Our Saguaros took on the Javelinas Friday afternoon and lost 8-3.  Tommy Lasorda was present at the game, causing the autograph hounds to salivate.  Scouts abounded and Tuffy Gosewich received a great deal of fanfare, being an ASU alum.

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Time for another exciting Arizona Fall League Season.  We've got John Russell managing the team, another year of Joe Bisenius and a guy named Tuffy catching.  Someone tell me this is not more exciting than being in the playoffs.

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[editor's note, by dajafi] Promoted from the diaries--great info on rotation attrition, in addition to a solid case for keeping Lieber.

This diary a mutt.  It contains some part new information, some part response to the logic of my last diary set and some part attempt to reframe debate.  It's an ugly mutt, but I think after you read it, you'll love it.  Just like a Pug.

In response to the idea of keeping 6 starters and specifically not trading Jon Lieber, there have been several responses.  I'll list them in what I believe to be their level of merit:

1)    We could get a lot for him in a trade.
2)    Our AAA prospects are strong.
3)    FA starters would not want to come here.
4)    Number 5 starters are "largely superfluous".

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For those of you who say that we should have five starters and then act when and if one of them gets hurt, I present to you the fictional wives of our 5 starters.  Again, these are fictional wives!  They represent the likelihood of each player making the weekly poker game and also are a reflection of how well they will play when at the table.

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Starting pitchers are like your friends with wives (or serious girlfriends).  When you invite them over for poker, they always have to check with their wife first.  You know you have that friend that everyone likes to hang out with but his wife always keeps him from hanging out with the guys.  It's tempting to plan a night of poker with 5 friends.  What a great time you'll all have drinking beer, farting without fear and making fun of each other.  But what happens when Mike calls and says his wife has planned a night at the theatre?

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[Editor's note: Moved from the diaries. Thanks PhoenixPhilly for these great AFL reports over the past month!]

The Saguaros won their last game of the year, 5-0.  

Here are some links for you faithful readers:

Boxes, logs and recaps of all Saguaros games this year.
Final Stat Page
Phillies Organizational report (Jonathan Mayo)
Gonzalez interview

Gio Gonzalez performed interviews with Mayo throughout the AFL season.  I could only find the most recent one, however.

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The Rule 5 Draft is held annually on the last day of baseball's winter meetings. This year it will be December 7th. The changes to the collective bargaining agreement allow for another year of protection for young players not on the 40 man roster.  For an overview of Rule 5 Draft, go here and realize that the number of years that a player is protected has moved from 4 to 5 for those under 18 when they signed and 3 to 4 for those over 18 when they signed.  For a list of all Rule 5 picks since 1998, see this.  The most famous Rule 5 picks include Roberto Clemente, George Bell, Dan Uggla, Dan Kolb, Bobby Bonilla, Darrell Evans, Kelly Gruber, Mike Morgan, Scott Podsednik, Johan Santana and Derrick Turnbow (oops).  Turnbow actually did not achieve success until he was picked up off waivers by the Brewers from the Angels (the team that rule 5 drafted him).

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The Saguaros lost for the 6th time in 7 games today.  The team now has the second worst record in the AFL.  It is not looking likely that the Saguaros will make the playoffs this season.

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In that order...

Both Gavin Floyd and Zach Segovia pitched well on Saturday, despite a 3-1 Saguaros loss.

Floyd 4.0 IP, 1H, 2K, 0R, 6.35 ERA
Segovia 1.0 IP, 1H, 0R, 0.93 ERA

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I haven't been to an AFL game since Monday and can't make the All-Star game tommorrow, so here is some general information on the AFL and Phillies prospects.

After today's 11 inning loss, the Saguaros fell to 7-8, losing their last three games and a guaranteed playoff spot.  The game would have been called after 11 if the Desert Dogs wouldn't have scored because of the Robinson Rule.  (I had to work that in somewhere this season to show what an AFL rule dork I am!)

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