After recently signing Major League Baseball’s Professional Development License, the 10-year agreement will keep the Diamondbacks’ Single-A baseball team in Visalia through the 2030 season.
Amarillo Sod Poodles sign 10-year MLB affiliation with Arizona Diamondbacks
VIDEO: Amarillo Sod Poodles sign 10-year MLB affiliation with Arizona Diamondbacks By Kaitlin Johnson | February 11, 2021 at 12:51 PM CST - Updated February 11 at 5:44 PM
AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - The Amarillo Sod Poodles have officially accepted the invitation from the Arizona Diamondbacks to join the Double-A affiliate.
“We are thrilled to announce our new 10-year MLB partnership with the Arizona Diamondbacks!” said Sod Poodles President and General Manager Tony Ensor. “The D-backs winning culture mixed with their top-rated farm system and a strong commitment to player development ensures our franchise and community with long-term success. We cannot wait to welcome the highly-talented D-backs prospects to Sod Poodles country with the support of the best fans in all of baseball when we return to HODGETOWN in 2021!”
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The Diamondbacks system is vastly underrated. The group includes top-end talent, flame-throwers, high-floor guys, and everything else in between. What’s even better is that there are plenty of very fantasy-friendly prospects here as well. From Corbin Carroll’s 20/30 potential to Kristian Robinson’s 40 home run ceiling to Alek Thomas’s all-around game, there are fantasy gems all over the place. Recently the D-Backs have placed an emphasis on hard-throwing draft picks, and those guys are sprinkled throughout the system too.
Looking further down on the list shows some very safe bets, meaning there are likely many future major leaguers here. Granted, they may not become superstars, but there are regulars, utility guys, and solid bullpen options here to pick from. There is a lot to like and it’s starting to rival any of the top-end farm systems. With the team still acquiring prospects, it should only continue to get better in 2021.
2020 Arizona Diamondbacks Reviews #17: Pavin Smith
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Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images
When Pavin Smith was drafted with the seventh pick of the 2017 draft, it was quite the surprise. Smith was lauded for his plate discipline and power, but while his plate discipline was as good as advertised, his power definitely wasn’t. In fact, Pavin Smith didn’t hit his first home run of his professional career until his second season in the Arizona farm system. Despite an increase in power output, Pavin’s batting line in Hi-A Visalia (.255/.343/.392) was worse than it was in Hillsboro (.318/.401/.415).
Pavin was looking like a bust in AA, before some very minor adjustments lead to a complete resurgence that allowed him to bring his batting line up to .291/.370/.466, an exactly 100 point increase in OPS. He won Player of the Month honors for July 2019 in the Southern League, and his .835 OPS was third highest in the league. The team s director of player developmen
2020 Rookie of the Year: Daulton Varsho
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Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images
When they say “every vote counts”, they usually don’t mean it. But this might be the exception to that rule. For the decision here really could hardly have been closer if the votes had been handed out, specifically to that end. Just ONE VOTE separated the top four candidates. But in the end, Daulton Varsho just edged it by that margin, with a triple tie for second place immediately behind him, between the Smith boys, Pavin and Riley, along with “No award”. I’m sure the one person who voted for Keury Mella - and as he ‘fessed up in the comments, I’ve no problem revealing it was AzDbackfanInDc - will be interested to know that their outlier could instead have provoked a run-off.