#MascotMania: The Battle for the Best MiLB Mascot

Lou E. Loon wants your vote!

Remember the uproar from earlier this season about whether or not the Dodgers have an official mascot?

Well, five of the Dodgers' minor league affiliates do have official mascots and Minor League Baseball is currently holding Mascot Mania, a contest to decide the best mascot in the minor leagues.

"Mascots are a big part of minor league baseball and it's a fun part of it too," said Matt DeVries, content manager for the Great Lakes Loons, the Dodgers Low-A affiliate.

At minor league games, mascots are a huge part of the in-game entertainment. They're on the field in-between innings and in the stands interacting with fans during the action, often providing funny gags and bits for the fans. This includes playing games with the kids in the stands or even dumping bags of peanuts on players in the dugout.

"It's something you wouldn't see at the major league level," DeVreis said. "You're not going to have a mascot dumping peanuts on a player in the dugout because Major League Baseball wouldn't allow that because (the focus) is more (on) baseball."

The Dodgers' minor league affiliates have a history of success in the competition as Orbit, of the Albuquerque Isotopes, won the 2012 championship. However, he was unable to defend his title in 2013, losing to LouSeal of the Columbus Clippers.

While he will certainly be seeking to reclaim his status as best mascot this year, he will face stiffer competition, including from within the Dodgers organization. Lou E. Loon of the Great Lakes Loons desperately wants the title after barely failing to advance to the championship round last year and the Loons are doing all they can to help him win it.

The team has gone on a social media blitz, using Twitter and YouTube along with photos and graphics to promote their beloved mascot and show the fans why Lou E. Loon deserves to be crowned champion.

"I would love to say that people come to the Loons games to watch the baseball games, but that rarely, rarely is the case," said Amber Ferris, promotion manager for the Loons.

"Almost every single fan that we've interacted with both on social media or in person has said in one way or another an experience that they had with Lou. ... They see him and they basically associate it with Loons baseball."

Lou E. Loon does about 320-330 "Lou E. Appearances" per year, according to Ferris, and like many mascots around in the MiLB, has become a big part of their brand and represents the Loons as the face of the franchise in the community.

"He's so much more active than most other mascots. For us, we like Lou E. out there the entire game," DeVries said.

"Nine times out of 10 when you look around you're going to see Lou E. in the seating bowl messing around with fans, having fun and he goes out to different events all the time. He'll go to the local YMCA, local Boys and Girls Club, local PTA meeting, and he just tries to act like a good, moral person."

As this contest shows, Minor League Baseball is not only about the prospects, so go on Twitter or to the MiLB website and start stuffing the ballot boxes.

Voting for each league started here this past Monday and runs until August 4, with the championship round featuring the winner of each league taking place throughout the following week.

Fans can also vote on Twitter using the official hashtag for each Dodger affiliate mascot, which are listed below.

• Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes (PCL): Orbit #VoteOrbit_Isotopes
• Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts (SOU): Looie The Lookout #VoteLooieLookouts
• High-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (CAL): Tremor #VoteTremorQuakes
• Low-A Great Lakes Loons (MID): Lou E. Loon #LoveLouE
• Rookie Ogden Raptors (PIO): Oggie #VoteOggieRaptors

Photo credit: Phil Squattrito, Flickr

Dodger prospects in Baseball America's top 100 since 1990

I found an interesting post on Minor League Ball where someone compiled a list of all the Baseball America Top 100 prospects every season since 1990. I'm going to take a look at the Dodgers on the list and break it down a little.

This seems appropriate as it's prospecting season and my Dodgers' Top 30 will be out in the next 2-3 weeks.

• No. times a Dodger was ranked: 89
• Highest ranking: 2, Paul Konerko (1998)
• Most in a year: 9 (2006)
• No. of times in top 10: 12
  
• Players ranked the most: Roger Cedeno, 1993-96 (ranks 85, 38, 26, 57); Paul Konerko 1995-98 (ranks 45, 42, 11, 2); James Loney, 2003-05, 2007 (ranks 34, 42, 62, 44)

The Dodgers have experienced some highs and lows with their farm system over the years. In the early '90s, it was chock full of potential stars and future Hall-of-Famers. Players like Mike Piazza and Pedro Martinez led the list.

Then came the run of four consecutive Rookies of the Year -- a time in which the Dodgers had one of the strongest farm systems in baseball.

From 1998 to about 2003, the Dodgers' system was stripped by trades and busted prospects. Hell, the only guy to make the BA Top 100 in 1999 (catcher Angel Pena) and 2001 (outfielder Chin-Feng Chen). This was due to extremely poor top draft choices from 1995-2001, where the names David Yocum, Damian Rolls, Glenn Davis, Bubba Crosby, Jason Repko, Ben Diggins and Brian Pilkington all were present.

The system began to re-emerge under former General Manager Dan Evans and Scouting Director Logan White. The 2002 draft produced players like James Loney, Greg Miller, Jonathan Broxton and Russell Martin. The 2003 draft was also a solid effort, netting Chad Billingsley and Matt Kemp.

Once those guys graduated to the majors or dropped off the list due to poor performance and/or injuries, the Dodger system went back into a lull. Since Clayton Kershaw graduated in 2008, the Dodgers' system hasn't been well-regarded by prospect experts. It seems like the system is ticketed for another uptake in the not-to-distant-near-future.

Here's a year-by-year breakdown of the Dodgers on the BA Top 100 since 1990 (ranks in parenthesis)

1990
Kiki Jones, RHP (6)
Jose Offerman, SS (10)
Tom Goodwin, OF (30)
Braulio Castillo, OF (34)
Eric Karros, 1B (84)
Jose Vizciano, 2B/SS (99)
Comments: Offerman, Goodwin and Vizciano saw time in the bigs. Karros was the 1992 Rookie of the Year and the L.A. Dodger all-time home run leader

1991
Offerman (4)
Raul Mondesi, OF (14)
Henry Rodriguez, OF (29)
Jamie McAndrew, RHP (41)
Jones (41)
Dan Opperman, RHP (71)
Goodwin (74)
Karros (94)
Comments: Boy, they had high hopes for Offerman. Rodriguez made his name in Montreal.

1992
Pedro Martinez, RHP (10)
Mondesi (21)
Comments: A future Hall-of-Famer and one of the better five-tool players of the 1990s who also won the 1994 ROY.

1993
Mike Piazza, C (38)
Martinez (62)
Mondesi (82)
Roger Cedeno, OF (85)
Comments: Another HOF'er and my favorite player of all-time in Piazza. Martinez dropped and was later traded for 2B Delino DeShields.

1994
Darren Dreifort, RHP (11)
Chan Ho Park, RHP (14)
Todd Hollandsworth, OF (27)
Cedeno (38)
Mondesi (51)
Rick Gorecki, RHP (75)
Comments: Dreifort was the No. 2 pick in the 1993 MLB Draft behind Alex Rodriguez. Oh what might have been. All these guys saw time in the bigs, and all but Gorecki saw significant time.

1995
Hollandsworth (13)
Antonio Osuna, RHP (15)
Cedeno (26)
Paul Konerko, C/1B (45)
Park (41)
Karim Garcia, OF (98)
Comments: The first Garcia sighting and like the previous year, these guys all made the big leagues.

1996
Garcia (7)
Park (18)
Konerko (42)
Hollandsworth (44)
Cedeno (57)
Wilton Guerrero, SS (61)
Comments: Garcia looked bound for superstardom and the Dodgers signed the wrong Guerrero, as Wilton is Vladimir's brother. Hollandsworth won the 1995 ROY.

1997
Konerko (11)
Garcia (20)
Adrian Beltre, 3B (30)
Guerrero (49)
Onan Masaoka, LHP (95)
Comments: Believe it or not, I remember Masaoka (No. 40). Beltre makes his first appearance.

1998
Konerko (2)
Beltre (3)
Mike Judd, RHP (59)
Dennis Reyes, LHP (91)
Comments: Talk about top-heavy. The Dodgers haven't had two guys in the top five since and didn't prior to 1998.

1999
Angel Pena, C (41)
Comments: Pretty sad when you think about it.

2000 (23)
Chin-Feng Chen, OF (17)
Eric Gagne, RHP (49)
Comments: The Dodgers made a splash in the international market to bring in Chen and Gagne had potential.

2001 (28)
Chen (86)
Comments: Back to being sad.

2002 (25)
Kazuhisa Ishii, LHP (35)
Chen (64)
Ricardo Rodriguez, RHP (2002)
Comments: Ishii was a free agent from Japan and Rodriguez was later traded for RHP Paul Shuey.

2003 (14)
James Loney, 1B (34)
Jonathan Figueroa, LHP (35)
Edwin Jackson, RHP (99)
Comments: The turnaround begins. Unfortunately, Figueroa never made it (R.I.P.)

2004 (2)
Jackson (4)
Greg Miller, LHP (8)
Franklin Gutierrez, OF (31)
Loney (42)
Comments: Jackson came up in 2003 on his birthday and out-dueled Randy Johnson to earn this ranking. Gutierrez is now one of the best defensive outfielders in the majors and was traded for Milton Bradley prior to the '04 season. Miller had some of the greatest potential of any Dodger prospect.

2005 (2)
Joel Guzman, SS (5)
Chad Billingsley, RHP (19)
Jackson (30)
Loney (62)
Andy LaRoche, 3B (74)
Russell Martin, C (89)
Miller (100)
Comments: Another international signing in Guzman, which has been missing from the Dodgers' farm system in recent years. Billingsley makes his first appearance.

2006 (2)
Billingsley (7)
LaRoche (19)
Guzman (26)
Martin (42)
Scott Elbert, LHP (55)
Jonathan Broxton, RHP (63)
Blake DeWitt, 3B (82)
Andre Ethier, OF (89)
Matt Kemp, OF (96)
Comments: This was the year that had everyone talking. Despite having nine guys in the top 100, BA still ranked the Diamondbacks' overrated farm system ahead of the Dodgers'. Ethier was acquired in the Milton Bradley deal while the others were homegrown.

2007 (6)
LaRoche (19)
Clayton Kershaw, LHP (24)
Elbert (31)
Loney (44)
Comments: Graduations hurt the Dodgers' minor league depth. Grabbing Kershaw at No. 7 overall helped a lot.

2008 (6)
Kershaw (7)
LaRoche (31)
Chin-lung Hu, SS (55)
Elbert (88)
Comments: Kershaw established himself as one of the best pitching prospects in baseball and was on the fast track to stardom. Hu forced himself onto the list with a breakout 2007.

2009 (23)
Andrew Lambo, OF/1B (49)
James McDonald, RHP (56)
Comments: Again, graduations and poor decisions (like trading Carlos Santana for Casey Blake) hurt the depth. Ironically, these two were traded for Dotel in July 2010.

2010 (24)
Dee Gordon, SS (46)
Chris Withrow, RHP (48)
Comments: Withrow had a horrible 2010, which will likely keep him out of the 2011 Top 100, but Gordon should be firmly entrenched on the list.

The Dodgers' farm system has the ability to turn it around with high-potential prospects like Gordon, Rubby De La Rosa and Zach Lee. It'll be interesting to see how they develop of the next couple years and how the Dodgers plan to replenish the system. Getting back into the international market would be a great start.

John Ely, quite the find

When the Dodgers traded Juan Pierrein December for a couple of no-name prospects, intelligent Dodger fans were elated. The fact is, we would have been happy with a bucket of sunflower seeds and batting practice balls for lil' Fivel.

Instead, the Dodgers might have stolen a quality starter from the White Sox in John Ely.

The 24-year-old came to the Dodgers with Jon Link, and Ely has been nothing but spectacular.

He doesn't have the best or most overpowering "stuff," but he gets the job done.

So far, he's 3-2 with a 3.00 ERA and team-low 1.00 WHIP (for starting pitchers). His fastball tops out at 90 MPH and he has a slider, curveball and changeup - a classic repetoire for a starter. However, it's his command that is the most impressive.

Coming into today's start against the Cubs, Ely had walked four batters in his previous five starts. He ended up walking two against the Cubs and suffered a tough-luck 1-0 defeat.

While Clayton Kershaw, Hiroki Kuroda and Chad Billingsley are the headliners of the rotation, Ely has firmly entrentched himself as the team's No. 4 starter.


Photo credit: Malingering

My Top 30 Dodger Prospects

Here is a list of my top 30 Dodger prospects. Baseball America will release its Dodger top 10 list on Dec. 4. All players who have not reached 50 innings pitched or 130 at-bats in the Major Leagues are eligible for this list. Ages are as of opening day, 2010.

1. Dee Gordon SS (5'11, 160 lbs., 21 years old)
Son of Tom, Dee Gordon nearly established himself as an elite minor league prospect after his 2009 season. He was named the 2009 Midwestern League Player of the Year. He has drawn comparisons to Jose Reyes. He is easily the Dodgers' best prospect.
2010 location: High-A Inland Empire ETA: mid-2011

2. Ethan Martin RHP (6'2, 195 lbs., 20 years old)
Martin had some flashes of brilliance (10.8 K/9, 0.4 HR/9, .232 BAA), but still has some work to do. He must improve his control (5.5 BB/9), but there's no doubt the 2008 No. 15 pick has the potential to be a front-of-the-rotation starter.
2010 location: High-A Inland Empire, possible call-up to Double-A Chattanooga ETA: mid-2011

3. Chris Withrow RHP (6'3, 195 lbs., 21 years old)
It's eerie how similar Martin and Withrow are. Both were mid-first-round picks, both have similar arsenals and both had breakthrough seasons in 2009. Withrow earned a late-season call-up to Double-A and actually had better numbers there, albeit a small sample size.
2010 location: Double-A Chattanooga, possible call-up to Triple-A or Los Angeles ETA: 2011

4. Josh Lindblom RHP (6'5, 240 lbs., 22 years old)
Lindblom impressed the Dodgers in Spring Training, but ultimately never sniffed the Bigs in 2009. He worked as a starter in Double-A and a reliever in Triple-A. The Dodgers want to keep him as a starter because they know he can always go back to relieving.
2010 location: Triple-A Albuquerque with a likely call-up to Los Angeles ETA: 2010

5. Aaron Miller LHP (6'3, 200 lbs., 22 years old)
Miller, the Dodgers' 2009 first-round pick, surprised many folks, including myself. He wasn't the typical projectable high school pitcher scouting director Logan White is accustomed to selecting. He was drafted out of college, and some teams liked him for his bat more out of Baylor. Miller has a chance to top this list with a solid performance in 2010.
2010 location: High-A Inland Empire with a likely call-up to Double-A Chattanooga ETA: 2011

6. Andrew Lambo OF/1B (6'3, 190 lbs., 21 years old)
Lambo was my Dodger No. 1 prospect heading into the season, and he was also Baseball America's choice. Lambo got off to a hot start, but was rather pedestrian for a majority of the season. His numbers across the board fell, but is still the best pure hitter in the Dodgers' system. He was playing against older competition in Double-A and he'll need to bounce back from a sub-par performance in 2009.
2010 location: Double-A Chattanooga ETA: mid-2011

7. Ivan De Jesus SS/2B (5'11, 182 lbs., 22 years old)
De Jesus lost most of his 2009 season to a broken leg in Spring Training. He is one of the most polished prospects in the Dodgers' system, but he tends to try to do too much in the field at times. He has the best plate discipline of any Dodger prospect and could be in line to compete for the starting second base job in Los Angeles.
2010 location: Triple-A Albuquerque or Los Angeles ETA: 2010

8. Nathan Eovaldi RHP (6'3, 195 lbs., 20 years old)
Eovaldi is like Martin and Withrow, but not quite on that level. His ceiling is likely as a middle-of-the-rotation guy with a chance to be a decent No. 2 -- at best. However, he made strides this season and could improve his outlook with a good performance in 2010.
2010 location: High-A Inland Empire with a likely call-up to Double-A Chattanooga ETA: 2012

9. Carl (Allen) Webster RHP (6'2, 165 lbs., 20 years old)
Webster is another Dodger prospect who shot up the rankings after his 2009 performance. He didn't pitch a lot, but when he did pitch, he was quite good. He has a long way to go, but could be a sleeper-type prospect. He still hasn't filled out his frame, so he is projectable. Son of current Dodger scout and former Dodger Mitch Webster.
2010 location: Low-A Great Lakes with potential call-up to High-A or Double-A ETA: 2012

10. Trayvon Robinson OF (5'11, 175 lbs., 21 years old)
Robinson has always had the tools and ability, but he never put it together... until now. He had a breakout season in 2009 and has a chance to build on it in 2010. He's the Dodgers' best five-tool prospect since Matt Kemp, but he isn't even close to that level (nor will he ever be). He has a chance to be a regular in the Majors, if he continues to improve.
2010 location: Double-A Chattanooga ETA: 2012

The best of the rest

11. Anthony (Tony) Delmonico C
Could shoot up if his bat stays solid and he sticks behind the plate, has been a .300/.400/.500 guy in the minors; one of my personal favorite prospects
12. Kyle Russell OF
Too many strikeouts, but his power, glove are the best in the system
13. Garrett Gould RHP
First-round talent, fell to the late second round, could be in the top 10 next year
14. Scott Elbert LHP
Former top 10 guy, this is his make-or-break year
15. Xavier Paul OF
A nice fourth outfielder-type; could be a regular on a bad team
16. Blake Smith OF
Opposite of Miller, as teams looked at Smith more as a pitcher
17. Scott Van Slyke OF
Had a breakout year, but is already 23 years old and barely cracked Triple-A
18. Tim Sexton RHP
Probably profiles better as a reliever, but will stick as a starter for as long as he can
19. Pedro Baez 3B
Perhaps the most talented of any Dodger prospect, but hasn't been able to put it all together
20. Jon Michael Redding RHP
No. 4/5 rotation guy with solid control
21. Jeremy Wise C
Has a chance to be good, but he has to get it going now
22. Russell Mitchell 1B/3B
Had a breakout Arizona Fall League season, but is probably nothing more than a AAAA player
23. Javy (Luis) Guerra RHP
Has the stuff, but needs to get his control down; finally in the pen, where he belongs
24. Justin Miller RHP
Fringe-type guy; probably no more than a mi*ddle reliever
25. Austin Gallagher 3B/1B
The guy who fell the hardest from last year; just hasn't hit enough
26. Brett Wallach RHP
Son of Tim, Brett was a 2009 draft pick and is a work in progress
27. Lucas May C
He came into last season as the possible heir apparent to Russell Martin (if there's such a thing), struggled, went back to Double-A and hit well; probably no more than a backup
28. Kenley Jansen RHP
Converted catcher, has a rocket arm and could be a sleeper
29. Brent Leach LHP
Had a taste of the Majors this year, but is just a LOOGY... except he gets right-handers out more often
30. Tae-Hyeok Nam 1B/3B
Big time sleeper here; played in only three games after coming over from Korea; still very young (19 on opening day)

Best of the Dodger System

Best Hitter for Average	Andrew Lambo
Best Power Hitter	Kyle Russell
Best Strike-Zone Discipline	Ivan De Jesus
Fastest Baserunner	Dee Gordon
Best Athlete	Dee Gordon
Best Fastball	Kenley Jansen
Best Curveball	Chris Withrow
Best Slider	Josh Lindblom
Best Changeup Best Sinker	Brent Leach Brett Wallach
Best Control	Aaron Miller
Best Defensive Catcher	A.J. Ellis
Best Defensive Infielder	Dee Gordon
Best Infield Arm	Pedro Baez
Best Defensive Outfielder	Kyle Russell
Best Outfield Arm Best Five-Tool Prospect	Xavier Paul Trayvon Robinson

Projected 2013 Lineup

Catcher	Russell Martin
First Base	James Loney
Second Base	Ivan De Jesus
Third Base	Blake DeWitt
Shortstop	Dee Gordon
Left Field	Andrew Lambo
Center Field	Matt Kemp
Right Field	Andre Ethier
No. 1 Starter	Clayton Kershaw
No. 2 Starter	Chad Billingsley
No. 3 Starter	Ethan Martin
No. 4 Starter	Chris Withrow
No. 5 Starter	Aaron Miller
Closer	Johathan Broxton