A Look Back at the Chows 2009 Draft

Illinois Times – Chows 2009 draft did not generate a play-off birth or any sure-fire franchise players, but it did help change the face of the Chows and will be responsible for almost a third of Illinois’ returning players. Here is a round by round look at the draft one year later.

Round 1 – Edinson Volquez – Volquez had a mixed rookie season for Illinois going 13-12 but posting a 5.43 ERA. His 219 strikeouts in 213 innings showed why Sherlag thought Volquez has the stuff to be a front of the rotation starter. Unfortunately Volquez has had offseason surgery and will only have a limited role for Illinois in 2010.

Round 2 – Traded for David DeJesus – Once it was apparent that Illinois was not postseason bound in 2009, Sherlag packaged DeJesus, Marmol and Carlson to DFW for a first round pick. It is hard to determine what portion of the trade value was attributable to DeJesus, but the first round pick should help Illinois in 2010 and beyond.

Round 3 – Traded with Billy Butler to get Aubrey Huff. Huff had a fantastic first two blocks for the Chows before being dealt to VFS for a 2^nd and a 5^th. Essentially, Illinois traded Billy Butler and a 3^rd for a 2^nd and a 5^th – seems like a wash. Sherlag was able to gamble on contention in 2009 without hurting 2010.

Round 4 – Jesse Carlson – Another cog in the trade with DFW – Carlson put up nice numbers for Illinois before the annual fire-sale.

Round 5 – Kosuke Fukudome – Fukudome did not pay many dividends in 2009, but should be a nice player for Illinois in 2010. He will now be rated in CF and RF and posted an OPS of .828 and an OBP of .387 vs RHP in MLB this season.

Round 6 – Francisco Cordero – Another Chow pick that will pay dividends in 2010. Cordero was the Reds closer all season and posted 39 saves, a 2.16 ERA and only gave up 2 HR in 66 innings of work. He should be a late inning reliever for Illinois and will likely set-up Nathan.

Round 7 – Chad Bradford - Bradford put up a 2.57 ERA for the Chows before being dealt for Kouzmanoff – a deal the Chows made due to usage concerns after trading away Huff and Tulowitzki. Kouzmanoff is unlikely to be kept by Illinois but has an outside chance of remaining a Chow or being dealt due to his great defense at 3B.

Round 8 – Martin Prado -- Prado is another sure keeper for the Chows in 2010. He became the Braves full-time 2B in MLB last season and will probably become the same for Illinois next year. He finished the year with an OPS of .822 for the Braves and figures to have a very strong card vs. LHP. He will also provide Morandini some flexibility being rated at 1B, 2B, 3B and possibly RF.

Round 9 – Marcus Thames – Thames will not be kept and did not have a good 2009.

Round 10 – Dennis Sarfate – Another pick that will not be kept next season.

Round 11 – Jesus Flores -- Flores started off on fire in MLB but then suffered a season ending injury. If he is somehow uncarded, he may be the Chows IR guy, but most likely he will not be kept due to his limited usage.

Round 12 – Mark Ellis – Ellis had a nice season for Illinois and took a lot of AB from Kelly Johnson by the end of the season. He is unlikely to be kept next year.

Round 13 – Trever Miller – Posted a 2.82 ERA for Illinois last season but will not be retained.

Round 14 – Micah Owings -- will not be retained next season.

Round 15 – Michael Bourn – Bourn was a successful late flier pick for the Chows. He will be retained and has a decent card against RHP. Bourn stole 61 bases in MLB last season while playing a good CF. His OBP of .362 against Righties will give him a chance to be on-base enough to use his speed.

Synopsis – Illinois will keep Volquez, Fukudome, Cordero, Prado and Bourn. Additionally, De Jesus, Huff and Carlson were turned into 2/3 of a 1^st, a 2^nd and a 5^th. While this draft does not yield any superstars, it gave Illinois some nice players, improved their OF defense and gives the team a little more depth and flexibility.

A Tale of Two Troys

On July 11, 2009 Chows GM/owner Brad Sherlag made what in hindsight is the worst trade in franchise history. However, if we go back in time to that date, a little perspective could be added. Below is the Troy Tulowitzki story as it relates to the Chows.

Why draft a SS with Hanley – When Tulo was drafted by the Chows, they already had budding superstar Hanley Ramirez manning SS. Faced with a chance to make the play-offs and a 4 fielding rating, Sherlag went ahead and took Tulo who he considered the best player available. “Troy had a fine season for us and really was a key to us winning 87 games. Unfortunately 87 wins was last place in our division so the nice season we had was pretty much forgotten. His 2 at SS solidified our defense and he 31 HR and drove in 85.”

Offseason Trade Attempts – With Troy being hurt a good portion of his sophomore season and Hanley becoming a better defender, the Chows really did not need Tulo too much. Unfortunately his trade value was not very high and the offers coming in just weren’t enough to tempt Sherlag. “We couldn’t get a first rounder or any significant players for Tulo before the 2009 season began. We even offered to package Troy and our first pick to move up in the first round but found no takers. It wasn’t as if the league was clamoring to trade for him.”

Tulos rough start in MLB in 2010 – Troy had an OPS of .724 in April and .710 in May. He was off to a rough start and then caught fire in June. Was June’s hot streak a sign of things to come or just a good month? “On July 1st Troy had an OPS of about .800 when we started trade talks. We wanted to get a good young pitcher or a high draft pick in return. It wasn’t going to make sense to have Troy on the bench next season. We thought an .800 OPS was Troy’s true level at the plate and were afraid he would have a 2nd half with more months like April and May. We targeted a few teams and sent out feelers. Our primary target was Clayton Kershaw from LCC but he would not budge. We were offered a 2nd from one club and then a pretty low 1st from another. After it was apparent we could not get Kershaw we countered to LCC with an offer for his 1st. LCC jumped on the deal and we felt we did OK getting back roughly the same pick that we used to take Troy in the first place.”

Troy Explodes – Maybe it was leaving Hanley’s shadow, maybe it was the hope from leaving the perennial last place Chows or maybe it was just finally maturing as a ballplayer – but from July 11 until the end of the season Tulo was one of the very best players in the major leagues.

July 1.013 OPS 7 HR
August 1.005 OPS 5 HR
September 1.037 OPS 7HR
October 1.136 OPS 1 HR

Overall Troy finished with an OPS of .929 raising it over by over 120 points after becoming a Cannibal. Factor in his defense and he is probably a top 10 overall player next season.

Bad Deal – “Looking at our draft analysis it is almost impossible to get full value for Troy with that pick. The guy we draft will not be as meaningful this season and then must outpace Troy the rest of his career. If we were to deal Tulo today we would be getting back a frontline SP, 3B or a bevy of draft picks. Even if we had gotten Kershaw, the deal would look like a bad one now. But on July 11th, we made what we believed was a fair deal at the time. We just couldn’t see having Troy on our bench again and a bad second half would have made him unmovable again this offseason.”

Vermont at Seattle - LCS Game 3

BOXSCORE: 2009 Vermont Fighting Sioux At 2009 Seattle Pilots 10/20/2009

Fighting Sioux AB R H RBI AVG Pilots AB R H RBI AVG
M.Joyce RF 5 2 2 3 .300 I.Suzuki CF 5 0 1 0 .222
C.Jones 3B 4 2 2 0 .385 O.Hudson 2B 2 0 0 0 .250
A.Pujols 1B 5 2 3 3 .500 E-R.Durham 2B 3 1 1 0 .200
C.Quentin DH 3 3 1 2 .200 J.Mauer C 2 0 1 0 .300
R.Ibanez LF 6 3 3 2 .500 F-G.Zaun C 2 1 1 0 .500
K.Shoppach C 2 2 0 1 .143 T.Glaus 3B 2 0 0 0 .360
M.Aviles SS 4 2 2 1 .500 G-M.Lowell 3B 3 1 1 3 .125
B-J.Wilson SS 2 0 0 0 .000 M.Teixeira 1B 3 1 1 1 .135
R.Cano 2B 3 2 2 2 .667 J.Dye RF 2 0 0 0 .139
C-A.Iwamura 2B 2 0 0 0 .333 H-G.Matthews Jr RF 2 0 0 0 .250
C.Crisp CF 1 1 0 0 .167 B.Giles DH 4 1 1 0 .333
A-A.Huff PH 2 1 2 5 .667 M.Tejada SS 1 0 0 0 .176
D-A.Jones CF 2 0 0 0 .333 I-A.Miles SS 3 0 3 0 .417
R.Winn LF 4 0 1 1 .391
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 41 20 17 19 Totals 38 5 11 5

A-Pinch Hit For Crisp In 4th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (SS) For Aviles In 4th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Cano In 4th Inning
D-Subbed Defensively (CF) For Huff In 4th Inning
E-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Hudson In 5th Inning
F-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Mauer In 5th Inning
G-Subbed Defensively (3B) For Glaus In 5th Inning
H-Subbed Defensively (RF) For Dye In 5th Inning
I-Subbed Defensively (SS) For Tejada In 5th Inning

Fighting Sioux.. 5 0 3 12 0 0 0 0 0 - 20 17 1
Pilots.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 - 5 11 0

Fighting Sioux (3-0) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
J.Litsch WIN(1-0) 7 7 3 3 2 4 0 3.86 A1 D3
J.Suppan 0 2/3 4 2 2 0 1 2 27.00 D4 D9
C.Wade 1 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 E1
Totals 9 11 5 5 2 6 2

Pilots (4-6) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
W.Rodriguez LOSS(0-1) 0 2/3 3 5 5 3 0 1 9.45 A1 A8
T.Wakefield 1 2/3 2 3 3 2 0 0 18.00 A9 B9
L.Hawkins 1 4 4 4 2 0 1 13.50 C1 C8
L.Nunez 0 2 3 3 1 0 1 10.12 C9 D2
T.Wellemeyer 0 2/3 5 5 5 1 0 0 67.50 D3 E1
J.Marquis 3 1 0 0 1 2 0 0.00 E2 F3
S.Torres 2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0.00 F4
Totals 9 17 20 20 11 4 3

ATTENDANCE- 7,865 DATE- Tuesday, October 20th 2009 TIME- Day
T- 4:04
LEFT ON BASE- Fighting Sioux: 7 Pilots: 8
DOUBLE PLAYS- Fighting Sioux: 1 Pilots: 2
ERRORS- R.Cano
DOUBLES- M.Joyce(1st), C.Jones(1st), A.Pujols(1st), R.Ibanez-3(4th),
M.Aviles(1st), R.Cano(1st), A.Miles-2(2nd)
HOME RUNS- A.Pujols(1st), C.Quentin(2nd), A.Huff(2nd), M.Lowell(1st),
M.Teixeira(1st)
SACRIFICE FLIES- K.Shoppach
WALKS- M.Joyce, C.Jones-2, A.Pujols, C.Quentin-3, K.Shoppach-2, R.Cano, C.Crisp,
G.Zaun, M.Teixeira
HIT BY PITCH- K.Shoppach
STRIKE OUTS- C.Quentin-2, A.Iwamura, A.Jones, R.Durham-2, J.Dye, B.Giles-2,
R.Winn
GIDP- R.Ibanez
WILD PITCHES- T.Wellemeyer-2

What a day for the Vermont Fighting Sioux! They shellacked the Seattle Pilots
pitching for 20 runs while Jesse Litsch(1-0)with help from the bullpen
allowed Seattle 5 runs.

Aubrey Huff had a big day with his bat. He emptied the bases with a Grand
Slam homerun (his 2nd of the season) in the 4th inning and singled scoring a
run in the 4th inning. Vermont kept the scorekeepers busy in the 1st inning
when they had 5 runs on 3 hits and the 4th inning which saw them plate 12
runs on 9 hits. Vermont ended up with 17 hits for the game while Seattle had
11.

Wandy Rodriguez(0-1) was charged with the loss. His ERA ballooned from 3.00
to 9.45 as he allowed 5 runs in 2/3 of an inning.

Seattle at Vermont - LCS Game 2

BOXSCORE: 2009 Seattle Pilots At 2009 Vermont Fighting Sioux 10/18/2009

Pilots AB R H RBI AVG Fighting Sioux AB R H RBI AVG
I.Suzuki CF 4 0 0 0 .225 J.Gerut CF,LF 5 0 2 0 .400
O.Hudson 2B 3 0 1 1 .267 C.Jones 3B 4 1 0 0 .333
C-A.Miles 2B 0 0 0 0 .222 A.Pujols 1B 4 2 1 0 .429
J.Mauer C 4 0 1 0 .289 A.Huff DH 3 2 2 2 .500
D-G.Zaun C 0 0 0 0 ---- C.Quentin LF 4 1 1 1 .143
T.Glaus 3B 3 0 0 0 .391 B-C.Crisp RF 1 0 0 0 .200
E-M.Lowell 3B 0 0 0 0 .077 M.Joyce RF 3 0 0 0 .200
M.Teixeira 1B 3 1 1 0 .118 A-A.Jones PH,CF 1 1 1 11.000
J.Dye RF 3 0 0 0 .147 K.Shoppach C 2 1 1 2 .200
F-G.Matthews Jr RF 1 0 0 1 .500 A.Iwamura 2B 3 0 2 1 .429
B.Giles LF 3 1 1 0 .344 J.Wilson SS 3 0 0 1 .000
G-R.Winn LF 1 0 0 0 .421
R.Durham DH 3 0 0 0 .167
M.Tejada SS 3 0 0 0 .182
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 31 2 4 2 Totals 33 8 10 8

A-Pinch Hit For Joyce In 7th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (RF) For Quentin In 8th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Hudson In 8th Inning
D-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Mauer In 8th Inning
E-Subbed Defensively (3B) For Glaus In 8th Inning
F-Subbed Defensively (RF) For Dye In 8th Inning
G-Subbed Defensively (LF) For Giles In 8th Inning

Pilots.......... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 - 2 4 0
Fighting Sioux.. 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 - 8 10 1

Pilots (4-5) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
S.Marcum LOSS(1-1) 5 1/3 8 4 4 1 6 3 3.12 A1 C7
L.Hawkins 0 2/3 1 2 2 2 0 0 6.00 C8 D3
G.Balfour 0 1/3 1 2 2 2 1 0 2.84 D4 D7
L.Nunez 0 2/3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 D8 E1
S.Torres 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.00 E2
Totals 8 10 8 8 7 8 3

Fighting Sioux (2-0) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
B.Sheets WIN(1-0) 9 4 2 0 3 3 0 0.00 A1
Totals 9 4 2 0 3 3 0

ATTENDANCE- 21,762 DATE- Sunday, October 18th 2009 TIME- Night
T- 2:55
LEFT ON BASE- Pilots: 6 Fighting Sioux: 9
DOUBLE PLAYS- Pilots: 0 Fighting Sioux: 1
ERRORS- B.Sheets
DOUBLES- M.Teixeira(3rd), B.Giles(3rd), A.Iwamura(1st)
HOME RUNS- A.Huff(1st), C.Quentin(1st), K.Shoppach(1st)
SACRIFICE FLIES- J.Wilson
WALKS- O.Hudson, T.Glaus, M.Teixeira, C.Jones, A.Pujols, A.Huff-2, K.Shoppach-2,
A.Iwamura
HIT BY PITCH- R.Durham
STRIKE OUTS- T.Glaus, M.Teixeira, J.Dye, A.Pujols-2, C.Quentin-2, C.Crisp,
M.Joyce, K.Shoppach, A.Iwamura
GIDP- M.Tejada
WILD PITCHES- L.Hawkins, G.Balfour
PASSED BALLS- K.Shoppach-2

Aubrey Huff left the yard and had 2 RBI and Ben Sheets went the distance as
the Vermont Fighting Sioux defeated the Seattle Pilots by a score of 8 to 2
at Fighting Sioux Field.

Sheets(1-0) had a strong outing. He didn't allow much, just 4 hits and 3
walks in 9 innings. Vermont rapped out 10 hits for the night.

Shaun Marcum(1-1) was the loser. He served up 3 gopher balls in 5 and 1/3
innings.

Seattle at Vermont - LCS Game 1

BOXSCORE: 2009 Seattle Pilots At 2009 Vermont Fighting Sioux 10/17/2009

Pilots AB R H RBI AVG Fighting Sioux AB R H RBI AVG
I.Suzuki CF 5 0 0 0 .250 M.Joyce RF 2 0 1 1 .500
O.Hudson 2B 5 1 2 0 .259 C.Jones 3B 5 1 3 1 .600
J.Mauer C 4 0 2 1 .294 A.Pujols 1B 3 1 2 0 .667
T.Glaus 3B 4 0 0 0 .450 C.Quentin DH 3 0 0 0 .000
M.Teixeira 1B 4 0 1 0 .097 A-A.Huff PH 1 0 0 0 .000
J.Dye RF 4 0 1 0 .161 R.Ibanez LF 4 0 2 2 .500
B.Giles DH 4 1 2 0 .345 B-A.Jones CF 0 0 0 0 ----
M.Tejada SS 4 0 1 1 .200 K.Shoppach C 3 0 0 0 .000
R.Winn LF 3 0 0 0 .444 M.Aviles SS 4 1 2 0 .500
D-R.Durham PH 1 0 1 0 .222 C-J.Wilson SS 0 0 0 0 ----
E-G.Matthews Jr PR 0 0 0 01.000 A.Iwamura 2B 4 0 1 0 .250
C.Crisp CF,LF 4 1 1 0 .250
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 38 2 10 2 Totals 33 4 12 4

A-Pinch Hit For Quentin In 6th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (CF) For Ibanez In 8th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (SS) For Aviles In 8th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Winn In 9th Inning
E-Pinch Ran For Durham In 9th Inning

Pilots.......... 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 10 0
Fighting Sioux.. 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 - 4 12 1

Pilots (4-4) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
C.Lee LOSS(1-2) 5 1/3 10 4 4 4 7 0 4.82 A1 D3
G.Geary 1 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 4.91 D4 D7
L.Nunez 0 2/3 2 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 D8 E2
E.Ramirez 0 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.86 E3
[1]Totals 8 12 4 4 5 8 0

Fighting Sioux (1-0) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
E.Santana WIN(1-0) 9 10 2 2 1 10 0 2.00 A1
[1]Totals 9 10 2 2 1 10 0

ATTENDANCE- 18,408 DATE- Saturday, October 17th 2009 TIME- Day
T- 2:59
LEFT ON BASE- Pilots:10 Fighting Sioux:11
DOUBLE PLAYS- Pilots: 3 Fighting Sioux: 0
ERRORS- M.Aviles
DOUBLES- J.Mauer(2nd), M.Teixeira(2nd), B.Giles(2nd), M.Tejada(1st),
R.Ibanez(1st)
TRIPLES- O.Hudson(1st)
WALKS- J.Mauer, M.Joyce-3, A.Pujols-2
HIT BY PITCH- K.Shoppach
STRIKE OUTS- I.Suzuki-2, O.Hudson, T.Glaus-2, M.Teixeira, J.Dye, B.Giles-2,
M.Tejada, C.Jones, C.Quentin, K.Shoppach-2, M.Aviles, A.Iwamura,
C.Crisp-2
GIDP- C.Jones, A.Huff, C.Crisp
WILD PITCHES- E.Santana
PASSED BALLS- J.Mauer

Ervin Santana struck out 10 batters as the Vermont Fighting Sioux outscored
the Seattle Pilots 4 to 2.

Santana(1-0) had a strong outing. He allowed only 10 hits and 1 walk in 9
innings. Vermont had a total of 12 hits for the game.

Cliff Lee(1-2) was the loser. He got hit hard, allowing 10 hits and 4 walks
in 5 and 1/3 innings. When asked about his strikeout total for the game,
Santana offered, 'The fan's really got into it. It is fun to see them tally
up the strikeout totals up there in the stands. Fortunately, I kept them
busy this afternoon - of course, it would be all for naught without the 'W'.'

Pilots to Face Sioux in LFCS

Game 1: MSU's Derek Lowe (17-5, 1.81) vs SPL's Cliff Lee (13-12, 4.01). The owner of one of the best ERA's in league history is spotted to a 4-run lead in the bottom of the 1st, when a flurry of Surf hits plate David Wright, Carlos Delgado, Mike Cameron, and Ryan Doumit. The lead, more than twice what Lowe allowed per 9 innings this year, looked safe until the top of the 4th, when a solo shot by Joe Mauer and a 3-run job by Miguel Tejada tied the game. From that point, both starters once again found their strides, trading zeroes until the top of the 7th. The difference in the game was a bases-empty big fly in the bottom of the 8th, giving MSU a 1-run lead. The team with the largest number of 1-run games and 1-run wins in NASBL 2009 (37-17) then took care of business, with Brian Fuentes closing out the 7-6 win. MSU led the series 1-0.

Game 2: MSU's Josh Beckett (10-10, 4.05) vs SPL's Shaun Marcum (9-8, 3.50). In a game where Seattle actually had a pitching edge on paper against the 2nd best pitching team in the league, young starter Shaun Marcum did not disappoint. The 2nd-year starter went 6 strong, striking out 2 and allowing just 1 run on 4 hits. Meanwhile the Pilots offense was going to work on Josh Beckett, scoring one run in the 4th, then strafing him for 2 in both the 5th and 6th innings. Brian Giles and Randy Winn went yard in the 5-1 Pilots win. Series tied at 1-1.

Game 3: SPL's Wandy Rodriguez (6-4, 4.59) hosting MSU's Cole Hamels (13-11, 4.01). Both starters give their teams all that can be expected. Wandy's magic ends in the 6th when he gives up a 2nd run and leaves the game tied 2-2, while Cole is king through 9, when he too leaves the game tied at 3. The game moves to extra innings, a forum where MSU's regular season record was an unparalleled 15-3 (.833). Game 1 closer Brian Fuentes, author of 5 late-inning wins in the regular season, puts up 2 scoreless innings. But despite threatening, MSU's offense is unable to break through against SPL's Latroy Hawkins and Leo Nunez. Finally in the bottom of the 12th, Seattle's aptly named Randy Winn goes yard for the 4-3 win and the 2-1 series lead.

Game 4: D-Lowe vs Cliff Lee II looks like anything but a pitching duel early, as the Surf leads 3-2 after the 1st. But Lowe is practically perfect the rest of the way out. Mike Cameron of the Surf hits his 3rd homerun of the postseason, and David Wright, Ryan Braun, and Carlos Lee add circuit clouts of their own in the 7-2 Surf win. Series tied at 2-2.

Game 5: Daisuke Matsuzaka (11-9, 3.69) of the Surf vs Felix Hernandez (8-12, 5.45). The much-heralded 3rd year man King Felix has never been able to get much traction in the regular season (20-40 career record), but on this October day against an equally highly touted 2nd year man, the King earns his appellation. Hernandez goes 7-1/3, allowing 4 runs (3 earned), while the Pilots put 9 baserunners aboard against Daisuke, plating 5 of them. The Pilots continue to pile it on against the pen, ultimately pushing the score to 8-4, and taking a 3-2 series lead.

Game 6: The series goes back to Miami, with SPL's Shaun Marcum facing MSU's Cole Hamels. Both starters pitch magnificently, turning a 1-1 game over to their respective pens. At the end of 9, the score is still tied at 1 apiece. And also at the end of 10. Finally, in the bottom of the 11th with a man on, veteran post-season hero Carlos Delgado lashes the bat, reversing an Edwar Ramirez pitch for a 2-run walkoff to tie the series up for the 3rd time and forcing a game 7.

Game 7: Cliff Lee vs D-Lowe III. The first two times the teams' aces met, Lee came out on the short end of the hickory stick. In game 7 though, Lee was flawless. The Pilot's ace never allowed the Surf offense to get off the ground, as he scattered 6 hits and a walk while striking out 9 in the deciding game. RBI by Ichiro, Joe Mauer, and Troy Glaus seal the deal for Seattle, who will advance to face Justin Rabidoux's Vermont Fighting Sioux in the Less Filling Championship Series.

Chows On the Block

GM Brad Sherlag is actively shopping a couple of Chows and willing to listen to offers on a few others. The Chows have some roster room this offseason and could potentially deal draft picks for players.

On the Block

Joe Blanton - Blanton is a workhorse who logged 195 innings again this season in MLB. His strikeout rate represents he may have turned a corner. Should be a solid middle of the rotation guy.

John Maine - A nice 1.29 WHIP and a reverse split for his 15 starts make Maine useful next year while you wait for him to recover. He is a definite keeper for the Chows, but paired with Volquez, Maine will force the Chows to carry a lot of starters next year.

Francisco Cordero - Figures to be a set-up man for the Chows, but can easily close for someone. Has a nice ERA and only gave up 2 HR all season. Another guy that is a sure keeper.

Kosuke Fukudome - Fukudome will start for the Chows in RF and play a little CF as well. However, if you need a CF would be willing to deal for a corner outfielder with a better card and similar age.

Chows needs include 2B, OF, and DH. Would also like to upgrade at SP.