Angels, Chisox, D-Backs lead Topps' Class A stars
The Angels' Rancho Cucamonga team had second baseman Howie Kendrick and shortstop Brandon Wood. Arizona's South Bend team placed outfielder Carlos Gonzalez and relief pitcher Matt Elliott, while Chicago had first baseman Leo Daigle from its Winston-Salem team and pitcher Ray Liotta from Kannapolis. Liotta spent the last month of the season at Winston-Salem.
Leo Daigle (25) of Spring Valley, CA, won the Carolina League Triple Crown, leading with a .341 average and 112 RBIs and sharing the home run lead with 29. The veteran has revived his career in the White Sox organization with two solid seasons after six years in the Detroit system.
Howie Kendrick (22) of Callahan, FL, is a repeater on this team. He made it last year with Class A Cedar Rapids and this time with Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga, a team he left in mid-July to advance to Double-A Arkansas. His bat keeps him moving up. His four-year career average is a lusty .359.
Andy LaRoche (21) of Fort Scott, KS, rocketed off to a fast start in the Florida State League, collecting 21 homers and 51 RBIs to go with a .333 average by mid-June, which earned him a promotion to Double-A Jacksonville. Andy had a breakthrough season in 2005, after hitting just .259 combined in his first two seasons.
Brandon Wood (20) of Scottsdale, AZ, made the biggest splash of all, smashing 43 home runs to lead all of Minor League Baseball -- after totaling just 16 in his first two seasons combined. The Angels' first round draft pick (2003) made his homers count, racking up 115 RBIs with a .321 average. Including a few games he played with Salt Lake, Wood also led all of Minor League Baseball with 53 doubles, and ranked second with 116 RBIs.
Brent Clevlen (21) of Cedar Park, TX, made good use of a second season with Lakeland as he boosted his batting average by 80 points, tripled his home run output to 18, and amassed 102 RBIs to lead the Florida State League. He was drafted in the second round in 2002 out of high school.
Matt Miller (22) of LaGrange, TX, didn't take long to adjust to professional ball after his days at Texas State U. He went into the season with just 43 pro games under his belt, yet dominated pitchers in the South Atlantic League, ranking among the top four in all three Triple Crown categories.
Carlos Gonzalez (19) of Venezuela, one of two teenagers on the team, spent his first year in a full-season league and made the most of it, ranking third in the Midwest with 92 RBIs and sixth with a .307 average. This was his third pro season after signing at 16 in Venezuela.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia (20) of West Palm Beach, FL, might have a tough time fitting his name into a box score, but his manager had no problem putting him into his starting lineup. The catcher, a first round draft choice by Atlanta out of high school in 2003, finished third in the Carolina League batting race with a .307 average.
Billy Butler (19) of Jacksonville, FL, is the other teenager on the team, but is proving that experience isn't absolutely essential. The 14th overall pick in the first round in 2004, hit .373 in the Pioneer League last year, made the huge jump to the Class A Advanced California, hitting .348 with High Desert, then moved on to Double-A in August. His Minor League career average is a robust .352.
Thomas Diamond (22) of Kenner, LA, has been as valuable as his name suggests for the Rangers, who made him the 10th overall pick in the first round in 2004 out of the U. of New Orleans. In two-plus months with Bakersfield, he was a perfect 8-0, with 101 strikeouts in 81 innings, which netted him a two-level promotion to Triple-A. In his first pro season, Diamond fanned 68 in 46 innings.
Ray Liotta (22) of Kenner, LA, is another player who's making the scouts look good after being selected in the second round by the White Sox out of Gulf Coast C.C. His two-year record is 19-6. Starting in Class A with Kannapolis, Ray had an 8-2 mark and a 2.26 ERA. That got him a mid-July promotion to Class A Advanced Winston-Salem, where he was even better at 6-2 and 1.45.
Matt Elliott (21) of Las Vegas, NV, went undrafted out of Dixie State (Utah) Junior College, and pitched just 17 innings in 2004 in the Pioneer League. But this year he was ready to step into the closer role at South Bend, posting 32 saves, and striking out 71 in 55 innings with a nifty 2.14 ERA.
2005 TOPPS/MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL CLASS A ALL-STAR TEAM
| POSITION | PLAYER | CLUB/LEAGUE | AFFILIATE | HR | RBI | AVG. |
| First Base | Leo Daigle | Winston-Salem/Carolina | Chicago (AL) | 29 | 112 | .341 |
| Second Base | Howie Kendrick | Rancho Cucamonga/California | Los Angeles (AL) | 12 | 47 | .384 |
| Third Base | Travis Hanson | Springfield/Texas | St. Louis | 20 | 97 | .284 |
| Shortstop | Brandon Wood | Rancho Cucamonga/California | Los Angeles (AL) | 43 | 115 | .321 |
| Outfield | Brent Clevlen | Lakeland/Florida State | Detroit | 18 | 102 | .302 |
| Outfield | Matt Miller | Asheville/South Atlantic | Colorado | 30 | 100 | .331 |
| Outfield | Carlos Gonzalez | South Bend/Midwest | Arizona | 18 | 92 | .307 |
| Catcher | Jarrod Saltalamacchia | Myrtle Beach/Carolina | Atlanta | 19 | 81 | .314 |
| Des. Hitter | Billy Butler | High Desert/California | Kansas City | 25 | 91 | .348 |
| POSITION | PLAYER | CLUB/LEAGUE | AFFILIATE | W | L | ERA |
| RH Pitcher | Thomas Diamond | Bakersfield/California | Texas | 8 | 0 | 1.99 |
| LH Pitcher | Ray Liotta | Kannapolis/South Atlantic | Chicago (AL) | 8 | 3 | 2.26 |
| Relief Pitcher | Matt Elliott | South Bend/Midwest | Arizona | 3 (SV-32) | 4 | 2.14 |
(Statistics do not reflect players' performances in other leagues.)
NEXT: Class A-Short Season/Rookie All-Stars will be announced on Nov. 29.