Before getting started with the afternoon posts

A congratulations to the High Desert Mavericks in the California League.

For the first time since 1993, the High Desert Mavericks are first half champions. They defeated the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 4-3 Wednesday night at Mavericks Stadium and paired with a Lake Elsinore loss they clinched the title.

See any familiar names here?

Alex Liddi parked a solo homer over the left field fence to lead off the sixth to tie the game at one run apiece.

The seventh inning has been the big one for the Mavs all season, so it was only appropriate they broke through for three runs on Wednesday night. The first run came home on a throwing error by Rancho Cucamonga outfielder Jeremy Moore.

Liddi and Kuo Hui Lo each had big two-out base hits to put the Mavs ahead 4-1 heading into the eighth.

Phillippe Aumont worked the ninth and got his 12th save of the season.

By my count there are 21 former Timber Rattlers on the Mavericks roster.

Congratulations to former Rattler manager Jim Horner, his staff -- which is also made up of ex-Rattler coaches -- and the entire team.

“They are the ones who did it. They are the ones who deserve the celebration,” said High Desert manager Jim Horner, watching the Champagne fight from the back. “For me personally, the last two years managing, it was up-and-down type of seasons. The Mariners knew when they sent these guys here that they would do something special because there are a lot of good players on this team. Hopefully, we get to kind of hang out for a little while and we get to play in the playoffs and hopefully we can prove that we are the best team.”

Odd choice for a headline

Mike Saunders (WI, '06) gets the treatment in the Tacoma News Tribune with a weird headline.

Can-miss kid Saunders a gifted prospect for Rainiers

For an organization that takes pains to assure fans that their Safeco Field experience is rated G, fit for all ages, the Mariners are surprisingly aggressive about their youth movement.

Rather than coddle top prospects in a wading pool, Seattle’s player-development mavens throw the kids into the deep end, to determine whether they are more apt to sink or swim.

Take 21-year-old Michael Saunders, whose recent invitation to Tacoma was his fourth promotion in four seasons. A former youth hockey center with the build and graceful gait of a wide receiver, the 6-foot-4, 212-pound Saunders has all the tools scouts covet – and a long swing that sometimes screams for a wrench.

In 359 professional baseball games, Saunders has more strikeouts (392) than hits (365).

Well, maybe not an odd choice, but I can see how that headline could be taken a different way.

A little history on Saunders:

Two years ago in the Single-A Midwest League, Saunders struck out 103 times in 104 games for Wisconsin, where he hit a modest .240. Rather than returning him to Wisconsin in 2007, the Mariners pushed Saunders to a more advanced Single-A California League. His response to the challenge (.299, with 14 homers, three triples and 25 doubles) earned him a late-season call-up to West Tennessee of the Double-A Southern League.

For the rest go to the article.

Be aggressive

B! E! Aggressive!

Jason Churchill has a piece in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about a certain philosophy in the Mariner minor league system.

The Mariners have become known for their aggressive approach to developing young talent. On numerous occasions over the past three summers, young, raw prospects have been challenged with promotions, perhaps before their time had come. Moves such as these, though, have drawn criticism around the league.

"You can be right and wrong at the same time in this game," said an assistant general manager of an American League Central club. "I don't know their system well, but maybe they saw some kids they thought could handle the pressure, the failure. But looking back, it does appear they took some unnecessary risks that weren't likely to do too much for them even had the player made a smooth transition."

Six key players have been pushed more noticeably than the rest, including Matt Tuiasosopo, Chris Tillman, Rob Johnson, Jeff Clement, Michael Saunders and Greg Halman. Saunders and Halman received their promotions this month.

Just go read the whole thing.

A letter

The GM of the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx is pretty proud of the progress made by the Double-A affiliate of the Mariners this season. So proud that he wrote a letter to the newspaper.

Your West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx, the Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, are the 2008 champions of the Northern Division of the Southern League. Not only are they playing great baseball on the field, but they are also champions in the community. This group of players and coaches are very active in our community, making appearances whenever and wherever they are asked. Some of these appearances have included visits to the West Tennessee School for the Deaf, Jackson-Madison County General Hospital, the West Tennessee Healthcare Sportsplex and Parkview Montessori Magnet School. They also will be getting involved with Meals On Wheels.

Yes. But, what's ahead?

Ownership of the Jaxx changed on May 9, and the new owners are excited about the future in Jackson. David Freeman and Reese Smith both reside in the Nashville area. Both have been in attendance at many games since the acquisition. They have already built a strong relationship with city officials, including Mayor Gist and City Recorder Al Laffoon, and are close to agreeing on a long-term lease. While new management has taken over the club, we were fortunate to keep an experienced, passionate staff in place.

Much more to be proud of over at the link

Interesting thought

Remember that whole player development vs. winning thing that comes up every once in awhile?

Here is are some thoughts from the Roanoke Times.
In the minors, it's progress or perish
As baseball returns to Pulaski after a one-year hiatus, the team's Major League affiliate, the Seattle Mariners, look less for wins and more for quality at bats from hitters and pitchers who can throw strikes.

After going through the different levels of the system for the new Mariner fans in Virginia, there is this:

At each level, players must progress or perish. Nonperformers are released. Those who prove themselves are promoted. There is no exact science to this.

"None of this is in black and white," said Pulaski manager Rob Mummau, seven years with the Mariners organization, most of that as a scout. Before that, he spent seven seasons in the Toronto Blue Jays chain as a player.

There are no specific benchmarks players most meet in order to progress to the next level, but there are some general standards to note, Mummau said. The standards apply at each level.

Read the article for the standards and also keep this in mind:

Great statistics are hugely helpful in the decision-making process for the brass, but that's not the only factor.

"There are players hitting .210 who get promoted," Mummau said.

Why didn't I think of this earlier

The other leagues have notebooks, too. What is in the notebooks about the other teams in the Seattle system?

PCL:

Tacoma Rainiers (Seattle Mariners)

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: With a 5-2 showing last week, the Rainiers held second place in the Pacific Northern Division.

WHO'S HOT/NOT: SS Oswaldo Navarro hit .324 (11-for-34) over 10 games. ... RHP R.A. Dickey has pitched 14 1/3 innings over his last two starts, going 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA. ... 1B Bryan LaHair batted .056 (1-for-18) over a five-game span.

DOUBLE WHAMMY: Since being promoted from Double-A West Tennessee at the beginning of the month, Shawn Garrett has played four different positions for the Rainiers. But in two games of Tacoma's four-game sweep in Omaha last week, he played the role of hero. Twice in three days, the 29-year-old hit final-inning, three-run homers off Royals closer Neal Musser. In the second game of a doubleheader last Sunday, his three-run drive in the top of the seventh gave the Rainiers a 3-2 victory. On Tuesday, he broke a 1-1 tie with another three-run blast in the ninth, sending Tacoma to a 4-1 win. Garrett has hit only one other homer this season, with West Tennessee on April 28.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "It's going to cross your mind, because we just saw it a couple of days ago." --Manager Daren Brown to the Omaha World-Herald on whether he thought Garrett could homer a second time.

Southern League:

West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (Seattle Mariners)

THE WEEK THAT WAS: The Diamond Jaxx (26-16) followed a four-game losing streak with three straight wins.

WHO'S HOT, WHO'S NOT: 2B Luis Valbuena, hitting .320, combined to go 5-for-11 in back-to-back games, hitting a homer and driving in four in the second contest. ... C Adam Moore cooled off, going 3-for-23, while OF Michael Saunders was 3-for-18.

PLAYER TO WATCH: 1B Marshall Hubbard was tied for second in the league with a .360 average, and his 31 RBIs ranked fourth. His on-base percentage was .464 thanks to 22 walks, while his slugging percentage was .596 with 13 doubles, two triples and five home runs. Hubbard, 26, had struck out just 27 times.

PERFORMANCE OF WEEK: LHP Ryan Ketchner allowed just one unearned run in 7 2/3 innings at Birmingham, improving to 3-0 with a 3-1 victory. He allowed six hits, walked one and struck out three. It was by far the best of his eight starts. Ketchner, 26, had a 4.64 ERA on the season, with opponents hitting .310 against him.

California League:

High Desert Mavericks (Seattle Mariners)

THE WEEK THAT WAS: The Mavs went 3-4 on the week to sit in a three-way tie atop the South at 19-24. All five teams in the division are under .500 and within two games of each other. High Desert's 5.63 ERA is still last in the league.

WHO'S HOT? 3B Matt Mangini went 5-for-5 on May 11. ... OF Greg Halman (see below) had four homers in his last six games, and his 1.000 slugging percentage in that span topped the league. ... 1B Johan Limonta was promoted to Double-A West Tenn, but his .319 average lives on as eighth in the league. ... RHP Kyle Parker ranked ninth in the league with a 3.29 ERA, and his 48 strikeouts were good for third. He tossed seven innings of three-hit ball May 15.

DUTCH TREAT: Multi-tooled outfielder Greg Halman, who hails from the Netherlands, has been getting the job done with his bat and his feet. His two solo homers (giving him 10 long balls on the season) accounted for the club's lone runs in its 8-2 loss to Bakersfield on May 13. It was the 20-year-old's third career multi-homer game. He's also been very effective when he hasn't just been trotting around the bases. Through May 17, he'd stolen 17 bases without getting caught, putting him in a tie for third in the league.

Role Model

The real news in the Jim Street article about the Seattle minor league system is tucked away in two items near the end. But, Raul Ibanez (Foxes, '94) giving a talk -- that lasted 45 minutes -- is the main part of the item.

After accepting an invitation from Minor League coordinator of instruction Pedro Grifol, veteran Mariners outfielder Raul Ibanez shared his experiences in the game, stressing the importance of never giving up, never giving in.

The Minor League players were told to be available for a 7:30 a.m. MST "meeting," a session that was supposed to last 30 minutes. But it lasted until 8:15 a.m., and judging from the response of some of the organization's prospects, it was a very worthwhile 45 minutes.

"It was good to hear from someone like [Ibanez] that you don't always have to be the highest Draft pick, or the highest-paid guy, to make it to the top," said Daniel Carroll, the Mariners' third-round selection in last year's First-Year Player Draft. "It was really nice for him to come over and talk to us."

A 36th-round Draft choice in 1992, Ibanez persevered through 10 seasons before finally reaching the Major Leagues for good with the Royals in 2002. A .300-plus hitter five times in the Minor Leagues with the Mariners, he never could stick with the big league club, getting short stints each season from 1996-2000 before being released.

Read that whole part for the reaction of Bryan LaHair, another late-round pick who played in Appleton.

But, here are the two parts of the story that may interest Rattler fans the most. First, it looks like Matt Mangini will not wear a Rattler uniform:

[Minor League Director Greg] Hunter mentioned Carroll as a player who could move through the farm system quickly, as could third baseman Matt Mangini -- the sandwich selection Seattle received as compensation for losing starting pitcher Gil Meche to free agency.

"He'll start the season at High Desert [in the Class A California League]," Hunter said.
Second, it looks like Jeff Clement ('05) is going to be just fine.

In his first game after being reassigned from the Major League camp, catcher Jeff Clement went 3-for-3 with a home run, two doubles and four RBIs in a Tacoma Rainiers victory over Oklahoma.