Chris Marrero lands on the DL

Chris Marrero injured his right ankle sliding into home plate in the fourth inning on Wednesday. That slide will now cost Marrero at least a month as the Nationals placed him on the disabled list.
“The timing of this injury is unfortunate as Chris was just getting hot,” Posse GM Shawn Luddington said.

The high Class A Potomac first baseman ranked as the Nationals’ top prospect entering the season and has hit .250/.325/.453 in 256 at-bats. Marrero had been in the midst of a good stretch of hitting in his last 13 games, raising his OPS 74 points in that stretch while hitting .378/.420/.689 in 49 plate appearances.

Taking into consideration the context of his age and his environment, Marrero’s season has been a good one. At 19, Marrero is the second-youngest player in the league, older than only Frederick (Orioles) third baseman Billy Rowell. Despite being so young, Marrero has been an above-average hitter relative to other Carolina League players who have played the majority of their games at first base this season.

The ankle injury will set back Marrero’s development as he misses playing time and works to regain his health, but he’s already ahead of the curve.

Down on the Farm: Thursday June 19th

Star of the Day:
Cameron Maybin - CF - Carolina Mudcats
Maybin seems to do everything well and tonight was an example of that. He went 2 for 5 on the evening with one of his hits being a double. He added a run scored, 2 RBI's and also stole his 14th base of the season.


High A:
Hank Conger - DH - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
Conger went 2 for 4 with his first triple of the year. He scored once and also added a walk.


Chris Marrero - 1B - Potomac Nationals
Marrero has been great over the last 10 games, hitting .412 with 7 extra base hits. Tonight he went 2 for 2 with a double and a homerun. He scored a run and added an RBI. The bad news is he left the game after injuring his right ankle while sliding into home plate.


Short Season:
Josh Vitters - 3B - Boise Hawks
Vitters has been the most frustrating prospect since he was drafted a year ago by the Cubs. After an injury delayed his season until short season ball he is showing his true ability. Vitters went 2 for 4 tonight with 2 RBIs.

Down on the Farm: Wednesday June 18th

Star of the Day:
Yu Darvish - SP - Nippon Ham Fighters
Darvish picked up the win after tossing 7 innings, allowing 8 hits and 4 walks. He struck out 9 batters on the evening.


AA:
Cameron Maybin - CF - Carolina Mudcats
Maybin went 1 for 3 on the evening. He also walked once and added an RBI.


High A:
Chris Marrero - 1B - Potomac Nationals
Marrero has been on a role lately. He went 2 for 5 tonight with an RBI.


Jeremy Hellickson - SP - Vero Beach Devil Rays
Hellickson was fighting a finger blister for the 2nd game in a row. He tossed 2 innings, allowing 1 hit, walked none and struck out 3.

Down on the Farm: Saturday June 14th

Star of the Day:
Chris Volstad - SP - Carolina Mudcats
Volstad took to the mound today for the first time in 17 days after some time on the disabled list. On a strict pitch count he found his grove quickly, tossing 4 innings only allowing 3 hits and no walks while striking out 4.

High A:
Chris Marrero - 1B - Potomac Nationals
Marrero went 0 for 2 today with 2 walks and 2 runs scored.


Low A:
Michael Burgess - RF - Hagerstown Suns
Michael seems to be heating up again after a few days only luke warm. He went 1 for 3 with 2 runs scored

Down on the Farm: Wednesday June 11th

Star of the Day:
Chris Marrero - 1B - Potomac Nationals
Marrero finally put together a monster game yesterday as he went 3 for 4 with a double, a homerun, 2 runs scored and 2 RBI's. Marrero has struggled in High A ball for the last year, hitting AB=492, R=76, H=123, 2B=24, 3B=5, HR=19, BB=55, SO=113. That would give him approximate numbers of .251/.328/.434. Being a first baseman, these numbers are not where they need to be.

High A:
Hank Conger - DH - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
Conger continues to swing a hot bat as he had his third multi-hit game in a row and drove in a season high 4 runs. He went 2 for 5 on the day with a single and double.

Low A:
Matt Dominguez - 3B - Greensboro Grasshoppers
The hotest bat in the Posse system right now, Dominguez had his best game of the year and probably his career. He went 3 for 5 with a homerun, 3 runs scored and an RBI. Entering the season there were no questions about his defense, but a few a questions about his bat. Those concerns seem to be diminishing.

Down on the Farm : Monday June 9th

Star of the Day:
Cameron Maybin - CF - Carolina Mudcats
Maybin took a few days off from being the star of the day, but he is back on top. Maybin went 2 for 3 with a homerun and a walk. He scored two runs and drove in one other. He know has got his average up to .270, with a .371 OBP and a .509 slugging percentage.

High A:
Chris Marrero - 1B - Potomac Nationals
Marrero went 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI's. He is hitting .286 over the last 5 games to get his numbers to .230/.310/.416.

Low A:
Matt Dominguez - 3B - Greensboro Grasshoppers
Matt went 2 for 4 for the second day in a row, this time adding a walk and scoring 2 runs. On the season he is hitting .321/.418/.464.

Hank Conger - C - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
Conger has struggled coming back from injury, but went 2 for 4 tonight. He drove in 2 runs on the night and even stole a base.

down on the Farm: Tuesday May 27th

Star of the Day:
Jason Heyward - RF - Rome Braves
Heyward is a beast and expected to be the Posse's right fielder of the future. Heyward had a monster game today going 4 for 5 with three runs scored, one RBI, his 15th double on the season and 7th homerun.

AA:
Chris Volstad - SP - Carolina Mudcats
Good to see Volstad bouncing back with a strong start. Volstad tossed seven innings, allowing five hits, one walk and only gave up one run. Though Chris has been striking out more guys this year, he revisited his past by not striking out any in this game.

High A:
Chris Marrero - 1B - Potomac Nationals
Marrero went 3 for 6 tonight, scoring two runs, adding two RBI's and hitting his eighth homerun. On the season he is hitting .247/.330/.438. Chris needs to get his average up by another 30 points for this to be considered a good season.

Low A:
Matt Dominguez - 3B - Greensboro Grasshoppers
Dominguez had a perfect night going 3 for 3 with three runs scored and one RBI. On the season he is now 9 for 24 with three doubles and four walks. That is good for a .375/.464/.500.

Michael Burgess - RF - Hagerstown Suns
Let's start calling this guy "Mr. Multihit". Burgess raised his season average to .266 by getting his fifth multihit game in his last six. Burgess went 2 for 6, with 2 runs, 2 RBIs, his ninth double and third stolen base.

Down on the Farm: Monday May 26th

Star of the Day:
Chris Marrero - 1B - Potomac Nationals
One day, Posse management see Marrero in either left field or at first base. With Barry Bonds retiring soon, an opening will be available soon but Chris must have more days like this. Marrero went 2 for 3 with three runs scored, two RBI's, a double, a homerun and two walks.

AAA:
Jeff Clement - C - Tacoma Rainers
What a surprise, Jeff Clement! Clement went one for three on the day hitting a 2 run homerun to give him nine on the season. He also showed his patience by adding another walk to his season total.

Jeff Niemann - SP - Durham Bulls
Every start Jeff has had this year he has been lights out. In his sixth start of the season, Niemann tossed five innings allowing only an unearned run while giving up four hits, one walk and striking out two. On the season he has tossed 26.1 innings in AAA, allowing 18 hits, eight walks, and striking out 22.

AA:
Cameron Mayin - CF - Carolina Mudcats
Maybin went 2 for 4 with two runs scored, and one RBI. He showed his patience/power/speed combination by walking for his 31st time this season, he hit his 7th homerun, and he stole two bases to give him twelve on the season.

Low A:
Michael Burgess - RF - Hagerstown Suns
Burgess went 2 for 5 today with two runs scored, two RBI's, a double and a stolen base. This was Burgess' second consecutive multi-hit game and fourth in the last five games.

Blake Beavan - SP - Clinton LumberKings
Beavan may be the most consistent pitcher of a very strong Posse pitching farm. He threw another six innings, allowing only four hits and striking out four. On the season he has thrown 31 innings, allowing 26 hits and only one walk!

Down on the Farm: Wednesday May 21st

Star of the Day:
Jeff Clement, DH, Tacoma Rainers, AAA
For the second day in a row, Clement makes are "Down on te Farm" report. This time he went 1 for 3 on the night, with a homerun, 2 walks, 2 runs scored and 4 RBI's. If Jeff continues these hitting ways he should be back in the majors shortly and playing a role at catcher, first base and designated hitter with the Posse.

High A:
Chris Marrero, 1B, Potomac Nationals
Chris was one of the fast risers in 2007 for the Posse franchise, but has been struggling in 2008 hitting just .245/.335/.419. On this day Marrero had a strong day going 2 for 3 with a homerun, walk, two runs scored and an RBI.

Low A:
Michael Burgess, RF, Hagerstown Suns
The Posse franchise does not have much power potential in the minor league system, and the ones that do hit for power have predominately struggled this season. Michael Burgess is the third power hitter to make this list today as he went 3 for 4 with a double and a run scored.

Japan:
Yu Darvish, SP, Nippon Ham Fighters
Yu has had an amazing year, or should we say career, in Japan. Today was a bad line for Yu as he went 7 innings, allowing 8 hits, 1 walk and struck out 3. All hits were singles as he allowed 2 runs in the game. Yes, that is a bad line for Darvish!

Posse add prospect Dellin Betances

The Oak Ridges Posse announced today that they have finalized a deal with the Milwaukee Braves that sees Jeff Baker move on to the Braves. In return for Baker the Posse acquire prospect Dellin Betances.

Baker joined the Posse from the Mission Viejo Vigilantes when he was acquired for veteran reliever Luis Ayala. After starting the year in the Posse minor league system, Baker made it to the majors as a September call up and got to play everyday as the team chose to rest left fielder Barry Bonds. Taking advantage of the opportunity Baker hit .338 over 74 at bats, hitting 11 doubles, 4 triples and 4 dingers during that span. "This is great for Jeff. In Oak Ridges he was blocked by Barry Bonds, Torii Hunter, Chone Figgins and Bobby Abreu and with talented youngsters like Cameron Maybin and Chris Marrero knocking on the door, he just was not going to get a starting job opportunity. In Milwaukee he may get that opportunity.", stated GM Luddington.

In Betances, the Posse get a high ceiling raw pitching prospect. "Betances is someone we have been eyeing for a long time. When he was a junior in high school we had him rated the top pitching prospect in the draft. Unfortunately, we were not able to acquire him through the draft, but our interest did not decrease. Once we had the opportunity to acquire him, we pulled the trigger", claimed GM Luddington. Betances is a 6'8 19 year old right hander that has two plus pitches and is working to improve a third. So far in 13 minor league starts, Betances has tossed 48 innings, allowing 38 hits, 24 walks and 56 strikeouts.

Posse get busy in Minor League Draft

Unlike past years, the Posse entered the MDBL minor draft with only four spots available to be filled but that did not mean they were not busy. Posse management made three selections in the draft portion and also completed two trades that brought some additional young options to the fold and some picks for the future.


"We entered this draft with specific players we wanted to acquire and we are happy to say we got many of the guys we were targeting", stated GM Luddington.


The Posse had two selections in the first round (including the 9th overall selection) and then had to wait until the compensation round to make their third selection. With their first selection they went for 17 year old Seattle shortstop Carlos Triunfel. Triunfel was signed as an internation free agent in 2006 by the Mariners and was assigned to Low A Wisconsin, which is quite rare for a young 17 year old. Baseball America currently projects Triunfel to be a 5-tool premium position player, and so far he is demonstrating many of the tools. Currently Triunfel is showing he has a very mature bat as he has demonstrated the ability to hit both fastballs and offspeed pitches and uses the whole field. He also has demonstrate very good range defensively and a great arm. What Carlos has not shown yet is the ability to take a walk, which may never come, and the ability to hit for power, which is expected to come. "We are extremely excited about Carlos. Only one other player on our list received a rating similar to Carlos. We expect he will replace Derek Jeter in a few years.", claimed GM Luddington.


To conclude the first round the Posse went the usual route they go for during the draft and that is to select the top talented "next draft" prospects. California High School junior Isaac Galloway was the first target on that list. Galloway is a 5-tool prospect that has the ability to hit for both power and steal bases. His package seems to be very similar to current Posse prospect Andrew McCutchen. Posse management then orchestrated a trade, which could not be completed until after the draft, by sending recently acquired prospects Carlos Gonzalez, Joel Guzman and CJ Henry to the Rampage for the next pick after Galloway, a compensation pick, a player acquired through the auction and the Rampage 2008 1st round minor league draft pick. With the sandwich pick just acquired they Rampage selected on behalf of the Posse, California high school junior Aaron Hicks. "To be honest, the direction of the first round really forced us to react.", stated GM Luddington. "So many high schoolers went in the first round, and when the Millers took Eric Hosmer (who we rated #3 on our 2008 high school list) we got worried that we would not get our top two 2008's. We got Galloway with one, but did not think Hicks would make it until our next pick in the compensation round. Giving up Gonzalez was difficult but with current outfield youngsters Quentin, Maybin, McCutchen and Marrero we figured we could afford to. Guzman and Henry were really throw in's to balance out the rosters to 36. In return, we got Hicks who we covet, we got what should amount to a top 3 pick in the 2008 draft and we knew we probably would get a couple solid pitching prospects late".


The Posse did not pick again until the compensation round where they made two selection. The first one was made by the Posse and they took another high school junior, but this time it was Harold Martinez from Florida. "We have been following Martinez probably longer then any prospect since we took over the reigns in Oak Ridges. In our opinion Martinez and Triunfel are very similar players, and both have the tools to be superstars. This allows us to be extremely deep at SS as both join Justin Jackson on our depth chart" With the second compensation pick, the Posse had the Rampage select Yu Darvish from Japan. This is actually the second time GM Luddington has drafted Yu Darvish, with the first time being when Darvish was a high school senior in Japan and GM Luddington was running the show for NAFTA. "There is no pitcher I wanted in this draft more then Yu, but I also knew I could get him later in the draft. I first draft Darvish because I knew he had the talent and rolled the dice that he may come to the majors instead of the Japanese league. That did not pay off, but I knew that in a few more years I would re-acquire him.", claimed FM Luddington. Darvish was draft 1st overall, and at the age of 20 is already in his third full season in Japan. So far he is the "next one" in Japan as he already has started 10 games, tossed 80 innings, allowed opponents to bat only .167 against him, walked only 19 batters, struck out 9.11 players per 9 innings and compiled a 2.03 ERA....and he is only 20! Darvish cannot become a free agent for 6 more years, but he is expected to be posted earlier then that. When asked about how long it will be until Darvish will be in a Posse uniform Luddington stated "It is worth the wait. Any high schooler is probably 4-5 years away anyways, wo there is not much of a difference. Just a more experienced and proven option."


In the midst of the compensation round, the Posse made another trade, but this one was much more surprising as they dealt top high school senior Matt Harvey to the Pioneers for Los Angeles Angels Korean youngster Young-Il Jung and the Pioneers 1st and 2nd rounders in the 2008 minor league draft. "Basically we were approached by the Pioneers about acquiring Harvey. We love Harvey's talent but also recognize that Matt's family are very close with the Pioneers management. We actually feel that Jung has as much talent as Matt and were able to acquire another 1st round pick for next year.". Sounds like a win-win trade! Jung is a 17 year old pitcher that has three above average offerings and has the ability to become a #2 or #3 starter. He currently is pitching extremely well in extended spring.


In the auction round the Posse picked up two more players, taking high school junior Casey Kelly and high school senior Neil Ramirez. Ramirez was the final player acquired in the Rampage trade and has the pure stuff to be a top of the rotation starter but so far has not shown any consistency. Casey Kelly was ranked 5th on the Rampage's high school junior draft board, but also brings a ton of doubters with him. Kelly is an incredibe athlete who can be a top notch baseball prospect as either a pitcher or as a hitter. He has a large frame and will probably outgrow shortstop, but a move to either third base or right field is an option. He has all the tools to do either. He also happens to be one of the top pitching prospects, as evidence by taking the ball in the Florida 6A finals and throwing a complete game 2 hit shutout including striking out top high school senior Michael Main 3 times. What raises questions around Kelly is that he also plays quarterback in football and may not be willing to give up that sport. The good news is he is not being recruited by many top football programs (Alabama, Duke, Ole Miss, Rutgers, South Florida, Tennessee and UCF).


"We are extremely happy with this draft. We acquired top talent at key positions which is always our goal", stated GM Luddington. The Posse also have three first round picks and two second round picks in 2008.

Oak Ridges Posse Annual Scouting Trip

Every year the Oak Ridges Posse management team make a spring trip down to Florida to scout some of the prospects in the area. Last year we made visits to Jupiter to see Florida Marlin prospects Chris Volstad and Sean West. We then visited Monsignor Pace High School to see third baseman Chris Marrero and shortstop Adrian Cardenes.

Today we are announcing the 2007 Florida Scouting Schedule.

Wednesday March 14th we will be watching Monarchs prospect Matt Latos toss for Broward Community College. He will be taking the mound and we already received our invite from Broward coach Bob Deutschman.

Friday March 16th we will be attending the University of Miami Hurricans game against Maryland. The Hurricanes have intriging prospects like Yonder Alonso, Jemile Weeks and Ryan Jackson (who we saw play for Gulliver Prep back in 2005)

Tuesday March 20th we will be visiting Posse catching prospect Danny Rams of Gulliver Prep as he takes on Coral Shores.

We also plan on making a trip up to Orlando on the 17th and 18th and therefore may find some time to stop by the Atlanta Braves minor league complex and check out Prickly Pears Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Manatees Van Pope and a few others.