Here is a little bit about Johnny Lujan’s past in MLB-affiliated baseball.  Lujan was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 15th round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft.  In 2007, he move to the Chicago White Sox organization after being traded for catcher Chris Stewart.  He spent the past three years with the White Sox, but the Sox never protected Lujan by putting him on their 40-man roster.  Lujan was eligible in this past year’s Rule 5 Draft, and the New York Mets snagged him in the Triple A phase.  Johnny will be reporting to Major League Spring Training this weekend, a little bit late, due to the birth of his first child as mentioned above.  Without a doubt, though, he is ready to play, and he now has an extra incentive to make it up to the big leagues.

If Johnny can limit his walks and maintain his control on the mound, he will definitely be called up by the end of the year.  From 2008 to 2009, Lujan was able to increase his K/9, decrease his BB/9, and decrease his WHIP to a respectable 1.35.  I was shocked when I read that in 58.2 innings pitched, Lujan only gave up 1 homerun.  We are excited to represent our second player in the Mets organization, and one who is close to the big stage.

This will be the first player that Dynasty represents in conjunction with an outside entity.  Steve Weinberg, who has represented Johnny Lujan in the past, will continue to serve as Johnny Lujan’s primary agent.

In 10 minutes, the St. Louis Cardinals will take the field for their first game of Spring Training vs. the New York Mets.  Pete Parise is not on the traveling roster for today’s game, so he will not be reporting to St. Lucie, but neither are a majority of the Cardinals pitchers.  Parise threw some batting practice yesterday and will use today as a day of rest.  Sometime soon, we will have the opportunity to see Parise face Major League batters.  Based on his Winter experience, there are a lot of people who cannot wait to see Parise’s stuff on the mound against the opposition this Spring.

Earlier today, Dustin Mattison of Scout.com looked at some of the best players in the Cardinals organization that played in the Winter leagues.  Right at the top of his list is Parise.

The player that helped himself the most had to be Pete Parise. Not only was he named to the 2010 Caribbean Series All-Tournament team but reportedly he added velocity to his fastball. His effort has gotten the attention of the team’s front office and he is getting a look this spring.

After a solid Puerto Rican League season, the right-hander saved his best for the Caribbean Series. In six shutout innings, he struck seven while not allowing a walk.

This year, CollegeInsider.com has made its competition a little more spicy, by bringing in Dynasty’s Danielle Wolfe into the fold as the one tasked with picking the winners on the catwalk.  CollegeInsider.com set Danielle up with her own page on the site, a Twitter account specially made for the competition, and has used her image throughout the site.

This is always a fantastic competition. sponsored by CollegeInsider.com, and we are happy to have Danielle be a part of it in 2010.

Steve Bralver

Some agencies might look at those achievements and still say that a guy like Steve Bralver is not worth their time, but we saw somebody who has a lot of potential on and off the field, and someone we really wanted to bring into our family.

As mentioned, Bralver went undrafted after graduating from school.  After a lot of tryouts with various Independent professional teams (you can read more about that journey on Bralver’s blog at Seamheads.com), Bralver found out that no Frontier League teams had a spot for him on their roster.

Eventually, the Calgary Vipers of the Arizona Winter League came calling.  They needed a first baseman, and they liked Steve Bralver.  With not many options on the table and nothing to lose, Bralver accepted their offer and became determined to prove his value on the field.

Seventeen different Major League organizations sent scouts to watch the players in this year’s Arizona Winter League.  Steve Bralver got the exposure he needed.  Additionally, 55 free agents, including Steve Bralver, received contract offers from professional teams after a draft was held by the Arizona Winter League.  Bralver received an offer from the Chico Outlaws of the Golden Baseball League.

On Saturday, the draft was behind Steve Bralver, but he still was looking forward to that night’s Arizona Winter League Championship Game between his Calgary Vipers and the San Luis Athleticos.  Bralver ended up going 4-for-4 with a home run (2-run home run in the 1st inning) and three RBI.  He was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.  From unwanted to MVP.  But still the same amazing character.

“It’s been so much fun,” Bralver said. “We had fans out rooting for our team that we didn’t know, but they came out and rooted for us every single day. To win this for them, to celebrate with champagne and the whole number, the rings, the dog pile, we loved it all.”

If you take a look at Dynasty’s website, one of the aspects highlighted when describing our services is the word innovation.  As we have always been focused on using the newest forms of technology and networking to better represent our clients, we continue to aspire to be the next level of Sports Agency: Sports Agency 2.0.

This Summer, we are excited to be having our 8^th Internship Class.  While the progression of the internship program is enormous, the most difficult part always lies in the selection process.  With hundreds of interns applying each semester, the challenge of distinguishing oneself from the field is a common worry.  Following the steps that many top universities have already taken, we are now allowing all applicants to submit a video essay along with their resume and cover letter, hopefully allowing them to present the more creative side not able to be captured on paper.

If you have already applied or are still planning on applying, feel free to take advantage of this opportunity.  After making your own personal essay, please post it on YouTube or a similar site, and then just send that link to HR@Dynastyreps.com.  Remember, the deadline to apply for the 2010 Summer Internship Program is April 15^th.  I am looking forward to seeing what creative and interesting video essays you will make!

With his fighting mentality, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Parise in St. Louis at some point this year. He will continue to develop and could be a candidate for the closer’s role when Ryan Franklin is gone. Whenever Parise makes the majors, few will be as proud as Heitner.

From a no-name company to representing Major League talent, it has been quite a journey thus far for Darren Heitner. And this is only the beginning. He will likely be in this industry for a very long time.

“I love every minute of my work,” Heitner said.

I was also given the opportunity to help out a goalie who found himself without a team after training camp. A few nights ago this goalie, Jimmy Spratt, made his debut in the East Coast Hockey League (two leagues under the NHL) for the Las Vegas Wranglers. Spratt has had somewhat of a rough go since the end of his collegiate career last April. He was drafted by the Calgary Flames in 2004, but wasn’t signed by the Flames after four years at Bowling Green State University. The Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL signed him last summer, but then released him after training camp. At this point he was a free agent and anxious to get on the ice and start his professional career.

After a couple weeks of hard work on the phones and email, I found him a spot with the Louisiana Ice Gators of the Southern Professional Hockey League. Over the course of those couple weeks, though, I put his name and information in front of several coaches who said they may be interested in him in the future. That future came this past Saturday in a game between the Wranglers and Bakersfield Condors. Spratt stopped all 31 shots to lead the Wranglers to a 4-0 win in front of 6,333 fans in Bakersfield. He was also named first star of the game.

His athleticism and hard work will take him a long way, which you can see for yourself below:

Pete Parise is that kind of guy.  He wasn’t even drafted in the 50 round MLB draft.  How can you call that kind of guy a “prospect”?  But again, who cares?  He is down in Jupiter right now, fighting for an opportunity to start the season in Major League Baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals.  And while a year ago, many people did not know if he would even start above Double-A in 2010, some people think he has a chance to break camp in the Big Leagues.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is one of the head honchos who covers the Cardinals.  He lists Parise in his top 5 Cardinals prospects to follow this Spring Training.  Whether Parise is or is not a prospect, he is someone to keep track of leading up to the season.  As Goold notes in his piece,

An underrated righty who hasn’t been heralded in the multitude of prospect rankings, Parise earned a nonroster invitation the old-fashioned way — he earned it. The bulldog righty sports a quality sinker, and he seized the closer job with Pacific Coast League champ Memphis last season.

Taking a 0-28 team to a 15 win season in less than four years is an accomplishment that is pretty hard to miss. This is something Horace Broadnax was able to do with the Savannah State University men’s basketball program. Something even more compelling was Broadnax’s ability to do this with the second lowest basketball budget in all of Division I (339 out of 340)! But what does it really mean in comparison to the rest of college basketball?

Broadnax’s 2009 season produced argubly the best Dollar-Per-Win ratio in modern college basketball. With 15 wins and a budget of $376,968, it came to roughly $25,131 per win. This may sound like a lot, but when you compare Coach Broadnax to his colleagues it is pretty apparent he may be the best bang for your buck in college basketball. Compared to the likes of big names like Howland, Williams, Self, and Donovan, Broadnax’s productivity is astounding. The bottom line is for less than one tenth the cost of the coaches just named, Horace Broadnax can get you a win.

One point of hot contention is whether completely turning around a program or doing it on such a meager budget is greater accomplishment? Regardless, Horace Broadnax has proved himself amongst the coaching ranks. It is hard to imagine what this guy could do with a little financial support and a program with an already well-established tradition as some of the heavy hitters listed above possess. The only disparity in Broadnax’s case is in the wins columns. His 15 wins is less than the generously budgeted basketball powerhouses mentioned above were able to achieve. This raises the question, how did Broadnax compare to coaches with the same number of wins?

Above is a chart reflecting teams with similar records to Broadnax’s tigers in 08-09. Remarkably all these team except for one spent over ten times as much on their programs to achieve the same number of wins or less. This is reflected in the average price per win column. Broadnax’s price-per-win- was at least 1/11^th the cost than that of Knight, Hill Jr., Lickliter, and McDermott yet he was able to win at least as many games as these coaches. In the case of Iowa, Broadnax’s price-per-win was less than 1/13th the price-per-win of Todd Lickliter!

Looking at the schools, it is evident there is a disparity in conference schedule strength. However, considering the talent and funding these programs receive compared to Savannah State, Broadnax and the Tigers greatly outperformed in comparison. All of these schools are ranked in the top 65 in division one funding compared to Savannah State’s 339^th ranking, yet the win column is the same? Clearly, Broadnax has done a superior job coaching Savannah State and making the most out of his situation.

Let us take the analysis a step further and make it even more relevant. How does Broadnax compare to a set of mid-major programs with similar RPI and even similar athletic budgets? Take the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Western Division. During the 2008-09 season, all six head coaches in the division failed to lead their programs to as many wins (15) as Broadnax did.

Despite the lack of financial support, Broadnax maximized his resources by winning 15 games and achieving a winning season at the University for the first time in 25 years!  This is clearly a testament to Broadnax’s coaching ability and resourcefulness.

Broadnax’s ability to make a lot of out a little makes him an attractive pick for athletic directors.  His average price-per-win (basketball budget/total wins) was a mere $25,131. Comparing Broadnax to coaches in the MAC conference whose budget was at least 3 times the size of his reveals just how impressive a feat this really was.  He won more games than any MAC West coach and his price-per-win was less than ¼ of all MAC West coaches last season.  The numbers don’t lie.

Skeptics of Broadnax’s accomplishment will point to the disparity of competition between Savannah State and MAC West teams. Yet such an assertion is completely false as Savannah State ended with a higher RPI (255) than its closest competing MAC West School, Ball State – a 262. In fact, Savannah’s RPI finish was well over 50 spots higher than the MAC West average because of a stronger-strength of schedule. This makes their 15-win season all the more impressive when weighed against the MAC West schools’ performances.

* Information on athletic budgets, wins and losses, and RPI were obtained through: http://www.bbstate.com, http://www.statsheet.com, http://realtimerpi.com/*

Pete Parise continues to prove that he is ready to pitch in the big leagues this year.  Facing a very tough Mexico team yesterday in the Caribbean World Series, Pete threw the middle three innings of Puerto Rico’s 5-3 win. He had another fine performance allowing no runs, one hit and striking out four. He also threw 28-38 pitches for strikes.

The Bronx, NY native is taking care of business.  It is no small feat to go up against the former and current big leaguers on the Dominican Republic and Mexican teams and hold them to 2 hits in 4 innings along with 4 strikeouts and 0 walks.