PHOENIX -- The Arizona Fall League, regarded throughout professional baseball as the "graduate school" for Major League Baseball's top prospects, holds true to its name this year with a record 35 former first-round draft picks.

The Arizona Fall League will be welcoming back 29 standouts from the 2003 season. In addition, 68 players have participated in their respective Minor League All-Star Games this season.

The 2004 Arizona Fall League rosters will be dominated by Double-A All-Stars. Of the 68 Minor League All-Stars scheduled to compete, 44 will represent Double-A Clubs. The Eastern League will have 18 players, the Southern League will have 15, and the Texas League will have 11. The Arizona Fall League will afford these players the opportunity to compete against high-level competition.

Headlining the returning players will be the first two overall selections from the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft, Delmon Young of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Rickie Weeks of the Milwaukee Brewers. In addition to being returning Arizona Fall League players and first round picks, both players took part in the Major League Baseball Futures Game during All-Star weekend this past July. Young is having an All-Star season with the Charleston RiverDogs hitting .308 with 21 HR and 97 RBI (through Aug. 12). Weeks is also having an outstanding year with the Huntsville Stars.

The Arizona Fall League, owned and operated by Major League Baseball, is set to begin its 13th season Oct. 5. All home games will take place either at the Peoria Sports Complex (Spring Training home of the San Diego Padres & Seattle Mariners), Scottsdale Stadium (Spring Training home of the San Francisco Giants), Mesa HoHoKam Park (Spring Training home of the Chicago Cubs) and Phoenix Municipal Stadium (Spring Training home of the Oakland Athletics.

The following are the composite rosters as of Aug. 16, 2004. Additional players will be announced at a later date.

2004 Arizona Fall League rosters (PDF):
Mesa Desert Dogs
Peoria Javelinas
Grand Canyon Rafters
Peoria Saguaros
Scottsdale Scorpions
Mesa Solar Sox