Re: San Diego Padres 2007
Its definitely turning around, but another year or so we'll actually be able to see the product of the 2005 draft. Right now the Lake Elsinore squad (loaded with guys from the past two drafts) is head-and-shoulders above our Portland come in terms of prospects and guys actually producing and turning heads.
Portland has been abysmal the last couple of years do mostly to the poor returns from the 2003 and 2004 draft. First rounder of 2003 Tim Stauffer is still struggling with a 7.96 ERA, probably not going to see him anymore because it seems like he lost it (control pitchers are only good if they can command their pitches, but if they can't they're no good). Previously mentioned Cesar Carrillo won't be pitching for a while since he had undergone Tommy John surgery (2005 1st Rounder). Jared Wells has been in our farm system for a while, but he's also struggling with a 6.94 ERA. The only reliever to go through our farm system that's worth noting is Leo Rosales, who has 14 saves, a 2.45 ERA and 25 K's to 9 BB's. Offensively there is no prospect worth noting... since there are none to begin with. Portland is filled with older players that are too old to be prospects, or young players struggling.
In San Antonio things are a little bit better. Arguably one of our premier prospects who has been flying under the radar is the improving Chase Headley at third. Headley is batting .341 with 8 HR and 33 RBI, although his BB and K numbers aren't as close are they usually are (only 26 BB to 41 K's). Will Venable (Drafted in 2006 I think) is a fellow callup canidate with Headley after this season. While he has struggled a bit, he is hitting .271 with 5 SB, but should improve. At best he may be a fringe player. The other Cesar from the 2005 draft, Cesar Ramos, has managed to turn things around and now has a 3.75 ERA, but he is a control pitcher like Stauffer and will need to keep command of his pitches. At best he's a back-of-the-rotation starter, no true upside. Neil Jamison (Drafted in 2005 I think) has also struggled this year with a Borowski-esque 7.71 ERA and 11 saves. He may spend another year in AA if things do not improve.
Lake Elsinore's squad has been a fun one. While they may be playing at a level where offense tends to excel, some of the players on this team made some noise in the Lancester series a few weeks back. 2006 1st Round Pick Matt Antonelli, who was moved from 3B to 2B this season, has a .314 average to go along with 7 HR and 27 RBIs. He also has 14 stolen bases out of 16 attempts and has 32 BB's and K's. His versatility may also allow him to play the outfield as well if needed. Young first basemen Kyle Blanks (Drafted in 2005) is tied for the team lead in home runs with 10 and leads the team with 43 RBIs. Blanks also leads the team with a .333 batting average. Blanks, like other 6'6" baseball players, also suffers from high K numbers (39 K's to 12 BB's). The other player who is tied for the team lead in home runs is outfielder Chad Huffman. Huffman sports a .324 batting average and has driven in 42 runs. The last player on offense worth noting is David Freese, the third basemen for the Storm. Freese has 8 home runs and 37 RBIs and is batting .297. Should Headley be promoted to AAA, chances are Freese will follow him to AA. The 1-2 combo the Storm has has been spectacular this season. While I don't know much about these two, Manny Ayala and Wade Leblanc both sport ERAs just slightly over 2, have a K to BB of 47:14 and 50:13 respectively, and WHIPs of 1.09 and 0.99. We may not see either of them in AAA until 2009 though.
However, 2004 1st Rounder Matt Bush continues to struggle, hitting only .208 with 13 errors committed.
Cedric Hunter (2006 Draft) from Fort Wayne has turned it on after a slow start and now has his average up to .279. He's at least a few years away though.
I left out a couple of people, but those are the players I think have at least a shot to get called up by any team in the future (I don't think Blanks will get a shot here in San Diego since Adrian Gonzalez is only 25 and will be our 1st basemen for a while. Matt Bush, excluded from this claim though.
Its definitely turning around, but another year or so we'll actually be able to see the product of the 2005 draft. Right now the Lake Elsinore squad (loaded with guys from the past two drafts) is head-and-shoulders above our Portland come in terms of prospects and guys actually producing and turning heads.
Portland has been abysmal the last couple of years do mostly to the poor returns from the 2003 and 2004 draft. First rounder of 2003 Tim Stauffer is still struggling with a 7.96 ERA, probably not going to see him anymore because it seems like he lost it (control pitchers are only good if they can command their pitches, but if they can't they're no good). Previously mentioned Cesar Carrillo won't be pitching for a while since he had undergone Tommy John surgery (2005 1st Rounder). Jared Wells has been in our farm system for a while, but he's also struggling with a 6.94 ERA. The only reliever to go through our farm system that's worth noting is Leo Rosales, who has 14 saves, a 2.45 ERA and 25 K's to 9 BB's. Offensively there is no prospect worth noting... since there are none to begin with. Portland is filled with older players that are too old to be prospects, or young players struggling.
In San Antonio things are a little bit better. Arguably one of our premier prospects who has been flying under the radar is the improving Chase Headley at third. Headley is batting .341 with 8 HR and 33 RBI, although his BB and K numbers aren't as close are they usually are (only 26 BB to 41 K's). Will Venable (Drafted in 2006 I think) is a fellow callup canidate with Headley after this season. While he has struggled a bit, he is hitting .271 with 5 SB, but should improve. At best he may be a fringe player. The other Cesar from the 2005 draft, Cesar Ramos, has managed to turn things around and now has a 3.75 ERA, but he is a control pitcher like Stauffer and will need to keep command of his pitches. At best he's a back-of-the-rotation starter, no true upside. Neil Jamison (Drafted in 2005 I think) has also struggled this year with a Borowski-esque 7.71 ERA and 11 saves. He may spend another year in AA if things do not improve.
Lake Elsinore's squad has been a fun one. While they may be playing at a level where offense tends to excel, some of the players on this team made some noise in the Lancester series a few weeks back. 2006 1st Round Pick Matt Antonelli, who was moved from 3B to 2B this season, has a .314 average to go along with 7 HR and 27 RBIs. He also has 14 stolen bases out of 16 attempts and has 32 BB's and K's. His versatility may also allow him to play the outfield as well if needed. Young first basemen Kyle Blanks (Drafted in 2005) is tied for the team lead in home runs with 10 and leads the team with 43 RBIs. Blanks also leads the team with a .333 batting average. Blanks, like other 6'6" baseball players, also suffers from high K numbers (39 K's to 12 BB's). The other player who is tied for the team lead in home runs is outfielder Chad Huffman. Huffman sports a .324 batting average and has driven in 42 runs. The last player on offense worth noting is David Freese, the third basemen for the Storm. Freese has 8 home runs and 37 RBIs and is batting .297. Should Headley be promoted to AAA, chances are Freese will follow him to AA. The 1-2 combo the Storm has has been spectacular this season. While I don't know much about these two, Manny Ayala and Wade Leblanc both sport ERAs just slightly over 2, have a K to BB of 47:14 and 50:13 respectively, and WHIPs of 1.09 and 0.99. We may not see either of them in AAA until 2009 though.
However, 2004 1st Rounder Matt Bush continues to struggle, hitting only .208 with 13 errors committed.
Cedric Hunter (2006 Draft) from Fort Wayne has turned it on after a slow start and now has his average up to .279. He's at least a few years away though.
I left out a couple of people, but those are the players I think have at least a shot to get called up by any team in the future (I don't think Blanks will get a shot here in San Diego since Adrian Gonzalez is only 25 and will be our 1st basemen for a while. Matt Bush, excluded from this claim though.
<--Dodgers.
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