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If you thought Shannon Franklin was a stud, look what Dylan Ortega did in 2019. In just his second year of professional baseball, 1st full season, Ortega made his big league debut and hit 57 home runs between AAA and KC! He doesn't do much else at the plate, as show by his high amount of strikeouts and very low number or walks.
LF Jason Warnke
Looks like Ortega pushed you out of town and now you have yet to find big league job and it's already January 1st. For someone who has stolen 240 bases in their career and is just 27, you should find a job somewhere.
3B Wellman 'Topper' Topham
Topham has continued to be a model of consistency among the players. in his 5-year big league career, Topham has hit for a .291 AVG and picked up a gold glove back in 2016.
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He just continues to get better, year in and year out. The 6'5" SP consistently touches triple digits and racks up loads of strikeouts. If it weren't for a herniated disk, Shannon would have more then likely won the Cy Young Award.
SS 'Mighty' Mitch Sparks
He continues to be rated out very well, but has yet to have a good season for the Padres. Still just 23, the young SS still has a long time to get his batting average up to a respectable figure. Sparks played a lot of 2B in 2019 and that led to his first gold glove selection.
SP Charles 'Coop' Cooper
Finally given a chance to start full time, he struggled. In his 22 starts, he amassed a 5.09 ERA and went 7-8. Out of the bullpen in 2019, Cooper struck out one guy an inning and managed to keep his ERA at a decent 4.05. He too, just like Warnke remains unsigned, but should find a job out of someone's bullpen.
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Another rushed prospect, Vail struggled in his rookie season. According to coaches and scouts though, Vail has a very bright future ahead of him and should be a star in the MLB.
SP Jay 'Beav' Wells
Once a highly touted SP prospect, Wells has turned into just another reliever. Before coming over to Texas in a trade, Wells was closing out games for the Marlins.
SP Mark 'Sidewinder' Kierstead
While most of the prospects have been rushed, Kierstead hasn't even had a taste of big league action yet. After 6 seasons toiling in the Mariners minor league system, Kierstead became a minor league free agent. He may have a tougher time then Cooper and Warnke finding a job because he has no big league experience.
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Once a highly touted SP prospect, Wells has turned into just another reliever. Before coming over to Texas in a trade, Wells was closing out games for the Marlins.
Hmmmm. Would I get paid more as a starter or as a closer? I need to talk to my agent. . .
The good thing is that with 3+ years of Major League service time, I'm at least 30% of the way to a major league pension.
Charlie, let me just say how much I am enjoying this. Thanks for doing it.
One things clear - my inability to hit a curve ball followed me to the bigs - look at those K numbers... Man... Not what I was looking for when we started this...
Michael Topham, President Golden Entertainment & President-CEO of the Aurora Borealis 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 PEBA Champions