The Erie SeaWolves have extended their player development contract with the Tigers to 2020. This was the last remaining affiliation extension, so their won’t be any changes to the Eastern League’s affiliations this cycle, just as there weren’t any changes for the 2017 season.
The Salt Lake Bees have extended their player development contract with the Angels to 2022. The Bees have been an Angels affiliate since 2001. This is another team that wanted the beat the rush to extend their affiliation to 2022 early.
When I attended the Lehigh Valley IronPigs game last month, I also made an attempt to get some autographs. I decided to try the Rochester Red Wings side since I had more cards from their players, which is how I usually decide which team to solicit for autographs. It was a fun experience there with other autograph seekers because they all seemed very friendly and willing to help each other. There was a fan there that seemed to know all of the stadium personnel, the outgoing type of person who was friends with everyone. At one point he was asking the group that had gathered for Red Wings autographs that if they see LaMonte Wade to let him know because his mom was there looking for him.
A few players had come out for early warmups, including the Twins #5 prospect Pitcher Stephen Gonsalves, who I was able to get an autograph from. As players came out, I was able to get autographs from Gregorio Petit and Pitching Coach Stu Cliburn. I also got to hear Cliburn tell a story about the baseball glove that he had which was made in Japan especially for him. It’s pretty interesting to hear those kinds of tales from people that had been in the game for so long.
I was also able to get an autograph from OF Byron Buxton. Buxton was considered the #1 overall prospect in 2015, but the Twins had him back at AAA as he was only batting .156 this season. I was actually pretty lucky with this one, only because when I was first searching for cards I didn’t find any Buxton cards, but that morning it was bothering me so much that I couldn’t find one that I checked again. I realized that I had missed looking through a set and I did find one.
Around 20 minutes before the game was to start, the ushers told the fans they had to clear the area and stop asking for autographs by the tunnel that the players use to enter the field. I thought that was fairly unreasonable because the fans weren’t blocking anyone and the game wasn’t starting anytime soon. I went over to the other side of the dugout and stood by the field and was able to get an autograph from OF Zack Granite. The ushers decided to clear fans from the fence about 10 minutes before game time. I can’t think of another stadium that doesn’t let fans try to get autographs that close to the start of the game.
I had a seat behind home plate and had another instance where I saw a pitcher in the stands charting pitches. I wasn’t going to let it be one more time where I didn’t miss an autograph opportunity because I didn’t know who the player was. So I did my internet sleuthing looking through pictures of the Twins pitchers until I realized that it was Stephen Gonsalves who I had met before the game.
Following the game, I decided that even though the Red Wings blew their lead and lost in 10 innings that I would try to get some more autographs. This decision was mainly because they had the uniform numbers visible from the front so I could see which player it was before they walked past me. The strategy didn’t work as none of the players signed for anyone. I did however see that a handful of the IronPigs players had yet to leave the field, so I went to the other side and got an autograph from Pitcher Pedro Beato, who had pitched two innings and got the win.
So overall, it was a great experience and Lehigh Valley is another good place to get autographs.
The Arkansas Travelers have extended their player development contract with the Mariners to 2020. The Travelers have been a Mariners affiliate since 2017 when Seattle rejoined the Texas League.
The State College Spikes have extended their player development contract with the Cardinals to 2020. The Spikes have been a Cardinals affiliate since 2013.
The Vermont Lake Monsters have extended their player development contract with the A’s to 2020. The Lake Monsters have been an A’s affiliate since 2011 and Oakland is the only west coast team with an affiliate in the NY-Penn League.
The Lancaster JetHawks have extended their player development contract with the Rockies to 2020. The JetHawks have only been a Rockies affiliate since 2017, but the ball carries so well there that it has to be a good representation of what Coors Field would be for them in the majors.
I hadn’t been to an IronPigs game since April 2008, but I finally had an opportunity to return last month. It was a good game as the IronPigs rallied from a 5-2 deficit and won 7-6 in 10 innings. The Red Wings scored in the top of the 1st with Kennys Vargas driving in Byron Buxton. Not all that long ago, I would have thought it would be crazy to see that combination in a AAA game, but they each went 3-5 in the game and making a good case that they belong in the majors. In bottom of the 1st, IronPigs 3B Mitch Walding hit a two-run home run improving over the strikeout I saw when he was with the Phillies, although he did strikeout twice as well. Red Wings starting pitcher Fernando Romero settled down going six additional innings without giving up any other runs.
The IronPigs chipped away at the bullpen scoring one run in the 8th and then with two outs in the 9th, SS Danny Espinosa drove home two more runs. At this point I noticed how quick the game was going, and I realized one big reason why… there had been no walks in the game. The new extra inning runner on second rule is helping to score more runs as the Red Wings got the runner home with a single by Vargas in the top of the 10th. But in the bottom of the 10th, the IronPigs were able to put get the first two runners to 2nd and 3rd, only two have the next two hitters strike out. Lehigh Valley 1B Joey Meneses drove them home with the walkoff hit.
I also had to share the picture above because usually when teams don’t have a picture of a player, they will show their logo or something similar. I’ve never seen a case where they had a crude stick figure drawing instead of the player. And Ryan Goins isn’t even smiling in his drawing. But that’s definitely creative.
The Hillsboro Hops have extended their player development contract with the Diamondbacks to 2020. Looks like I missed this one last month, so I’m just updating now. The Hops have been an Arizona affiliate since their inaugural season in 2013.
The Eugene Emeralds have extended their player development contract with the Cubs to 2022. The Emeralds have been a Cubs affiliate since 2015. There are still 8 teams at the Short Season A level that have PDCs that expire at the end of this season.
minorleaguesource.com blog