In an announcement from minor league baseball yesterday, catcher Carlos Santana and left fielder Nick Weglarz were named to the rosters for the Futures Game during All-Star Weekend this year in St. Louis. The Akron Aeros teammates learned of their recognition prior to yesterday’s 4-3 walk-off victory over the Trenton Thunder, and this year marks the third time in four years that the two Cleveland participants in the Futures Game came from the Double-A affiliate. Since the Futures Game takes place on Sunday, July 12, it is expected the the pair will miss at least one Akron game that weekend and then go immediately to Trenton as they are both expected to be named Eastern League All-Stars as well.
The Futures Game is always an exciting atmosphere, and I was fortunate enough to attend the 2007 event in San Francisco. It was great seeing some of the top minor league players in baseball, and it was actually the first time I was able to see hot-shot prospect Max Ramirez live at the time (he was soon after traded for Kenny Lofton). Both of these players will appear on the World Team as Weglarz is a native of Stevensville, Ontario and Santana is from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Here is a look at the all-time breakdown of Cleveland Indians prospects in the Futures Game:
1999: Russell Branyan (Buffalo)
2000: Danys Baez (Akron) and CC Sabathia (Akron)
2001: Alex Herrera (Kinston)
2002: Billy Traber (Akron) and Victor Martinez (Akron)
2003: Grady Sizemore (Akron)
2004: Fausto Carmona (Akron) and Michael Aubrey (Kinston)
2005: Ryan Garko (Buffalo) and Fernando Cabrera (Buffalo)
2006: Sean Smith (Akron) and Adam Miller (Akron)
2007: Chuck Lofgren (Akron) and Max Ramirez (Kinston)
2008: Wes Hodges (Akron) and Matt LaPorta (Akron)
2009: Nick Weglarz (Akron) and Carlos Santana (Akron)
There are some pretty intriguing names on this list such as Sizemore who was the 2003 MVP, LaPorta who was traded to Cleveland just days before the Futures Game last season, and Miller who was struggled mightily with injuries over the past several seasons. This year’s sluggers are among the leaders in the Eastern League in several different categories and have had contrasting seasons to a certain extent.
Weglarz, aptly nicknamed “Big Red” for his bright red locks, started the season 3-48 (.063) through his first 17 games played and admitted rather blatantly that he was trying to do too much at the plate in his first full season at the Double-A level. The 6-3, 255-lb. product of Lakeshore Catholic High School (ON) and the Indians 3rd-round pick in 2005 has been one of the best players in baseball recently however. In his past 50 games played, Weglarz is now batting .323 with 10 home runs, 46 RBI, 13 doubles and a stunning .610 slugging percentage including a player of the week honor May 18th.
Earlier this week, he almost single handedly led the Aeros to a series victory over the two-time defending EL champions from New Jersey. In the three-game set, Weglarz batted .700 (7-10) with three home runs, eight RBI, four runs scored, a double and tied an Akron franchise-record with four walks in Thursday’s 4-3 victory. As he pointed out at the conclusion of yesterday’s win, “this is a very prestigious honor along with playing in both the World Baseball Classic and the 2008 Olympic Games for Canada.” His 11 home runs are tied for the team-high, and he leads in RBI where his 50 on the season rank second in the Eastern League and third in the Indians system.
Joining him on the prestigious Futures Game roster will be the no.1 prospect in the Indians organization, Carlos Santana, a switch-hitting catcher who was the centerpiece of the Casey Blake trade between the Indians and the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 27, 2008. The native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic was named the California League MVP last season in his time played for Class A Inland Empire, despite playing only 99 games for the team. In 130 games played last season between Inland Empire, Class A Kinston and Akron, Santana batted .326 with 21 home runs, 39 doubles and 117 RBI, which ranked second in minor league baseball.
This season, Santana has yet to disappoint all of the lofty expectations, as his numbers for the season remain very strong despite a recent 19-90 (.211) slump over his past 29 games. He is now batting .263 with 11 home runs, and 46 RBI, as he leads the Aeros with a .401 on-base percentage and a .507 slugging percentage. This is only his third season as a catcher, but he has been very impressive defensively as he has thrown out 35% of base runners and has a 2.86 ERA in 378.0 innings caught this season.