Sorting the wheat from the chaff (A Hartford Farming blog)

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Sorting the wheat from the chaff (A Hartford Farming blog)

#1 Post by Fishermen »

#1. April 2nd, 2028

This blog will cover the four minor league affiliate teams of the Hartford Harpoon. The Short Season A-ball team based in Waikiki in Honolulu, Hawaii has been the most successful team over the seven years of the franchise having posted five winning seasons although only one led to a post-season berth where unfortunately they were swept 3-0 in the Wildcard series. Last season was their worst ever showing, winning just 22 of their 90 games. Triple-A Lincoln from Nebraska, just outside of Omaha has the worst record, managing a highest win total since becoming a Hartford affiliate of 70 (.500) in 2024. Canadian affiliate Laval, a Double-A side based in a suburb of Montreal, has managed three winning season and one post-season outing which unfortunately again resulted in no wins as they were swept in the Divisional Series. The final affiliate is the Cheyenne Frontier who are based in the capital of Wyoming. Two wining seasons there have resulted in one post-season outing and the franchise’s only minor league post-season win as they lost the wild card series 2-1.
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20-yr-old 1B Taylor Titmus, the franchise's #1 prospect, currently at Waikiki
I know winning isn’t really the purpose of the farm system, but it does build confidence in the players, gives them a winning mentality and above all if they’re winning championships or at least regularly making post=season outings it will generally mean that the majority of the team’s players are among the most talented players in that league. Sure, losing teams have star players that carry them and go on to be stars when they reach the highest level, but they tend to be only one or two on a team whereas if you’re a regular post season contender you may be looking at 5-10 players that have a realistic shot at being a star at the highest level. So, one of my aims will be to raise the level of the farm as a whole. It won’t be a fast process, in the 2028 amateur draft the franchise’s first pick is the 56th overall so you can probably write off this year’s draft as a rich source of top-class talent but with a bit of luck we can add two or three players capable of making an impact at the higher reaches of the minor league system. With the current standard of the farm we probably also stand a chance of making minor upgrades to the player quality just by scouring the lists of minor league free agents. Better strategy planning and roster management can also add a few wins. It’ll be fun anyway watching the results of the increased focus and maybe one day adding the franchise’s first ever silverware.
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20-yr-old pitcher Pedro Gonzalez, the #1 pitching prospect, #5 overall in the system
Last edited by Fishermen on Sun Jan 20, 2019 3:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Sorting the wheat from the chaff (A Hartford Farming blo

#2 Post by Borealis »

I love the title of this blog - but poor Pedro, he's missing his cool Hawaiian shirt jersey!!
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#3 Post by Vic »

Great idea for a blog. I may steal this brazenly ...

One note: If I were on the Waikiki team, I’m not sure I would accept a promotion ... especially in early April.
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#4 Post by Borealis »

Claymores wrote:One note: If I were on the Waikiki team, I’m not sure I would accept a promotion ... especially in early April.
Especially going from The Islands to Cheyenne! Brrrrrrr... It's not so bad heading to the Baja Cali League...
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Re: Sorting the wheat from the chaff (A Hartford Farming blo

#5 Post by Fishermen »

Borealis wrote:I love the title of this blog - but poor Pedro, he's missing his cool Hawaiian shirt jersey!!
I don’t even know what the jersey’s look like in the Hartford franchise, so many of the players prefer to wear all sorts of things :angry-cussingblack:
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Re: Sorting the wheat from the chaff (A Hartford Farming blo

#6 Post by Fishermen »

#2. April 17th, 2028

The farm system of the Hartford Harpoon was slowly creaking into action for the 2028 season, the Triple-A & Double-A were now two weeks into their seasons and tonight, over in Nebraska, the Cheyenne Frontier would kick off their season in A-ball. To be honest it was a pretty shabby system with almost nothing to recommend it, years of neglect had ensured that there was virtually nothing left in the system that would probably struggle to even produce a replacement level player at the PEBA level. There was just two players on the PEBA Top100 Prospects list, 21-yr-old 2B Ramon Guzman the 34th prospect, and 20-yr-old Taylor Titmus ranked at 24. Guzman got a $5.5 million signing bonus after being drafted 17th overall in 2025 while Titmus was signed as an international free agent out of England in 2024, he spent a few years maturing in the international complex before being sent to Waikiki last year.

Triple-A Lincoln Emancipation 7-6, 2nd RML North

It wasn’t a great start to the season when Duluth’s affiliate shut us out the opening two games in Racine and then took the series 3-1, outscoring us 12-4. In the yo-yo world of the Hartford franchise though Lincoln went on to complete three-game sweeps of Thornton & Grand Rapids before being swept by Yokohama in their third road series of the season.
In a mix-up of travel orders Guzman was initially assigned to Lincoln but after it was noticed he was struggling ( 6-27 with two doubles and one RBI) and the correct travel orders were issued sending the 21-yr-old to Double-A Laval. Guzman had hit 146 hits in A-ball in 2027 with 5 homers & 41 RBI and it was felt that if he could reproduce that form in Laval he could be back in Lincoln before the end of the season. 24-yr-old Centrefielder Michael Burnett got off to a real flyer, hitting 10 single and four doubles in his first nine games. Didn’t lead to much though as he only scored five times and drove in just two runs. Former Harpoon Mike Smock will spend the rest of the month in Lincoln on a rehab stint playing backup to second, third and short to get the rust out of him, Tommy McKnight has already grumbled about the number of AB’s that will cost him but hitting .174 on the season so far isn’t an invitation to give him more time at the plate. Leftfielder Howard Harper in his second year at this level is hitting well so far and is on course to set career totals at HR & RBI. His defence has been solid as well and could well be on course for a September cup of coffee if Walter Daniel doesn’t pick up his game. 25-yr-old Englishman Francis Gander has just been signed as a minor league free agent to the backup catcher role. He last action was in 2026 when he played at A-ball & Double-A in the Crystal Lake organisation. Polish middle infielder Frandszk Kreisky is also looking good in his first full year at the Triple-A level, hitting .296/.345/.444 and already has his first homer at the level after hitting seven at Double-A last year. 24-yr-old starting pitcher Ralph Morris has caught the eye so far on the mound, he’s gone 2 for 2 in wins, allowing one run in 13 IP with a 14/3 K/BB ratio. Last year he went 6-9 in his first Triple-A season but displayed his power striking out 102 batters in 25 appearances. 29-yr-old Albert Metcalf re-signed as a minor league free agent signing has finally ended up in Lincoln after another travel order cock-up. Previous stints in Lincoln in 2024 and 2026 obviously led to his top notch start when he somehow wound up in Laval.

Double-A Laval Islanders 9-4, 1st PCAL Maple Leaf

Laval too had a slow start to their season, losing three out of four games at home to Bakersfield’s affiliate from Sherwood Park. It was to be a great turn round then as the Islanders won eight of their next nine games to top their division by a game from Toronto who were the only side to beat them in that nine-game run. Toronto won one of the three games in the Phantoms’ ballpark while Edmonton & Lodoss were swept in three-game series in Laval. I personally attended the series against the Lodoss Spell Swords to speak to old colleague’s as the Spell Swords were an affiliate of Kuwana when I was their GM in the old LRS. The Laval bats were hitting well, seven of the nine wines they hit five runs or more and indeed in four of those they scored eight or more.

It was without a doubt that the shining light on the pitching staff was Albert Metcalf who pitched 21 innings in three starts and won all three. He allowed just 14 hits and two runs before manager Wes Moore discovered that he was 29. Examining his travel papers he realised the error and packed him off to Lincoln. In return Lincoln sent him 24-yr-old Dylan Underhill, ‘Tarzan’ as his teammates call him had struggled at Triple-A, his second year at that level, and was returned to Laval to help him find his magic again. 22-yr-old closer Ippei Takeuchi, a minor league free agent signing once of London, has been rock steady. In his eight outings he has pitched 10 innings allowing seven hits, one run with a 10/2 K/BB. Five other members of the bullpen have pitched eight innings between them last week without allowing a run. Starter Steve O’Halloran has pitched two wins after losing his opening game of 2028 but definitely has to work on his control after walking 10 and only fanning two.

24-yr-old RF Siu-chung Duan has started his second year at Double-A with a bang, hitting three homers with a triple slash of .444/.524/1.056. His fellow corner OF Ryan Brown and DH Eduardo Barbosa have also turned on the power with four long balls hit by each. In all, six of the Islanders have scored seven runs already including Ramon Guzman who has split the first two weeks of 2028 between firstly Lincoln and now back at Laval after struggling a bit at the higher level. Back at Double-A in six games he has produced five singles & four walks which has resulted in him scoring seven times. He has also helped his cause by successfully stealing three bases. Centre fielder Yoshitsune Sato has been solid at the plate collecting 14 hits in 11 games, seven of those have been extra-base hits.

A ball Cheyenne Frontier ---, -- AWL Big Sky

The A ball season is set to get underway this week with a seven-game homestand. First up is four against Drumright (San Antonio) followed by three against Kinston (San Juan). Coming off their worst showing in the last three years (54-74) they will be eager to return nearer the 87-41 record that they achieved in 2026 which resulted in their first post season appearance since 2014.

Top rated A-ball player at Cheyenne for Opening Day is bullpen arm Tim Corona who went 4-4 with five saves and a 6.11 ERA in 35 outings at Laval last year. He’s disappointed obviously to end up back at A-ball but hopefully he’ll knuckle down and show he belongs higher. The rotation of Joo-chan Yi, Nicola Casiraghi, Domingo Guzman, Mauro Nunez and Angel Sanchez are a functional team rather than a spectacular one and they are not really expected to set the league alight. Shortstop Sotatsu Kawano and 3B Gil Reid are both top notch defenders but as both are also 24-yrs-old they need to wake up, smell the coffee and start hitting that ball if they want to progress in professional baseball. 21-yr-old Cuban catcher Luis Jimenez arrives as a minor league FA after 91 Short-Season-A games in the Scottish Claymores organisation is another in last chance saloon as he battles two other catchers for AB’s. 23-yr-old RF Eduardo Rivera is expected to be one of the power bats, he hit 13 homers last year in Laval and is another fighting to get back up the food chain. To be honest there isn’t a lot of potential in Cheyenne this year the one exception is the PEBA’s #24 prospect Taylor Titmus. He played 13 games at this level last season after his first season at SS-A. He’ll be looking to improve his plate skills while the team will be rotating him between Second, Third and Short to improve his utility defence around the diamond.
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Re: Sorting the wheat from the chaff (A Hartford Farming blo

#7 Post by KenH »

Awesome posts and a great idea! I'm going to incorporate a minor league blog as well. Great way to tell stories... and to show off your wares ;-D
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#8 Post by Fishermen »

Thanks Ken, I’ve long believed people don’t show enough public love for their minors here lol. It’ll be good to see some more minor league stories

It will also, hopefully, allow us to trace the career’s of the next PEBA superstars from draft to HoF
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Re: Sorting the wheat from the chaff (A Hartford Farming blo

#9 Post by Fishermen »

#3. May 8th, 2028


All teams showing that .500 style baseball as we hit around the first month of their seasons but that might well drop again next time as the injuries cause more promotions through the levels. Three more players are also promoted from the International Complex, two to Waikiki and one to Cheyenne. Talking of Waikiki, all attention focuses there as the scouting team assemble and are locked in the war room. With the draft fast approaching they need to sort out the players we hope to draft, complicated of course this year by Hartford not having a pick until the 56th overall.


Triple-A Lincoln Emancipation 14-15, 3rd RML North (1 ½ GB)

A run of five straight losses from the last day of April into May ruined Lincoln’s standing but to be honest the batters haven’t been preforming up to scratch. In a lot of the stats categories Lincoln ranks in the bottom three or four out of the 13 teams in the RML. 14 homers in 29 games is only good enough for 11th highest and their 73 runs scored is 11th best as well; their 89 runs allowed meanwhile is the fifth highest total. The pitchers are trying to hold their end up, most categories are firmly in the top half of the RML and indeed the rotation’s ERA of 2.30 is the third best but the bullpen is looking shaky; their 3.63 has a familiar 11th highest ranking. The defensive efficiency of .731 is saving some runs, being the fourth best in the RML.
The injury to Zambrano has meant starter Ralph Morris (4-1, 1.32) will head to Hartford for around a month which will put more pressure on but Mike Smock has finished his Triple-A rehab stint and has now been optioned to Lincoln full-time. He will continue to shuffle around the diamond improving his defence as Ramon Guzman hasn’t responded well to his demotion to Double-A. He is back with Lincoln for a final attempt to show he can master the second base role there, Smock will be casting envious eyes on the role if Guzman can’t live up to his undoubted talent. 30-yr-old Scott Wilson is settled at the hot corner, his fourth season there, hitting .299/.385/.373 but with no hope of promotion as Cedeno is in such fine form. 26-yr-old left fielder Howard Harper leads the team in homers (4) and RBI (16), he still has a squeak of a chance of a PEBA cup of coffee if the right injury comes along. Behind him in both categories is 25-yr-old middle infielder Frandszk Kreisky who is Lincoln’s starting shortstop this season, he might be an option for Hartford if the club don’t manage to sign Mark Edwards to an extension. A sixth round draft pick in 2024, the Polish-born player needs to show a bit more in defence if he is to stop Hartford looking in the FA market instead.

26-yr-old starting pitcher Kojiro Hirose finished 2027 with a four appearance cup of coffee out of the Harpoon’s ‘pen posting a 2-1 record and has carried that hope into this season where he has a 3-0 record in five starts with a 0.81 WHIP. Another 2027 PEBA cup of coffee pitcher doing well is reliever Javier Garcia who hasn’t allowed a run in eight innings of work this year.


Double-A Laval Islanders 15-17, 4th PCAL Maple Leaf (4 GB)

Laval too have been inconsistent, swept at Gatineau in late April with three two-run losses they finished the month with a 13-13 record, but have only won two of May’s six games so far. In transaction news Ramon Guzman, the PEBA’s 23rd ranked prospect, has headed for Lincoln after failing to really settle in Laval and going with him was reliever Cliff Geldoff (1-0, 3.12) as an injury replacement. Coming in from Lincoln is second baseman Tommy McKnight, displaced there by the arrival of Smock & Guzman. Third baseman Gil Reid arrived from Cheyenne after passing his 25th birthday with 23-yr-old SantiagoVelazquez heading to A-ball to make roster space for him.
Hard-working 24-yr-old left-fielder Ryan Brown is the star of the show in Laval so far, hitting .283/.324/.616 with nine homers & 20 RBI. He has five successful steals from six attempts and looks to be headed back to Lincoln, where he spent most of 2027, very soon. 20-yr-old Taylor Titmus, born the year of the PEBA’s inaugural season, is getting time all round the diamond in his first season at Double-A level but he isn’t performing well with just one hit from his ten AB’s so far. Expect a big shakeup in the off season as at least 13 of the roster will be 25 or more and the organisation would like to substantially reduce that. 24-yr-old Dylan Underhill started the year in Triple-A but after a poor start finds himself back in Double-A where he has a solid start with a 1-0 record and a 1.67 ERA. That’s backed up with a 23/8 K/BB ration as well as a 0.85 WHIP. Another pitcher doing well is 22-yr-old Ippei Takeuchi who played in London’s organisation in 2026 and is now trying to make a comeback. He’s got a 1-2 record with four saves as a closer/stopper and so far has kept it tight with a 0.89 WHIP as well as 25 K’s in 27 IP.


A ball Cheyenne Frontier 9-9, 1st AWL Big Sky (- GB)

After going 8-5 in April and opening May with a 10-1 win at Govan are now in the midst of a four-game losing streak that has sent their record back to .500, above Rapid City who are 8-8. Cheyenne’s best batter so far has been 23-yr-old right-fielder Young-chul Han He was a 10th round pick by Kentucky in 2023 but didn’t make the grade. He drifted out of the PEBA into the WIL with Manchester but was eventually cut by them too. He’s now in his second year in Laval playing reasonable defence whilst leading the team with four homers, 12 RBI and a .279/.324/.500 triple slash. 23-yr-old catcher Jim Weatherstone currently has an 1.162 OPS thanks to his patience at the plate where he has drawn 10 walks in 43 PA’s to go with his 10 hits. 22-yr-old Hyeon-uk Pak was a March minor league free agent signing after Florida cut him and his triple slash of .346/.462/.519 helped him to win the NAFTA AML player of the week award on May 1st. He spent most of 2027 at Double-A and will be keen to continue to press his claim to return to that level. Star man of the mound has been Nichola Casiraghi who was pretty commanding in his first three starts winning them all but was poor in his last start when Utrecht put five runs on the board and chased him from the game after three innings. His 22 K’s in 20 IP is pleasing but his 12 walks will have to come down. 22-yr-old stopper Dave Allen has had ten outings so far, posting a 1-0 record with two saves and a confident 16/2 K/BB ratio in 12 innings pitched. 23-yr-old Tim Corona has pitched 12.1 innings out of the bullpen and has recorded two wins and a save with a 0.41 WHIP after allowing just two hits.

SS-A Waikiki Coconuts ---, --- HL Aloha (–GB)

With the 2028 Entry Draft fast approaching the returning Waikiki players are slowly reporting back to Hawaii. With 37 on the roster currently and probably around 10 or so arriving from the draft there will have to be some rigorous pruning of the squad before Opening Day. Currently the best player in their ranks is 18-yr-old Scottish pitcher Tam Lochhead who was drafted 14th overall in 2027. His first pro season didn’t go too well though as he posted a 2-9 with an ERA of 7.34 in 21 appearances (17 starts). He gave up 107 hits and 54 walks in 79 innings while striking out just 39, he’ll have to do better this year to progress. High things are also expected from 22-yr-old Chinese pitcher Wing-kit Da who has signed his first pro contract as a minor league free agent late March. He’s got a real arsenal full of decent pitches including a knuckleball but will have to work on their movement if he’s to make the most of his chances. 20-yr-old left fielder Dong-won Pong was signed out of South Korea in 2024 and has been promoted this year to Waikiki for his first pro season. He’s fast, looks sound in Left with a bit of pop in his bat but will really have to work on his contact swings if he’s not going to stink the place out.
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#10 Post by Vic »

OK, a couple of things:

1) I’m fascinated that you have a Chinese knuckleballer in your system. You’ve gotta wonder who taught him the pitch?

2) if I were a Waikiki player, I would not be slowly returning. I would be abandoning my car at the airport curb and sprinting through security to get back. (Of course, that may just be me after two days where the temperature has been near -15 F.)


Nice roundup again!
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#11 Post by Fishermen »

Vic, have a look at my Scottish pitcher in SS-A. I'm sure we can work out a scrub for scrub deal if you want him? When I was at London I tried to accumulate English players to enthuse the fans but in those days there was only London in Europe and there was like two or three in the entire PEBAverse. I fought like mad to increase the league's European presence but it was years before we added more European teams. Now it seems to me that we've got quite a few European players coming through?
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#12 Post by Vic »

Always looking for hometown talent! Plus, he’s named Tam. How great is that?

Take a look at Ken Turner on Govan (Scotland’s A affiliate). He’s a comparable pitcher from Plymouth, Mass., which is near Hartford. Could be a heartwarming tale of a couple of really mediocre pitchers heading home ... or as close as their minor league teams will let them get.
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#13 Post by Fishermen »

Sounds good to me, I'll post it up and the homesick Scot can return to his kilt :wink:
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#14 Post by Vic »

Ha! Our GM will send poor Tam a case of Wee Mac, a “Scottish” ale brewed in lovely Indiana, to welcome him to the fold ...
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#15 Post by Fishermen »

A case of 20-yr-old Malt Whiskey would probably cheer him more than some old 'fake' American ale :P I'll have the beer lol :clap:
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