Arizona Winter League Has Record 55 Players Signed To Pro Contracts
February 25, 2010 - Golden Baseball League (GBL) News Release
Yuma, AZ. February 25, 2010 - The 2010 Arizona Winter League, the nation's premier winter instructional league for professional and aspiring professional baseball players, wrapped up the regular season with four teams -- the Yuma Scorpions, San Luis Atleticos, Saskatchewan Silver Sox, and Calgary Vipers heading to the playoffs over this weekend. After the final regular season game the player draft was held which resulted in 55 players being offered professional contracts.
"This was a great season for the Arizona Winter League in all aspects," said Commissioner Kevin Outcalt. "We had our largest number of teams and players, record attendance by the fans, the highest number of players drafted as 55 free agents received contract offers from professional teams in a number of leagues, and 17 major league organizations sent scouts to evaluate the prospects."
The 2010 Arizona Winter League fielded eight teams comprised of 176 players from seven countries and played a 35 day schedule with games in Yuma, Arizona and San Luis, Arizona. Managed by experienced professional managers and coaches the teams were led by an impressive group of skippers that included 3-time Major League All-Star Garry Templeton, Natonal League All-Star and 2-time World Series Champion Mike Marshall, 2-time Major League All-Star Ozzie Virgil, former Major League slugger Cory Snyder, former big league pitchers Paul Abbott and Les Lancaster, former major league player and skipper Tim Johhson and several more. In four years of existence, the Arizona Winter League has now had over 150 players signed to professional contracts with two, Sergio Romo and Scott Richmond, now pitching in the major leagues.
Players were drafted and signed by the New York Mets (National League), the Mexico City Red Devils (Mexican League), the Chico Outlaws (Golden), the Edmonton Capitals (Golden), the Calgary Vipers (Golden), the Orange County Flyers (Golden), the Tucson Toros (Golden), the St. George Roadrunners (Golden), Maui Na Koa Ikaika (Golden), the Yuma Scorpions (Golden), the Fort Worth Cats (American Association), the Sioux City Explorers (American Association), the Rio Grande Valley Whitewings (United), the Florence Freedom (Frontier) and the Normal Cornbelters (Frontier).
Players drafted include:
Pitchers: Mario Guilin, Brendan Smith, Andrew Snowden, Dominic Bartoli, Joe Muro, Jay Broughton, Jacob Ozment, Berek Fasking, Matt McGuire, Eri Yoshida, Jason Fronczak, Steve Raburn, Marcus McKenzie, Shane McGuire, Eric Faint, Yoshitaka Nishi, Kevin Ricketts, Justin Devoe, and Ricky Navarro.
Catchers: Joseph Kala, Kyle Wells, Brandon Fowler, Michael Hughes, Yuki Matsumoto, Chris Oppel, Chris Bartenhagen, Ivan Villaescusa and Adam Stone.
Infielders: Rylan Sandoval, Darrick Hale, Tyler Keeble, Rob McDonald, Alex Hall, Patrick McCray, Jeff Hughes, Tony Kostelnik, Bryan Marquez, Pascual Del Real, Brandon Perry, Jerry Madueno, Jacob Lennox, Kellen Kmiecik, Steve Bralver, and Toshi Sasa.
Outfielders: Shane Sullivan, Sho Konishi, Kevin Dietrich, Colin Ziegel, Diallo Fon, Jose Torres, Marcus Porchia, Jose Torres, Dominic DiRicco, Zach Mandelblatt, and Tayler Creswell
Golden Baseball League Stories from February 25, 2010
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