Two Named Toronto Org All-Stars

And two more former Valley Leaguers have been named an “Organization All-Star”- this time for the Toronto Blue Jays. Although, weirdly, only one of the two is still a member of the organization. (This is it for the organization all-stars; all the teams have now been covered. So this is it!)

First of all, Ryan McBroom (Haymarket 2011-12) had a fantastic year for Low-A Lansing. This is what Josh Jackson wrote about Ryan:

First baseman — Ryan McBroom, Lansing (127 games): Although he still doesn’t rate among MLB.com’s Top 20 Jays prospects, the 2014 15th-rounder made a statement with the 2015 campaign. He led the Midwest League with 39 doubles and finished second with a .315 average, 222 total bases, a .869 on-base plus slugging percentage and 90 RBIs en route to league MVP honors. He also slugged 12 home runs for the Class A Lugnuts.

“A guy that can really hit and is a very talented first baseman,” Lansing manager Ken Huckaby said of  the 23-year-old West Virginia product. “He has an incredible work ethic, an incredible drive to win. He’s a true professional — he’s going to play this game for a while with the way he works.”

Almost 40 doubles, 90 RBIs, a league MVP…. yep, that’s an awesome year.

The second player is former Luray Wrangler Ryan Schimpf (2008), who, oddly enough, has just signed a free agent contract with the San Diego Padres. He was still named the organization all-star at designated hitter. His writeup:

Designated hitter — Ryan Schimpf, New Hampshire (76 games), Buffalo (31 games): After seven seasons with the Blue Jays, Schimpf signed with the Padres as a free agent in November. The 27-year-old slugger left on a high note, leading the organization with 23 homers, batting .250 — his highest season average since 2012 — and winning the Fisher Cats’ Webster Award.

The Webster Award is given to the MVP at each Toronto affiliate, by the way. Maybe Ryan will make the majors with the Padres, although another former Valley Leaguer, Cory Spangenberg (Winchester 2010), is next in line for the position. Ryan went over 100 home runs for his minor league career in 2015.

Congrats to both players!