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By Karen Boehler
Pecos League writer
With Pecos League spring training now less than a month away, managers are finalizing their rosters, and we�ll take a look at each team, one day at a time. The one thing all coaches have confidence about is their players will be ready when the season starts.
LAS VEGAS
LAS VEGAS, N.M. � As a Pecos League expansion team, the Las Vegas Train Robbers got the first pick in the Pecos League Spring, and manager Casey Dill � definitely not new to the league � used it to good advantage.
Dill � who moves to Las Vegas from Las Cruces � picked Edison Alvarez, a pitcher from the Dominican Republic who spent two years with the Minnesota Twins organization and wrapped up the Spring League with a 2-1 record, 2.04 ERA and 34 strikeouts. (Not to mention a .321 batting average that included two home runs.)
�Edison, in my opinion, is the best player there,� Dill said. �The most projectability. He�s just a great guy. A great teammate. So I think we got a very, very good player and a potential guy who could be pitching in a major league organization at some point this year. Really excited to see what he can do.�
Dill also is �excited� about the other three pitchers he drafted, including Richard Suniga (1-1, 2.00 ERA, 24 Ks), Mason Caldwell (1-0, .000 ERA, 4 Ks) and Ryan Flores (0-0, 2.33 ERA, 3 Ks), who all who pitched for Houston in the Spring League.
�Mason Caldwell (is a) left-handed pitcher from Austin Peay (University). Excited to get him,� Dill said. �And also excited to get Ryan Flores, who throws the ball as good as anybody else as well. He has good experience.�
Dill also got four teammates who came together to the spring camp from Pacific Northwest: Blake Babnick, Portland, Ore., first base; Brandon Brown, Vancouver, Wash., RHP; Jacob Alastra, Seattle, second; and Jeffery Goulet, Seattle, outfield.
�We saw a lot of good things from all four of those guys in the spring league,� Dill said. �They each need to work on some things, and I think spring training will be a good opportunity for them to come down and see what a professional spring training is like.
The Robbers have 19 other players currently on their spring training roster � including a pitcher and shortstop from Japan � and while DIll said he�s still looking for a few more prospects, he�s confident with who he�s got.
�I�m always looking, but I�m very confident, at the same time, with the guys we�ve got coming in,� he said. �I�m pretty confident that the spring training roster is set, with the exception of maybe a college graduate this year or something like that.�
Las Vegas will host the Pecos League Northern Division spring training beginning May 7 at Rodriguez Park, then travel south to Roswell to open the regular season May 14.
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