Our final stop in our Trip Around the Minors series takes us to the Midwest League, where batting averages stay low and good pitching is rewarded. It was formed in 1954 building off teams from the Illinois State League that was previously started in 1946. It eventually became the entity it is known as today for the 1963 season when the widespread minor league reorganization started up, turning it into a class A league, where it remains today.
The league was as small as eight teams at point, but has now doubled that amount, as it now has two eight-team divisions in a 16-team league. They are as follows:
Eastern Division: Bowling Green Hot Rods (Tampa Bay Rays affiliate), Dayton Dragons (Cincinnati Reds), Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego Padres), Great Lakes Loons (Los Angeles Dodgers), Lansing Lugnuts (Toronto Blue Jays), Lake County Captains (Cleveland Indians), South Bend Silver Hawks (Arizona Diamondbacks), West Michigan Whitecaps (Detroit Tigers)
Western Division: Beloit Snappers (Minnesota Twins), Burlington Bees (Oakland A’s), Cedar Rapids Kernels (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), Clinton LumberKings (Seattle Mariners), Kane County Cougars (Kansas City Royals), Peoria Chiefs (Chicago Cubs), Quad City River Bandits (St. Louis Cardinals), Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Milwaukee Brewers)
Much like the SALLY league, the Midwest is full of some great team names (TinCaps, Lugnuts, Whitecaps, LumberKings, River Bandits, Timber Rattlers) but really none of them match up with their affiliates. As good as some of them are, we still don’t have a name here that can outduel the Montgomery Biscuits.
On the field itself, the Midwest League is a pitcher’s delight. In 2011, the 4.37 runs scored per game was third lowest in the full-season minors and the 3.77 league ERA was only one hundreth of a point behind the Carolina League for best in all the minors. A lot of it has to do with the conditions of the field and the size of the parks, as per usual, but due to the fact that the majority of games are played in colder weather for the first month or two, offense gets driven down before the weather clears up for the summer time. That being said, due to it being an introduction into full season baseball, offense still is at a premium, as the .250 batting average and .693 OPS were the lowest amongst any of the full-season leagues.
2011 still had some offensive bright spots for the Midwest League, as Toronto prospect Jake Marisnick put together his five-tool potential into a fantastic season that shot him up prospect charts and have many people dreaming of him manning an outfield spot at Rogers Centre as early as 2014. Billy Hamilton had himself a 100-steal season for Dayton, as the Reds prospect showed off the best in-game speed in the minors and put himself on the map. Finally, the 2011 MVP for the Midwest League was Rymer Liriano, a sweet-swinging outfielder that plays in the Padres system and might have a shot at being the starting right fielder in San Diego within three seasons.
Perhaps the most famous MVP winner in the history of the league is without a doubt Paul Molitor, who won the award in 1977 before going on to his Hall of Fame career with the Brewers, Twins and Blue Jays. However, there’s another guy who has a shot at outdoing even the great Molitor. Some guy who could be considered the best player in baseball today. That would be the 2000 winner of the award: Albert Pujols.
Other Midwest League MVPs include Greg Vaughn (1987), Todd Zeile (Co-winner in 1987), Reggie Sanders (1990), Sal Fasano (1994), Sal Fasano’s Mustache (1994), Adrian Gonzalez (2001), Prince Fielder (2003), Carlos Gonzalez (2005) and Mike Trout (2010). That’s a pretty hefty list of MVPs for the league, and could turn out to be the most impressive if the contemporary names on the list continue on the paths they have chosen.
In 2012, there are going to be many players to look out for, but many of them will pale in comparison to what the Twins hope will be the beginning of a great full season career with their 18-year-old power-hitting wunderkind, Miguel Sano. After a couple seasons in Rookie ball, Sano should have a shot at playing in Lansing to see if his power can develop, and to see if he can handle right field. Minnesota is hurting on the offensive side of the ball (and the defensive side for that matter…and on the hill…) so if Sano can show off the 80-grade power in 2012, the Twins might have their next building block.
Other players to watch out for include Danny Hultzen (Mariners – Still unsure whether he’ll start here or in the Cal League), James Paxton (Mariners – See Hultzen), Eddie Rosario (Twins), Noah Syndergaard (Blue Jays) and Austin Hedges (Padres).
Folks, that concludes our trip around the minors for 2012 and I thank you for reading all 10 of the articles I’ve done. During the season, you’ll see me do my Minor League Mondays and focus on some development pieces surrounding some of the key players coming up. As Spring Training concludes, I’ll also take a look at prospects looking to make the leap to Major League roster spots, including Bryce Harper, Mike Trout and Julio Teheran.
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