2012 S2S Mid-Season All-Stars: Florida State League
By Wally Fish
Tomorrow night the Florida State League will hold its 2012 All-Star Game in Port Charlotte, Florida. To celebrate the occasion we decided to put together our own All-Star roster for the league. Of course we’re not putting together a North and South squad to hold an actual game, so our roster is just 17 players deep and represents the best of the best that the league has to offer.
To qualify for the team, players had to spend the bulk of the first half of the season and still be in the league at the time of our selections. This eliminates players like Tigers 3B Nick Castellanos from consideration since he was promoted to Double-A at the start of the month. That’s a bit of a shame since he was without question the story of the FSL in the first half – hitting 0.405/.461/.553 in 55 games tends to get noticed. Another point to make about our picks is that they are based solely on 2012 statistical performance. Whether a player is his organization’s top prospect or just roster filler is immaterial to us when it comes to our selections.
Jupiter and Daytona each placed three players on the team while Dunedin and Clearwater had two a piece. The Charlotte Stone Crabs are the only team of the 12 to lack representation though I did strongly consider Charlotte lefties Enny Romero and C.J. Riefenhauser. If a 6th starter was added to the list Romero would have been the choice without any debate but he fell short when stacked up against Biddle and Loosen. Riefenhauser’s overall numbers are strong but his 4.80 ERA since he’s been moved to the Stone Crabs rotation (30.0 IP) really hurt his chances. As just a reliever he would certainly be on the team – 0.99 ERA, 33-3 SO-to-BB in 27.1 IP – but that’s not his role presently.
None of the infielders to make the squad cracked their organization’s Top-30 (as ranked by Baseball America), but all three outfielders are top-5 guys and two of them made the 2012 S2S Top-100. The rotation boasts another S2S Top-100 selection and of the eight pitchers on the roster, four of them are in the Top-30 for their respective teams. Looking at how the players were acquired; 4 of them were international free agents, one went undrafted, and 12 came out of the June draft. There are three 1st round picks and a 2nd round pick on the team as well as four players who were picked in the 20th round or later.
C – Taylor Krick (24) – Jupiter Hammerheads (Miami Marlins)
Acquired: Signed as a NDFA 7/2/2009
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 FSL Stats: 33 G, 119 PA, 0.312/.454/.376, 4 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 19 BB, 19 SO
1B – Greg Rohan (26) – Daytona Cubs (Chicago Cubs)
Acquired: Cubs 2009 21st Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 FSL Stats: 64 G, 273 PA, 0.295/.363/.520, 20 2B, 1 3B, 11 HR, 21 BB, 31 SO
2B – Starlin Rodriguez (22) – Palm Beach Cardinals (St. Louis Cardinals)
Acquired: Signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Cardinals 10/29/2009
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 FSL Stats: 49 G, 211 PA, 0.311/.391/.448, 11 2B, 4 3B, 2 HR, 7 SB, 20 BB, 45 SO
3B – Cody Asche (21) – Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia Phillies)
Acquired: Phillies 2011 4th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 FSL Stats: 58 G, 253 PA, 0.343/.372/.444, 12 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 9 SB, 11 BB, 33 SO
SS – Kevin Nolan (24) – Dunedin Blue Jays (Toronto Blue Jays)
Acquired: Blue Jays 2009 20th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 FSL Stats: 64 G, 286 PA, 0.324/.392/.486, 21 2B, 4 3B, 4 HR, 12 SB, 29 BB, 36 SO
OF – Christian Yelich (20) – Jupiter Hammerheads (Miami Marlins)
Acquired: Marlins 2010 1st Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: #1 in BA’s Marlins Top-30, #94 in 2012 S2S Top-100
2012 FSL Stats: 42 G, 176 PA, 0.276/.354/.519, 11 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 11 SB, 19 BB, 43 SO
OF – Oswaldo Arcia (21) – Fort Myers Miracle (Minnesota Twins)
Acquired: Signed out of Venezuela by the Twins 7/4/2004
Prospect Ranking: #5 in BA’s Twins Top-30
2012 FSL Stats: 55 G, 235 PA, 0.309/.376/.517, 16 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 1 SB, 23 BB, 45 SO
OF – Marcell Ozuna (21) – Jupiter Hammerheads (Miami Marlins)
Acquired: Signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Marlins 2/15/2008
Prospect Ranking: #2 in BA’s Marlins Top-30, #71 in 2012 S2S Top-100
2012 FSL Stats: 64 G, 266 PA, 0.258/.331/.500, 10 2B, 1 3B, 15 HR, 6 SB, 25 BB, 59 SO
DH – Nelson Perez (24) – Daytona Cubs (Chicago Cubs)
Acquired: Signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Cubs 10/5/2006
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 FSL Stats: 60 G, 245 PA, 0.298/.400/.527, 6 2B, 4 3B, 11 HR, 6 SB, 33 BB, 74 SO
SP1 – Sean Nolin (22) – Dunedin Blue Jays (Toronto Blue Jays)
Acquired: Blue Jays 2010 6th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 FSL Stats: 13 GS, 72.2 IP, 2.35 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 62 H, 17 BB, 73 SO
SP2 – Jimmy Nelson (23) – RHP – Brevard County Manatees (Milwaukee Brewers)
Acquired: Brewers 2010 2nd Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: #10 in BA’s Brewers Top-30
2012 FSL Stats: 13 GS, 81.1 IP, 2.21 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 63 H, 25 BB, 77 SO
SP3 – Gerrit Cole (21) – RHP – Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Acquired: Pirates 2011 1st Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: #1 in BA’s Pirates Top-30, #15 in 2012 S2S Top-100
2012 FSL Stats: 13 GS, 67.0 IP, 2.55 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 53, H, 21 BB, 69 SO
SP4 – Jesse Biddle (20) – LHP – Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia Phillies)
Acquired: Phillies 2010 1st Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: #2 in BA’s Phillies Top-30
2012 FSL Stats: 12 GS, 60.1 IP, 2.98 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 54 H, 21 BB, 70 SO
SP5 – Matt Loosen (23) – RHP – Daytona Cubs (Chicago Cubs)
Acquired: Cubs 2010 23rd Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 FSL Stats: 11 GS, 48.0 IP, 2.62 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 30 H, 19 BB, 47 SO
LHRP – Adam Kolarek (23) – St. Lucie Mets (New York Mets)
Acquired: Mets 2010 11th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 FSL Stats: 25 G, 31.2 IP, 1.99 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 25 H, 8 BB, 47 SO, 10 SV
RHRP – Tyler Clark (23) – Lakeland Flying Tigers (Detroit Tigers)
Acquired: Tigers 2012 24th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: Not Ranked
2012 FSL Stats: 17 G, 25.0 IP, 1.08 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 12 H, 10 BB, 32 SO, 1 SV
Closer – Mark Montgomery (21) – RHP – Tampa Yankees (New York Yankees)
Acquired: Yankees 2011 11th Round Pick
Prospect Ranking: #23 in BA’s Yankees Top-30
2012 FSL Stats: 22 G, 30.1 IP, 1.19 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 17 H, 9 BB, 48 SO, 9 SV
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The Florida State League is the first of the ten full-season minor leagues to hold its all-star game but the other nine will hold their games in the next month. We here at S2S will select and reveal a roster for each league a few days before its all-star game is scheduled to be played. For reference purposes each article/roster will be linked on this page as they are published.