For grins, here are the predictions they made for the Mariner system.
Organizational MVP: Jeff Clement. Even if the 2005 No. 3 overall pick hadn't hit .319-6-20 in 30 games at Wisconsin, you'd have to like the way his power should translate in the California League. If that's where he ends up going, the USC product should launch plenty of balls into the smoggy San Bernardino air.
Well, he made it to Triple-A and didn't play a game in the California League. But he also only played 82 games due to injuries and hit a combined .263 with just 23 extra-base hits. The actual organizational Player of the Year was Bryan LaHair, who hit a combined .309 with 16 homers and 74 RBIs between Double- and Triple-A.
"Tommy" on the farm: This spot is usually reserved for predicting the organization's "Cy on the farm," but with the loss of Felix Hernandez -- a future Cy in the bigs -- and a dearth of top pitching prospects, focus turns to a couple guys who could make some noise as they recover from Tommy John surgery. The Mariners have made the same type of high-risk/high-reward pick in the 12th round of each of the last two drafts. They selected Wichita State pitcher Steve Uhlmansiek in 2004 and St. John's hurler Anthony Varvaro in 2005, despite the fact that each was known to be facing surgery. Uhlmansiek returned in late June last year to pitch in 10 games in the Arizona Rookie League, posting a 3.78 ERA. Varvaro, who was a college teammate of Boston first-round pick Craig Hansen, should make a similar midseason return this year, and if fully recovered could vault to the top of the Mariners' Minor League pitching corps.
This one may not truly be decided for a while, but we'll take credit. Uhlmansiek pitched for short-season Everett and finished with a 4.07 ERA over 66 1/3 innings. The league hit just .229 against the lefty, who struck out 60 (albeit with 38 walks). Varvaro followed the same path as Uhlmaskiek in 2005. The right-hander pitched well in five games in the rookie-level Arizona League, finishing with a 1.64 ERA in 11 total innings while racking up 15 strikeouts against just five walks.
Catching bug: The Mariners won't pick a catcher in the first several rounds of the draft. With Clement, Kenji Johjima, Rob Johnson and Rene Rivera all awaiting their turn behind the plate, Seattle already has a potential logjam situation there.
What's your definition of "several?" If it's five, then we were right. The M's took Texas-Arlington backstop Adam Moore in the sixth round of last June's draft. He was, though, the only catcher Seattle signed from the draft (they took one in the 50th round, high schooler Tyler Sanford, but he's not in the M's system). Moore got off to a good start too, hitting .317 over 16 games for Everett to earn a promotion to full-season Wisconsin, where he hit .267 with seven homers in 44 games. He's a long way from entering the logjam though, and with his strong offensive skills and less-than-strong defensive ones, a position switch may be in his future.
International men of mystery: One or more of the following young Latin American players will put up big numbers in a short-season league: Wellington Dotel, OF; Jose Escalona, LHP; Carlos Peguero, OF; Alfredo Venegas, RHP.
Venegas didn't pitch in the United States, though he did do some nice things in the Venezuela Summer League. Dotel hit .261 with some pop (23 extra-base hits) over 207 at-bats in the Arizona League. Escalona actually pitched for Wisconsin in the full-season Midwest League and had a 4.06 ERA over 126 1/3 innings. Peguero hit .313 with a 1.029 OPS over 34 games in the Arizona League before being bumped to Everett, where he hit .204 in 25 games (still, he finished the year with a .520 SLG). If we're fishing, we'll take credit for Peguero's numbers in the AZL.
End result: We'll take the TJ surgery call and cobble the catching/draft and Latin players predictions into one total correct. That leaves us with a 2-for-4 showing in the Pacific Northwest.
Isn't it great when you can judge your own predictions?
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