After minor league baseball was canceled in 2020, the Big Island farmhands are on the climb or knocking on the door.
It’s early, just 13 games in, but Kean Wong is tearing it up at the Los Angeles Angels’ Triple-A affiliate, his eighth year in the minors.
The 2013 Waiakea graduate is hitting .367 and has a .937 OPS for Salt Lake, not surprising because of his success in 2019 with Tampa Bay’s Triple-A team.
He hit .307 with a .839 OPS in 113 games for Durham, but his roller-coaster journey began when the Rays designated the second baseman for assignment.
In September 2019, the Angels claimed him off waivers and two months later the Giants claimed him off waivers.
One year later, Wong elected free agency, and the Angels signed him on Nov. 17, 2020, and invited him to spring training.
The pandemic wiped out his shot at making a major league roster. On May 4, the Angles assigned him from their alternate training site to their Triple-A squad.
Unfortunately for Wong, 26, he’s caught in a tough logjam. Second baseman David Fletcher, 26, signed a five-year, $26 million contract in April. Third baseman Anthony Rendon, 30, signed a seven-year, $245 million deal in 2019.
In the Angels farm system, they have eight shortstops, all 21 years old or younger, as their next crop of prospects on their top 30 list.
The Society for American Baseball Research took a deep dive to find out the percentage of players who made the majors after being drafted from 19996 to 2011.
The study found the higher the round the better the odds with a high of 31% for college pitchers and 24.77% for high school hitters taken in the first round and supplemental first.
But that’s just the MLB draft. There are other avenues for player acquisition such as the waiver wire when a player is designated for assignment or released.
There’s free agency for both MLB and minor league players, the Rule 5 draft when a player is not protected on the 40-man roster.
There’s the international signing period, a valuable tool where only money and enticement are needed to ink future superstars like Fernando Tatis Jr. (Padres), Juan Soto (Nationals), Ronald Acuna Jr. (Braves), and Wander Franco (Rays), MLB’s No. 1 prospect.
In very rare cases, MLB clubs have signed players from independent leagues. Nationals reliever Tanner Roark was in the Frontier league and signed by the Rangers in 2008.
Kodi Medeiros, a White Sox left-handed reliever and 2014 Waiakea graduate, doesn’t have quite a logjam ahead of him.
On the MLB roster, there are two southpaw relievers in Aaron Bummer, who signed a five-year, $16 million contract in 2020, and Garrett Crochett, the team’s first-round pick last year.
The White Sox have only one lefty pitcher on their top 30 list in Bailey Horn, a fifth-round pick out of Auburn in 2020.
Medeiros, 25, is not on the mlb.com’s top 30 list, but he’s in his first season in Triple-A and been in the minors for seven seasons.
Quintin Torres-Costa, Brewers a left-handed reliever, is also on the cusp at Triple-A in his sixth year in the minors.
The 2012 Waiakea graduate had a brief stint in Triple-A in 2018 when he had a 1.50 ERA in 22 games and 24 innings.
Torres-Costa, 26, missed a large portion of the 2019 season when he underwent Tommy John surgery in late 2018.
The Brewers have one of the best lefty closers in Josh Hader, 27, but he’s on a one-year contract. The other southpaw bullpen pieces are Brent Sutter, 31, whose two-year deal expires after this year, and Angel Perdomo, 27, who’s on a one-year contract.
The Big Island’s younger farmhands Micah Bello, 20, (Hilo, 2017), Brewers outfielder; Kalai Rosario, who turns 19 in July, (Waiakea, 2020), Twins outfielder; Edgar Barclay, 23 (St. Joseph, 2014), Yankees pitcher; and Ocean Gabonia, who turns 20 in July, (Hilo, 2019), Yankees pitcher, will all face the same challenges and roadblocks as they climb the minor-league ladder.
Kean Wong, 2013 Waiakea, Triple-A, Angels
Salt Lake Bees
60 AB, 10 R, 22 H, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 2 SB, .367 AVG, .387 OBP, .937 OPS
Kodi Medeiros, 2014 Waiakea, Triple-A, White Sox
Charlotte Knights
0-0, 3.24 ERA, 6 G, 0 GS, 0 SV, 8.1 IP, 7 SO, 1.08 WHIP
Quintin Torres-Costa, 2012 Waiakea, Triple-A, Brewers
Nashville Sounds
3-0, 4.50 ERA, 6 G, 0 GS, 0 SV, 8.0 IP, 11 SO, 1.25 WHIP
Micah Bello, 2017 Hilo, Low A, Brewers
Carolina Mudcats
28 AB, 0 R, 7 H, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 0 SB, .250 AVG, .241 OBP, .563 OPS
Status: Injured 7 day
Edgar Barclay, 2014 St. Joseph, Low A, Yankees
0-1, 5.40 ERA, 5 G, 1 GS, 1 SV, 10 IP, 11 SO, 1.20 WHIP
Kalai Rosario, 2020 Waiakea, Rookie ball, Twins
No stats
Ocean Gabonia, 2019 Hilo, Rookie ball, Yankees
No stats