Down on the Farm: Friday July 18th

Star of the Day:
Yu Darvish - SP - Nippon Ham Fighters
Darvish tossed another complete game while allowing only a single run. He allowed 4 hits, walked none and struck out 10 batters.

AAA:
Michael Aubrey - 1B - Buffalo Bisons
Aubrey started to heat up just before the AAA allstar break, and he seems to have the hot bat still going. He went 3 for 5 today while scoring a single run.

High A:
Hank Conger - DH - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
After hitting 3 dingers yesterday, Conger was able to hit two more today. He drove in 6 runs during his 2 for 4 day.

Low A:
Blake Beavan - SP - Clinton LumberKings
Not the greatest start for Beavan, but not horrible either. He tossed 5 innings and only allowed 1 run. Unfortunately, he allowed 8 baserunnners while striking out 4.

Matt Dominguez - 3B - Greensboro Grasshoppers
Dominguez extended his 4 game hittin streak by going 2 for 4 with a run, and RBI and a walk.

Justin Jackson - SS - Lansing Lugnuts
Jackson extended his multi-hit game streak to three games with anoth 3 for 5 game. This time they were all singles, but he was able to score on one of the hits.

Shortseason:
Josh Vitters - 3B - Boise Hawks
Vitter extended his hitting streak to 6 games with a 2 for 5 game. One of his hits was a double and he was able to score twice.

Down on the Farm : Saturday July 12th

Prospect of the Day:
Yu Darvish - SP - Nippon Ham Fighters
Another start for Yu and another complete game. Darvish tossed his seventh complete game, allowing 6 hits while walking 1 and striking out 9. Scary thing is this is close to an average start for Yu who average 6 hits, 2 walks and 8 strikeouts per game.

Low A:
Blake Beavan - SP - Clinton LumberKings
Beavan has extended his scoreless streak to 13 innings. He tossed 6 innings tonight allowing 5 hits and no walks. He struck out only one batter, but seems be on track over his last 10 starts as he has a 1.94 ERA and a WHIP slightly under 1.00.

Michael Burgess - RF - Hagerstown Suns
Michael finally ended his homerun streak, but he still went 2 for 4 with a double. He is now hitting .266/.360/.528 on the year.

Justin Jackson - SS - Lansing Lugnuts
This is becoming a habit for Jackson...finally! Jackson went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI.

Short Season:
Josh Vitters - 3B - Boise Hawks
Vitters had another multi-RBI game in a row. This time he went 2 for 5 with a double and a walk.

Rookie:
Aaron Hicks - CF - GCL Twins
Not a great game but it still qualifies. He went 2 for 6 with a run scored.

Down on the Farm : Friday July 4th

Star of the Day:
Yu Darvish - SP - Nippon Ham Fighters
Darvish threw 8 innings today allowing only 6 runners (5 hits and 1 walk). For the second game in a row he struck out 10 batters. On the season he is 9-3 with a 1.93 ERA. He has tossed 130.2 innings, allowing 94 hits, 30 walks and has struck out 123 batters.

Low A:
Jordan Walden - SP - Cedar Rapids Kernals
Jordan has been the most consistent Posse prospect pitcher this year. He tossed 7 innings today, allowing a single run to score via 6 hits and 1 walk. On the season he has allowed 98 runners over 92.2 innings while striking out 74. He has a 2.33 ERA.

Short Season:
Josh Vitters - 3B - Boise Hawks
Vitters went 1 for 4 today with a double and a run scored.

Rookie:
Isaac Galloway - CF - GCL Marlins
He is not doing a ton in any of his games but keeps making the list because he is doing enough. Today he went 1 for 4 with a run and a RBI. On the season he is hitting .250/.250/.321.

Kyle Skipworth - C - GCL Marlins
Skipworth went hitless in his first four professional game, but he broke out in his fifth game. He went 3 for 3 on the day with all three hits going for singles.

Down on the Farm : Saturday June 28th

Star of the Day:
Neil Ramirez - SP - Spokane Indians
Ramirez had the best start of his young career. He tossed 6 innings of 1 hit, 1 walk ball while striking out 7. He did not allow a run in the game.

Japan:
Yu Darvish - SP - Nippon Ham Fighters
Darvish is starting to look like his old self. He tossed 7 innings of 2 run ball. He allowed 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 10 batters.

AAA:
Jeff Niemann - SP - Durham Bulls
Niemann tossed a weird game today, allowing only 1 hit over 6 innings. While allowing 3 runs during the game, he walked 5 batters and struck out 4.

AA:
Cameron Maybin - CF - Carolina Mudcats
Maybin is making this list quite a bit by hitting the right categories though he is not making contact nearly enough. He went 1 for 3 today with a double and a walk. He scored a run and also added a stolen base.

Chris Volstad - SP - Carolina Mudcats
Volstad tossed 6 innings of 3 hit ball today, allowing only 1 earned run to score. He struck out 2 batters, but also allowed 3 to reach base via the walk.

Low A:
Michael Burgess - RF - Hagerstown Suns
Burgess went 1 for 3 with 2 walks. His lone hit was a double, but he was able to score 2 runs for the Suns.

Short Season:
Josh Vitters - 3B - Boise Hawks
Vitters hit his first professional homerun today. He went 2 for 5 in the game, adding a run scored and 3 RBI's.

Rookie:
Isaac Galloway - CF - GCL Marlins
Galloway makes this list for the first time in his second professional game. After going 0 for 5 in his first game, he got his first career hit. He went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI.

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: Thursday June 12th

Star of the Day:
Yu Darvish - SP - Nippon Ham Fighters
Another consistent start for Darvish, though he took the loss as the Fighters were unable to score a run. Darvish went 9 innings, allowing only 5 hits while striking out 7. What is not Darvish like were the 5 baserunners that got on via the walk. The only run allowed by him was a 6th inning solo homerun. On the season, Darvish has tossed 108.2 innings, allowing 76 hits, 22 walks, and 94 strikeouts.

High A:
Hank Conger - DH - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
Conger produced his fourth game in a row with 2 hits. He went 2 for 4 this time with a double. He is 9 for 19 over the last 5 games with 3 doubles and 9 RBI's.

Low A:
Jason Heyward - RF - Rome Braves
Heyward has just recently came back from a minor injury. He had a couple "0-fers" before going 2 for 4 today with a stolen base, his ninth on the season.

Blake Beavan - SP - Clinton LumberKings
Blake has been struggling lately. Though he only gave up 2 runs over 5.2 innings, he did give up 9 hits. Blake looks like he is a similar type of pitcher to Chris Volstad, throwing a lot of strikes and not giving up much in the way of walks. That typically means he will give up more than a hit an inning.

Justin Jackson - SS - Lansing Lugnuts
You do not see his name on this list much, but our fingers are crossed he will develop. Jackson went 1 for 2 with a double, a run scored and 2 walks. He also stole his 9th base. Jackson is only hitting .230/.360/.362 on the season...well, at least he can talk a walk!

Down on the Farm : Wednesday June 4th

Star of the Day:
Jordan Walden - SP - Cedar Rapids Kernals
Walden tossed a great game today, going 7 innings and allowing only 1 hit and 2 walks in a complete game shutout. He struck out 9.

AAA:
Jeff Clement - C - Tacome Rainers
Not a typical night for Jeff, but he did go 1 for 4 with an RBI.

AA:
Cameron Maybin - CF - Carolina Mudcats
This list is becoming a common occurance for this red hot player. Maybin goes 2 for 4 with a walk tonight. He got his 5 extra base hit in the last three games with a double. Cameron also added a run and 2 more RBI's.

Japan:
Yu Darvish - SP - Nippon Ham Fighters
Darvish threw another strong complete game for the Fighters, but took the loss as he did not get much support. Yu went 9 innings allowing 6 hits, 2 walks and struck out 7. He allowed 5 of his 6 hits in 2 innings to give up 3 runs.

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!

16-year old is made the Posse's third selection

Historically the Posse have not made much of an investment in the international market, but they changed all of that last year when they built a complex in Jamaica last year. Yes, I know...Jamaica! Why would they build it in Jamaica? Well, it is close to all of the Caribbean markets and sometimes the management's wives have a say. After building the complex they made a splash by taking two of the top international prospects in Carlos Triunfel and Yu Darvish. They have since traded Triunfel away, but Darvish is probably the teams top pitching prospect. This year the international office added a third player to their resume in 16 year old outfielder Juan Duran.

"Whenever you draft a prospect you are taking a gamble because you just do not know how they will turn out. Well, with international players that gamble is even bigger.", GM Shawn Luddington was quoted as saying. "We are comfortable that Juan is worth that gamble".

Duran is a huge 6'6" right handed hitting outfielder that brings uber-tools to the ballpark. He has 80 power potential, gets amazing loft on the ball, he is a plus runner and also has a strong arm. Even though he has the potential to be a center fielder, he is still very tall and as he adds muscle he will probably move to a corner outfield position.

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.