Read ‘em and weep.
- Josh Barfield, 2b
- Freddy Guzman, of
- George Kottaras, c
- Travis Chick, rhp
- Tim Stauffer, rhp
- Matt Bush, ss
- Justin Germano, rhp
- Sean Thompson, lhp
- Brad Baker, rhp
- Paul McAnulty, of/1b
General impressions: Some people are down on Barfield because he lost a lot in terms of batting average last year. I look at the fact that none of his other skills deteriorated on moving up a level (.395 XBH/H last year vs .368 the year before; .092 BB/AB vs .091) and his defense improved. Plus, with Mark Loretta firmly entrenched with the big club, there is no hurry with Barfield.
Guzman is too high (I still see him as a borderline starter), Stauffer is too low. Kottaras is starting to garner much-deserved attention and could be at the top of next year’s list. Calling McAnulty an outfielder is a bit of a stretch; on the other hand, John Kruk managed to have a decent career out there so ya never know.
The other thing I notice is that this is a very thin list. Barfield and maybe Kottaras or Stauffer are the only guys who have a chance to be impact players. And I’m being generous with the latter two. The Pads need to do a better job of drafting and developing players. Sure, some guys are contributing now and some others landed the club a legit middle-of-the-order hitter. But when you’re operating on a tight budget, you can’t afford to let the cupboard get empty, right?
Of the Padres’ top picks in the draft over the past 10 years, only four have made the big leagues (Ben Davis, Kevin Nicholson, Sean Burroughs, and Khalil Greene). Only Burroughs and Greene have been real contributors, although Stauffer is very close.
Kevin Goldstein, who put together this list, will be chatting about it today at noon, PT, over at BA. I won’t be able to participate, but maybe you can. Go represent!
Recent Comments