Kansas City Royals Minor League Players of the Year

From www.minorleaguebaseball.com:

01/23/2008 8:50 PM ET
Aviles, Hardy win Kansas City awards
Infielder, left-hander named Minor League Players of 2007
By Dick Kaegel / MLB.com


Rowdy Hardy was 15-5 with a 2.48 ERA in 26 games for the Blue Rocks in 2007. (Ben Platt/MLB.com)

KANSAS CITY -- Infielder Mike Aviles, a repeat winner, and pitcher Rowdy Hardy, a crafty left-hander, have been named the Royals' Minor League Players of the Year for 2007.
Each will receive the Alex George Award for being named the top players in the organization.
Hardy was 15-5 with a 2.48 ERA in 26 games for Class A Advanced Wilmington. He has a modest 85- to 86-mph fastball and an outstanding changeup to go with a slider and a developing curveball.
His control is exceptional -- he walked just 16 in 167 innings. He also hit 15 batters, an indication that he's willing to pitch inside.
"He's going to pitch with a well-below-average fastball and commands it very well," said J.J. Picollo, director of player development. "He can go in on hitters or pitch off the plate. In fact, he pitched in on right-handed hitters and left-handed hitters as effectively as anybody we had. He knows the importance of pitching in."
Hardy is likely to move up to the new Double-A Northwest Arkansas club this year.
"He was really and truly our best guy from start to finish, although we had a couple of guys with comparable numbers, particularly Julio Pimentel [12-4], who was there with him," Picollo said. "But Rowdy was from day one was the most dominant and consistent starter we had throughout the year.
"He's really kind of fun to watch. In the Carolina League, there are only eight teams, so he's facing the same seven teams over and over and over again, and the results never really changed. The league wasn't able to make adjustments to him."
Aviles also was named the organization's top player in his first pro season, 2003, when he batted .363 for the Arizona Royals. Last season, his second with Omaha, he hit .296 with 27 doubles, 17 homers and 77 RBIs.
"He hit .270 or so in Triple-A in 2006 and went back there and averaged just under .300," Picollo said. "He was another one who was consistent from day one to the last day."
Aviles played second base as well as third base and shortstop. He has a non-roster invitation to the Royals' Major League camp this spring.
"He's got a plus arm, so that's why you hesitate to not have him play on the left side, but with his tool set and his offensive skills, he would make a very good second baseman," Picollo said.
Duckworth designated: Pitcher Brandon Duckworth was designated for assignment Wednesday, clearing roster space for newly signed pitcher Brett Tomko.
Duckworth, who was arbitration-eligible, has already signed a contract with the Royals. If he clears waivers, he could remain with the club by accepting an assignment to Omaha.
Shortstop Jason Smith followed a similar path and will be in camp with the Royals.
Duckworth was injured part of last season and finished with a 3-5 record and 4.63 ERA in 26 games. He began the season in the rotation but was switched to the bullpen.
Top 10 list: It was no surprise that shortstop Mike Moustakas was put at the top of the Royals' top 10 prospects by Baseball America. Moustakas was KC's top Draft pick last summer.
But the publication did raise an eyebrow or two by ranking right-handed pitcher Daniel Cortes No. 2, ahead of highly regarded righty Luke Hochevar.
"Cortes really has made unbelievable strides," Picollo said. "First of all, when he first signed, he was about 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds. Now he's 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds. ... He's as good as anybody you could see -- 97 mph, throwing strikes with his fastball, he's got a power curveball and he's got some feel for his changeup that we need to be sure he uses enough."
Cortes, 20, came from the White Sox with Tyler Lumsden in the 2006 deal for Mike MacDougal. He's expected to compete for a job at the Double-A level this year.
Hochevar is expected to compete for the Royals' rotation in Spring Training after an impressive September callup. Moustakas is ticketed for Class A Burlington.
Here's the Baseball America prospect list for the Royals: 1. Moustakas; 2. Cortes; 3. Hochevar; 4. RHP Blake Wood; 5. LHP Danny Duffy; 6. RHP Carlos Rosa; 7. RHP Julio Pimentel; 8. RHP Matt Mitchell; 9. RHP Yasuhiko Yabuta; 10. OF Derrick Robinson.
Yabuta, coming from Japan, is 34 and was signed for the Royals' bullpen.
Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.

Tigers invite 21 to Camp - Potential Autographs

From. www.minorleaguebaseball.com:

DETROIT -- Don't count on many "Where-are-they-now?" stories when the Tigers open Spring Training in three weeks. There could be a few more stories of "Where are they going?"
Detroit released its list of non-roster invitees on Tuesday, and it includes a heavy share of prospects who aren't on the 40-man roster. Some of them, like infielder Michael Hollimon and Jeff Larish, could end up at Comerica Park at some point this season. Others, like Scott Sizemore, Danny Worth and James Skelton, are further down the developmental ladder.
They're all likely to get some time in Tiger uniforms when Spring Training games begin at the end of February.
A total of 21 players received invitations to join the big league camp. Of that list, just two players -- outfielder Timo Perez and reliever Aquilino Lopez -- played in the Majors last year, both with Detroit. None of them are considered likely to crack the 25-man Opening Day roster, barring injuries or trades.
The most experienced player of the group is reliever Matt Mantei, who will make one last comeback bid after spending last year at home. He tried to crack Detroit's bullpen two years ago in camp and looked relatively impressive before injuries slowed him. A brief midseason stint at Triple-A Toledo met a similar fate.
Perez, who will turn 33 years old in April, had a brief July stint with Detroit before being called up late in the season to platoon in left field down the stretch of a playoff chase. The International League all-star batted .389 (35-for-90) with nine doubles and 13 RBIs for the Tigers, including a .414 average in September. He was designated for assignment at season's end to make room on the roster, but came back on a Minor League contract.
Lopez, who also turns 33 in April, served as the closer in Triple-A Toledo while providing some relief depth at times in Detroit. He made 10 appearances for the Tigers, allowing 18 hits over 17 1/3 innings with six walks and seven strikeouts.
After that, the group becomes very young. At first glance, one reason would seemingly be the difficulty signing Minor League free agents this winter, since opportunities to crack the big league roster are limited at best. President/general manager Dave Dombrowski, however, said that wasn't a factor.
"I don't think it's a byproduct at all," Dombrowski said. "For us, it's more a matter that there's still a lot of players that are moving through the system."
The Tigers farm system lost several top prospects this offseason among the eight young players dealt away in trades for Edgar Renteria, Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera. The camp invitations should give fans a good look at the prospects that remain in the system.
Hollimon and Larish played key roles on a Double-A Erie club that won the Eastern League's Southern Division with an 81-59 record. Larish led that league with 28 home runs and 101 RBIs while batting .267 with 87 walks in 132 games. Hollimon batted .282 with 34 doubles, 14 homers and 76 RBIs over 471 at-bats. He also stole 17 bases in 23 attempts.
Larish and Hollimon both competed in the Arizona Fall League. So did Sizemore, coming off his first full Minor League season at Class A West Michigan. He batted .265 with 33 doubles, four homers and 48 RBIs for the Whitecaps.
Right-hander Jeff Gerbe joined them in Arizona after spending most of last season with Sizemore in West Michigan, where he went 2-2 with a 2.34 ERA in nine starts and 10 relief appearances. He'll join them in Lakeland, Fla., too, as will outfielder Clete Thomas, who batted .280 with 30 doubles, six homers and 53 RBIs for Erie. Fellow SeaWolves outfielder Matt Joyce received an invitation coming off a .257 average, 33 doubles, 17 homers and 70 RBIs for the SeaWolves.
Wilkin Ramirez, who split last season between Erie and Class A Advanced Lakeland, rounds out the list of outfielders invited to camp. The other infielder invited was Worth, Detroit's second-round selection in last summer's First-Year Player Draft after a successful career at Pepperdine. He'll join first-round pick Rick Porcello in going from last year's Draft to this year's camp, but Porcello was already going after signing a Major League contract last summer.
With the Tigers needing extra catchers to work with their pitchers during the early days of camp, they invited six catchers to join Ivan Rodriguez, Vance Wilson and perhaps Brandon Inge in camp. That includes Skelton, who became a Baseball America and Midwest League all-star by batting .309 with 24 doubles, seven homers and 52 RBIs in 101 games and throwing out better than 40 percent of would-be basestealers.
Dane Sardinha, Max St. Pierre, Joe Bowen, Dusty Ryan and Nick Trzesniak round out the catching corps.
Additional pitchers include right-hander Chris Lambert, the former first-round pick the Tigers received from St. Louis in last summer's Mike Maroth trade, as well as Preston Larrison, Francis Beltran and Freddy Dolsi.
Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to Lakeland on Feb. 14 and begin formal workouts on Feb. 15, though many arrive well ahead of time. The rest of the squad reports on Feb. 19 and works out the next day.
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.

Best Prospects of 2007

www.jssportscards.com
Ebay ID is jsenter

Joba Chamberlain's minor league cards were the best sellers of 2007. We will today post one of our last certified autogaphed cards of Joba.

Hunter Pence was a close second with Ryan Braun also in the race.
Ian Kennedy and Jeff Locke were also strong contenders.

Late in the season, Matt LaPorta, Jarrod Parker, David Price, Jason Heyward, and Justin Masterson came on strong and should be very desirable acquisitions in 2008.

We are looking forward to Spring Training and hope to supply a lot of cards for the Autograph Hounds to use.

2007 Sarasota Reds - Jay Bruce

We recently listed many of the 2007 Sarasota Reds set on Ebay, including Jay Bruce, Johnny Cueto, Richie Garner, and Craig Tatum among others.

The balance of the cards will be listed on http://www.jssportscards.com/

Matt LaPorta 2007 Helena Brewers

The card of Matt LaPorta is featured in the 2007 Helena Brewers Update set. He's a very promising Brewer prospect. Please check the card on Ebay, ID jsenter, store jssportsmemorabilia.com

If there are any questions, please contact us at jssportscards@gmail.com.

Jeff Locke Jason Heyward Cody Johnson

The 2007 Danville Update set includes three major prospects - Jeff Locke, Jason Heyward, and Cody Johnson.

The cards are now posted (singles) in Ebay account jsenter and will soon be posted on http://www.jssportscards.com/ in both singles and sets.

Let us know at jssportscards@gmail.com if you have any additional questions.

2007 Springfield Cardinals

This week on Ebay, we listed some of the cards from the 2007 Springfield Cardinals set.

We will also list some on http://www.jssportscards.com/, so that our long term mail-order customers have a selection.

Contact us at jssportscards@gmail.com