chris Carter to Red Sox in three-way deal in which Nationals acquired OF Wily Mo Pena and Diamondbacks acquired RHP Emiliano Fruto
Recalled: RHP Yusmeiro Petit
Optioned to Triple-A: RHP Emiliano Fruto, RHP Jailen Peguero
Reinstated from disabled list: RHP Chad Harville
Reinstated from inactive list: OF Joel Melendez
Option transferred: OF Carlos Gonzalez (Double-A Mobile to Triple-A Tucson)

Gonzalez, 21, hit .286/.330/.476 for Mobile with 16 homers and 33 doubles before his promotion. Scouts like Fruto’s arm strength, but the 23-year-old, went just 3-9, 5.26 with 68-59 K-BB for Triple-A Columbus in the Nats’ system. [...] Continue Reading »

One of the key planks in Royals general manager Dayton Moore’s plan to rebuild the hapless franchise is rebuilding the team’s pitching depth. While top prospects like Luke Hochevar and Tyler Lumsden have struggled, the Royals are getting outstanding seasons from a couple of lesser known lower-level prospects. On Tuesday Daniel Cortes and Matt Mitchell dominated once again.

Triple-A

In his second start since being promoted to Triple-A, Louisville lefthander Matt Maloney struck out 10 batters in five innings to pick up his first Triple-A win. He did give up four runs thanks in part to three walks. Maloney’s season got a kick start from his trade to the Reds from the Phillies in the Kyle Lohse deal. After striking out 8.2 batters per nine innings before the trade, he’s fanning 13.1 batters per nine since. [...] Continue Reading »

Andrew Carpenter moved into a tie for the minor league lead in wins with a seven-inning perfect game; Craig Brazell hit his 39th home run to extend his minor league lead in home runs and Cole Rohrbough keeps on dominating.

Triple-A

Hayden Penn held Durham to one run in six innings in Norfolk’s 2-1 win. Durham won the second game to ensure a split.

[...] Continue Reading »

The playoff field is narrowing and rosters are set to expand in about a week. September baseball is nearly here, and rookies have had three-quarters of the season to make their mark.

The last time we looked at impact rookies was in early July and, while the composition of the list remains static, the order sure hasn’t.

But first, a correction: Rockies closer Manny Corpas is technically not a rookie, because he spent more than 45 days on Colorado’s 25-man roster in 2006. He was erroneously listed as a reliever on the midseason rookie team. When in doubt, do yourself a favor and check ESPN’s sortable rookie stats.

Click the player names below to get up-to-date stats, but keep in mind the listed stats are through games of Aug. 23 to provide a snapshot. [...] Continue Reading »

Syracuse had a Sunday to forget, but the day belonged to aces around the minors.

Triple-A

Let’s start with the Embarrassing Line of the Day, which goes to the Syracuse Chiefs. They committed 10 errors in a 12-10 loss to Ottawa. John Hattig was charged with three of the errors, Chad Mottola had four errors and Wayne Lydon, Adam Lind and David Corrente each committed one. It’s the most errors in an International League game since 1954. Syracuse’s generosity meant Ottawa won despite J.A. Happ’s terrible night. The Phillies prospect gave up nine runs in 5 1/3 innings. [...] Continue Reading »

Three pitching prospects were called to the big leagues Friday, and two of them will start for their teams on Saturday.

The silver lining for Orioles fans after Wednesday’s shellacking by the Rangers—when Baltimore surrendered 30 runs in the first game of a doubleheader, and nine more in the second—is that it hastened the big league debut of righthander Radhames Liz. [...] Continue Reading »

Indians outfielder Juan Valdes was suspended for 50 games Friday for failing a performance-enhancing drugs test, the commissioner’s office announced.

A fifth-round pick in 2003 from Fernando Callejo High in Manati, P.R., Valdes was hitting .319/.415/.479 in 119 at-bats for short-season Mahoning Valley. The switch-hitter has made it as high as low Class A Lake County, where he spent part or all of the 2004-06 seasons.

Laynce Nix keeps on hitting home runs; Geovany Soto’s hitting for power while leading the minors in hitting and Jeff Karstens is getting the chance to see the country on the Yankees’ dime.

Triple-A

It’s been a disappointing season for Adam Lind. His first significant stint in the majors didn’t go as planned (.230/.274/.383) and it’s filtered over into his performance with Syracuse. But Lind did have a great night on Thursday going 3-for-4 with a home run.

[...] Continue Reading »

This week’s installment considers all transactions reported between August 14-17. Last week’s transactions available here. Or visit the transactions archive.

The signing deadline came and went, and all draft picks are presented alphabetically by position here. To see each team’s draft in chronological order, be sure to check out our Draft Database.

John Manuel recapped and analyzed the last-minute deals, and be sure to check out our Draft page.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Draft picks signed: RHP Jarrod Parker (1)
Recalled: RHP Dustin Nippert, RHP Jailen Peguero, OF Jeff Salazar
Reinstated from disabled list: RHP Cody Evans
Option transferred: LHP Dana Eveland (high Class A Visalia to Triple-A Tucson)
Rehabilitation assignment: OF Carlos Quentin (Triple-A Tucson)

Seasons don’t get much more lost than Quentin’s. He opened the year on the DL because of a small tear in the labrum of his left shoulder, and didn’t hit upon his return—just .208/.297/.343 for Arizona. The 24-year-old Quentin then hit the DL again in early August when he strained his right hamstring. On the bright side, he’s batted .378/.463/.610 in 82 rehab at-bats with Tucson. [...] Continue Reading »

Laynce Nix hit his seventh home run in eight days and pitchers all around the minors were reaching double digits in strikeouts.

Triple-A

Paul Janish’s glove has never been a question, but his bat had been a constant source of worry. He seemed to reinforce those fears with a .174 average in July in his first month in Triple-A. But Janish is hitting .291/.321/.519 this month and he hit his second home run in two days on Wednesday. [...] Continue Reading »

Phillies righthander Carlos Carrasco tossed his second no-hitter in two years on Tuesday, though the 20-year-old Venezuelan got an assist from Mother Nature at Double-A Reading’s FirstEnergy Stadium. [...] Continue Reading »

John Raynor’s MVP caliber season could be ending a little bit early. The Greensboro outfielder left last night’s game with an injury to his right ring finger after diving back into first base on a pickoff attempt in the first inning.

Manager Edwin Rodriguez said in a press release that under best case scenario he could miss a couple of days, but he may be out for the season.

Raynor is hitting .333/.429/.519 in 445 at-bats and has 54 stolen bases. He is first in the South Atlantic League in steals and sixth in the minors. He also leads the league in runs scored with 110. His average hasn’t dipped below .300 since June 23.

Craig Brazell took a further step toward winning the minor league home run race and Kevin Slowey stayed in the thick of the minor league ERA race on Tuesday night.

Triple-A

If he looked into the visitor’s dugout, Craig Brazell could see Val Pascucci gaining on him. Pascucci hit his 33rd home run, bringing him within three of Brazell for the minor league home run lead. It was Pascucci’s fourth home run in the past four days and it helped Albuquerque beat Brazell and Omaha in the opener of a doubleheader. But Brazell responded with his 37th home run in the nightcap, although Albuquerque finished off the sweep.

[...] Continue Reading »

A little over a week ago, Dayton manager Donnie Scott and hitting coach Darren Bragg told their team that everyone was going to choke up on the bat. Tired of seeing inopportune strikeouts and looking for a way to speed up bats that were dragging in the August heat, the coaches thought choking up could help fix some bad habits.

Drew Stubbs and Juan Francisco can be thankful for the switch. [...] Continue Reading »