Miami Palms Blog

Ayoz Sadan is the undisputed leader and star of the team. Born of Armenian immigrants, he was the first of the current batch of prospects brought up and made an immediate impact. Sadan seems on the path to stardom, born of a distinct ethnicity, speed on the basepaths and a keen eye at the plate. He saw a dropoff last season, however, seeing his numbers drop across the board as he was shifted out of the cleanup spot to places lower in the batting order as Billy Dupont and Eddie Black stepped up. Still, a batter in the 6 hole who has the potential to hit over .300 with 25 home runs is a player anyone would be happy to have.

Sure, the Palms can feel bad about losing Troy Tulowitzki to the Braves, but they will happily keep Martin Prado. He excelled as a third baseman last season, and was eventually moved to the lead off role. He hit .312 last season with 10 home runs and was reliable getting on base. This is important, as this season with Breck Smythe gone and Jaspero Gonzalez moved to a starter role, he will be relied upon to contribute regularly both on offense and defense.

Manny Parra came from the Brewers last season and was less than inspiring. He managed to go 8-13 with a 7.11 ERA, but his strikeout total remained high, which was encouraging. He has decent control but is too hittable, essentially. He'll be a starter again this year, but the Palms will certainly be looking for other options if he falters again like he did in 2009.