So far, only five of the 23 former Dayton Dragons who have made the major leagues stand out for their longevity in the bigs.What is this all leading up to?They all had one thing in common. As Dragons President Bob Murphy noted the other day, all spent at least one full season with the Class A Midwest League Dragons and weren't rushed to the next level in, say, July.
Certainly we'd expect Joey Votto and Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey and Jay Bruce to quickly add their names to the list, but Votto and Cueto are rookies with the Reds, Bailey is still trying to make it, and Bruce, for some reason, has not yet worn a major-league uniform in a regular-season game.
That leaves Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns as regular big-league outfielders, Edwin Encarnacion as a regular third baseman, Wily Mo Pena as, if not a full-time regular, at least a solid spare part, and pitcher Todd Coffey.
Argue if you must that Coffey hasn't proven himself, but this is the fourth season he is wearing a Reds uniform, and that's an extensive amount of time for most in baseball.
The point is, it didn't seem to hurt those players to stay an entire year at low A. That's something for Reds officials to ponder as they watch shortstop Todd Frazier and third baseman Brandon Waring on this year's Dragons.I'm just going to let this part of the post end right here.
The other part is something that happened earlier this week that is shocking to almost no one:
The Dayton Dragons and parent Cincinnati Reds have signed an agreement to continue their association for another four years."Dragons fans are great Reds fans," Dragons president Bob Murphy said. "So many follow the Reds, we want to keep the Reds here."
It was because the Reds waived territorial rights that the Dragons — who play in the Class A Midwest League — are here in the first place. When Mandalay Sports and Entertainment bought the Rockford, Ill., Reds in 1999, it was with the understanding that the team would be moved to Dayton for the 2000 season and continue as a Reds affiliate.Because Dayton is so close to Cincinnati, the Reds had to agree that a team could move that close.
That happened and, according to Murphy, "My understanding is as long as a team run by Mandalay is in Dayton, Ohio, we agree to be a Reds affiliate."
1 comment:
Along this posts lines, This is year two of the latest two year agreement with the Mariners.
I know it takes two to tango, but has there historically been a point during the last year of the agreement when it's announced whether it will be renewed or not?
Last year a wishful writer for the local fish wrap opinioned that the Brewers should forge an agreement with The Appleton Baseball Club, but i think it'd be a shame if the Mariners and TABC parted ways.
I'm not a Mariners fan per say nor a Brewer hater, but as corny as it may sound, i've invested my "fan-dom" in the Mariners kids. I read up on Clement, Rob Johnson, Mike "Little Papi" Wilson, Michael Saunders, Tui, Carlos T, etc. and catch Adam Jones, Putz (well not right now) and Lowe on mlb.tv whenever i can. And I look forward to following Beamon, Dickey, Mighty Joe Dunigan, Carol, Liddi and the rest of this years kids.
So here's hoping the Mariners and the TABC can agree to a similar four year deal.
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