Arizona Fall League: Phoenix Desert Dogs 8, Mesa Solar Sox 3

It was the fall finale for the Phoenix Desert Dogs, and they were able to end it on a high note. Among the Rays prospects, Kevin Kiermaier had a big game, going 2 for 3 with a triple, a walk, an RBI, and 2 runs scored, Richie Shaffer went 1 for 3 with a double, a walk, and a run scored, Tim Beckham went 1 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored, and Hak-Ju Lee went 0 for 3 but walked twice and stole a base. Lenny Linsky allowed a run on 2 hits and a walk in an inning of work in relief. Kiermaier was easily the Rays’ best player of the fall, posting a .348/.444/.493 line with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 7 RBI, 7 of 7 stolen bases, and a 12-12 strikeout to walk ratio in 23 games and 69 at-bats. Shaffer, meanwhile, posted just a .259/.344/.370 line, just decent, but that was while playing on the taxi squad, appearing just twice a week most of the season, and when he finally had an opportunity to start over the last week of the season, he went 7 for 20 (.350) with 2 doubles, a triple, and 3 strikeouts against 2 walks.

Mexican Pacific League: Yaquis de Obregon 11, Aguilas de Mexicali 3

Anyone remember Bobby Cramer? I would guess not. Cramer was signed by the Devil Rays as a nondrafted free agent back in 2003 and did nothing but pitch well in 2003 and 2004 before the D-Rays, in their infinite wisdom, released him. Cramer wound up making 9 big league appearances in 2010 and 2011 for the Oakland Athletics, posting a rock solid 2.53 ERA, before splitting 2012 between Japan and the Mexican League. In any event, Cramer started in this game for Obregon and was great, allowing just 1 run on 1 hit in 6 innings, striking out 4 while walking 3. Ex-Rays prospect Iker Franco homered to support Cramer while Jon Weber went 0 for 2 for Mexicali.

Caneros de los Mochis 9, Naranjeros de Hermosillo 0

A couple of ex-Rays appeared for Hermosillo, with Jorge Cantu going 1 for 3 with a double and Humberto Cota going 0 for 2 with a walk, but the story in this game was Caneros starter Pedro Luis Lazo. Lazo, 39, went 7 innings allowing just 3 hits, striking out 5 while walking 1. Who is Lazo? Only one of the greatest pitchers in the history of Cuban baseball, winning a Cuban-record 257 games plus 23 more in international competitions. Lazo and Jose Contreras were the aces of the Pinar del Rio franchise in Cuba in 2002, and Contreras decided to defect following the season and sign with the Yankees while Lazo stayed in Cuba. Lazo, even at age 39, throws 93 MPH with a sharp mid-80′s slider. If he had come to the big leagues, who knows how good he could have been! So wait a second, if Lazo was the one who stayed loyal to Cuba, how did he end up in the Mexican Pacific League? The answer is that the Cuban government gave him special permission from the Cuban government to sign a contract with the Piratas de Campeche in the Mexican League in 2012 and apparently extended the agreement so he could play in the MPL as well. Lazo had an excellent season in 2012 as a reliever for Campeche, going 2-2 with 2.25 ERA, an 8.5 K/9, a 3.2 BB/9, and a 0.5 HR/9 in 33 relief appearances and 36 innings pitched, and although he wasn’t as sharp in his first 3 starts for the Caneros, he was absolutely vintage on Thursday night. It’s really cool to see a baseball legend who has gone largely unrecognized because he stayed in Cuba face off against current and former big leaguers- and considering how good he is at 39 years old, we can only imagine how good he was in his prime.

Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (Puerto Rico): Gigantes de Carolina 10, Leones de Ponce 6

It tells you how serious Scott Kazmir is in his comeback attempt that he spent this season embarrassing himself in Independent Ball and came to Puerto Rico knowing he might do more of the same. He doesn’t need the money after making over 30 million dollars in the major leagues. His fire just hasn’t left and he’s not quitting until he knows for sure he can’t do it. This game began looking like a disaster. Kazmir, pitching for Carolina, allowed a single, a walk, and then a double steal to begin the game. Nationals prospect Zach Walters grounded an RBI single to make it 1-0 Ponce. After Kazmir notched a strikeout, he picked off Walters but a run scored on the play to make it 2-0 Ponce. But from then on, Kazmir rolled. He struck out 3 of the next 4 batters he faced and allowed just one hit the rest of his outing. Kazmir went 4 innings allowing just the two first inning runs on 4 hits, striking out 6 while walking 1 and managing an impressive 8-1 groundball to flyball ratio. Kazmir still has plenty of work to do, but he still has something left. Hopefully he can continue progressing in Puerto Rico to the point that he gets offers minor league offers from teams for next season. Who knows- maybe the Rays could even come calling.

Venezuelan Winter League: Leones del Caracas 7, Navegantes de Magallanes 6

Always fun to watch these Leones-Navegantes games because there are so many current and former Rays between the two teams. Five appeared in this game alone. Erold Andrus did everything he could do to nail down the win for Magallanes, going 4 for 5 with 2 doubles, an RBI, and 2 runs scored, and Leslie Anderson went 2 for 5. Henry Wrigley went 1 for 4 with a run scored. But at the end of the game, it game down to a pair of ex-Rays relievers, Victor Zambrano, who was of course traded for Scott Kazmir, and Jean Machi, who spent a couple ill-fated years in the Rays system but made the major leagues this season with the San Francisco Giants. Zambrano worked around a hit and a walk in the 8th for Caracas before Anderson and Andrus tagged him for hits in the 9th, but Juan Gutierrez, the ex-Diamondbacks reliever, escaped that jam. Machi then came in for the bottom of the 9th for Magallanes, but with 1 out and a man on 1st base, former Diamondbacks outfielder Josh Kroeger slammed a walk-off 2-run home run as the Leones came away with a dramatic 7-6 win.

Arizona Fall League: Peoria Javelinas 8, Phoenix Desert Dogs 0

The Desert Dogs had a very rough game, although a couple Rays had nice performances. Hak-Ju Lee went just 0 for 4, Kevin Kiermaier went 0 for 3, and Richie Shaffer had an especially tough game, going 0 for 3 with 3 strikeouts and an error at first base but Tim Beckham went 1 for 3 and the pair of Rays pitching prospects who appeared in the game pitched well, with C.J. Riefenhauser striking out the side in a perfect inning and Kirby Yates striking out 1 in 1.1 perfect frames.

Dominican Winter League: Gigantes del Cibao 15, Leones del Escogido 13

This game was wild to say the least. Among the ex-Rays, Rhyne Hughes went 2 for 3 with a double, a homer, 2 walks, 2 RBI, and 3 runs scored as he had a breakout game, and Julio Lugo went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored for Escogido. Lefty Frank De Los Santos, added to the Rays’ 40-man roster this offseason, went 0.2 scoreless innings, allowing a hit.

Estrellas de Oriente 8, Aguilas Cibaenas 1

Omar Luna had his streak of 6 straight games with a hit since moving to the Cibaenas leadoff spot coming to an end as he went 0 for 2 before being lifted for a pinch-hitter and getting the final 4 innings of the game off. He has just a .250/.325/.353 line on the DWL season but has been hot of late.

Mexican Pacific League: Naranjeros de Hermosillo 9, Aguilas de Mexicali 6

Jorge Cantu had a nice game for Hermosillo, going 2 for 4 with a homer, a walk, and 2 runs scored. He has just a .250 average and a .333 OBP so far in the MPL season, but he does have a .477 slugging percentage.

Mayos de Navojoa 10, Vendos de Mazatlan 6

Wes Bankston cooled off a bit but still went 1 for 4 with an RBI. He has a ridiculous .343/.425/.597 line so far in the MPL season, slamming 5 home runs and walking 11 times versus 10 strikeouts. The Rays just might re-sign him.

Venezuelan Winter League: Leones del Caracas 6, Aguilas del Zulia 3

Henry Wrigley stayed red-hot, homering for the 5th time in his last 7 games. He went 1 for 3 with a solo homer, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored and is hitting .436 in his last 10 games and .333 on the season. If the Rays don’t re-sign him (which we’ll talk about later today), it would be shocking. Unfortunately another ex-Ray, Daniel Mayora left this game without an at-bat, apparently injuring himself. Hope he’ll be OK and his hot start (he’s hitting .333 so far with 10 walks versus 8 strikeouts) won’t go to waste.

Navegantes de Magallanes 12, Tiburones de La Guaira 11

This one got awfully sketchy for the Magallanes- they nearly blew a 10-5 lead- but they wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near there if not for their 3 current and former Rays prospects. Erold Andrus went 3 for 4 with a double, 4 RBI, and a run scored, Leslie Anderson went 2 for 3 with a walk, 2 RBI, and a run scored, and Chris Nowak went 1 for 4 with a run scored. All three are enjoying big winters, with Andrus hitting .340, Nowak hitting .322, and Anderson hitting .450 in 5 games, collecting at least 1 hit in each and multiple hits in 4 out of 5.

Dominican Winter League: Aguilas Cibaenas 14, Tigres del Licey 12 (10 innings)

Wow. Games like this don’t come along very often. The Aguilas jumped on Daniel McCutchen (Pirates) and Ariel Pena (Brewers) for 9 runs in the top of the first inning and tacked on another run to take a 10-0 lead, but then Licey came back with 7 runs in the third inning and eventually came back to tie the game at 12 on a Juan Francisco (Braves) home run off of ex-big leaguer Luis Vizcaino in the 9th. Then the Aguilas rebounded from the demoralizing comeback by Licey with a go-ahead 2-run homer by the Marlins’ Chris Coghlan in the 9th off of ex-Ray Jesus Colome and won the game 14-12. Coghlan had an unbelievable game, going 4 for 6 with 2 homers, 2 doubles, 3 RBI, and 4 runs scored, but let’s get to the Rays prospects. Omar Luna had a game of very mixed results for Cibaenas, going 2 for 7 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored but also making 2 errors at shortstop. He was 0 for 5 after singling twice in the 9-run first inning. He did extend his hitting streak to 4 straight since getting moved to the Aguilas’ leadoff spot, with 3 multi-hit games among the 4. Brauilio Lara appeared in the game for Licey and was the first Tigres pitcher to not allow a run, working around a walk with a strikeout and 2 groundouts to pitch a scoreless 4th inning. Nice to see him throwing the ball well.

Venezuelan Winter League: Leones de Caracas 4, Bravos de Margarita 1

Combine a red-hot Henry Wrigley with a strong outing by Rockies starter Jhoulys Chacin, and you have yourself a crisp win. Wrigley had his 6th multi-hit performance in his last 10 games, going 2 for 4 with a homer, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored, and he’s not hitting .439 (18 for 41) in his last 10 games and .333 overall in the VWL. He’s now tied for second in the VWL with 7 home runs. If only he had any plate discipline- he has still struck out 16 times versus just 5 walks. Back to the game, Chacin went 7 innings allowing just 1 run on 6 hits, striking out 4 while walking 2. The 1 run he allowed was on an RBI single by ex-Rays infielder Sean Burroughs. Indians prospect Eric Berger took a tough loss in the game for Margarita, allowing just 2 runs, both on the Wrigley home run, on 6 hits in 5.2 innings, striking out 6 while walking 1.

Cardelanes de Lara 3, Aguilas del Zulia 2

The Reds’ Henry Rodriguez kinda sorta played in the Rays’ organization once upon a time. He did what he could to deliver a win to the Aguilas, who we mostly care about because Alex Torres is on the team, but it was not enough. Rodriguez went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI and Dwayne Pollok, an ex-White Sox prospect, went 6 innings of 1-run ball, striking out 4 while walking none, but Zulia blew it in the 9th, allowing a walk-off single to current big league free agent Jose Lopez in the 9th as Lara won 3-2. How was Rodriguez a Rays prospect? He signed with the Reds as a 16 year old out of Venezuela back in 2006 and went up through their organization, making his big league debut at age 22 in 2012. But in 2007, the Devil Rays and Reds shared a Venezuelan Summer League affiliate, and Rodriguez was on that team. The team was horrible, going 17-51, and the two teams never collaborated again. Former Rays farmhand Romulo Sanchez went 2.1 innings of 1-hit ball for Lara, posting a 4-0 groundout to flyout ratio.

Tiburones de La Guaira 8, Navegantes de Magallanes 3

Terrible pitching cost the Navegantes the game and me a cool headline. The Navegantes were the headline anyway, so whatever. Current and former Rays prospects accounted for 5 of the 7 Magallanes hits. Ex-Rays prospect Erold Andrus pinch-hit in the 7th and slammed a 2-run homer, fellow ex-prospect Chris Nowak went 2 for 3, and a current prospect, Leslie Anderson, went 2 for 4 and also had an outfield assist. Both Andrus and Nowak are now hitting .333 on the season, with Nowak extending his hitting streak to 5. He’s hitting .361 in his last 10 games. Anderson, meanwhile, has gotten off to a nice start to Winter Ball, starting 5 for 12 (.417). The Dodgers’ C.J. Retherford and ex-big leaguer Oscar Salazar went a combined 4 for 8 for La Guaira in this one with 2 homers, 5 RBI, and 3 runs scored.