34°Local flavor beginning to spice up Major League Baseball
03:28 AM
Feb 12
2010
Feb 12
2010
There is great reason to be excited for the upcoming 2010 MLB season if you are a baseball fan in the area.
And no, sadly, it has nothing to do wtih the Cleveland Indians starting over (again) with a boatload of young talent. What it means is, we are getting closer and closer to having the opportunity to watch our own talent 'make it' at the big league level.
For instance, how does this sound to you. At some point this season, you could pick up a Register, scan the boxscores and see graduates from Perkins, Huron and Bellevue all playing in the MLB at the same time in the likes of a Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Dodger Stadium, etc.
Brad Snyder (Bellevue 2000), Matt Maloney (Huron 2002) and Brian Bixler (Perkins 2001) have already seen time in the big leagues, but not in expansive roles.
That is very well about to change. Oh, and we may be seeing the younger Snyder brother, Ben (Bellevue, 2003) in the near future as well. Ben hasn't had his first "cup of coffee" in the bigs yet, but after performing well at AA ball last year as a reliever for the San Francisco Giants, who took him in the 5th round, Snyder was selected by the Baltimore Orioles as the third pick in the Rule V Draft.
He was then immediately shipped to Texas to complete a prior trade. What does that mean? It means he joines the Rangers 40-man roster, and he will have to spend the ENTIRE 2010 season in the Major Leagues and must be on the active roster for at least 90 days for him to remain Raingers property. (Side note: Cleveland's home opener just happens to be against Texas).
Meanwhile, Maloney, who cracked the Reds rotation for seven starts towards the end of last season, was named by USA Today this week as the No. 32 'young name you need to know' out of a list of 100 up-and-coming players in the Majors. His time is coming ... soon.
Bixler is finding new life after being traded himself, but the cool part is, he's home. Traded from Pittsburgh to Cleveland, the now doubly former Pirate will be given every chance to win the utility role with the Indians. Whether he makes the team out of camp or not, it's safe to say we'll see Bixler up at some point given the current state of flux the Indians appear to be in, yeah?
Things haven't been so rosy for the older Snyder, however. He had the 'dream' situation of being drafted by the hometown Indians with a first round pick (18th overall), but after four years in the system, it didn't work out as Snyder's strikeouts seemingly held him back from being an everyday outfielder.
After being picked up by the Cubs, Snyder hasn't made it back to the bigs. But again, that could be changing according to ESPN Chicago's Bruce Levine, who said in January, "Brad Snyder made a big impresson on the Cubs, and they feel his big league career "is not far away."
The Cubs re-signed Snyder at as a non-roster invitee to spring training in January on the heels of hitting .379 with nine home runs and 48 RBIs in just 211 Mexican Winter League ball.
Writes Patrick Schaefer of the Cubs Bleacher Report, "If Snyder makes the cut in spring training he would be a very solid 4th or 5th outfielder and left-handed power bat off the bench. He would also be a good insurance policy should Soriano, Fukodome, or Marlon Byrd get injured or struggle at the plate. He is also much better defensively in the outfield than Micah Hoffpauir, Hoffpauir can play firstbase as well though and Snyder has only the outfield because of his speed and plus arm. Snyder is currently a minor league free agent, the cubs should re-sign him before he gets snatched up by another team."
And on top of that, we just had three area players drafted this past June (only one signed), and in four months when the 2010 Draft hits, look for at the minimum two more names to get called (Kevin Johnson, Willard 2006 and Corey Chaffins, New London 2005).
And that's not even mentioning the roughly 15-17 area graduates who are currently on the rosters of Division I NCAA programs as well.
As a baseball fan, and a firm believer for over a decade now that pound-for-pound baseball is the area's best sport for pure talent, these next few years prove to be exciting, no doubt about it.
It's about time this area started to creep it's way into a major sport in multiples...so here's to a bright future, and an old-fashioned pat on the back with a reassuring smile to seeing an area kid (or four) make it big.
And no, sadly, it has nothing to do wtih the Cleveland Indians starting over (again) with a boatload of young talent. What it means is, we are getting closer and closer to having the opportunity to watch our own talent 'make it' at the big league level.
For instance, how does this sound to you. At some point this season, you could pick up a Register, scan the boxscores and see graduates from Perkins, Huron and Bellevue all playing in the MLB at the same time in the likes of a Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Dodger Stadium, etc.
Brad Snyder (Bellevue 2000), Matt Maloney (Huron 2002) and Brian Bixler (Perkins 2001) have already seen time in the big leagues, but not in expansive roles.
That is very well about to change. Oh, and we may be seeing the younger Snyder brother, Ben (Bellevue, 2003) in the near future as well. Ben hasn't had his first "cup of coffee" in the bigs yet, but after performing well at AA ball last year as a reliever for the San Francisco Giants, who took him in the 5th round, Snyder was selected by the Baltimore Orioles as the third pick in the Rule V Draft.
He was then immediately shipped to Texas to complete a prior trade. What does that mean? It means he joines the Rangers 40-man roster, and he will have to spend the ENTIRE 2010 season in the Major Leagues and must be on the active roster for at least 90 days for him to remain Raingers property. (Side note: Cleveland's home opener just happens to be against Texas).
Meanwhile, Maloney, who cracked the Reds rotation for seven starts towards the end of last season, was named by USA Today this week as the No. 32 'young name you need to know' out of a list of 100 up-and-coming players in the Majors. His time is coming ... soon.
Bixler is finding new life after being traded himself, but the cool part is, he's home. Traded from Pittsburgh to Cleveland, the now doubly former Pirate will be given every chance to win the utility role with the Indians. Whether he makes the team out of camp or not, it's safe to say we'll see Bixler up at some point given the current state of flux the Indians appear to be in, yeah?
Things haven't been so rosy for the older Snyder, however. He had the 'dream' situation of being drafted by the hometown Indians with a first round pick (18th overall), but after four years in the system, it didn't work out as Snyder's strikeouts seemingly held him back from being an everyday outfielder.
After being picked up by the Cubs, Snyder hasn't made it back to the bigs. But again, that could be changing according to ESPN Chicago's Bruce Levine, who said in January, "Brad Snyder made a big impresson on the Cubs, and they feel his big league career "is not far away."
The Cubs re-signed Snyder at as a non-roster invitee to spring training in January on the heels of hitting .379 with nine home runs and 48 RBIs in just 211 Mexican Winter League ball.
Writes Patrick Schaefer of the Cubs Bleacher Report, "If Snyder makes the cut in spring training he would be a very solid 4th or 5th outfielder and left-handed power bat off the bench. He would also be a good insurance policy should Soriano, Fukodome, or Marlon Byrd get injured or struggle at the plate. He is also much better defensively in the outfield than Micah Hoffpauir, Hoffpauir can play firstbase as well though and Snyder has only the outfield because of his speed and plus arm. Snyder is currently a minor league free agent, the cubs should re-sign him before he gets snatched up by another team."
And on top of that, we just had three area players drafted this past June (only one signed), and in four months when the 2010 Draft hits, look for at the minimum two more names to get called (Kevin Johnson, Willard 2006 and Corey Chaffins, New London 2005).
And that's not even mentioning the roughly 15-17 area graduates who are currently on the rosters of Division I NCAA programs as well.
As a baseball fan, and a firm believer for over a decade now that pound-for-pound baseball is the area's best sport for pure talent, these next few years prove to be exciting, no doubt about it.
It's about time this area started to creep it's way into a major sport in multiples...so here's to a bright future, and an old-fashioned pat on the back with a reassuring smile to seeing an area kid (or four) make it big.
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