A majority of the 2019 Arkansas Travelers are new.
The Seattle Mariners shifted the near future of the franchise in the offseason, trading big names -- eight-time All-Star Robinson Cano, ace starting pitcher James Paxton and All-Star closer Edwin Diaz -- for quite a number of prospects.
ARKANSAS TRAVELERS AT TULSA DRILLERS
WHEN 7:05 p.m. Central today
WHERE Oneok Field, Tulsa
RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in Little Rock
WEBSITE Travs.com
PITCHERS Travelers: RHP Justin Dunn (8-8, 3.59 ERA in 2018); Drillers: RHP Dustin May (9-5, 3.39 ERA in 2018)
THE WEEK AHEAD
TODAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
FRIDAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
SATURDAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
SUNDAY at Tulsa, 1:05 p.m.
MONDAY at Northwest Arkansas, 7:05 p.m.
TUESDAY at Northwest Arkansas, 7:05 p.m.
WEDNESDAY at Northwest Arkansas, 7:05 p.m.
The Travelers, Seattle's Class AA affiliate, will open the 2019 season at 7 p.m. today at Tulsa with 14 players who weren't a part of last year's team which won the Texas League North first-half championship.
The Mariners' current top three prospects were products of trades that sent Paxton to the New York Yankees and Diaz and Cano to the New York Mets.
Left-handed pitcher Justus Sheffield, the organization's top overall prospect according to MLB.com, and No. 2 prospect Jarred Kelenic, an outfielder, are based with the Mariners' Class AAA affiliate in Tacoma, Wash.
Three of the club's top seven prospects -- pitcher Justin Dunn (No. 3), first baseman Evan White (No. 4) and outfielder Kyle Lewis (No. 7) -- will spend opening day on the Travelers' roster.
"They all look great to me," said Travelers Manager Mitch Canham, who will begin his first season at the Double-A level and fourth as a minor-league manager today.
"Every organization is a little bit different," said Canham, who was elevated from Class A Modesto to Arkansas in January. "I think the Mariners have done a fantastic job of bringing in the right kind of character, along with great skill. We're in a good spot there."
Dunn, who the Mets selected with the 19th overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft, joined the Travelers as part of the Cano and Diaz trade involving Kelenic and seven total players.
Dunn, 23, grew up in Freeport, N.Y., and has spent most of his life in the northeast part of the United States as a diehard fan of Cano, who made his MLB debut with the New York Yankees in 2005 when Dunn was 7.
Being included in the December package with one of his childhood idols was surreal, Dunn said.
"Definitely," he said. "It was kind of a bittersweet feeling being from New York. Citi Field was 15-20 minutes from my house. Leaving home and leaving my family was tough."
The Class AA coaching staff is new, starting with Canham and continuing with pitching coach Pete Woodworth and hitting coach Kyle Wilson.
Woodworth spent the past two seasons with Class A Modesto with Canham. Canham replaced Daren Brown once Brown was elevated to Tacoma after two seasons in Arkansas.
"We have a really good staff combo going on here," Canham said.
Sixteen of the 2019 Travelers have played previously at the Class AA level. Eleven have previously spent time with the Travelers, including Lewis, pitchers Wyatt Mills, Art Warren, Bryan Bonnell, Anthony Misiewicz and Matt Walker, catchers Joe DeCarlo and Joseph Odom and infielders Chris Mariscal, Logan Taylor and Donnie Walton.
Beyond Dunn, Lewis and White, five other Travelers also are ranked among the top 30 prospects in the Mariners' system, per MLB.com: Outfielder Jake Fraley (14) and Dom Thompson-Williams (15) and pitchers Mills (16), Warren (21) and Ricardo Sanchez (26).
"There's going to be ups and downs going in this, for sure," Dunn said. "When you're both new and going through it and can can laugh at each other -- and learn from the bad and the good -- it makes that even more special to go up through the ranks together."
Sports on 04/04/2019