In 2010, the Diamondbacks traded Dan Haren to the Angels for Joe Saunders (and Patrick Corbin and Tyler Skaggs). Turned out in that parenthetical lied the rub. At the time of the trade, ESPN Fantasy said, “…this looks like highway robbery for the Angels, and a salary dump for the Diamondbacks.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Tyler Skaggs
In the wake of his promotion to Double-A, I figured now would be a good time to discuss this Xander Bogaerts guy who has Red Sox fans all hot and bothered. Middlebrooks is down, call up BOGAAAHHTS! To be clear: I don’t think that’ll come to pass this year, but Red Sox fans have good reason to be excited about this particular prospect. Bogaerts has huge power potential. That much was clear after he slugged 16 homers in just 296 PA a year ago in the South Atlantic League. In 2012, however, he’s worked hard to squash the one-dimensional projections, batting .302 and getting on base at a .378 clip through 100+ games at High-A. Those figures are up considerably from last year’s, meanwhile, his SLG (.505) hasn’t dipped. The more balanced production from Bogaerts surely contributed to Boston’s aggressive promotion of the 20-year-old. He’s now on track to reach Fenway at some point next year, although they’ll likely need to find a new position for him, as scouts don’t see his defensive tools cutting it in the bigs at shortstop.
Please, blog, may I have some more?This is always painful, but it’s also necessary. What follows is a look back at my preseason prospect rankings — a self audit, if you will. To be clear, this isn’t a re-ranking or anything, but it should suffice to remind all of you that I am mostly stupid. Please keep in mind that these guys are very early in their careers, and there is plenty of time for each to either figure it out, or get figured out. Anyway, let’s cut to it:
1.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Let’s get in the Wayback Machine. Back in March, Zsa Zsa Gabor was still alive, there wasn’t a legitimate Republican candidate for the White House and Desmond Jennings had loads of potential. Now stepping out of the Wayback Machine we realize those three things are still true.
Please, blog, may I have some more?We’re a few weeks from Opening Day, and the outlook on prospects for 2012 is taking shape. As usual, it’s important to take a prudent approach with these guys. Prospect-happy drafting is not wise. Most of these names won’t make major impacts for another year or two – if ever. Even so, it’s a good idea to get to know ‘em. I tried to limit this list to guys I thought would contribute this year. Rankings are weighted heavily in terms of realistic 2012 playing time, but I’m factoring each player’s projectable ceiling as well. I’ll be following this post with my Top 25 Fantasy Prospects for 2013 & Beyond. That one will run on Sunday. For now, this:
1.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Arizona Diamondbacks 2011 Minor League Review
Organizational Talent Rankings via Baseball America:
2011 (23) | 2010 (28) | 2009 (26) | 2008 (20) | 2007 (3) | 2006 (1) | 2005 (13) | 2004 (13)
2011 Affiliate Records
MLB: [94-68] NL West
AAA: [77-67] Pacific Coast League – Reno
AA: [84-54] Southern League – Mobile
A+: [63-77] California League – Visalia
A: [67-72] Midwest League – South Bend
A(ss): [33-43] Northwest League – Yakima
R: [41-35] Pioneer League – Missoula
The Run Down
Jerry Dipoto’s recent success as Arizona’s GM is well noted by now, as is his new gig with the LA Angels. Dipoto leaves the Diamondbacks farm system flush with promising pitching talent. The system that already featured frontline arms like Jarrod Parker and Tyler Skaggs bolstered their starting pitching even further by nabbing both Trevor Bauer and Archie Bradley in the first round of June’s draft. Bradley is a couple years away from the majors, but Bauer is ready to make an impact in 2012, and should be on your mind come draft day. The Arizona hitting prospects aren’t nearly as exciting. Matt Davidson is a quality third base prospect, but he needs more time to develop and likely won’t see any time with the big club for a year or two. Beyond him, the D-Backs feature a handful of okay-ish outfielders. I’ll be surprised if any Arizona hitting prospect is fantasy-relevant in 2012.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
The top 50 fantasy baseball prospects list aims to provide a list solely for fantasy baseball purposes. Due to fantasy baseball’s immediacy of statistical production, players are not necessarily ranked based on tools or projections far into the future, but instead, current production.
Please, blog, may I have some more?The Milwaukee Brewers promoted the 24-year-old, unranked third baseman Taylor Green. Has a solid swing, controls strike zone and make consistent sound contact, power is average at best. Defensively is where he stands out, showing above-average skill. This year at Triple-A (Pacific Coast League) he has a dominant slash line .336/.413/.583 in 420 at-bats with 59 XBH (22 Hr) and a 72:55 K:BB ratio.
Please, blog, may I have some more?I need to thank frequent commenter ltf for today’s lead. Tim Wheeler (COL, OF) has not been a highly touted prospect in the Rockies farm system – ranked number 21 overall. Since my Scouting the Unknown article written on June 1, 2011, he has hit 10 more home runs (6 weeks).
Please, blog, may I have some more?As the season progresses, feel free to name a few unheralded prospects of interest in the comments section. Additionally, please continue to discuss, dissect, and critique each review and prospect. The more dialogue, the more information that is gained about each prospect.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
