Birmingham Ends Year with #3 Farm System

[aaronweiner]

When GM Aaron Weiner took over the Birmingham Bandits, they had the #24 farm system in the MBBA. Completely gutted, former #1 overall prospect Roberto Hernandez the original lumpmonster, with barely even a semblence of prospects, the Bandits had virtually no one in the farm system worth mentioning. Flash forward six years, and the Birmingham Bandits have fought and clawed to be the #3 farm system in the league.

"My proudest accomplishment is taking the dung heap I was granted and turning it into something the organization can be proud to call their own," said Weiner. "This is an organization to watch now, and it's all because of years of dedication."

The top prospect in the group is actually a semi-accident: Dexter "Killer" Sheehan was a former 3rd round pick but his amazing intangibles and outstanding defense have turned him into the #2 prospect in the MBBA.

"Well, it's nice what the scouts say about me," said Sheehan, who hit .323 this season and won the AA Gold Glove equivalent at catcher. "I need to show that I can do it on higher levels, though. When I know what I want, nothing can stop me. Ever."

Sheehan is currently marked for AAA. Bobby Norton, however, will probably be Birmingham's starting second baseman. Also a top-25 prospect, Norton has already made waves with a hot September and has all but wrapped up the starting second base job next season.

The rest of Birmingham's top prospects are lower down in the food chain: David Wise has emerged as the #2 prospect from the 2001 draft, but he's still just at Rookie League Tuscaloosa. He'll probably start next year at Moline. Kevin Hull is a solid pitching prospect who will probably join Wise next year at Moline, and Ira Arthur is already there. The three represent the three best pitching prospects the team has ever had.

This list, of course, doesn't even include players like Larry Crawford, who led all of AAA in OPS last year, or top relief prospect Mario Diaz, or solid outfield prospects like Antonio Pacheco and Chris Neal, first base prospects like Robin Johnson and Mike Nichols and some long shots like Carl Wright, Glenn Hall, Enrico Gonzalez, Jorge Garcia, Mike Seals and Juan Flores.

"I'm especially proud of the work we've done here," Weiner said. "This has taken a lot of effort and some suffering, and hopefully it will pay off, soon."

[recte44]

Sheehan's really developed offensively. Remember him as a defensive whiz mainly when draft eligible.

[aaronweiner]

He seriously has. He was a nice, pleasant little bat when he was drafted, but he's making me think I'll have to lose Pat Larkin in a year or two.