Maple continued tweeking their lineup in the month of May. From the ABL active roster; Incoming = Danny Burris, Billy Bishop & Jessie Clark and Outgoing = Rich Bussell & Jacques Carpentier. Maple was set on improving their middle infield which has been piece work for over five seasons. Bussell didn't stay long in Maple but, management was just not convinced after our slow start that we were a legitimate contenders in the ABL let alone the TML.
Maple went from 1st to last in the Billy Martin Division over the past month and currently sits 8 games back of San Francisco.
Maple is closely monitoring the progress of a couple of rookies this year: John "TOAD" Jones MR has been lights out; 3-1 Record - 19G, 18.2IP, 10HA, 6ER, 1HR, 13BB, 28K & 1.23WHIP; George Evans OF/DH had been hot until the past couple of weeks; 36G, 151AB, 12R, 40H, 10DBL, 2TRI, 6HR, 19RBI, 6BB, 35K, .265avg, .291obpct, & .477 slugging pct. The past couple of weeks Evans has struggled at a 7 for 43 clip! Maple management remains steady forward with these two youngsters.
Down on the "Farm"; we are very excited about our Triple AAA OF which features potential ABL players and maybe stars! - Brad Thomas (R5 pick in 2015), Floyd Lowery (Acquired earlier this year from Mile High), Martin Petersen (Acquired earlier this year from Nottinghamshire), Tee Wilson (R1 pick in 2014) & Antonio Alvarez (R2 pick in 2014). Joshua Goldberg the son of the owner also received a call-up to the big club in Maple to fill in the rotation while Nicolas Rodrigues spends some time on the DL. In Double AA Tad Williams appears ready to jump to Triple AAA soon. We would like to see some improvement in his 2B defense though. It may be while because after the Jessie Clark trade; Eric Rice 2B was demoted from Maple to AAA Astoria. In Single A 2B Tony Baird is having a great start in Kingwood, TX. Defense again is an area he must work on before taking the jump to Double AA.
Our Top prospects according to OSA sources is Subaru Kishita SP which was drafted this year in R4 and recently was promoted to AA from A. Manny Palma CL has tried to jump to AAA a couple of times but, appears set to finish the season in AA based on his recent stint in Astoria. Then there is Zeus "BIG THUNDER" Hallman our R1 pick this past season; who was drafted as a SP out of College (Arkansas) but, has been the CL in Kingwood Single A. Big Thunder has been terrific so far with a 2-0 record and 9 saves spotting a tiny 1.07 WHIP.
The rumor mill is swirling still in Canada as Frank Powers OF/1B, Vic Jennings who just returned back from the DL along with power hitting SS Doug Smith are all available for a contender this year.
The fans certainly have shown their approval so far this year with the changes. Attendance is up +1.0% over last season.
HOME OF THE 10TH MAN
HOME OF THE 10TH MAN
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Maple hoping not to get Heart Burn over Vernon!
Maple after sim #2 called up a 26 year old who hasn't seen the ABL for six years. His name Vernon Burns. Maple had been after him for a long time during the off-season, however; Burns' agent would not get him to accept a Minor League contract. Fast forward to the 2nd week of baseball and Vernon is going to get his chance to play for Maple in the ABL and hopefully add some pop to the lineup while fielding at 1B. Burns last year made the AAA allstar team and won a gold glove at first base. What really caught our eye was his 82 EBHs with 42 of those going over the wall. Too make room for Burns, Don Strickland cleared waivers and Chandler Fisher SP/MR was placed on the 15 day DL.
Horizon City, TX will be watching the satellite dish tomorrow to see how he does in a Maple uniform.
Horizon City, TX will be watching the satellite dish tomorrow to see how he does in a Maple uniform.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
The latest news from the Marauders organization as we begin Season #6 in the ABL.............
Maple enters the 2017 season with a conflict of opinion. The owner feels we should be an above .500 club this year, however; the GM feels we are in a rebuild mode.
Over the past five seasons the TML Billy Martin division has been arguably one of the weakest divisions in the ABL so, a .500 record in fact may put you in the playoff hunt come September. The OSA scouts though predict a horrible outlook for the Marauders with a 2nd last place finish and a well below .500 record. Fans in Maple were surprised to see the OSA prediction with the Marauders double digit games behind a surprising 100 win San Francisco club. Only time will tell if the Marauders are this bad or if San Francisco is really this good.
The off-season saw Maple pick up a quality starter from Dallas as Rich Bussell was acquired in exchange for allstar catcher Bobby Shine. We hate to lose Bobby as he was a nice surprise last season for our team and the catcher position in the ABL has been a tough position to fill at a high level. On that note, acquiring Rich gives us a chance to be more competitive this season and gives us more options near the trade deadline if we should be really as bad as the OSA predicts. Teams have already contacted Maple to see what the price is for Bussell and the response from Maple has been a consistent; "we will let you know IF and WHEN he is on the market". This trade also allowed us to call up Manuel Fernandez known as "Stubblebeard". Our scouts predict only a backup role for him but, if there is any chance he can turn into anything beyond that now is his chance. Fernandez does shine with the glove behind the plate.
Another interesting off season move saw Nottinghamshire and Maple again continue their interleague relationship in making deals each season; Maple acquired last seasons AAA KSL Cy Young winner - Nicolas Rodriguez in exchange for hard throwing Van "Shooter" Smith. The GM feels a change of teams sometimes can help the players involved so we will see longer term how this trade works out. Maple fans were happy to see that Rodriguez made the team out of spring and will be in the rotation for Maple to start the year.
After a mediocre spring training Maple was on the phone again after the 1st regular season week trying to improve his club and deal with some tough decisions on their 25 man active roster. This team has a lot of players out of options and having the flexibility to call up players like in the past is now just a memory. Maple finished 3-4 after the 1st week of the season and quickly made two more transactions that were announced shortly afterwards. The first move shipped SP Vern Poulin to Nottinghamshire in exchange for hitting middle infield prospect Alfonso Alonso. We felt we have an excess of SPs in similar quality to Poulin and needed some more depth in the middle infield. It is always a pleasure to deal with Mr. William Atteberry. We both discuss which players are of interest and then either quickly agree or move on. Nottinghamshire has been the flagship organization for the ABL and whenever you can pick up some young players that play within that surrounding we feel it is a benefit to our minor leagues. In the second trade, Ron Harrison of Mile High agreed to send OF Floyd Lowery AA to Maple in return for MR Leon King ABL. This deal was to help to get some value from a very decent prospect and young pitching arm in lieu of managing the 25 man roster and possibly losing a player for nothing. We also like Lowery's ability to play all OF positions namely CF. CF has been a long time need for Maple from a defensive stand point. Lowery will begin in AA and based on his results will be given a quick promotion to AAA if the results meet expectations. Lowery's time to make the ABL is now and he knows it. Meanwhile Alonso will start in AA as well and will see some time at 3B. The sales of Sandy Springs Spartans' Alfonso Alonso jerseys skyrocketed quickly after the deal was announced. Fans have been saying in the Atlanta area, "how can't you not like this kid and his name"! We will see how far this 21 year old progresses in the minors over the next year or two.
After all of the minor juggling, the Maple organization announced two more organization changes. Both might have implications for the TML ROY race. 1st call-up was John "Toad" Jones MR from AAA. He was our R1 Supplemental pick this past draft. John was looking very strong out of spring training and didn't pitch for Maple in any spring training games but, had several effective outings in International play. John has bloomed very quickly and we are pleasantly surprised and very happy to have him in the ABL this soon. This southpaw pitched at South Carolina and has told reporters, "I would love to compete versus my favorite team growing up the Bombers"! Gary Altman was not available for comment. Gary has taken some bad press for neglecting to pick the local fan favorite. The 2nd call up saw power hitting OF George Evans get the promotion from AAA ball. Evans was Maple's R2 pick the year previous and is coming off a monster season in AAA for Astoria when he hit 38 HRs and had 78 Extra base hits. Maple is confident both players will be on the ROY ballots for the TML at the end of the year.
Over the past five seasons the TML Billy Martin division has been arguably one of the weakest divisions in the ABL so, a .500 record in fact may put you in the playoff hunt come September. The OSA scouts though predict a horrible outlook for the Marauders with a 2nd last place finish and a well below .500 record. Fans in Maple were surprised to see the OSA prediction with the Marauders double digit games behind a surprising 100 win San Francisco club. Only time will tell if the Marauders are this bad or if San Francisco is really this good.
The off-season saw Maple pick up a quality starter from Dallas as Rich Bussell was acquired in exchange for allstar catcher Bobby Shine. We hate to lose Bobby as he was a nice surprise last season for our team and the catcher position in the ABL has been a tough position to fill at a high level. On that note, acquiring Rich gives us a chance to be more competitive this season and gives us more options near the trade deadline if we should be really as bad as the OSA predicts. Teams have already contacted Maple to see what the price is for Bussell and the response from Maple has been a consistent; "we will let you know IF and WHEN he is on the market". This trade also allowed us to call up Manuel Fernandez known as "Stubblebeard". Our scouts predict only a backup role for him but, if there is any chance he can turn into anything beyond that now is his chance. Fernandez does shine with the glove behind the plate.
Another interesting off season move saw Nottinghamshire and Maple again continue their interleague relationship in making deals each season; Maple acquired last seasons AAA KSL Cy Young winner - Nicolas Rodriguez in exchange for hard throwing Van "Shooter" Smith. The GM feels a change of teams sometimes can help the players involved so we will see longer term how this trade works out. Maple fans were happy to see that Rodriguez made the team out of spring and will be in the rotation for Maple to start the year.
After a mediocre spring training Maple was on the phone again after the 1st regular season week trying to improve his club and deal with some tough decisions on their 25 man active roster. This team has a lot of players out of options and having the flexibility to call up players like in the past is now just a memory. Maple finished 3-4 after the 1st week of the season and quickly made two more transactions that were announced shortly afterwards. The first move shipped SP Vern Poulin to Nottinghamshire in exchange for hitting middle infield prospect Alfonso Alonso. We felt we have an excess of SPs in similar quality to Poulin and needed some more depth in the middle infield. It is always a pleasure to deal with Mr. William Atteberry. We both discuss which players are of interest and then either quickly agree or move on. Nottinghamshire has been the flagship organization for the ABL and whenever you can pick up some young players that play within that surrounding we feel it is a benefit to our minor leagues. In the second trade, Ron Harrison of Mile High agreed to send OF Floyd Lowery AA to Maple in return for MR Leon King ABL. This deal was to help to get some value from a very decent prospect and young pitching arm in lieu of managing the 25 man roster and possibly losing a player for nothing. We also like Lowery's ability to play all OF positions namely CF. CF has been a long time need for Maple from a defensive stand point. Lowery will begin in AA and based on his results will be given a quick promotion to AAA if the results meet expectations. Lowery's time to make the ABL is now and he knows it. Meanwhile Alonso will start in AA as well and will see some time at 3B. The sales of Sandy Springs Spartans' Alfonso Alonso jerseys skyrocketed quickly after the deal was announced. Fans have been saying in the Atlanta area, "how can't you not like this kid and his name"! We will see how far this 21 year old progresses in the minors over the next year or two.
After all of the minor juggling, the Maple organization announced two more organization changes. Both might have implications for the TML ROY race. 1st call-up was John "Toad" Jones MR from AAA. He was our R1 Supplemental pick this past draft. John was looking very strong out of spring training and didn't pitch for Maple in any spring training games but, had several effective outings in International play. John has bloomed very quickly and we are pleasantly surprised and very happy to have him in the ABL this soon. This southpaw pitched at South Carolina and has told reporters, "I would love to compete versus my favorite team growing up the Bombers"! Gary Altman was not available for comment. Gary has taken some bad press for neglecting to pick the local fan favorite. The 2nd call up saw power hitting OF George Evans get the promotion from AAA ball. Evans was Maple's R2 pick the year previous and is coming off a monster season in AAA for Astoria when he hit 38 HRs and had 78 Extra base hits. Maple is confident both players will be on the ROY ballots for the TML at the end of the year.
Saturday, November 9, 2013
MAPLE YEAR IN REVIEW
Maple finished in 3rd place in the TML, Billy Martin division behind winner in a one game playoff South Carolina and 2nd place San Francisco. Maple entered the last month of the season with an outside shot but, earlier moves to reduce payroll and increase profit hurt their chances down the stretch. GM stated that they felt winning the division this year was a short term fix and didn't feel we had the horses to compete with the top teams in the ABL. Maple finished September 15-13 and closed out October at 0-2.
The 77-85 finish is the worst record in the history of Maple in the ABL. In fact since finishing 93-69 in Season I, Maple has had a worst record in each of the successive seasons, 90 in Season II, 89 in Season III, 84 in Season IV and 77 this past year. Maple clearly needs to regroup with some youth and build back their once dominating SP rotation which at one point and a micro 3.33 ERA!
Maple has a ton of money available for Free Agents and for Extensions, however; team sources indicate that they will not resign CL Johnny Tiller who is recovering from a serious injury and Emmanuel Villa a hard throwing MR. At one during the season it looked like Anthony Lewis OF was a step away from having his contract bought out after he successfully cleared waivers but, he got back on track towards the end of the season to finish the year with 31 HRs. Maple has many needs SP, MR, 2B, 3B & Catcher despite having Bobby Shine make the allstar team.
Our most effective players were LF Billy Greer, C Bobby Shine, SP Dan Wilder who started the season as the teams MR, MR Ken Dixon and MR Chandler Fisher. The teams least effective players were SP Aaron Nelson who missed a majority of the season due to injury, LF Anything "BIG STICK" Shelton who had been the teams Dave Kingman but, passed through waivers and finished the year at AAA Astoria, SP Jesus Ramirez the teams R1 pick last year from University of Florida and was rushed into the SP rotation to see what he had, CF Antonio Alvarez who is a highly touted spec but, due to injury and lineup shakeups and based on his defense was rushed into the ABL a bit early to see what he could do too.
Down on the farm, the following specs have some high upside and could be in the ABL within the next 2-3 years - Manny Palma CL (AA), George Evans OF (AAA) and Brad Thomas OF (AAA). Similar to most teams in the ABL, Maple is just loaded in the OF position with potential.
The Maple organization would like to congratulate the playoff teams for a great season and also a high five to Sir William for his three-peat. I am on record to say I doubt he can win 4 in a row but, it will be fun to see what happens in Season VI in the ABL.
Jason
MAPLE
The 77-85 finish is the worst record in the history of Maple in the ABL. In fact since finishing 93-69 in Season I, Maple has had a worst record in each of the successive seasons, 90 in Season II, 89 in Season III, 84 in Season IV and 77 this past year. Maple clearly needs to regroup with some youth and build back their once dominating SP rotation which at one point and a micro 3.33 ERA!
Maple has a ton of money available for Free Agents and for Extensions, however; team sources indicate that they will not resign CL Johnny Tiller who is recovering from a serious injury and Emmanuel Villa a hard throwing MR. At one during the season it looked like Anthony Lewis OF was a step away from having his contract bought out after he successfully cleared waivers but, he got back on track towards the end of the season to finish the year with 31 HRs. Maple has many needs SP, MR, 2B, 3B & Catcher despite having Bobby Shine make the allstar team.
Our most effective players were LF Billy Greer, C Bobby Shine, SP Dan Wilder who started the season as the teams MR, MR Ken Dixon and MR Chandler Fisher. The teams least effective players were SP Aaron Nelson who missed a majority of the season due to injury, LF Anything "BIG STICK" Shelton who had been the teams Dave Kingman but, passed through waivers and finished the year at AAA Astoria, SP Jesus Ramirez the teams R1 pick last year from University of Florida and was rushed into the SP rotation to see what he had, CF Antonio Alvarez who is a highly touted spec but, due to injury and lineup shakeups and based on his defense was rushed into the ABL a bit early to see what he could do too.
Down on the farm, the following specs have some high upside and could be in the ABL within the next 2-3 years - Manny Palma CL (AA), George Evans OF (AAA) and Brad Thomas OF (AAA). Similar to most teams in the ABL, Maple is just loaded in the OF position with potential.
The Maple organization would like to congratulate the playoff teams for a great season and also a high five to Sir William for his three-peat. I am on record to say I doubt he can win 4 in a row but, it will be fun to see what happens in Season VI in the ABL.
Jason
MAPLE
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Season #5 - August - Month in Review - Final push by a gritty Maple team
Maple had its best month of the season in August going 16-12, however; an early 1-3 start in September has us sitting 5 games back of San Francisco in 3rd place in the Thurman Munson League Billy Martin Division.
We might not be a collective group of the best teams in the ABL, however; each year our division races have come down to the wire! Jersey who is in last place is just as likely to win this division this year as San Francisco who sits in 1st place. I am going to predict that 80 wins will win this division this year!
In September we have the following schedule ahead:
Home
1 x South Carolina
3 x Jersey
3 x Las Vegas
3 x Cabo
4 x San Francisco
Away
3 x Boston
3 x Eureka
3 x South Carolina
1 x Jersey
In October:
Away
2 x Jersey
So overall 14 at HOME and 12 AWAY for the Marauders. To get to 80 wins I will need to go 16-10 the rest of the way. This looks on paper to be a big task as we face playoff teams Cabo, Las Vegas and Eureka. We will need to get the broom sticks out at HOME vs. SF, Jersey and South Carolina to have this happen. We are also hoping our record in close games pays dividends as the pressure turns on. We are 8-3 in Extra Inning games and 19-18 in 1 run games.
September Call Ups:
Maple has called up the following players for their stretch run:
Ramon Torres MR - He will add some depth in long relief for a team that has a very tired pen.
Don Strickland 1B - Remember his glorious 1st season in the ABL? After acquiring Vic Jennings from Las Vegas he was a lost member of the Maple Organization. He could provide that clutch pH off the bench and also is a vacuum cleaner at 1B defensively
John Powers CF - Our OF has been on / off injured all season and our biggest weakness defensively has been the CF job. Powers can hopefully contribute as well offensively. He was the source of many trades at the deadline which Maple passed on.
Tom Hunter 2B/INF - Tom is no stranger to the ABL. He is also a defensive specialist that will be asked to fill in at 2B/SS/3B as needed. He might also get the odd RF duty during the final weeks of the season.
Oliver Davis LF - Oliver has been a terror to minor league pitching. Like so many others he has yet to get his chance and prove his value at the ABL level. This might be his last opportunity to make an impression.
Antonio Alvarez CF - Similar to John Powers, Antonio is an interesting prospect and based on his defensive capabilities and the numerous injuries and fatigue in the OF he will get some swings and also some late inning work.
Minor League Report:
George Evans OF will remain in the AAA Astoria team the rest of the way barring any further injury to big club. He is likely to roam the OF for Maple next season joining youngster Billy Greer. Evans is hitting .293 bavg, .357 obpct and .606 slugging so far this year in 108 games at AAA including 35 bombs. If you had this to his AA #s he is on pace to hit 50+ HRs in the minors this year!
Brad Thomas OF has been fast tracked to AAA Astoria after some excellent play at Kingwood A ball. Brad has come out of no where on the organization depth chart to rank among the top 100 specs. He was hitting .285 bavg. .382 obpct and .417 slugging this year with 32 extra base hits (16 HRs) in 128 games so far this year.
We might not be a collective group of the best teams in the ABL, however; each year our division races have come down to the wire! Jersey who is in last place is just as likely to win this division this year as San Francisco who sits in 1st place. I am going to predict that 80 wins will win this division this year!
In September we have the following schedule ahead:
Home
1 x South Carolina
3 x Jersey
3 x Las Vegas
3 x Cabo
4 x San Francisco
Away
3 x Boston
3 x Eureka
3 x South Carolina
1 x Jersey
In October:
Away
2 x Jersey
So overall 14 at HOME and 12 AWAY for the Marauders. To get to 80 wins I will need to go 16-10 the rest of the way. This looks on paper to be a big task as we face playoff teams Cabo, Las Vegas and Eureka. We will need to get the broom sticks out at HOME vs. SF, Jersey and South Carolina to have this happen. We are also hoping our record in close games pays dividends as the pressure turns on. We are 8-3 in Extra Inning games and 19-18 in 1 run games.
September Call Ups:
Maple has called up the following players for their stretch run:
Ramon Torres MR - He will add some depth in long relief for a team that has a very tired pen.
Don Strickland 1B - Remember his glorious 1st season in the ABL? After acquiring Vic Jennings from Las Vegas he was a lost member of the Maple Organization. He could provide that clutch pH off the bench and also is a vacuum cleaner at 1B defensively
John Powers CF - Our OF has been on / off injured all season and our biggest weakness defensively has been the CF job. Powers can hopefully contribute as well offensively. He was the source of many trades at the deadline which Maple passed on.
Tom Hunter 2B/INF - Tom is no stranger to the ABL. He is also a defensive specialist that will be asked to fill in at 2B/SS/3B as needed. He might also get the odd RF duty during the final weeks of the season.
Oliver Davis LF - Oliver has been a terror to minor league pitching. Like so many others he has yet to get his chance and prove his value at the ABL level. This might be his last opportunity to make an impression.
Antonio Alvarez CF - Similar to John Powers, Antonio is an interesting prospect and based on his defensive capabilities and the numerous injuries and fatigue in the OF he will get some swings and also some late inning work.
Minor League Report:
George Evans OF will remain in the AAA Astoria team the rest of the way barring any further injury to big club. He is likely to roam the OF for Maple next season joining youngster Billy Greer. Evans is hitting .293 bavg, .357 obpct and .606 slugging so far this year in 108 games at AAA including 35 bombs. If you had this to his AA #s he is on pace to hit 50+ HRs in the minors this year!
Brad Thomas OF has been fast tracked to AAA Astoria after some excellent play at Kingwood A ball. Brad has come out of no where on the organization depth chart to rank among the top 100 specs. He was hitting .285 bavg. .382 obpct and .417 slugging this year with 32 extra base hits (16 HRs) in 128 games so far this year.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Maple July in Review
Maple sits in 3rd place tied with South Carolina and 2.5 games back of San Francisco as July comes and goes in the ABL. Despite a 47-57 record, Maple stays alive in the subpar Billy Martin TML Division.
Maple did comes to terms with Mile High for SP Jesse George. Maple sent $2M cash + SP Jesse George for young SP Jeff Andrews who will instantly get a promotion to Astoria in AAA and 2B Kazuhiro Kojima who also gets the instant promotion to AA. We hate to see Mr. Consistency go but, we don't feel we can win the championship this season with the likes of Cabo San Lucas and Nottinghamshire around. This will free up some contract money next year in free agency for Maple and we will play the wait and see game with both prospects of which are borderline ABL players at this point in their projection.
Maple finished July at 12-15. We have slipped in the team batting categories and team pitching has been overall respectable and still a surprise to us. Losing George will hurt our Team ERA which ranks 5th in the TML currently. Ron Cutter has been hot of late in the CL roles since Johnny Tiller went on the 60 day DL. Ron in his past 16 G, 9 SV, 0.52 ERA and 21 Ks in 17.1 IP. Also hot is Dan Wilder in his new SP role, he has gone 1-0, 1.57 ERA in his last 5 G with 22 Ks in 23 IP. Highly touted spec Dave Guenette 3B just can't get it going at the ABL level, since his call up he has struggled in his opportunity going 9 for 79, .114 bavg with 0 HR, 5RBI in 22G. The organization is growing impatient with him and perhaps a change of scenery is best for him at this point in his career. Anthony Lewis OF coming off waivers as unclaimed sparked him to a super 17 for 42 clip, .405 bavg, 4 HR and 10 RBI in his past 12 G. Anthony was pretty vocal about his disappointment being waived by Maple's management. It is clear if you don't produce the patience in MAPLE will be short with any high paid players.
Maple management is very high on OF George Evans who at AAA is batting .273/.337/.553 with 21 HR in 311 ABs for Astoria. He might join Billy Greer in the OF next year for Maple :-) CL Manny Palma was demoted back to AA based on his wild performance at AAA this year. OF Brad Thomas has been a pleasant surprise at A Kingwood this year batting .296/.381/.426 with 12 HR in 371 AB. He might get promoted to AA by the end of August if he continues to swing the bat at this pace.
Astoria in AAA is 45-59, 13 1/2 GB and in 6th place; Sandy Springs AA is 55-50, 8 GB and in 3rd place and finally Kingwood A is 59-45, 14 1/2 GB and in 4th place despite playing over .500 for the first time in their teams history.
Maple's MVP is Billy Greer so far. This OF is batting .300 with 26 dingers, 62 RBI and recently moved over to DH with the call up of defensive specialist Antonio Alvarez to roam CF.
It will be interesting to see who gets the September call ups from Maple this year as there are a few youngster that would benefit from some ABL experience going into next year. Then again, we might be in 1st place in this division so you never know what can happen in the wild and worst division in ABL baseball...
Jason/Maple
Maple did comes to terms with Mile High for SP Jesse George. Maple sent $2M cash + SP Jesse George for young SP Jeff Andrews who will instantly get a promotion to Astoria in AAA and 2B Kazuhiro Kojima who also gets the instant promotion to AA. We hate to see Mr. Consistency go but, we don't feel we can win the championship this season with the likes of Cabo San Lucas and Nottinghamshire around. This will free up some contract money next year in free agency for Maple and we will play the wait and see game with both prospects of which are borderline ABL players at this point in their projection.
Maple finished July at 12-15. We have slipped in the team batting categories and team pitching has been overall respectable and still a surprise to us. Losing George will hurt our Team ERA which ranks 5th in the TML currently. Ron Cutter has been hot of late in the CL roles since Johnny Tiller went on the 60 day DL. Ron in his past 16 G, 9 SV, 0.52 ERA and 21 Ks in 17.1 IP. Also hot is Dan Wilder in his new SP role, he has gone 1-0, 1.57 ERA in his last 5 G with 22 Ks in 23 IP. Highly touted spec Dave Guenette 3B just can't get it going at the ABL level, since his call up he has struggled in his opportunity going 9 for 79, .114 bavg with 0 HR, 5RBI in 22G. The organization is growing impatient with him and perhaps a change of scenery is best for him at this point in his career. Anthony Lewis OF coming off waivers as unclaimed sparked him to a super 17 for 42 clip, .405 bavg, 4 HR and 10 RBI in his past 12 G. Anthony was pretty vocal about his disappointment being waived by Maple's management. It is clear if you don't produce the patience in MAPLE will be short with any high paid players.
Maple management is very high on OF George Evans who at AAA is batting .273/.337/.553 with 21 HR in 311 ABs for Astoria. He might join Billy Greer in the OF next year for Maple :-) CL Manny Palma was demoted back to AA based on his wild performance at AAA this year. OF Brad Thomas has been a pleasant surprise at A Kingwood this year batting .296/.381/.426 with 12 HR in 371 AB. He might get promoted to AA by the end of August if he continues to swing the bat at this pace.
Astoria in AAA is 45-59, 13 1/2 GB and in 6th place; Sandy Springs AA is 55-50, 8 GB and in 3rd place and finally Kingwood A is 59-45, 14 1/2 GB and in 4th place despite playing over .500 for the first time in their teams history.
Maple's MVP is Billy Greer so far. This OF is batting .300 with 26 dingers, 62 RBI and recently moved over to DH with the call up of defensive specialist Antonio Alvarez to roam CF.
It will be interesting to see who gets the September call ups from Maple this year as there are a few youngster that would benefit from some ABL experience going into next year. Then again, we might be in 1st place in this division so you never know what can happen in the wild and worst division in ABL baseball...
Jason/Maple
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Maple Month in Review - June
Maple improved their play in June after a poor May going 12-14, and still staying within striking range, 2.5 games back in the TML Billy Martin division. At home Maple is playing .500 ball and on the road struggling at 16-24 for an overall record of 36-44 for the season.
Team Batting statistics are pretty much middle of the pack ranging from a low of 5th overall in the TML to a high of 12th in the TML overall. Power on the batting side is still a strong point with 90 HRs on the season and not getting on base with free passes is hurting the team with only 212 bases on balls.
Team Pitching statistics are a bit stronger for Maple. We rank #1 in Strikeouts meanwhile we are 10th in giving up the long ball. We expected our pitching to be a weakness this year but, so far the youngsters are holding their own.
Maple made some adjustments in June. First move was to place Dan Wilder in the rotation. There was a lot of interest from teams in acquiring him but, we have decided to see what he can do for us on the mound as a starting pitcher. So far in two starts he has been very good, 1-0 with 13.1 IP, 7 HA, 4 ER, 1 HRA, 3 BB, 7Ks. In both games Maple ended up winning (Vs. GEO and vs. SFE). The 2nd big move was the call up of 2B Eric Rice, 3B Dave Guenette and CF Antonio Alvarez. Dave Guenette was a highly rated prospect but has yet to find his stride at the ABL level. This could be his last shot. Eric Rice has been a surprise player ever since being picked in the 7th Round of the draft a couple of years ago. Alvarez was taken in the same draft as Rice but in Round 2. So far Rice is doing the best, batting .368 and a RC/27 of 7.64. Alvarez and Guenette are struggling to bat their weight.
Down on the farm;
Astoria AAA - Kevin McConnel DH has really picked up his game hitting .288 with 11 HRs and 46 RBI. Nobody has really stood out on the mound so far.
Sandy Springs AA - Antonio Paz 1B has been mr. consistent batting .363 with 14 HRs and 60 RBI. On the mound Joshua Goldberg who has struggled at AAA is a solid contributor at the AA level with a 2.16 ERA.
Kingwood A - Brad Thomas OF is leading the way with a .279 bavg, 7 HRs and 36 RBI. Nobody has really stood out on the mound so far.
Playoffs at the minor league level maybe in the sights for Sandy Springs sitting at 44-37 and 2.5 games back. Kingwood who has never reach .500 is playing their best baseball ever sitting at 46-36 but 12.5 games back.
The Maple minor league system has dropped to last in the league according to the experts at OSA, however; keep in mind that most of the solid prospects for Maple are at the ABL level at this time.
The goal for this team is to improve and get younger and keep the financial machine turning out money. We feel we can still move a few aging players such as Jesse George SP to a contender and still compete in the Billy Martin division.
Jason/GM Maple
Team Batting statistics are pretty much middle of the pack ranging from a low of 5th overall in the TML to a high of 12th in the TML overall. Power on the batting side is still a strong point with 90 HRs on the season and not getting on base with free passes is hurting the team with only 212 bases on balls.
Team Pitching statistics are a bit stronger for Maple. We rank #1 in Strikeouts meanwhile we are 10th in giving up the long ball. We expected our pitching to be a weakness this year but, so far the youngsters are holding their own.
Maple made some adjustments in June. First move was to place Dan Wilder in the rotation. There was a lot of interest from teams in acquiring him but, we have decided to see what he can do for us on the mound as a starting pitcher. So far in two starts he has been very good, 1-0 with 13.1 IP, 7 HA, 4 ER, 1 HRA, 3 BB, 7Ks. In both games Maple ended up winning (Vs. GEO and vs. SFE). The 2nd big move was the call up of 2B Eric Rice, 3B Dave Guenette and CF Antonio Alvarez. Dave Guenette was a highly rated prospect but has yet to find his stride at the ABL level. This could be his last shot. Eric Rice has been a surprise player ever since being picked in the 7th Round of the draft a couple of years ago. Alvarez was taken in the same draft as Rice but in Round 2. So far Rice is doing the best, batting .368 and a RC/27 of 7.64. Alvarez and Guenette are struggling to bat their weight.
Down on the farm;
Astoria AAA - Kevin McConnel DH has really picked up his game hitting .288 with 11 HRs and 46 RBI. Nobody has really stood out on the mound so far.
Sandy Springs AA - Antonio Paz 1B has been mr. consistent batting .363 with 14 HRs and 60 RBI. On the mound Joshua Goldberg who has struggled at AAA is a solid contributor at the AA level with a 2.16 ERA.
Kingwood A - Brad Thomas OF is leading the way with a .279 bavg, 7 HRs and 36 RBI. Nobody has really stood out on the mound so far.
Playoffs at the minor league level maybe in the sights for Sandy Springs sitting at 44-37 and 2.5 games back. Kingwood who has never reach .500 is playing their best baseball ever sitting at 46-36 but 12.5 games back.
The Maple minor league system has dropped to last in the league according to the experts at OSA, however; keep in mind that most of the solid prospects for Maple are at the ABL level at this time.
The goal for this team is to improve and get younger and keep the financial machine turning out money. We feel we can still move a few aging players such as Jesse George SP to a contender and still compete in the Billy Martin division.
Jason/GM Maple
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