Under normal circumstances, narrowing Colorado’s Wild Card advantage to 4 games and clinching their first winning season in a half decade would be Tuesday morning’s most notable storylines surrounding the San Francisco Giants. However, The San Jose Mercury News’ Andrew Baggerly reports SF prospect Angel Villalona is facing possible murder charges following a fatal shooting in in the Dominican Republic over the weekend.
The news devastated Giants officials, who have invested significant time and money in the 19-year-old first baseman. Villalona’s $2.1 million bonus was a franchise record when the Giants signed him in 2006. He was considered one of baseball’s elite power-hitting prospects, and his signing signaled a shift in priorities to rebuild the farm system.
Villalona wasn’t with the San Jose Giants when they won the California League championship Saturday night. He hasn’t played since suffering a torn quadriceps July 5, and he had left San Jose shortly afterward to do rehab work at the Giants’ minor league facility in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Dominican police told the Associated Press that Villalona turned himself in 12 hours after Mario Felix de Jesus Velete was fatally shot at a bar Saturday night in the coastal city of La Romana. Villalona will appear in court today and could face up to 20 years in prison.