Arizona Fall League

The Arizona Fall League is an off-season league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB)[1] which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes.[1] The Arizona Fall League attracts many of the top prospects in Minor League Baseball (MiLB).

Arizona Fall League

Sport	Baseball
Founded	1992
No. of teams	6
Country	USA
Most recent champion(s)	Salt River Rafters (2019)
Most titles	Peoria Javelinas (7)
Official website	Official website

Structure

Each August, MLB clubs hold a position draft to determine the players who will go to Arizona.[1] Most are Double-A and Triple-A Minor League players.[1] Each club can opt to send two players below Double-A. Foreign players are allowed, as long as the player is not on his native country's primary protected player list. The league is designed for these prospects to refine their skills and perform in game settings in front of major and minor league baseball scouts and team executives, who are in attendance at almost every game. Play begins shortly after the end of MLB's regular season in early October and ends in mid-November with a championship game between the winners of the East and West divisions. Beginning in 2019, the AFL season will run from mid-September to the end of October to allow players to avoid downtime after the conclusion of the MiLB campaign and pitchers more continuous rest in preparation for the following year's playing schedule.[2] Additionally on September 5, 2019, both MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) approved a rule change that allowed players on the 40-man roster to report to the AFL in October.[3]

The Arizona Fall League teams are each affiliated with five separate Major League teams; each affiliated Major League team provides seven players who team up to fill the 35-man roster of each team.[1] Additionally, teams may elect to send Taxi Squad players who are only eligible on Wednesdays and Saturdays. MLB teams also provide managers, coaches, and trainers.[1]

Notable players

A number of famous ballplayers have had stints in the Arizona Fall League. In 1994, the league got worldwide attention as Michael Jordan's second professional baseball league, when he played for the Scottsdale Scorpions. Likewise, Tim Tebow played for the Scorpions during his transition to professional baseball.[4] Other notable ballplayers who have played in the Arizona Fall League include Derek Jeter, Dustin Pedroia, Mike Piazza, Albert Pujols, Jimmy Rollins, Bryce Harper, David Wright, Aaron Judge, Nomar Garciaparra, Mike Trout and Mookie Betts.

Current teams

Division	Team	Major League Affiliates	City	Stadium	Capacity
East	Mesa Solar Sox	Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Athletics	Mesa, Arizona	Sloan Park	15,000
	Salt River Rafters	Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Miami Marlins, Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays	Scottsdale, Arizona	Salt River Fields at Talking Stick	11,000
	Scottsdale Scorpions	Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays	Scottsdale, Arizona	Salt River Fields at Talking Stick	11,000
West	Glendale Desert Dogs	Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals	Glendale, Arizona	Camelback Ranch	10,300
	Peoria Javelinas	Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners	Peoria, Arizona	Peoria Sports Complex	10,714
	Surprise Saguaros	Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals	Surprise, Arizona	Peoria Sports Complex	10,714

Solar
Sox

Rafters

Scorpions

Desert
Dogs

Javelinas

Saguaros

Current team locations:
(Maricopa County, Arizona shown)

  East Division

  West Division

Championship history

Year	Champion	Runner-Up
1992	Sun Cities Solar Sox	Phoenix Desert Dogs
1993	Tempe Rafters	Tucson Javelinas
1994	Peoria Javelinas	Mesa Saguaros
1995	Mesa Saguaros	Sun Cities Solar Sox
1996	Scottsdale Scorpions	Mesa Saguaros
1997	Peoria Javelinas	Grand Canyon Rafters
1998	Sun Cities Solar Sox	Grand Canyon Rafters
1999	Mesa Solar Sox	Maryvale Saguaros
2000	Grand Canyon Rafters	Phoenix Desert Dogs
2001	Phoenix Desert Dogs	Grand Canyon Rafters
2002	Peoria Javelinas	Scottsdale Scorpions
2003	Mesa Solar Sox	Mesa Desert Dogs
2004	Phoenix Desert Dogs	Scottsdale Scorpions
2005	Phoenix Desert Dogs	Surprise Scorpions
2006	Phoenix Desert Dogs	Grand Canyon Rafters
2007	Phoenix Desert Dogs	Surprise Rafters
2008	Phoenix Desert Dogs	Mesa Solar Sox
2009	Peoria Javelinas	Phoenix Desert Dogs
2010	Scottsdale Scorpions	Peoria Javelinas
2011	Salt River Rafters	Surprise Saguaros
2012	Peoria Javelinas	Salt River Rafters
2013	Surprise Saguaros	Mesa Solar Sox
2014	Salt River Rafters	Peoria Javelinas
2015	Scottsdale Scorpions	Surprise Saguaros
2016	Mesa Solar Sox	Surprise Saguaros
2017	Peoria Javelinas	Mesa Solar Sox
2018	Peoria Javelinas	Salt River Rafters
2019	Salt River Rafters	Surprise Saguaros

Most Valuable Player award

See also: Baseball awards § Winter leagues (affiliated)

First presented in 2002 and named for Joe Black of the Brooklyn Dodgers, the award honors the 1952 National League Rookie of the Year.[5]

Joe Black MVP Award winners

Year	Player	Organization	Position	Team	Ref
2002	Ken Harvey	Kansas City Royals	1B	Scottsdale Scorpions	[6]
2003	Jason Dubois	Chicago Cubs	OF	Mesa Solar Sox	[6]
2004	Chris Shelton	Detroit Tigers	DH	Grand Canyon Rafters	[6]
2005	Eric Duncan	New York Yankees	3B	Grand Canyon Rafters	[6]
2006	Chip Cannon	Toronto Blue Jays	1B	Phoenix Desert Dogs	[6]
2007	Sam Fuld	Chicago Cubs	OF	Mesa Solar Sox	[6]
2008	Tommy Hanson	Atlanta Braves	P	Mesa Solar Sox	[6]
2009	Grant Desme	Oakland Athletics	OF	Phoenix Desert Dogs	[6]
2010	Dustin Ackley	Seattle Mariners	2B	Peoria Javelinas	[7]
2011	Nolan Arenado	Colorado Rockies	3B	Salt River Rafters	[6]
2012	Chris McGuiness	Texas Rangers	1B	Surprise Saguaros	[6]
2013	Kris Bryant	Chicago Cubs	3B	Mesa Solar Sox	[6]
2014	Greg Bird	New York Yankees	1B	Scottsdale Scorpions	[8]
2015	Adam Engel	Chicago White Sox	OF	Glendale Desert Dogs	[6]
2016	Gleyber Torres	New York Yankees	SS	Scottsdale Scorpions	[9]
2017	Ronald Acuña	Atlanta Braves	OF	Peoria Javelinas	[10]
2018	Keston Hiura	Milwaukee Brewers	2B	Peoria Javelinas	[6]
2019	Royce Lewis	Minnesota Twins	SS	Salt River Rafters	[11]

Stenson Award

See also: Baseball awards § Winter leagues (affiliated)

Mark Teahen won the first Stenson Award in 2004.

The Dernell Stenson Sportsmanship Award was created in 2004, in memory of Dernell Stenson,[12] an outfielder for the Scottsdale Scorpions (Cincinnati Reds), who was killed in a carjacking on November 5, 2003. The award is voted on by the managers and coaches of the six Arizona Fall League teams.[13]

Stenson Award Winners

Year	Player	Organization	Position	Team	Ref
2004	Mark Teahen	Kansas City Royals	3B	Phoenix Desert Dogs	[13]
2005	Andre Ethier	Oakland Athletics	OF	Phoenix Desert Dogs	[13]
2006	Kevin Frandsen	San Francisco Giants	IF	Scottsdale Scorpions	[13]
2007	Sam Fuld	Chicago Cubs	OF	Mesa Solar Sox	[13]
2008	Jason Donald	Philadelphia Phillies	IF	Mesa Solar Sox	[13]
2009	Russ Mitchell	Los Angeles Dodgers	1B	Peoria Javelinas	[13]
2010	Steve Lombardozzi Jr.	Washington Nationals	3B	Scottsdale Scorpions	[13]
2011	Kevin Mattison	Miami Marlins	OF	Surprise Saguaros	[13]
2012	Cole Kimball	Washington Nationals	P	Salt River Rafters	[13]
2013	Garin Cecchini	Boston Red Sox	3B	Surprise Saguaros	[13]
2014	Patrick Kivlehan	Seattle Mariners	3B	Surprise Saguaros	[14]
2015	Yadiel Rivera	Milwaukee Brewers	IF	Surprise Saguaros	[15]
2016	Austin Nola	Miami Marlins	C	Mesa Solar Sox	[16]
2017	Eric Filia	Seattle Mariners	OF	Peoria Javelinas	[10]
2018	Cole Tucker	Pittsburgh Pirates	SS	Surprise Saguaros	[17]
2019	Tyler Stephenson	Cincinnati Reds	C	Glendale Desert Dogs	[18]

Hall of Fame

See also: Baseball awards § Winter leagues (affiliated)

The Arizona Fall League Hall of Fame was created in 2001. The AFL has had over 1,200 players who came through the league reach Major League Baseball. Additionally, 18 former AFL Managers/players have gone on to manage a Major League club after managing in the league. To be considered by the selection committee, a player must be recognized at Major League Baseball level as a Rookie of the Year, a Most Valuable Player, an All-Star, or a Gold Glove or Silver Slugger Award winner.

Year	Inductee	AFL Year	AFL Team	Role
2001	Dusty Baker	1992	Scottsdale Scorpions	Manager
2001	Nomar Garciaparra	1994	Scottsdale Scorpions	Shortstop
2001	Derek Jeter	1994	Chandler Diamondbacks	Shortstop
2001	Mike Piazza	1992	Sun Cities Solar Sox	Catcher
2002	Jason Giambi	1994	Peoria Javelinas	First baseman
2002	Jerry Manuel	1994	Maryvale Saguaros	Manager
2003	Shawn Green	1992	Scottsdale Scorpions	Outfielder
2003	Todd Helton	1996	Peoria Javelinas	First baseman
2003	Mike Scioscia	1997	Peoria Javelinas	Manager
2004	Garret Anderson	1993	Tempe Rafters	Outfielder
2004	Tony Peña	2000	Maryvale Saguaros	Manager
2004	Albert Pujols	2000	Scottsdale Scorpions	Third baseman
2005	Troy Percival	1992	Scottsdale Scorpions	Pitcher
2005	Terry Francona	1992 1994	Grand Canyon Rafters Scottsdale Scorpions	Coach Manager
2006	Roy Halladay	1998	Grand Canyon Rafters	Pitcher
2006	Grady Little	1992	Grand Canyon Rafters	Manager
2006	Alfonso Soriano	1998	Grand Canyon Rafters	Second baseman
2007	Jermaine Dye	1995	Sun Cities Solar Sox	Outfielder
2007	Derrek Lee	1995-1996	Sun Cities Solar Sox	First baseman
2007	Ken Macha	1994	Tempe Rafters	Manager
2007	Torii Hunter	1998	Phoenix Desert Dogs	Outfielder
2008	Jimmy Rollins	2000	Maryvale Saguaros	Shortstop
2008	Eric Wedge	1993	Tucson Javelinas	Catcher
2009	Brian Giles	1994	Sun Cities Solar Sox	Outfielder
2010	Chris Carpenter	1996	Phoenix Desert Dogs	Pitcher
2010	Michael Young	2000	Grand Canyon Rafters	Shortstop
2011	Ryan Howard	2004	Phoenix Desert Dogs	First baseman
2011	Paul Konerko	1996	Sun Cities Solar Sox	First baseman
2012	Derek Lowe	1993 1995	Sun Cities Solar Sox Peoria Javelinas	Pitcher
2012	Mark Teixeira	2002	Peoria Javelinas	Third baseman
2012	Ron Washington	1992 1993	Sun Cities Solar Sox Tucson Javelinas	Coach
2013	Darin Erstad	1995	Tempe Rafters	Outfielder
2013	Bob Melvin	1999	Maryvale Saguaros	Manager
2013	Dustin Pedroia	2004	Scottsdale Scorpions	Shortstop
2014	Carl Crawford	2001	Maryvale Saguaros	Outfielder
2014	Matt Holliday	2002–2003	Mesa Solar Sox	Outfielder
2015	Andrew McCutchen	2007	Phoenix Desert Dogs	Outfielder
2016	Max Scherzer	2007 2008	Scottsdale Scorpions Phoenix Desert Dogs	Pitcher
2016	Mike Trout	2011	Scottsdale Scorpions	Outfielder
2016	David Wright	2003	Peoria Saguaros	Third baseman
2018	Ted Barrett	1993–1995	N/A	Umpire
2018	Jeff Nelson	1996	N/A	Umpire
2018	Buster Posey	2009	Scottsdale Scorpions	Catcher
2019	Steve Cobb	1994–2018	N/A	Arizona Fall League director

Ref: 2001–2013 2014 2015 2016 20182019

See also

• Arizona Fall League rosters

References

1. "About: History". Arizona Fall League official website. MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
2. "MLB Moves Up Arizona Fall League Schedule for 2019," BallparkDigest.com, Wednesday, March 20, 2019. Retrieved September 24, 2019
3. Kubatko, Roch. "Orioles recall Austin Hays," Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), Saturday, September 7, 2019. Retrieved September 24, 2019
4. "Tim Tebow makes Arizona Fall League debut, crashes into wall". Retrieved November 19, 2016.
5. "Desme Wins AFL MVP Award". CBS Sports. November 23, 2009. Retrieved January 30, 2010. See Grant Desme, the 2009 recipient.
6. "Brewers' Keston Hiura Arizona Fall League MVP". MLB.com. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
7. Baker, Geoff (November 23, 2010). "Can Dustin Ackley buck the Arizona Fall League MVP curse? The bar has been set pretty low". The Seattle Times Company. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
8. "Yankees' Bird named Arizona Fall League MVP". MLB.com. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
9. "Yankees teenage prospect Gleyber Torres named 2016 Arizona Fall League MVP". CBS Sports. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
10. "Braves' Acuna caps breakout with MVP award". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
11. William Boor (October 26, 2019). "Gleyber, Acuña, Hiura ... now Royce Lewis". MLB.com. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
12. Dernell Stenson Stats. Baseball Almanac website. Retrieved December 31, 2010.
13. "Stenson Award". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved December 31, 2010.
14. "Mariners prospect Patrick Kivlehan wins AFL's Dernell Stenson Sportsmanship Award". Retrieved November 19, 2016.
15. "Yadiel Rivera wins Fall League Stenson Award". Retrieved November 19, 2016.
16. Kramer, Daniel (November 19, 2016). "Nola wins Fall League's Dernell Stenson Sportsmanship Award". MLB.com. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
17. "Pirates' Cole Tucker wins AFL Stenson award". MLB.com. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
18. Jesse Sanchez (October 26, 2019). "Reds' Stephenson earns AFL's Stenson Award". MLB.com. Retrieved October 27, 2019.

External links

• Official website