Q.  Never followed the AFL.  I just know what I've read on the 'net, that it's inconsistent competition and that you can't tell anything from it.  Are these 19-year-olds playing in the AFL or what?

A.  The vast majority of the players in the AFL are AA and AAA prospects. 

Prospects, in contradistinction to players whose value is only at org level. AFL players are high-minors players, who are considered to have a future in MLB by their organizations.

Teams can also send a couple of players (per org) from below AA.  Obviously, these will also tend to be players that the clubs are very interested in.

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Q.  Hold it.  So it's more like a high-minors All-Star league?

A.  Well, at least it's a "select" league, to borrow a soccer term.

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Q.  Is there any correlation between dominating the AFL, and becoming a star in the majors?

A.  Among the players who went to the AFL -- as a rule, while on the flight path to MLB; check me on that -- were  Nomar, Jeter, Piazza, Giambi, Halladay, Pujols, Percival, etc etc etc.

In 2005, the best AFL players included Stephen Drew, Kendry Morales, Matt Kemp, Howie Kendrick, etc.

In 2006, the best AFL players included Ryan Braun, Ben Zobrist, Mark Reynolds, Troy Tulowitzki, etc.  Of course we're talking about these guys ripping up the AFL before they were ML stars, as a rule.

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Q.  Can you do well in the AFL, and fail to become an MLB impact player?

A.  Can you do well in AAA, and the same happen?  ... can you do well in the NL, for that matter, and fail to become an AL impact player?

Yeah, but still, a rampage through the AA/AAA select league is nothing to sniff at..

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Q.  How much weight on its being hitter-friendly?

A.  Many of the pitchers are out of synch, and the air is thin ... when you see a guy slug .700 it doesn't mean he's Albert Pujols.

At the same time:  when ten guys are hitting in the same league, they can be compared to each other.   College hitters play under very favorable circumstances for hitters.  You're aware of the fact that SLG's don't always translate.  But if one pheenom has a 1.3 EYE and another pheenom has an 0.3 EYE?  Sure.

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Q.  So you can tell what an org thinks of a player, when it sends him to the AFL?  Who's there for the Mariners?

A.  You can tell 90% that the player is on the short list for the 25-man roster over the next few years, sure.  Sometimes a guy like Wilhelmsen is down there so that a club can triangulate a "weird" player, but still, that's a weird player who has the org's attention.

The M's have Dustin Ackley, Josh Lueke, Maikel Cleto, Tom Wilhemsen, former #1 Josh Fields, Nate Tenbrink and Matt Lawson.

Which provokes POTD's on Tenbrink and Lawson, underappreciated M's spects.  G-Money has talked about Tenbrink some.

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Part 2

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