Season comes to a close
Valleycats first-year manager Guillen says player-development success not reflected in standings
The Valleycats fall short of expectations on the field and at the box office in their 18th year of existence at Joe Bruno Stadium.
Did we win? No, but guys got better and I think I learned a lot, my staff learned a lot and my players learned a lot.” Ozney Guillen
The Tri-city Valleycats were rained out in their season finale against Vermont on Monday, just like the home opener against Staten Island on June 16.
In between those washouts at Bruno Stadium, the Valleycats fell short of expectations on the field and at the box office in their 18th year of existence.
They went 32-42 under first-year manager Ozney Guillen, missing the postseason one year after winning the New York-penn League championship.
Tri-city’s average home attendance slipped to 3,869 per game, the first time the franchise fell under the 4,000 threshold since 2007.
The baseball side is the responsibility of the Houston Astros, Tri-city’s parent club, who supply the players and coaching staff. An ownership group led by Bill Gladstone and team president Rick Murphy oversees putting fans in the seats.
Guillen, only 27 years old, said he considered the season a success from a player-development standpoint even if it wasn’t ref lected in the standings.
“Didn’t go the way we wanted, but my players
got better,” he said. “Did we win? No, but guys got better and I think I learned a lot, my staff learned a lot and my players learned a lot.”
Guillen pointed to the surprisingly quick development of 10th-round draft pick C.J. Stubbs, a catcher from USC, and 34th-round selection AJ Lee, a shortstop from Maryland. Both players were promoted to Quad Cities during the season.
Catcher Nate Perry, a third-year pro, was third in franchise history with 12 homers and got called up to Class A-advanced Fayetteville on Sunday.
“It’s been a really, really good development season for the entire team,” said catcher Korey Lee, Houston’s first-round pick. “We all kind of came in here, we have a bunch of new guys, not knowing what pro ball is like and it was good to kind of just get our feet wet up in Tri-city.”
Tri-city finished secondto-last in the NYPL with a .217 team batting average and last with a 4.14 earnedrun average. The team had 25 runners picked off and was caught stealing a league-high 53 times.
But the Valleycats won five of their last six games.
It was an educational year for Guillen, a son of former Chicago White Sox player and manager Ozzie Guillen. Ozney Guillen had just retired from playing and hadn’t managed before.
“I think as a manager, you develop as a person,” he said. “I think you develop knowing what you can do, what you can’t do. How you can talk to certain players, how you can’t talk to certain players. Just little things like that.”
Guillen planned to head home to Miami after the season. He said he has three offers to manage teams in Latin America during the winter.
He said he’s not worried about whether the Astros will retain him next year and, if so, whether he’ll return to Tri-city. The Valleycats have had a new manager each of the past four seasons.
“I know I did my best,” he said. “I know (the Astros) know what I’m capable of. I’m glad I was here. I loved the opportunity. I learned a lot. Being in baseball for so long and coming here, it’s like you’re starting all over again. If I’m here, I’m here, thank God. And if I’m not, then you’ll see me somewhere else.”
Note: Next season, the Valleycats enter the second and final year of their most recent player development contract with the Astros.