DOWN ON THE FARM

By R.E. McCabe correspondent Sam ‘no spell check’ Willie


Minor League Position Player Spotlight:


New York Yankees AAA 1B/C/DH David Wang, 8 HR (tied for AAA lead), 15 RBI, and a 542 BA in only 24 plate appearances. The Yankees are 8-1 and leading the division by 4 games.

Player notes: The 24 year old Wang is a season 10 third round draft pick (126) out of El Reno, Oklahoma. He attended Northern Oklahoma College in Enid, Oklahoma and left after his sophomore year signing a Rookie League contract with a $407,000 Bonus.

Minor League Stats: Season 13, 42 HR, 101 RBI, 327 BA and a career minor league batting average of 322.

Minor League Pitcher Spotlight:

St. Louis Cardinals High A pitcher Jorge Jose (Right-hander) 2-0 with one complete game. He has a 1.06 ERA, 065 WHIP, 172 OVA, 13 Ks, and 1 BB in 17 innings of work.

Player notes: Jose (22 year old) was an IFA season 14 signing out of Tela, Honduras. He signed a minor league contract with a spring training invite and a $690,000 Bonus. He has four pitches with the 4-seam fastball and the sinker being his best. He also has a circle-change and a slider.

Minor League Stats: 1st season of professional baseball (see above stats).

Minor League Coach Spotlight:

Detroit Tigers Low A squad is 9-0. The club is guided by 4th year (2nd with Detroit) Bench Coach Kenny Dickerson. The 38 year old Bench Coach has never had a losing season and has a career win total of 306-134. The Tigers were 115-29 last year and NL Low A champions. The Tigers lost to Milwaukee in the Low A World Series 4-2. Dickerson did not work in season 12. He was 80-64 with Low A Rochester in season 11, 63-13 and won the World Series with Rookie League Florida in season 10, and in season 9 he was 48-28 with New York Mets RL team which was a wildcard winner and 1st round loser. Dickerson should be a hot item on owners vacancy list next year.