Fall/Winter League Roundup: Song dominant for Team USA

We continue our weekly roundups of the Fall and Winter Leagues, highlighting performances from players in the Red Sox organization. Coverage will continue every Monday into January. For the full list of Red Sox prospects participating in these leagues, check out our Fall & Winter Leagues page, which will be updated continuously through January. This week's roundup covers the period of November 4 to 10.

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WBSC Premier 12 Tournament

Team USA played just one game this past week, beating the Dominican Republic by a score of 10-8. Noah Song tossed a dominant inning, striking out three while giving up just one hit and no walks in a scoreless eighth. Bobby Dalbec went 1 for 4 with a single, a walk, a run scored, and an RBI. C.J. Chatham did not appear in this one. Team USA will play again tonight against Korea at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.

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Podcast Ep. #168: Scott Boras is a genius

J.D. Martinez is coming back. And so are Chris and Ian to detail the latest off-season developments. First on tap, the aforementioned non-opt-out of the Red Sox designated hitter. But Chris and Ian caution, that doesn’t mean he’ll be suiting up for the Sox. Nor does it mean that Mookie Betts is getting dealt. But that’s another show. Continuing on this show, the guys share updates from the Team USA Premier 12 tournament, which features four top ten Sox Prospects. After a quick email from one of our Canadian listeners, Chris and Ian get to the main event. They explain and go in-depth on MLB’s proposal to alter minor league baseball. Make no mistake change is coming to the minors.

Listen in!

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Monthly Notes: Red Sox hire a new CBO, Fall/Winter Leagues, & Team USA

Here are October's minor league notes:

• The Arizona Fall League and the Asian Baseball Championship leagues have been up and running during the month of October with more leagues to get going as we move into the winter. Throughout the winter, SoxProspects.com has you covered with the weekly Fall/Winter League Roundup. There were four editions in the month of October, covering the weeks ending October 7, October 14, October 21, and October 28.

• You can also see the running statistical results of the various fall and winter leagues by going to the Red Sox Fall & Winter Leagues 2019-2020 page. There, you will notice a couple standout performances thus far this fall. The first is righty Tanner Houck (pictured, right) who has pitched well both for  Peoria in the Arizona Fall Leauge and for Team USA in the WSBC Premier12 Tournament. He was dominant in Arizona, throwing 23 1/3 innings, 2.70 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 26 strikeouts to 12 walks. He then went on to pitch for Team USA where he has allowed two earned runs in two appearances over 4 1/3 innings. Houck finished the season as the 7th ranked player on the SoxProspects.com rankings.
• There were some other standouts on both Peoria and Team USA. Ending the season ranked 20th on the SoxProspects.com rankings, outfielder Marcus Wilson hit .333/.412/.467 over 30 at-bats for Peoria. In addition to Wilson, shortstop C.J. Chatham and outfielder Jarren Duran all made the leagues Fall Stars Game rosters.
• While for Team USA, infielder Bobby Dalbec has not stopped raking, hitting an incredible .364/.462/.909 with two home runs, and Noah Song has not allowed a run over his first two innings.

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Fall/Winter League Roundup: Dalbec powers Team USA split, Houck fans six

We continue our weekly roundups of the Fall and Winter Leagues, highlighting performances from players in the Red Sox organization. Coverage will continue every Monday into January. For the full list of Red Sox prospects participating in these leagues, check out our Fall & Winter Leagues page, which will be updated continuously through January. This week's roundup covers the period of October 28 to November 3.

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WBSC Premier 12 Tournament

The flagship tournament of the World Baseball and Softball confederation kicked off this week, with Team USA being the only team to carry any Red sox minor leaguers. The red white and blue split their opening contests of the group stage, defeating the Netherlands and losing to Mexico respectively. Despite the mixed results for the team as a whole, the Red Sox representatives had a solid start to the tournament.

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James Dunne Promoted to Managing Editor of SoxProspects News

I’m happy to announce that James Dunne has been promoted to Managing Editor of SoxProspects News. James joined the SoxProspects staff in November 2011, and has been one of our lead writers for several years. He became a co-owner of the site in January 2018.

In his new role, James will be managing the staff writers and editors, leading the direction of content, driving consistency and style, and continuing to write. James's promotion will allow Chris Hatfield to focus on overall site direction, the podcast, media appearances, rankings, and scouting.

A Massachusetts ex-pat, James is now based in Syracuse, NY. He loves baseball, Pearl Jam, and beer, so I happen to like the cut of his jib.You can follow James on Twitter at @JamesDunneSP.

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Podcast Ep. #167: Halloween Candy Buyback Program

The hot stove fires have been stoked. Ian and Chris discuss the looming offseason. Topping it off, meet Chaim Bloom. The Red Sox took their time and did their due diligence. Bloom brings a creative mind and a collaborative spirit to the ball club. And his first move highlights a course correction. Along with Bloom, the Sox added new coaches to the big league bench. Chris and Ian pivot to rankings. They focus on the challenge of number three. Including a digression on the physics of baseball travel and manufacture. Working through the new rankings, Ian comments on how Instructs differed from prior years. The lack of games made it a challenge to assess the talented DSL guys in the system. We wrap up with the mailbag, both international and domestic editions.

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Fall/Winter League Roundup: Duran ends the AFL on a high note

We continue our weekly roundups of the Fall and Winter Leagues, highlighting performances from players in the Red Sox organization. Coverage will continue every Monday into January. For the full list of Red Sox prospects participating in these leagues, check out our Fall & Winter Leagues page, which will be updated continuously through January. This week's roundup covers the period of October 21 to October 27. 

Arizona Fall League

The Arizona Fall League came to an end on Saturday with Salt River topping Surprise in the championship game. The Peoria Javelinas finished 14-15 on the season, but went 3-7 over their last 10 games as they struggled down the stretch.

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Fall/Winter League Roundup: Lin leads Taiwan to Asian Baseball Championship

We continue our weekly roundups of the Fall and Winter Leagues, highlighting performances from players in the Red Sox organization. Coverage will continue every Monday into January. For the full list of Red Sox prospects participating in these leagues, check out our Fall & Winter Leagues page, which will be updated continuously through January. This week's roundup covers the period of October 14 to October 20. 

Asian Baseball Championship

After not seeing any playing time during the play-in round of the semi-annual Asian Baseball Championship, Tzu-Wei Lin (pictured) has been a key cog helping host Taiwan to its first title in 18 years. Appearing in three of the first five games of the tournament's "Super Round," Lin got starts at second base, shortstop, and in left field, going 6 for 11 with a double, homer, three walks, and a pair of stolen bases. That .545/.643/.909 line does not include Taiwan's 5-4 victory in Monday's championship game. Various sources, including President Tsai Ing-wen, have tweeted out congratulations, but a box score was not available as of midday. 

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Fall/Winter League Roundup: Wilson, Duran highlight solid week for Sox

The Dominican Winter League and Mexican Pacific League got underway this past week, while eight Sox players saw action in the Arizona Fall League. Marcus Wilson (pictured) and Jarren Duran played well, while a pair of Sox relievers combined for five strikeouts in two innings. This week's roundup covers the period up to October 14. 

Arizona Fall League

Marcus Wilson returned to the Peoria lineup on Wednesday for the first time in 10 days and played well, going 3 for 8 on the week without striking out. Jarren Duran bounced back from a tough stretch with a 4-for-11 week in which he picked up a double, a triple, a walk, a stolen base, two RBI and four runs scored. The week boosted his AFL OPS to .790 in 14 games. C.J. Chatham struggled at the plate, going 0 for 8 with three strikeouts in two games. Brett Netzer made his fall league debut at third base on Thursday and went 0 for 3 with a pair of strikeouts. 

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Fall/Winter League Roundup: Houck leads strong pitching performances

While the Dominican Winter League and Mexican Pacific League are set to kick off later this week, the Arizona Fall League remains the lone Fall/Winter League currently in action. It was a quiet week for Red Sox position players as both Jarren Duran and CJ Chatham cooled off from their red hot starts to the campaign, and Marcus Wilson remained absent from the Javelinas lineup. It was an entirely different story on the mound however as Tanner Houck's dominant start headlined a strong week of performances from the Red Sox representatives on the Peoria staff. To view the full list of Red Sox prospects participating in fall & winter leagues, check out our Fall & Winter Leagues pages, which will be updated continuously through January. This week's roundup covers the period up to October 7.

Arizona Fall League

Heading into the week with a sterling .348 batting average, Jarren Duran cooled off significantly this week. the speedy outfielder went just 3 for 19, striking out twice and adding just a single walk across five games. It wasn't all negative for Duran, who managed to collect two extra-base hits with a pair of doubles. It was an up and down week at the plate for CJ Chatham, who notched all three of his hits in Peoria's shootout victory over Salt River on October 5th. Chatham ended the week 3 for 11 with no walks and three strikeouts but did manage to notch his fourth double of the season.

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Fall/Winter League Roundup: Duran and Wilson homer in Arizona

With the other countries starting their leagues in October or November, the Arizona Fall League is still the only league with game action so far. Coverage of the fall/winter leagues will continue every Monday into January. For the full list of Red Sox prospects participating in these leagues, check out our Fall & Winter Leagues page, which will be updated continuously through January. This week's roundup covers the period of September 23-29.

Arizona Fall League

CJ Chatham cooled off a bit after a strong opening week, going 3 for 13 with a walk and a stolen base, though he is still hitting .310/.394/.414 over his first seven games. Both Marcus Wilson and Jarren Duran homered this week, as Wilson went 1 for 11 and Duran went 5 for 15. Duran also added two steals and walked three times as part of a very impressive week.

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Fall/Winter League Roundup: Chatham highlights hot AFL starts

The major league club may have been officially eliminated from contention, but this week also kicked off the Fall and Winter League schedule with the earlier open of the Arizona Fall League. With that, we begin our series of weekly roundups on the Fall/Winter Leagues. Coverage will continue every Monday into January. For the full list of Red Sox prospects participating in these leagues, check out our Fall & Winter Leagues page, which will be updated continuously through January. This week's roundup covers the period up to September 22. 

Arizona Fall League

The Red Sox have seven participants on the Peoria Javelinas of the AFL, as well as Salem manager Corey Wimberly serving as a coach. It is an atypically star-studded class this year, with all seven members currently ranked in the SoxProspects.com Top 40 and four among the Top 10. 

CJ Chatham (pictured) has been one of the stars in the early going. He's appeared in four of Peoria's five games, starting twice at shortstop and twice at second base. He is off to a 6-for-16 start, leading the circuit with three doubles and seven runs scored. The 10th-ranked player in the Boston system was a major catalyst in the first two Peoria victories, scoring three runs apiece in those two games. He's also stolen two bases and walked three times, good for a .375/.474/.563 line in an extremely small sample. On the negative side, Chatham has struck out seven times in nineteen appearances and he has committed a pair of errors, one at each position. 

Starring alongside Chatham in Peoria's 3-0 start was outfielder Marcus Wilson. Appearing in three games, Wilson is 6 for 11 with a double, two walks, and five RBI. Jarren Duran is 3 for 8, seeing action only in the two games that Wilson did not. 

All four pitchers saw action in the first week, with roles being swapped some: Tanner Houck, who was pitching out of the bullpen in the second half for Portland and Pawtucket, got the starting nod in the second game of Peoria's schedule. Meanwhile, regular starters Bryan Mata and Jhonathan Diaz got work in relief. Houck got credit for the win on Thursday, despite allowing two runs (both unearned) on two hits in two innings. He walked two and struck out one. Mata and Yoan Aybar were the last two hurlers that day, recording the last seven outs between the two of them on six groundballs. Aybar retired all four batters he faced, while Mata plunked one but erased him immediately on a double play. Diaz pitched in the opener, striking out three and allowing one hit in two shutout innings. 

Fall Instructional League

The Red Sox will not be participating in formal games this year, instead choosing to focus on instruction at the Fort Myers facility. The roster includes several notable players: top prospect Triston Casas is in attendance, Jay Groome will be there in a rehab capacity,  and most of the 2019 class, including infielders Cameron Cannon and Matthew Lugo, and pitchers Noah Song, Chris Murphy, and Ryan Zeferjahn. 

Several players from the 2019 Dominican Summer League roster are also making their first appearances stateside: pitchers Juan Daniel Encarnacion and Wilkelman Gonzalez; infielders Darel Belen and Brainer Bonaci; and outfielders Albert Feliz, Bryan Gonzalez, Eduardo Lopez, and Eduardo Vaughan.

Photo Credit: CJ Chatham by Kelly O'Connor

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Minor Notes: Awards week and transition to fall ball

During the season, the Minor Notes run two times a week. Now that the minor league regular season has officially come to an end, the Notes will move to once a month, running the first Monday of every month.

Here are Monday's notes:

• The final piece during SoxProspects.com Awards Week was the announcement of the two biggest awards, the Pitcher of the Year and the Hitter of the Year. First baseman Triston Casas (pictured, right) took home the Hitter of the Year in a season where he hit .256/.350/.480 as a 19-year-old. Despite a horrible April, he rebounded to put up very impressive numbers and has now risen to the top spot in the SoxProspects.com rankings.
• Jarren Duran and Bobby Dalbec were on the fringe of the debate between the staffers, but the actual runner up was outfielder Gilberto Jimenez. The 19-year-old signed as an international free agent in 2017 and went on to play in 2018 for the DSL Red Sox, ultimately taking home the Red Sox Latin Program Position Player of the Year. This season he was selected as a SoxProspects.com Pre-Season All-Star and did not disappoint. Playing the entire season for Lowell where he was almost three years younger than the average hitter, he continued to rake, hitting .359/.393/.470. His consistency was incredible, aside from his eight September at-bats, he never hit lower than .341 in any of the other three months of the season.

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Podcast Ep. #166: I think we've got a lot to talk about

You may have heard about this. The Red Sox dismissed Dave Dombrowski Sunday night. Chris and Ian question the timing (of the announcement, not the decision). They make the case for why the club needed to make a change. Ian describes the lack of depth in the upper minors that put the Red Sox in a "No Man's Land" for in-season options. But the discussion is not solely centered on the now departed Dealer Dave. The rosters for the Arizona Fall League are almost entirely set. Boston's contingency is prospect heavy and very interesting. In contrast, clubs are changing the way they handle the fall Instructional Leagues and various foreign winter leagues, which Chris details briefly. And we close the show with an interesting note from the mailbag and a quick update on the clubs in the minor league playoffs.

Listen in!

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SoxProspects.com Awards: Offensive Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year

This week was SoxProspects.com award week, with several accolades being handed out over the last few days. We have announced the All-Star pitchers, All-Star position players, Homegrown Player, Ex-Prospect, and Graduate of the Year, and the Rookie, Breakout, and Comeback Player of the Year.

The biggest awards were saved for last. The SoxProspects.com Offensive Player of the Year goes to Triston Casas (pictured, right) and the SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Year is awarded to Thaddeus Ward (pictured, below).

Offensive Player of the Year

Expectations were high for the 2018 first-rounder, and Casas did not disappoint as he led the system in RBI with 81 and finished third with 20 home runs. He had exactly 500 plate appearances in the regular season, with seven of those coming with Salem at the end of the year, and he hit  a combined .256/.350/.480 with the two teams. He flashed the plus-plus raw power that helped him get ranked as the top prospect in the system, with this pull-side home run and this home run to center field showing how much pop he has in his bat.

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