The Dodger minor league season is officially over, so this will be the last minor league report of 2011. But don't worry, they'll be plenty of minor league coverage in the off-season including a recap of each minor league team, Fall/Winter League updates, and of course my annual ranking of all Dodger minor league players.
Also, if you haven't heard already the Dodgers named Scott Van Slyke the Minor League Player of the Year and Shawn Tolleson the Minor League Pitcher of the Year. In the TBLA poll earlier this week, Van Slyke ranked 2nd behind Angelo Songco for this award (51% to 39%), and Tolleson also placed 2nd as he was narrowly edged by Nathen Eovaldi (40% to 39%). Both will be at Dodger Stadium for Friday's game to receive their award.
Minor League Player of the Day – O'Koyea Dickson - 1 for 4, 1 2B, 1 RBI. Tough to give this award to anyone in the final game of the Dodger minor league season, but I had to pick someone so I chose Dickson as he drove in the Raptors' only run and his double was one of just two extra base hits. He hit .333 during the short post season and obviously had a great year overall.
AAA – Season over
AA – Season over
HiA – Season over
LoA – Season over
Rookie Ogden – The Raptors scored four batters into the game in this must win contest, but were never heard from again and were defeated by Great Falls (White Sox) 7 - 1 in the Pioneer League championship. This is the second year in the row that Ogden has lost in the championship series, but it's still quite an accomplishment to be the 2nd best team in the league. As mentioned above the Raptors got off to a quick start as O'Koyea Dickson doubled in Joc Pederson (who had walked) in the very first inning, but their bats cooled off significantly after that. There were only 5 more hits in the game for the good guys, with the most notable being a double by Justin Boudreaux and two singles by Jeff Hunt. On the mound, starter Derek Cone ended the season on a sour note as he allowed 7 hits and 5 runs (3 earned) over 4.2 innings. Raydel Sanchez came in from the bullpen for the first time all season, but he was also victimized by a pair of unearned runs in his 3 frames. Matt Shelton threw the final pitches of the Raptors season as he recorded the final out in the loss.
Rookie Arizona – Season over
DSL – Season over
Coming up - Looks like most full season minor league teams will begin their 2012 season on April 5th, so you'll have to wait until then for the next official Dodger minor league report.