You get a playoff spot! You get a playoff spot! You get a playoff spot!
To be clear, it’s not every team in the Yellow Springs Nine organization that will see the post season this year. Santa Clara, in AA, will finish the season at 64-69, third in their division. That’s not a horrible year on the whole of it, nearly .500. Compared to others, though…
The AAA Indianapolis Downforce (90-43) have clinched their division and will be a favorite to take the Big One cup. This isn’t a horrible surprise, as it’s staffed with a lot of players who have either seen the big league team, or probably should be seeing it. Of course, the big league club is filled to the brim with young talent, so there’s that little problem. Regardless, the Downforce lead their league in pretty much every offensive category, and a majority of pitching yardsticks. At the end of the day, there’s some reasonable expectation that if you include recently called up Carlos Pineda, this AAA club might well compete for a Wild Card in the bigs.
Likewise, A-ball Fort Worth (83-50), home of what some are calling the team’s Infield 4.0, has clinched their division title. Despite the focus on infielders Robert Chenoweth, Juan Varela, Bob Allen, and Blaine Tyler, the team is really built on a core of outstanding, though possibly underrated arms. Frank Cameron is the leading hopeful in the rotation.
The Short A Cat Island (47-30) are celebrating their first season outside Guantanamo Bay with a trip to the post season as a Wild Card. They are built as the ant-Fort Worth squad, a club led by its bats and filled in with its arms. Third baseman Richard Stephenson and recently acquired centerfielder Arvin Duggan are the names to jot down if you’re looking for future big leaguers. Antonio Coronado (9-4, 3.52) is the pitcher to watch.
Then comes Rookie League Alamagordo (39-30), who also grabbed a Wild Card slot. To be honest, they seemed to do it on the basis of grit, since beyond lukewarm prospect in CF Wes Grieve, there’s not a whole lot to get excited about in the big picture. The future, however, is never determined until the fat lady sings, right? We’ll see what post season play eventually means for this crew.
“We’re excited by the performance of our system,” said assistant GM Jose Cabrera. “The kids are the future, and right now I’d have to say the Yellow Springs future looks pretty danged bright.”