DSL Notes

The DSL rosters have been posted though they are somewhat incomplete. I believe the roster limit is 35 players in this league. I have updated the MM system roster in the sidebar to reflect the updated info so please refer to it when considering the observations below.

1. 6 Venezuelan and 1 Mexican FA sign from 2009 have yet to appear on either the DSL 1/2 rosters. 6 of the 7 appeared on the DSL extended rosters posted by Jason Cole over at lonestardugout.com ni'gh 2 months ago so I think if their delay is merely administrative or logistical.

2. Hector Martinez, a Dominican OF and 2009 FA sign, did not appear on Cole's roster and I feared that he might have been caught up in "age-gate" but he is now on the DSL2 roster so no worries.

3. There are about 12 guys unaccounted for who appeared on Cole's roster but not on the rosters posted at Milb.com. Probably admin/logistics-related problems I presume.

4. Pitchers Ben Henry, A. Thompson (aus), and Mark Stanford (aus)did not show up on the DSL rosters as of yet. They were there on Cole's roster so they still could make their way to the DR. They were rumored to be headed there to get 3 more weeks of pitching in before the short-season schedule started state-side.

5. Notice that all of the Latin American players who are likely to play in short-season ball are all playing in the DSL. I presume that 6 or 7 of them will come stateside when short-season begins. Another 6 or 7 could come over to AZL from DSL at any time during the season. Up to 8 players who are restricted/suspended could also find their way over if their status is resolved.

6. Omar Beltre appears on the roster but not Alexei Ogando though both appeared on Cole's preliminary DSL roster. Haven't heard about any progress resolving their visa issues. Miguel Velazquez, removed from the inactive/suspended list last week, does not appear on either DSL roster at present. Not sure if we will see him this year or if he will be released.

7. Only 3 new players of note were apparently signed that were unaccounted for in previous reports: Sergio Zorillo, SS, 18.2yo; Christian Villanueva, 3B, 17.8 yo; and Jose Arias, SS, 18.8yo. Not sure if any are legit prospects, probably just roster depth. All three are on the DSL 2 roster and might get shoved around when some of the Venezuelan infielders get cleared to play.

8. Though there has been no official confirmation by the Rangers about which players have committed visa fraud or still under investigation, there are at least 4 players who seem likely candidates:

Miguel de los Santos (P): he should be in Hickory by now but was demoted to DSL extended once the season was underway.
Jairo Valdez (C/1B/OF): see above.
Juan Polanco (OF): he did not appear on Jason Coles AZL/DSL Extended rosters at the start of the season and he is not on either of the DSL rosters released yesterday.
Ace Ventura (OF): see above.

Two other possible candidates are Wilson Ventura (2b) and Chalas (SS). There could be others but they would all be fringe propects. Miggie was a favorite of mine last year so it would definitely suck if he wasn't cleared in the end.

9. As DSL coach Jayce Tingler indicated in an interview with Jason Cole, most of the 2009 FA signs should be playing for the DSL 2 club, in an attempt to keep the signing class together. 4 of the rookie OF signs are on the DSL 2 club while 1 MIF and a C are on the DSL 1 club. We'll see if they assign the VZ kids to the DSL 1club in the coming days I guess.


DSL 2 won it's debut today though their infield will probably look a bit different once the VZ kids get cleared to play. In addition, their roster only indicates that they have 6 active pitchers, 4 of whom pitched yesterday, so expect the roster to be up to full capacity by their next game on Monday.




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