The 2012 Arizona Fall League kicks off its 20th season Tuesday afternoon throughout the greater Phoenix area. The AFL (as it is called) is comprised of six teams made up from top prospects from each of the 30 MLB teams. Many former AFL players have gone on to enjoy successful careers in the MLB and being selected for the AFL is a tremendous honor and considered by many to be a stepping stone to the major leagues.

2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the AFL.

The Dodgers will send nine of their top prospects to join the AFL’s Mesa Solar Sox. The Solar Sox will play their home games at beautiful Hohokam Stadium, the spring training home of the Chicago Cubs since 1952.

Mesa Solar Sox logo.

Representing the Dodgers in the 2012 Arizona Fall League are:

Eric Eadington

LHP Eric Eadington (24) – Signed by the Dodgers as a non-drafted free agent in 2011, the Harvard (economics) graduate spent all of the 2011 and part of the 2012 season with the Great Lakes Loons. He was promoted to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes midway through the 2012 season and even served a brief stint with the Chattanooga Lookouts before returning to the Quakes for their playoff run.

Gorman Erickson

C Gorman Erickson (24) – Drafted in the 15th round of the 2006 MLB First-Year Player Draft, Griff (as he is known) spent the entire 2012 season with the Lookouts after a very successful 2011 seasons with the Quakes. He is a switch-hitter, thus making him a very valuable asset to the Dodgers organization. Griff is among my favorite prospects and I have followed him closely over the past three seasons.

Onelki Garcia

LHP Onelki Garcia (22) – Drafted by the Dodgers in the 3rd round (113 overall) of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft, Garcia pitched in only one game this year for the Quakes striking out 4 of the 6 batters he faced. Garcia was born and raised in Cuba and was profiled several weeks ago right here on ThinkBlueLA.com by our very own MiLB resident expert Harold Uhlman.

Chris Reed

LHP Chris Reed (22) – Drafted in the 1st round (16th overall) of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft, this hard-throwing left-hander spent time this season with the Quakes and Lookouts. Reed was a standout closer for Stanford University and could very well reach the big leagues in 2013. He and right-hander Zach Lee were the two minor leaguers that the Dodgers absolutely refused to trade away at the July 31 trade deadline this past season.

Red Patterson

RHP Red Patterson  (25) – Drafted by the Dodgers in the 29th round of the 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft, Patterson had an excellent 7-1 record and a 3.07 ERA this past season with the Lookouts.

Joc Pederson

OF Joc Pederson (20) – Drafted by the Dodgers in the 11th round of the 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft, Pederson is ranked among the top Dodgers prospects. Joc spend the entire 2012 season with the Quakes, where he had an outstanding season – especially in the second half. He was promoted to the Lookouts at the end of the 2012 season to help them in the Southern League playoffs. Pederson was recently named as the Dodgers 2012 Minor League Player of the Year and represented Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic qualifying games last month in Jupiter, Florida. Like Griff, Pederson is also among my favorite prospects.

Yasiel Puig

OF Yasiel Puig (21) – Puig signed a huge 7-year/$42 million contract with the Dodgers this past June. The Cuban defector played 9 games with the Arizona Dodgers (Rookie League) and absolutely crushed the ball, thus leading to a quick promotion to the Quakes, where he continued to flourish – .327/.407/.423 with 1 home run (I got the ball!) and 4 RBIs in only 14 games. Puig suffered a strained hamstring during the final week of the season and had to be shut down. The timing couldn’t have been worse, as the Quakes missed the playoffs by one game (that sounds familiar). The Dodgers brass will be watching Puig extremely closely during the AFL and Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti has already said that Puig will be in major league spring training camp in 2013 and has an outside chance to make the 2013 Dodgers Opening Day roster. Puig is already on the Dodgers 40-man roster.

Andres Santiago

RHP Andres Santiago (22) – Drafted by the Dodgers in the 16th round of the 2007 MLB First-Year Player Draft, Santiago spent most of 2012 with the Quakes but was promoted to Chattanooga late in the season. The Puerto Rico native had a combined 6-5 record with an impressive 3.69 ERA in his 18 starts.

Rafael Ynoa

IF Rafael Ynoa (24) – Signed by the Dodgers as a non-drafted free agent in 2005, Ynoa spent the entire 2012 season with the Lookouts. Ynoa is from the Dominican Republic and is credited with helping to save the life of a motorcycle crash victim while en route to a Loons game 2010.

Author’s note: I will be in Arizona for the first three Mesa Solar Sox games and will try to post daily reports.