Mahoning Valley Scrappers
Pay the Piper
Raleigh, NC – Mike Piper is college baseball’s biggest name heading into the 2018 season. The first overall pick last June, he failed to sign with Bowling Green after their GM proved incapable of doing even regular duties. “I never even received an offer,” Piper tells me. “Some weird stuff going on in Bowling Green last year.” Piper is widely expected to be the first overall pick again this June. The Mahoning Valley Scrappers hold the first pick this time, and sources insist they will sign him if he’s the choice. “Even if he tears his UCL, he might go #1,” a scout for a team picking near the bottom of the round tells me. “He’s the best college pitcher I’ve ever seen.” Piper’s performance through the league&...
Shake Up in Mahoning Valley Managment
(Mahoning Valley, OH) “This attitude that losing is acceptable must end now.” GM Jesse Stollings opened the team news conference with this emphatic statement. Stollings continued, “I was brought in here to build this team into a championship team. But they seemed to be willing to accept these dismal losses and the only “scrapping” that seemed to go on was within the team itself.” Stollings was joined by owner Don Adkins who explained the reason for the news conference in one simple statement, “Attitude reflects leadership. Jesse is dedicated to this organization, and that is what we were lacking, but I cant help but feel this dedication was not matched in other facets of the management team.” He set out what he has seen with the team. T...
Dom Sackett: The Future Is Never
Former Top Pick Struggling Terribly Durham, NC – Failure is among the most difficult things to handle in life, which makes playing baseball especially difficult. Everyone knows the old adage that a good baseball player fails 7 out of 10 times he comes to the plate. For Dominic Sackett, though, failure had been a rarity for the first 17 years of his life. Regarded as one of the best young players to come out of high school in decades, Sackett was a sought-after amateur. Akron’s fan base was ecstatic (unfortunately, everyone eventually leaves Akron, and the team moved to Mahoning Valley this season) when they learned they’d be selecting #1 overall, and one long-tenured winning CBL GM even called him a “new generation Miguel Cabrera” prior to the draft. He hit .4...
Rubberducks get new Home and GM
(Mahoning Valley, OH) Rubberducks onwer, Don Adkins, unexpectedly announced some major changes to the Akron franchise. One major change was the unexpected resignation of General Manager Jason Gilmartin. Adkins stated the resignation was due to personal reasons and asked that the privacy of all involved to please be respected. Adkins also reported that he had sold a 49% interest in the organization to a Midwestern consortium. The new infusion of cash will allow the team to move to updated facilities at every level. The stadium in Akron needed significant upgrades to make it comparable to other locations around the league and it was felt it was more cost-effective to relocate the team. The organization felt it was also in their best interest to sign new deals for the minor league teams...
2016 Season Review
What a season it was! After the league agreed to a new 120-game season, up from 82, even that proved to be one game too short. Trey and his Austin Bats were on the wrong end of the play-in game, losing in nail-biting, heart-racing, stomach-punch fashion to Syracuse. It also had to hurt watching Montreal clinch the East division title with a 60-60 record, three games worse than Austin. The Orange will play Frisco, while the other playoff series’ can be seen here. Let’s take a look back at the regular season. Inside the Numbers 17-16 Frisco’s record after trading several top prospects for starting pitchers Gio Gonzalez, Justin Verlander and Jordan Zimmerman. (49-38 prior to trade) 77 Number of wins Calgary had, best in the CBL. Traverse City was the only other team to eclip...
Players To Watch: Midwest League
There were several impressive performances across each of the minor league levels this season. Today, we’ll take a look at three of the best performances from the Midwest league. It’s worth noting that age plays a major factor, as an older player dominating the level is far less impressive than an extremely young one even holding his own at the same level. The players mentioned are in no particular order. Previously: Arizona League CF Raul Martinez, Bowling Green Organization After hitting .361 last season in the Arizona League, Martinez continued to hit this season after being promoted. The 18-year-old outfielder hit .311/.342/.429 with 21 extra base hits in just 254 at-bats. As one of the league’s youngest regulars, Martinez’s performance received high praise. Sco...
Sources: Frisco Sends Tanaka to Akron
Frisco, TX – League sources have confirmed that Frisco and Akron have agreed to a deal centered around starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. Frisco is sending their talented but inconsistent starter to Akron in exchange for 3 prospects and cash. Frisco is coming off of a wild-card birth after a late-season surge propelled them to just enough wins to squeak into the playoff field. They were quickly discarded in 4 games, however, by a stronger Richmond team. For a team seemingly on the cusp of taking that next step, it’s a bit surprising to see the team part with a cheap starting pitcher who was sure to be a key cog in their rotation next season. “It’s tough to lose Tanaka, of course,” Frisco GM Erik Voldness told reporters. “But we really like the youngsters ...
