Winterball Idea
by Jon Shields ~ November 30th, 2008
Last night I dreamt that there was a winterball league in which MLB organizations fielded teams comprised of their best prospects, regardless of level, playing a short season in the southern states.
I woke up thinking that this would be a really cool idea. Instead of having your prospects scattered throughout the Caribbean, Arizona and Hawaii, you have your guys all on the same team, facing off against the best of another team’s farm system. You would be getting your higher level guys some extra work, while challenging the lower level guys (kind of like the Arizona Fall League).
The starting defensive alignment this winter might look something like this:
C - Adam Moore
1B - Dennis Raben (can also play COF)
2B - Luis Valbuena
3B - Matt Tuiasosopo
SS - Carlos Triunfel (can also play 2B/3B)
LF - Javier Brito (can also play 1B)
CF - Greg Halman
RF - Michael Saunders (can handle CF)
DH - Mike Wilson (can play COF)
With a few random guys on the bench, perhaps:
C/LF - Rob Johnson
1B - Marshall Hubbard
UT - Tug Hulett
3B - Jharmidy DeJesus
The pitching staff would be tricky, because all of Seattle’s highly regarded pitching prospects have been shut down for the offseason, including the three-headed Wisconsin monster that was Juan Ramirez, Phillippe Aumont and Michael Pineda. Meanwhile, the bullpen could be filled with any number of guys.
Wouldn’t that be a fun team to keep tabs on?
4 Responses to Winterball Idea
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment. If you don't yet have an account, please register here and join the discussion. Registration takes only a few seconds!

1 November 30th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Follow all of the prospects at once and compare each others performances that would be fun.
2 November 30th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Awesome.
3 November 30th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Why in the world would Jharmidy DeJesus be behind Matt Tui? DeJesus seems like he has a truckload more potential…
4 November 30th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
More potential, yes, but Tui is way more advanced as of right now. Remember, DeJesus hasn’t yet advanced past low-A.