Miami Palms Blog

With the potential departures of Troy Tulowitzki, Breck Smythe and Billy Dupont, the Palms need to shore up the infield, and started that process today, signing former White Sox utility man Josh Fields. Fields is primarily a third baseman, but has had trouble breaking into the starting line up in Chicago thanks to a poor batting average. He will also come off the bench for the Palms to spell Martin Prado and other members of the offense.

Reflecting the desire for stability behind the plate and depth in the outfield, the Palms made their first moves of the offseason. Omir Santos was a pleasant surprise, signed after spending very little time in the majors with the Orioles in 2008. He was good behind the plate and adequate at the plate hitting .256 with 3 home runs. Additionally, Steve Drysdale came back for another season in the Palms outfield. He was mostly a spare part in his first year in the league, but excelled when he was in the lineup, hitting .337 with 4 home runs.

The Palms have three unrestricted free agents, two of whom were key players this season. First baseman Billy Dupont, short stop Troy Tulowitzki and utility infielder Breck Smythe will all be free agents. Dupont was in his first year as a starter, moving from the outfield to first base. Troy Tulowitzki was brought in for one year from Colorado, but the emergence of Jaspero Gonzalez and still relative inexpense of Ryan Henning meant they can spend money elsewhere. Breck Smythe, after a fast start, broke down late in the season. Players with options were back up catcher Omir Santos and spare outfielder Steve Drysdale. With so much turnover in the past few seasons, expect the Palms to excersize the option on Santos. Drysdale exceeded expectations this past year in limited time. Expect his option to be picked up as well.

Here in spreadsheet form are the stats in their entirety for all the players on the Miami Palms. BATTING Player Position G AB H AVG 2b 3b HR RBI Run K BB GIDP LOB/3outs TB SLG OBP OPS Sac OPS + Billy Dupont 1b 147 628 180 0.287 33 9 22 94 81 79 26 2 128 297 0.473 0.310 0.783 11 99 Ryan Henning 2b 136 520 131 0.252 16 1 12 41 63 64 37 9 126 185 0.356 0.299 0.655 4 70 Jaspero Gonzalez 2b 39 160 52 0.325 10 1 6 18 12 13 7 1 33 82 0.513 0.351 0.864 1 120 Martin Prado 3b 140 631 197 0.312 38 10 10 63 72 92 41 7 123 285 0.452 0.351 0.803 6 107 Omir Santos C 49 176 45 0.256 9 1 3 16 23 23 13 1 42 58 0.330 ...

Here is a look at some of the team leaders for this past season with the Palms. If two players are listed, the second is the player that has "qualified" for listing in the league leader boards. BATTING Games: Coco Crisp, 150 Batting Average: Steve Drysdale, .337... Randy Winn, .327 Doubles: Winn, 32 Triples: Martin Prado, 10 Home Runs: Eddie Black, 25 RBI: Billy Dupont, 94 Runs: Winn, 83 Strikeouts: Troy Tulowitzki, 94 Walks: Ayoz Sadan, 49 Slugging: Jaspero Gonzalez, .513, Winn, .505 On Base Percentage: Drysdale, .379, Winn, .367 PITCHING Wins: Troy Munoz, 17 Saves: Buddy Carlyle, 44 Innings: Munoz 231.67 ERA: Blake Johnston, 2.87, Munoz 3.46 Strikeouts: Javier Vazquez, 166 WHIP: Dennis Sarfate 1.21, Munoz 1.21 Batting Average Against: Sarfate .241, Munoz .238

He didn't put up gaudy statistics over the course of the month, but Martin Prado came through in key spots. His big games came at opportune times, and he was the player of the game 5 times through the month, thanks to his ability to get on base and drive in runners. He even had 3 home runs, bringing his season total to 10. With the departure of Darren Jones last season, his presence has been a welcome one. For the season, however, the MVP award has gone to the player that has excelled for the course of the year. While other players have proven to be streaky, Randy Winn has excelled through the season, hitting .327 with 22 homers, 77rbi and 83 runs. His veteran presence definitely aided in the clubhouse, and he is the Palms MVP.

The Palms closed out their season with a series sweep in New York. Unfortunately, the Yankees will be playing more games this week, while Miami will get to head to the golf course. Billy Dupont hit the final homerun for the Palms on the season, his 22nd, while Jaspero Gonzalez scored the final run with Eddie Black driving him in. Javier Vazquez netted the last win, and Buddy Carlyle threw the last pitch, securing his 44th save. It resulted in a Melky Cabrera fly out to Coco Crisp, who had the last put-out of the year. Now begins a long offseason, trying to figure out what it will take to get over the hump, given that this is a very good team with a few holes to patch. Either way, the team and I are looking forward to next season! 3b Prado 0-4 BB K GIDP 2b Gonzalez 1-5 R K DH Winn 4-5 2R C Black 2-5 2b 1bi (86) R RF Sohn 2-5 2b (32) 1bi (62) R K 1b Dupont 2-5 HR (22) 2b (33) 4bi (94) R SS Tulowitzki 0-3 BB LF Drysdale 1-3 2b (3) BB CF Crisp 1-4 2K Pitcher W-L S IP H ...

The Palms won their second game in New York against a depleted Yankees team resting for the playoffs. The big hit for the Palms came off the bat of Billy Dupont, who hit a bases loaded double to drive in two. Troy Munoz won his last start of the year and finished his outing with a pair of strikeouts. Tomorrow afternoon, the Palms will finish their season and prepare for an offseason that aims in particular at bolstering the starting pitching. 3b Prado 3-4 2b (38) R BB K RF Sohn 1-4 R BB DH Winn 1-4 1bi (77) BB K 1b Dupont 1-5 2b (32) 2bi (90) LF Sadan 1-4 BB GIDP SS Tulowitzki 0-5 K CF Crisp 2-4 R K 2b Henning 0-4 C Santos 2-3 1bi (16) R BB Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Munoz W 17-12 7 4 2 2 5 5 0 Sarfate 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 Carlyle S 43 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Player of the Game: Martin Prado 86-75

The Palms managed to put a dozen runs on the board, matching their highest total for the season. Ironically, the first time they did this was the 2nd game of the season, and this game provided a nice bookend. Miami shelled Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia and hit three homers on the way to their easy victory. 3b Prado 3-6 R 2K RF Sohn 2-6 3b (7) 1bi (61) 2R 2K DH Winn 3-6 2bi (76) 2R C Black 0-6 1b Dupont 4-5 HR (21) 2b (31) 3bi (88) 3R K LF Sadan 3-5 HR (18) 2b (28) 4bi (77) R K SS Tulowitzki 2-4 HR (18) 2bi (77) R BB K CF Crisp 1-4 R BB 2b Henning 1-4 R BB K Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Chastanet W 13-12 5 10 2 2 0 4 1 Schoppe 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 Johnston 2 3 0 0 1 2 0 Player of the Game: Ayoz Sadan 85-75

Dave Balierough's last start of the season proved to be one of his best. The veteran pitcher capped off his somewhat disappointing 2009 campaign with an 8 inning, 1 run appearance. Buddy Carlyle made things interesting, allowing a run and leaving the bases loaded as he earned a save, his 42nd of the year. RF Sohn 1-4 2b (31) 2bi (60) BB 3b Smythe 2-5 1bi (20) DH Winn 0-5 K C Black 1-4 1b Dupont 0-4 3K SS Tulowitzki 1-4 R K CF Crisp 2-4 HR (11) 1bi (51) R 2b Henning 2-4 2b (16) R LF Tiropez 2-4 2b (4) R K Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Balierough W 13-10 8 5 1 1 2 7 0 Carlyle S 42 1 4 1 1 0 0 0 Player of the Game: Dave Balierough 84-75