Your 2014 Florida State League Champions, not necessarily in order of importance.

--Jason Kanzler could be someone to watch.  After a slow start last year in the GCL, he had a fine season in 2014.  He was with Cedar Rapids most of the season, but continued to play well when promoted to Fort Myers and was instrumental in the Miracle drive to the championship.  He stole 27 bases between the two teams and also hit 11 doubles, 9 triples, and 12 home runs.  He turned 24 in August.

--Dalton Hicks seems to have stalled.  He spent the entire year at Fort Myers and did no better than he'd done there last year, hitting .262/.344/.407.  That's not terrible by any means, but it's not great, either.  He'll be twenty-five next season.  If he's going to make a move, he'd better get to doing it.

--Adam Brett Walker II is an interesting player.  He hit twenty-five homers, which sounds impressive because it is.  His line, though, was .246/.307/.436, which is fine but not all that impressive.  He also struck out 156 times.  He'll turn 23 in October.

The player Walker II kind of reminds me of is Chris Parmelee.  Parmelee got to Fort Myers in 2009, when he was a year younger than Walker II was this year, and hit 16 home runs.  His line, though, was .258/.359/.441, which is a little better than Walker II's but fairly similar.  He struck out 109 times.  The Twins worked with him over the off-season, he cut down his strikeouts, and he raised his batting average.  He lost some power for a while, but eventually got it back.  We'll see if something similar happens with Walker II.

--Max Kepler seemed to figure some things out toward the end of the year.  At the end of June, he was hitting .231/314/.354.  He hit .302 the rest of the way, for a year-end line of .264/.333/.393.  He'll be twenty-two next year.  He'll probably go to New Britain next year.  We'll see if his good second half means that he's turned a corner.

--Byron Buxton pretty much had a lost year.  Slowed by various injuries, he played in only thirty games for Fort Myers and hit .240/.313/.405.  As you know, he played one game for New Britain and was lost for the rest of the year with a concussion.  He'll only be twenty-one next year, so he still has time, but you always hate for someone to have a wasted year, even when it wasn't his fault.

--Brett Lee had a fine year, going 10-5, 2.45, 1.35 WHIP.  He doesn't strike out very many guys, and he struggled a little toward the end of the season.  He turns 24 next week.  There are reasons he might not succeed as he goes up the ladder, but on the other hand, he might.  He certainly deserves a chance to show that he can.

--But the star of the pitching staff, while he was there, was Jose Berrios.  In sixteen starts, he was 9-3, 1.96, 1.05 WHIP with 109 strikeouts in 96.1 innings.  He continued to pitch well when he was promoted to New Britain:  3-4, 3.54, 1.11 WHIP in eight starts.  If you throw out his first appearance as a Rock Cat, his ERA falls to 2.78.  He won't be 21 until the end of May.  I'd like to see him start next season in Rochester, although it wouldn't surprise me if the Twins sent him back to New Britain.  There may be no such thing as a pitching prospect, but he sure looks like one to me.

--Tim Shibuya might be worth keeping an eye on.  He's come along slowly, turning 25 in a couple of days, but he pitched well last year in a season split between Elizabethton and Cedar Rapids and pitched well this year in Fort Myers.  Sometimes it just takes longer for pitchers.  I'm not saying I think he'll be a star, but it'll be interesting to see what he does in New Britain next season.

So there are some players to watch for the 2014 Fort Myers Miracle.  We'll take the weekend off, but if all goes well, we'll bring you some thoughts on the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Monday.