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The Arizona Fall League preliminary rosters were announced today, and there is one former Arizona Wildcat on them. Seth Mejias-Brean will become the first player from the 2012 National Championship team to play in the developmental league.
The Arizona Fall League is the premier off-season developmental league for Major League Baseball, having produced some of the game's biggest names. Last year, former Wildcat catcher Jett Bandy participated, playing on the Mesa Solar Sox. The most notable team in recent times was the Scottsdale team a few years ago where Mike Trout and Bryce Harper were both patrolling the outfield.
Mejias-Brean will be representing the Cincinnati Reds on the Surprise Saguaros this year. So far this season, the third base prospect has been promoted to Double-A, where he has hit .237 in 60 games. He does have an on-base percentage of .328 thanks to 27 walks. In 69 games in High-A, he was a .300 hitter, and had on OBP of .396.
The former Wildcat third baseman spent his entire baseball life in Tucson before being drafted, having gone to high school at Cienega, and then going to U of A. That makes his selection to the AFL a little something more than most as he'll get to have a homecoming of sorts, even though Surprise is as far away from Tucson as possible.
Some other notable players on the Saguaros roster include Jace Peterson, Trea Turner, and Hunter Renfroe. The other third basemen on the team are Seattle's D.J. Peterson and Patrick Kivlehan, Surprise doesn't have any first baseman listed on their preliminary roster, so there could be a chance Mejias-Brean sees some time on that side of the diamond this fall. Also, the Saguaros manager is former MLB player Delino DeShields, who also works in the Reds organization and is Mejias-Brean's current manager on the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.
Arizona Fall League games are pretty cool, so if you have the chance, make a trip to a Surprise road game this year.