Setting the Snappers' All-Time Saves Record (28) during the 2007 season apparently
was just the beginning for Rob Delaney. Today the 6-3 right-hander was honored by
Minor League Baseball as their Best Overall Reliever for his performances as a
member of both the Fort Myers Miracle and the New Britain Rock Cats.In 46 total games this past year, Rob posted a 1.23 ERA with 18 saves. He struck out 72 batters, walked just 11 and held opponents to a .189 average in 66 innings of work.
In 2007, Delaney was awarded Best Class A Reliever by Minor League Baseball after going a combined 3-0 with a 1.03 ERA between both the Snappers and the Fort Myers Miracle. He spent the first half of the '07 season with Beloit, going 28-for-29 in save opportunities and posting a 0.77 ERA. Rob helped guide the Snaps to a first-half Western Division Title before being promoted to Fort Myers after the all-star break. Delaney now holds Beloit's single-season record for saves with 28.
Rob was signed by the Twins as a non-drafted free agent in June of 2006 out of St. John's University in New York. The success he's had in the first two years of his professional career makes it hard to believe that he was passed up by every major league club in the '06 draft (50 rounds).
Former Snapper Anthony Slama was also honored by Minor League Baseball today as their Best Class A Advanced Reliever. This past season for the Fort Myers Miracle, Anthony appeared in 51 games and posted a measly 1.01 ERA. He went 25-for-27 in save opportunities, struck out 110 batters and held opponents to a .173 batting average.
Slama was also honored earlier this week by the Twin Cities Baseball Writers Association as their Jim Rantz Award recipient. The award, named after current Twins' Director of Minor League Operations, is given out to the organization's Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
Slama was a member of the '07 Snappers, saving 10 games and posting a 1.48 ERA in 21 games. Anthony also had an impressive 39 strikeouts in 24.1 innings pitched. Slama was a 39th round pick by the Twins in the 2006 First-Year Player draft.
Both Delaney and Slama are currently participating in the Arizona Fall League as members of the Phoenix Desert Dogs. They are joined by former Snappers Jeff Manship, Steve Tolleson and Danny Valencia.
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