American Association Sunday Insider- "why isn't he in affiliate ball?"
Back in the days of This Week in the Association, Rob Pannier and I would go around the league highlighting players making an impact. Although I'm sure Pannier didn't ask me and put me on the spot every week, it seemed like it. His go to line would be, "why isn't he in affiliate ball". As a paid beer peddler in Southern Minnesota, I had no idea exactly why a certain player wasn't playing in MiLB. I would wing it and try to make it sound convincing with mixed results.
What I can say is, what scouts are looking for is not based on who is sitting on top of the leader board in the hitting and pitching categories. More often than not they're signing players based on the needs of the teams they are scouting, not who's leading the lead in hitting. A 30 year old slugger in the American Association likely winds up lost in the mix if they are signed. There are so many what I call AAAA players, players not good enough for MLB, but dominant in AAA. That 30 year old slugger sadly enough will be passed up. Meanwhile a 22 year old arm that could fill a need in a Single A team even if their career pedigree doesn't favor him being signed.
So, I'm going to first go around and highlight players in the West Division that could fill a role in affiliated baseball and possibly begin a trajectory to the Majors. We'll also spotlight some that will find that hill tougher to climb.
Isiah Gilliam- Kansas City Monarchs
Gilliam is flat out making American Association pitching look bad. Currently batting .465 with five home runs and 15 RBI in 43 at bats. This follows up a 2024 in which Gilliam finished the season with the Monarchs batting .333. In 2023 for Arkansas (AA Seattle) Gilliam smacked 22 home runs and drove in 66 runs. Success did not follow him to AAA Tacoma in 2024. You have to wonder if the scouts are alarmed about his strikeout rate as Gilliam struck out 44 times in 108 at bats. But in this era of launch angle that leans itself toward more strikeouts, is that a huge stumbling block? Gilliam turns 29 in July, so the clock is ticking on Gilliam. The Monarchs have a great record of getting players signed, we'll see if Gilliam is the next.
Parker Harm- Fargo Moorhead
Harm, a local product from North Dakota State, just turned 28 in February. After NDSU, Harm got a shot with the Kansas City Royals system, peaking as high as AA with Northwest Arkansas. Harm was back down in High A Quad Cities before being released and picked up by the RedHawks. Harm had a pedestrian 2024 with the RedHawks with a 5.85 ERA coming out of the bullpen. But Harm was clutch for the RedHawks in the playoffs as he threw four shutout innings out of the pen in a win on September 11. Harm has got out of the gate strong in 2025. In six games covering 7.1 innings, Harm has not allowed a run, on five hits and striking out 12 batters while walking one. So the boxes of left hander, strikeout pitcher, control pitcher have all been checked. Harm could be a A or AA pickup at some point.
Felix Cepeda- Sioux City
With Zach Willeman and Kyle Marman making their way to the Explorers rotation, Steve Montgomery needed to rebuild the bullpen. 24 year old Felix Cepeda has filled the role at the end of the pen for the X's. Cepeda has not allowed an earned run in 9.1 innings allowing six hits, six walks but 15 strikeouts. Control has been the bugaboo for Cepeda in his pro career walking 143 batters in 209 innings. But Cepeda has fanned over a batter an inning. I think if Montgomery and Bobby Post can corral the control, Cepeda has enough dynamic stuff to catch someone's eye as a back end of the bullpen arm.
Tanner Brown- Sioux Falls
Brown is now in his fourth year of Partner League baseball, never getting a MiLB look. The 26 year old left-handed starter has got better every year of his career. Last season Brown won 10 games, had a 3.33 ERA and what stood out to me, nine home runs allowed in 110.2 innings of work while pitching at the Birdcage. Brown is once again off to a hot start. Although he has only won one game in his three starts, Brown holds a 0.96 ERA allowing only seven hits and striking out 18 in 18.2 innings pitched. In the words of Tanner Hoops, "I tell you what" that screams opportunity in at least High A baseball.
Landen Bourassa- Winnipeg
You'd think for as long as Bourassa has pitched for the Goldeyes, he was a grizzled veteran, but Bourassa is only 28 years old. Although his ERA doesn't pop out at you, 3.48 this seasonm, Bourassa has pitched for Winnipeg since 2021 often throwing for some down on their luck Goldeyes teams but winning 28 games. So far in 2025, Bourassa has averaged nearly seven innings a start, a number you don't see nowadays. With specialization being what it is, it seems five innings is considered a full night for a starting pitcher. Being in the league for a fifth year, most Independent League scouts have a book on Bourassa already. If he hasn't had a chance by now, it may take a team willing to take a chance on a durable starting pitcher.
Photo courtesy of Winnipeg Goldeyes Facebook
Notes:
It's getting closer and closer to Jabari Henry tying and eventually breaking Reggie Abercrombie's American Association career home run record. Going into Saturday night's game, Henry needs only one to tie and two to break the record. My challenge for the Steve Schusters of the world, how many different American Association ballparks has Henry homered in? In Henry's first year in Sioux Falls, Texas, Wichita and St. Paul were all still in the league. St. Paul was definitely one as Henry played the last portion of the 2019 season for the Saints homering twice with at least one in St. Paul if memory serves correct. If not, I'm sure Henry connected at CHS Field some time between 2017-2020, There is also the possibility that Henry and the Canaries played in Kokomo against the Milkmen before Franklin Field was ready during the 2019 season.
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