Posts in Canadians in the Minors
Glew: California Winter League stint helps Barker land with Titans

“If you’re a Canadian baseball prospect in search of your first professional contract, there are far worse ways to spend a month of the winter than showcasing your skills in Palm Springs, Calif.

Carson Barker (Alliston, Ont.) can attest to this.

From mid-January to mid-February, the 22-year-old catcher competed in the California Winter League, an eight-team circuit that recently concluded its 15th season.

“Palm Springs was absolutely gorgeous,” said Barker. “I loved Palm Springs. It was a really, really great experience.”

On top of the beautiful weather, Barker’s tenure in the California Winter League helped him land a contract with the independent Frontier League’s Ottawa Titans in early February.”

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McFarland: Coutney focused on what he can control heading into second pro season

“Matt Coutney remembers the exact moment when he realized that professional baseball was going to be a grind.

In his final two seasons at Old Dominion University (2021-2022), the Wetaskiwin product played a total of 117 games.

On his way to playing 121 games in 2023 in the Los Angeles Angels’ farm system, it was a roadtrip to California when he started to understand what many others had told him about life in the pros.

“It was game 32 and I was thinking to myself, ‘I have 100 games left – there’s no way I’m going to be able to make it through this,’” Coutney told Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast. “As the year goes on, you hit certain benchmarks – you make it another week, you make it another month – and the next think you know, the season is over.”

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