Whitecaps get grades

Gary Bond, the beat writer for the Whitecaps at the Grand Rapids Press, handed out his season ending grades. Looks like some gentleman's C's and a lot of them.

For example, the hitters:

The Whitecaps weren't a power-hitting club. They had to utilize small ball to win.

Roger Tomas finished with a .310 batting. Alex Avila (.305) and Justin Henry (.295) also handled Class A pitching well.

A lot more was expected of infielder Ronnie Bourquin, though, who batted just .235. The Tigers' second-round draft pick in 2006 out of Ohio State University, where he was the Big Ten Conference Player of the Year, struggled most of the season and is likely to return to West Michigan to start next season.

Grade: C-minus

And now, a look into 2009:

West Michigan was the Tigers' only minor league club to make the playoffs, which is a good indication many of the players on the roster won't be back next season, nor should they based on performance.

Outfielders Chris White and Andy Dirks weren't starters and probably will return next season just to see what kind of numbers they could put up playing every day. Plus, they need the experience.

Pitchers Brett Jacobson, Aaron Fuhrman, Scott Green and possibly Weber could make up the starting rotation, which would give [Manager Joe] DePastino some experience to start the season.