ALASKA LEAGUE
TOP 25 PROSPECTS, 2008

Compiled by Allan Simpson
In Association with League Managers and Scouts

Official League Website: www.alaskabaseballeague.org

With a collective 16 championships from 1969 to 2002, the six-team Alaska League has enjoyed more success through the years at the National Baseball Congress World Series—still the nation’s largest and most prestigious tournament for summer league teams—than any other summer college league by a considerable margin.

But the league hasn’t produced a winner since 2002, marking the longest drought since the Anchorage Glacier Pilots won the first of five NBC titles in 1969 in that franchise’s first year of existence. Alaska’s representatives to the Wichita-based tournament have gone quietly in the last four years, in particular—even this summer when the regular-season champion Glacier Pilots entered the 42-team event with a head of steam as the nation’s top-ranked summer college team. The Pilots won their first two NBC World Series games convincingly, by shutouts, but promptly lost two one-sided games to make a hasty exit. The three-time NBC champion Kenai Peninsula Oilers followed a similar inconsistent path, opening with three straight wins before biting the dust with two quick losses.

From a talent standpoint, the league has followed a blueprint marked by the same sense of rich history, dwindling success and inconsistency.

The Alaska League’s reputation as a major talent producer through the years is well-earned—the Alaska Goldpanners alone have an alumni list of almost 200 future big leaguers—but the talent flow has become spotty in recent years, which parallels the league’s track record in national tournament play. Moreover, while some of this summer’s best Alaska League prospects have the raw ability to become future big leaguers, most scouts who saw the league (notably during the league’s three-day showcase weekend in Anchorage in mid-July) refused to sign off on any as certain high-round picks in 2009 (or beyond) because of a lack of consistency—both from game-to-game this summer in Alaska; and from college performance to summer-league performance.

Indeed, the Alaska League’s best player this summer (AIA Fire outfielder Brint Hardy) was an undrafted college junior. The league’s best prospect (Mat-Su Miners righthander Garrett Richards) has an unenviable track record as he has won a combined two games in two college seasons.

FAST FACTS
Year League Established: 1974 (reunited 1998).
States Represented in League: Alaska.
Level of Competition (1-to-4 Scale): 2.
No. of Teams in League: 6.
Regular-Season Champion: Anchorage Glacier Pilots.
Post-Season Champion: NONE. Anchorage Glacier Pilots and Kenai Peninsula Oilers represented league in National Baseball Congress World Series, Wichita, Kan.
Teams, PG Crosschecker Summer 16/Final Ranking: No. 10 Anchorage Glacier Pilots, No. 21 Mat-Su Miners, No. 25 Kenai Peninsula Oilers.
No. 1 Prospect, 2007 (per PG Crosschecker): Matt Thomson, rhp, Kenai Peninsula Oilers (San Diego; played in Cape Cod League in 2008).
First 2007 Player Selected, 2008 Draft: Kirk Niewenhuis, 1b-of, AIA Fire (Azusa Pacific; Mets, third round).

Most Valuable Player: Brint Hardy, of, AIA Fire.
Most Outstanding Pitcher: None selected.
Top Prospect (as selected by league): Nick Ciolli, of, Alaska Goldpanners.

BATTING LEADERS (League games only)
Average: Brint Hardy, of, AIA Fire (.410).
Home Runs: Thomas Myers, of, Alaska Goldpanners (6).
RBIs: Ryan Enos, of, AIA Fire (27).
Stolen Bases: Brint Hardy, of, AIA Fire (25).

PITCHING LEADERS (League games only)
Wins: Jason Erickson, rhp, Mat-Su Miners (6); Zach Quate, Anchorage Glacier Pilots (6).
ERA: Brandon Berl, rhp, Kenai Peninsula Oilers (0.82).
Saves: Eric Best, lhp, Anchorage Glacier Pilots (8).
Strikeouts: Jason Erickson, rhp, Mat-Su Miners (36).

BEST TOOLS
Best Hitter: Joey Terdoslavich, 1b, Anchorage Glacier Pilots.
Best Power: Kyle Jensen, of, Mat-Su Miners.
Fastest Base Runner: Brint Hardy, of, AIA Fire.
Best Defensive Player: Tobias Streich, c, AIA Fire.
Best Velocity: Garrett Richards, rhp, Mat-Su Miners.
Best Breaking Ball: Steve Fischback, rhp, Mat-Su Miners.

TOP 25 PROSPECTS

  PLAYER POS. TEAM B-T HT WT YR 2009 SCHOOL
1. Garrett Richards RHP Mat-Su Miners R-R 6-3 200 Jr. Oklahoma
SCOUTING REPORT: Richards’ raw arm strength and his big, athletic pitching frame are undeniable assets. He routinely worked in the 93-95 mph range this summer—and even reached 98 on occasion. But Richards has struggled to find consistent success at any stage of his career since going undrafted out of an Oklahoma high school in 2006, in large measure because the harder he tries to throw a ball the more his mechanics get out of whack, the more his command wanders and the more his fastball straightens out. He also creates little deception in his delivery, so hitters have little trouble picking up the ball out of his hand no matter how hard he throws it. As a middle reliever in the spring at Oklahoma, Richards went just 1-0, 6.97, walked 17 in 21 innings and was torched for a .349 average—highest on the team. In his first start this summer in Alaska, he was roughed up for seven first-inning runs. But Richards, with the aid of Mat-Su pitching coach Ryan Heil, soon made significant headway in aligning his mechanics and changing his approach. He learned to take velocity off his fastball to add more movement and also fine-tuned his slider to a point that it showed signs of becoming a second put-away pitch. Richards’ delivery, however, is still not as clean as desired and his slider tends to be more of a slurve as he gets on the side of the pitch too much. Though he didn’t make his first Alaska League appearance until July 11, his improvement in his short stint was noticeable and he finished the summer with an acceptable 2-1, 3.42 record with 13 walks and 23 strikeouts in 26 innings. While his 2009 role at Oklahoma remains unclear, it’s anticipated he will get first crack at reclaiming the closer job that was thrust upon him as a freshman, when he saved nine games, despite an overall 1-1, 6.97 record. If Richards can continue to fine-tune his mechanics—and, by extension, improve his command—and show the maturity to know when to unleash his powerful fastball and when to back off on the pitch to get greater movement, his stock could surge in that role.
 


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