Minor league review
With the Rookie ball league about to start its probably time to look over what Riyadh’s minor league affiliates have done in the first two months of 2049. We have been rather remiss in not doing so before now.
Triple-A Port Elizabeth Windies
Nine games above .500 is a strong start for the Windies but it only gets them a spot in the pack chasing the top two. Fifteen wins in April was followed by 16 in May, although the losses are rising too. In a strange moment of uniformity all five members of the rotation have four wins under their belt, but that will change now with Nick Garner getting his second UMEBA spell after the callup to relace the injured Doger. Unfortunately, the pitchers are generally on the aging side, and few have an hopes of following Garner into the bigs. Meanwhile ripping up Triple-A is Umar Mutemi, a former Rule 5 pick from Jerusalem, he was unlucky to have been squeezed out of Riyadh and has responded with 15 homers and a .373 batting average. With Sato seeming leaving the Red Crescents he is almost nailed on to replace him in 2050 at the DH role. There are a few batters who are in the pick perhaps for a spot in Riyadh, perhaps including new signing Jeremy Webb who has played over 600 games in the BBA including a spell with me in El Paso. Ivan Gulledge, after three seasons in Port Elizabeth, and still only 22, is finally looking as though he might well be the Riyadh regular centrefielder in 2050 or 51.
Double-A Santiago Tabaqueros
Santiago hasn’t had much joy as the AA affiliate of Riyadh, just one winning season, and once more they are below .500 although only by one game at the moment. The Tabaqueros had a rough start in April but have been clawing it back since to lift themselves firmly in mid-table. The rotation are all sporting fairly large ERA’s, even Jacob Norris who has just been promoted to Triple-A had an ERA north of 4.00. Maybe new minor league FA signing Kukane Ekeka will make the difference or perhaps young Raul Gonzalez who has been demoted from Port Elizabeth after 45 games in the bullpen there with a 4-1 record and five saves. He will get a chance in the #5 slot in the rotation. 21-yr-old Jouo Rovanpera, a second overall draft pick in 2047 is looking as though he might be the second Riyadh drafted player to play for the Red Crescents. He has worked his way up to Double-A playing both at second & short and is now almost a decent second baseman. He’s also swinging the bat with style, currently hitting .316 and on course for over 100 RBI as well as possibly a career high 30+ homers. The Tabaqueros have a fairly young roster with 18 of them being 24 or under, one of them, 23-yr-old Burt Davies might have actually found his bat. Having been up all the way to the UMEBA on the strength of his glove and been all the way back down on the lack of hitting, he is now hitting .370 in Santiago and is still young enough to turn his career around.
A-Ball South Guam Saints
With their 25-19 record they are leading a bunch of four teams on 23-21 but are three behind second place and a distant 12 games out of first. A good 10-4 start in April has been somewhat undone by a 14-15 May. Star of the rotation is 21-yr-old Nickolaj Hedhoft who in his third year in South Guam has a 4-1 record and a 1.99 ERA. Another promising pitcher, 19-yr-old Steven Anderton, has just been demoted back to A Ball from Santiago. Anderton, a second overall pick in 2046 has found development hard to come by; he’s worked long and hard to live up to his predicted ceiling but in his fourth year as a pro is still really struggling to get above A Ball. His coaches still see a future for him though and he has time on his side at the moment, but with each passing year a little more sand slips through his fingers. This year’s crop of hitters definitely lack power but can hit for average with four hitting over .300 currently including Salesi Soamoa who is hitting .389/.487/.516 but unfortunately his outfield glove, or lack of, will probably limit him to a minor league DH role.
Rookie Ball Chinese Taipei
As we stand on the brink of their fourth season, we are pleased to announce that Riyadh has come to terms with all but two of their 2049 draft picks. Quite a few of the lower picks were released without ever picking up a bat in anger. The first overall pick, 16-yr-old
Dirk Bessi , though has signed a minor league contract for Riyadh with a $1.5m signing bonus and will take the ball for Taipei in their second game of the season. With several players willing, in fact demanding, to sign bonuses below slot Riyadh has laid out just $2,136,250 so far in bonus payments with just $152,500 in offers outstanding to our 3rd & 5th round pick for a total outlay of under $2.5m on this year's draft bonuses. All of the retained picks will start the year in Taipei, perhaps an indication of the lack of real quality in this year’s draft.
When Taipei finally get underway on June 8th, they will be looking for a fourth straight winning season and reach their second ever playoffs. With 15 players on the roster that are 18 or below it will very much be a leap of faith predicting where Taipei will finish, but come what may they will give it their all.