MLN Sports Spring Training Issue '09
SZ takes you through the winter camps of the minor leagues and the non-roster invitees of Spring Training 2009 for a look at the hot farm hands heading to a minor league club near you.

 

Boca Raton, FLA. - Another spring with the World Baseball Classic (WBC) means another spring of compromised Spring Training, and some delays in the gathering of information for this report.

Our spring training issue is not so much a current news story, as an analysis of who came off of the blocks from Spring with an advantage. These are the players that either notched a major league perch for the beginning of the season, or who stand an excellent chance of hitting the fast track and moving up or on to the MLN FAB50 Baseball 2009 rankings in July.

This round of the WBC was admittedly better than the first one in that it was less chaotic. Unfortunately, though, it still pulled a lot of talented minor league players out of their farm systems to fill in for bigger name and bigger ticket players being spared to fill seats in the Cactus and the Grapefruit Leagues.

Several players were given golden gifts to shine while the usual suspects were away at the faux world games. You will see many that landed roster spots with the crack in the grass ceiling.

It was also a year of change, as the Cactus League grew again, and the Grapefruit League, once the dominant site for spring ball contracted.

The Dodgers moved to Arizona. The Red Sox made a deal with Fort Myers to stay there for the foreseeable future. There was talk of the Cubs making some sort of move, perhaps back to Florida, under their new ownership.

The Orioles continued to play in the rundown remnant of the Yankees' earlier days in Fort Lauderdale, while their minor leaguers worked out nearly 200 miles away. Our sources tell us that, while it is still not an ideal situation, there was no movement forward towards a more modern winter home for the Baltimore birds.

Each spring also affords journalists and fans alike the opportunity to step back and assess the whole organization of a club, all in one place, WBC players aside, at one time.

The Cardinals had a great camp with one of the best young farm systems in MLB. Orioles renewed interest in their farm system has continued, and is producing results, a sign that better days may lie ahead for long-suffering Baltimore fans. Matt Wieters (see the Orioles' spring report) may be one of the most exciting players to come along in a generation.

The team with the best farm system though has to be the Texas Rangers, who have the hottest farm system playing through Spring Training '09. They win our Spring Farm of the Year Award for 2009.

This article was damaged during a system upgrade. Some of the teams' reports have been recovered. If yours is not available, our apologies. We are working to correct the problem - 1.13.10 - ed.

Cactus League	Grapefruit League