2011 Arizona Fall League: Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado Named League MVP

Colorado Rockies prospect Nolan Arenado was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2011 Arizona Fall League on Saturday, a capstone to a breakout season for the young third baseman.

At 20 years of age, Arenado is building quite a resume. He led the minor leagues with 122 RBI, started in the MLB Futures Game this summer, and has absolutely demolished the pitching in Arizona this fall. While playing on the Rising Stars All-Star team, Arenado batted cleanup on a lineup that featured super-prospects Mike Trout and Bryce Harper.

In 29 games, Arenado hit .388 with a 1.059 OPS. He leads the league with 12 doubles, and has a league best 47 hits, five better than Adam Eaton at No. 2. The most impressive number is probably his age. Arenado is one of the youngest players in the league. With this breakout showing, Arenado is a likely candidate for the top of many prospects lists this offseason.

Winning the AFL MVP is no guarantee of future stardom (the last three MVP winners are Dustin Ackley, Grant Desme, and Tommy Hanson), but it is excellent recommendation to be singled out amongst the game's best prospects.  If Nolan Arenado continues this level of production next Spring, he may even force the Rockies to give him a starting role in their lineup.

Colorado Rockies To Send Drew Pomeranz, Three Other Pitchers To Arizona Fall League

The Colorado Rockies completed the list of their attendees for the Salt River Rafters with the addition of four pitchers. Two of the four pitchers were picked up in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade: Drew Pomeranz and Joe Gardner. Pomeranz is scheduled to make his major league debut on Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds. He may only make one or two starts for the Rockies before heading to Arizona. He threw six perfect innings before losing it in the seventh inning in his first start for the Triple-A Drillers and then had an appendectomy. He returned on Monday for three more perfect innings of pitching.

Joe Gardner was the fourth player the Rockies needed to make the Jimenez trade go down and he has had a nice run with the Rockies. He went 3-3 with a 2.48 ERA in six starts. Quite impressive, he picked up four ground ball outs for every fly ball out he recorded. He struck out 22 and walked eight. Talk of moving him to the bullpen appear to be tabled for the moment.

The Rockies will also send Parker Frazier, son of Rockies broadcaster George Frazier. He finally spent a full season with the Modesto Nuts and went 11-11 with a 4.50 ERA. He allowed more hits than innings pitched (171 in 154 innings) and struck out 105. While preseason talk said he had an outside chance of making the majors in 2011, that will more than likely happen in 2011.

The final pitcher is Casey Weathers, taken eighth overall in the 2007 draft. It's been a long journey to reach this point, including Tommy John surgery. He posted a 5.32 ERA in 46 innings while walking 48 and striking out 48. Once thought of as the Rockies' future closer, Weathers future is murky.

Arizona Fall League 2011: Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado Named League MVP

The 2011 Arizona Fall League rosters are coming out and the Colorado Rockies have already decided on their three position players: Nolan Arenado, Tim Wheeler and Ben Paulsen.