It was another gala evening at the World's Largest Denny'sTM as the Talons franchise once again gathered to celebrate the only thing that really matters:
The minor leagues.
AAA Surprise Talons Player of the Year: RF Shirai Matsumoto
Only signed in July, Matsumoto absolutely crushed it in Triple-A this year. Not known for harboring prospects, Surprise is more of a holding ground for potential major league contributors, and Shirai fits the bill. In only 60 games, the speedy corner outfielder recorded 3.1 WAR while slashing .330/.431/.502. He was reportedly slated for a September callup until an injury to the Talons shortstop forced the adding of another infielder to the 40 man roster.
AA Medicine Hat Flaming Nukes Player of the Year: 3B Ridwan Bahiyy al-Din
Ridwan seemingly came out of nowhere to lead the Flaming Nukes by a wide margin with a .283 average and 27 home runs. He has seen some interesting ratings bumps this season and, at age 26, may yet have a future in the big leagues. He posted some good defensive numbers in Medicine Hat as well. He led the Warren Cox Drake League with 70 walks and was third with a 4.8 WAR total.
A Toledo Liberty Player of the Year: RF Feng-yi Fung
It was hard to beat last year's winner Winston Carreon, but Fung stepped up in a big way to lead the Toledo Liberty to 107 wins and their 19th straight division title. The 24 year old outfielder was effective from both sides of the plate and came within a couple power points of peaking all his ratings. He was second in the Pegler League in home runs with 29 and third in the League with 100 RBI and 5.1 WAR.
S A Daytona Beach Cruisers Player of the Year: RF Warner Fox
Yeah, another Talons power hitting corner outfielder, but the 23 year old Fox far and away led the short season Angela Drake League by hitting his age in home runs, 7 more than the second place Bill Bloom. Fox also led Sub League 1 in a number of categories including slugging percentage (.627), isolated power (.313), and RBI (60). His jocular nature and lighthearted attitude helped lead the Cruisers to another .800+ winning percentage and their 18th overall division title.
R Traverse City Talons Player of the Year: RF Adrian Tallent
Phoenix has been high on this guy ever since they drafted him with their 1st round pick in June, and Tallent delivered. Posting 3.3 WAR in 66 games, the 17 year old outfielder recorded 55 stolen bases this season, placing him second all time in Cruisers history and the first player with more than 30 steals in nearly three decades. He also played a flawless right field and slashed .306/.349/.453 in his first pro season. No one works harder on his game, so expect to see some ratings bumps in the near future for this kid.
The night was a rousing success, not least of which because some of these guys are actual real live prospects. Go Talons!
