Says here I’m arriving in Oneonta, N.Y., home of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Mia Hamm will be inducted in August. That’s gotta sting a little if you’re Nomar…
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100 Comments
Its time to trade for Loretta and Piazza.
I know thier old but they wont cost much.
Padres Prospect Report
You will not see the top dogs in today’s PPR (not a single guy I project as a top 5 Padres prospect is on this list).
Thursday, July 26, 2007
AAA
Yordany Ramirez: 4 AB, 2 R, 1 H, 2 RBI; HR, BB, SO, SB
AA
Mike Ekstrom: 4.2 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR
High-A
David Freese: 3 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; BB, SO, SB
Craig Cooper: 5 AB, 0 R, 3 H, 4 RBI; 3 2B
Low-A
Cedric Hunter: 4 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 2 RBI; HR, SO
Short Season-A
Luis Durango: 5 AB, 1 R, 3 H, 2 RBI; 3B
Eric Sogard: 5 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 4 RBI; HR, SB
Jeremy McBryde: 2.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, 0 HR
Rookie
Reggie Watson: 5 AB, 3 R, 4 H, 1 RBI; HR, BB, SO, SB
Commentary:
Luis Durango led the Arizona League last year with a .378 batting average. He has a .372 average as of tonight’s 3-hit contest.
Reggie Watson was just signed out of the Frontier League. According to MadFriars.com he, “…was leading the Frontier League in batting average (.357), hits (79), and was 2nd in stolen bases (20), and 3rd in on base percentage (.437).†However, he turned 24 this past January. He shouldn’t be in the Arizona League. Now, if that where the Padres are going to stick an advanced hitter, he needs to continue beating up on AZL pitching…
Nice comments by Jim Callis regarding the Inman deal and recent drafts:
“Because they’ve added a lot of talent this year, the Padres will sit closer to the middle of the pack than to the bottom…”
“Draftees such as first-rounder Nick Schmidt and supplemental first-rounders Kellen Kulbacki, Drew Cumberland, Mitch Canham, Cory Luebke and Danny Payne will help beef up our Padres Top 30 in the 2008 Handbook.
“Also, San Diego has seen a number of prospects already on hand take a significant step forward this summer. That group includes second baseman Matt Antonelli, third baseman Chase Headley, catcher Nick Hundley and lefthander Wade LeBlanc, all of whom were part of the Padres’ improved draft efforts in 2005 and 2006.”
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/askba/264563.html
Agree with 1, its time to get some players who can hit for avg and get on base. I say Loretta and we better hurry as other teams are very interested. NOG has a great nic, but can hit a lick, but does turn a nice DP. Not sure about piazza, what’s wrong with Barrett, he isn’t starting any more?
Hey Peter here do you think Headly/Antonelli will fall in the National top 100 this year?
1: I’m a little surprised that you’re interested in Piazza Steve. I don’t know that he’s a great fit with Bard and Barrett already on the team. If we do trade for him, we should just have to say, “look, we already gave you Jack Cust. Why don’t you just let us have Mike?”
Re 5, Headley, no doubt. Antonelli should…
Re: 6 the Pads will get Piazza on the cheap, probably low level prospect. Piazza would give the Padres a legitimate #4 hitter and more flexability off the bench.
5 ,7: We could end up with 5 players in the top 100, depending on what happens the next 2 months. I don’t think any of them will be higher than 40, maybe not higher than 50.
Headley
Antonelli
Inman
LeBlanc
Latos
That’s a better top 5 than we’ve had in a long while. Huffman might be on the cusp of the top 100 if he picks things up in SA.
Hunter and Venable will both drop, possibly hard. Venable could easily slide to the lower teens in our top 30; Hunter probably stays in the top 10 by his fingernails.
6, 8: I’d rather have Glaus. Not as cheap as Piazza, but better.
RE: 10 and send Kouz to AAA?
11: To the bench, AAA, or Toronto. But the Jays might be more interested in Headley to take Glaus’s spot.
Like I said the other day, Kouzmanoff has been pretty bad since his hot May. Mid 700 OPS, below 300 OBP. I don’t want to run him out of town for just anybody, but Glaus is a high 800s OPS bat.
9.
Do you think that Blanks has a shot at the top 100? I would think this years numbers mixed with his age might be enough. I know everone is probably waiting until next year before they make a determination on him but I figure he may have done enough to get some love.
I would imagine that the top prospects by position would look like this:
C: Hundley, Canham, Morton
1B: Blanks, Cooper, Bonvenchio
2B: Antonelli, Sogard, Kazmar
3B: Headly, Freese, Contreras
SS: Cruz, Cumberland, Chang (man they are weaak here)
RF: Carvajal, Cooper, Venable
CF: Hunter, Payne, Ramirez
LF: Huffman, Kulbacki, P-Mac
P: LeBlanc, Inman, Latos, Schmidt, Carillo
13: I’d like to hear from Peter and the occasional visitor John C, but the top 100 is tough to crack for any 1b. There were only 3 last year: Votto, Loney, and Barton, who had all done it at higher levels.
He’s going to be in the discussion, I imagine. The only Cal League players with better OPS either play in outrageous home parks (Lancaster, 4 of the top 5 hitters) or is a college hitter 3 years older than BK (Big Kyle). But still, a Cal League 1b is going to have a hard time making the cut.
Re: 13 I would imagine it would be hard to put an A level prospect in the top 100.
1: Piazza? Where will he play we dont have a DH, and he is still too hurt to catch
Re: 17 he could come off the bench to PH, it would be alot better than Blum, Cruz, or Branyan.
7: I wouldnt be surprised if Antonelli was ahead of Headly. Isnt he rated the top 2B prospect in all minor leagues?
have him take it east untill sept then have him catch 3-4 times a week down the stretch and into the playoffs.
16: It does happen; Maybin and Justin Upton were both top 10 for 2007 and didn’t get out of low a. But they also have sick across-the-board tools.
Re: 20 I didnt say it was imposible, just hard maybe 1 or 2 guys a year.
18: Thats a roster spot for someone that cant even play a position in a jam. I think some AL teams will take a harder run at Piazza for a DH and his price will go up.
Off-topic: enjoyable Gwynn column from Tim Brown of Yahoo:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ti-gwynn072707&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
19: Second base is not a loaded position in the minors. It’s like being the tallest guy in a Napoleon Basketball League, it doesn’t really tell us much.
Antonelli’s kept hitting in AA, but Headley has hit there all year, and is probably a better defender at third than Antonelli is at second.
14: I know we havent seen much from Inman (or Latos and Schmidt), but I think they are all higher on our list than LeBlanc.
25: I know, I am just saying I wouldnt be surprised if he was.
22: I could have kept listing a lot more. It’s not uncommon at all. Without looking up each of them on the Baseball Cube, 25% of last year’s list may have spent all or most of the 2006 season in a ball.
16.
There were a few on this years list. Granted most of them were cream of the crop prospects but they are still out there. But TW is right, there are not very many 1st baseman on the list.
Leblanc has done well in so far AA this year where Inman has struggled, with Latos and Schmidt its way to early to tell we are at because we are judging them off of college numbers.
Re: 28 your right, sorry im an idiot I was only looking at the top 25.
or top 50 i mean
…But Leblanc will turn 23 next month and Inman is 20… And while Inman has “struggled,” he still has more strikeouts than walks, and his cumulative hits per IP is about 1-1 but over his last five AA starts he has:
1-2 w/ a 2.48 ERA in 29 IP with 20 hits, 12 walks, and 30 strikeouts….
If that’s struggling, I’ll take it.
Other than his AA debut and third AA start Inman has done NOTHING to tarnish his top-100 rating.
I would say the Padres have 7 potential top 100 guys:
Headley
Antonelli
Inman
Latos
Schmidt
Leblanc
Huffman
Blanks
Now that said, I’d say the majority of those actually are more like 100-150 guys and I’d say the top 3 will be the only ones on the list.
33: I’ll agree with Peter. Headley is a lock for the list–probably for the top-60. Antonelli also should make the list. If Inman continues to progress in AA, I think that he’ll repeat on the list as well. As Peter said, if anything, Inman has enhanced his reputation from last year’s top-100 selection. He absolutely dominated high-A as a 20 year old and is more than holding his own (with the exception of his first 3 starts) in AA.
I doubt that we have any other top-100 players. Next year I’m optimistic that Latos can join that group, but I don’t think that he’s shown enough this year. I’d also like to think that Blanks will just kill the ball in AA–if he did, he’d have a shot as well next year.
20: It’s tough to carry 3 catchers, especially when one of them can’t really catch. With the teams that we’ll see in the playoffs (if we get there) possibly including the always running Dodgers and Mets, I don’t know that I want Piazza catching 3 games in a series. I’d like to have his bat around too, I just think that there’s got to be a guy out there with a comparable bat who can play a defensive position.
Nice article on TG, thanks for the link. I like the story where TG was worried about his eyesight going. A teamamte asked, “worried you can’t see 20/20 anymore?” Gwynn replied, he was worried he couldn’t see 20/15 anymore. Of course, the irony of Mr Padre going in the HOF batting .338 and the current Padre offense going into the tank. Fire Merv, hire TG!
36: He’d be great at it, but I don’t think that T wants the job.
The only thing that has hurt LeBlanc at the AA level has been the long ball out of the 8 ERs runs that he ahs allowed 7 of them have come off of HR’s.
I know this is probably not the answer most would like to hear, but I think the top 100 prospects list is more of an “apples and oranges†comparison than some type of merit base hierarchy that Baseball America purports. So much depends not only on the player’s performance, but just as importantly who is in front of him from both within the organization and on the big club.
For example third baseman David Freese has played as well as anyone in the organization in little over a year that he has been here. Peter actually brought up a very good point the other day noting that in just under 500 at-bats [last season in Eugene, Fort Wayne and the first two months of Lake Elsinore], using compilation statistics, Freese has a line off 458 at-bats, 39 doubles, 21 home runs, 107 RBIs, but because he has Chase Headley in front of him in San Antonio, who is having a great year and the Padres don’t want to insert Headley into the mess in Portland, he’s going to stay with the Storm. This is going to affect any potential top 100 ranking of Freese because he doesn’t have the same opportunity to show what he can do at higher levels as have Antonelli, Huffman and others.
Antonelli has the exact opposite situation in front of him, no second basemen really in front of him within the organization and a big hole on the big club for both a second baseman/leadoff hitter. Because his advancement will only be held back by his own failings he will potentially have a much smoother path to the big leagues than Headley or Freese.
I think you can do a ranking within an organization, but in my opinion what is of more value to people who follow the minor leagues and know the players is trying to identify what each one does well and what they don’t and how it will affect their ability to make the parent club based on their performance.
33: Exactly. Have 2 rough starts in your first couple AA starts isnt exactly struggling.
36: Tony wants to teach kids. Major Leaguers are so set in thier ways, they are the hitter that they are. I dont really think the hitting coach has all that much to do with it. I think tony would get frusterated teaching such a poor Major League offense.
Im not saying the guy is terrible im just saying that he has pitched 8 games in AA and has givin up 3 or more runs in half of them, he is still finding his way through AA.
T wont leave SDSU, thats the job he has wanted for long time and he loves being there now. It gives him a ton of flexability to do other things he likes (like being in the booth for 30 games a year) and it keeps im in SD.
aahhh….this feels like the good ole days, when the Padres were losing and all we talked about was prospects.
Steve, I wasn’t trying to call you out… I was trying to correct a misconception; a misconception I think started with Baseball America.
BA reported it the following way, “[Inman hasn't] yet broken through against Double-A competition (1-5, 5.45 in eight starts) like he had against A-ballers…”
I’d say that 29 IP w/ 20 H and a 12/30 BB/SO ratio over his last 5 starts is “broken through…” And the other problem is that while MadFriars.com does a phenomenal job and I try to do a good job with what I do, Baseball America is the driving force when it comes to Minor League analysis…
44: How GREAT is it that the Padres (even with all their losing) are only 2 games out of 1st and the farm is as deep as it… This is a SERIOUSLY FUN time to be a Padre fan.
2 games out is cool, but all the losing isn’t fun.
seriously, I think the losing, combined with the Linebrink trade, fuels prospect talk (“the future is bright!”), because thinking about the big club isn’t so fun right now.
first slump of the year, it’ll be over soon.
If I remember correctly they hit the same slump last year then the pitching kicked back in down the stretch, I think they will be ok, I still worry about the playoffs I don’t think the bats they have will get them out of the NLDS again.
But the good new is that they won’t face the Cards which means that if history is any kind of indicator they will be in the WS!
2006 Team ERA vs 2007
April 4.57 / 3.68
May 3.58 / 2.17
June 3.61 / 3.26
July 5.25 / 5.02
Aug 3.51 / ?
Sept 2.96 / ?
2006 wins vs 2007:
April 9 / 13
May 19 / 18
June 14 / 15
July 13 / 8
Aug 13 / ?
Sept 20 / ?
The Indians DFA’d Hector Luna do you think the Pads would have any intrest in him for bench help?
49: Thank you for that list, Steve, I’d forgotten how badly the pitching slumped in July last year. That definitely inspires a little more hope for the stretch run.
I’m less worried about the playoffs than actually getting there, because we have the two best pitchers in the NL on our team, and the playoffs are mostly about getting hot at the right time. This team could do that.
Re: 51 we had two of the best pitcher in the NL on our team last year and one of the hotest down the stretch (Hensley) but it still didn’t go to well because they scored 6 runs the whole series.
#48, I was thinking that same thing this morning, namely that we suffered right after the ASB last year, too. Doesn’t make it any easier to sit through these games. In fact, I think last year I took a well-deserved break from watching until they started to pick it up again.
Also, although I don’t have the record at my fingertips, I believe they did the same thing in 2005. I think it’s post-ASB fever that we keep catching.
49: Looks like our offense was better in July when our pitching slumped though. Who knows we could win these last 5 in a row and win 13 games in July again. Something needs to come together though. I would much rather had run away with the division at this point with all the injuries the Dodgers have had, than slump and pretend to be happy that we are only 2 games back.
49:
Great chart Steve! Wow, I’d forgotten about the post-ASB struggles of the staff last year. That’s the most encouraging thing that I’ve seen today.
The injury to Chase Utley (out 6 weeksish with a broken hand) may increase the demand for Loretta or Iguchi or any other 2nd baseman. Any guesses on what it takes to trade for Loretta. At this point, I think it might cost us a Huffman. Demand is higher than supply and that’s bad news for us.
56: Ya that makes me feel like we are stuck with what we have at 2B. The Padres arent into “overpaying” for anything.
57: They gave up their top position prospect last year for a few weeks of David Wells. Part of that was because they didn’t think Kottaras could catch, but he was a highly ranked prospect.
Todd Walker. Bad karma.
I really dont think Kottaras was over paying, but thats just my opinion.
58: Top Walker isnt even on a Major League club is he? 2B was his natural position and he can hit… just a thought
even though he has been struggeling as of late, any chance they pull up Stansberry see if he can hold down the fort for a bit?
I hated the Kotarris deal last year but it looks like he is not going to be an MLB catcher any time soon so no harm no foul, I only wish they could have gotten more for him.
61: I have a feeling Bud will stick with Blum since he played well while Marcus was sitting.
I just got this off the QA @ Baseball America with Chris Kline…
Q: Mike from San Diego asks:
The new White Stripes album, huh? I’m not sold yet, but am giving it time to grow on me. Your thoughts on Matt Antonelli’s ceiling after his breakout year?
A: Chris Kline: Best 2B guy out there.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/chat/chat.php?id=2007072701&rnd=13#bottom
Phillies just traded for Iguchi. Price was only an A-ball reliever, so maybe the market isn’t terribly inflated…
from MLBtraderumors.com
According to WSCR 670 out of Chicago, the Phillies have acquired second baseman Tadahito Iguchi from the White Sox for 21 year-old Low A ball reliever Mike Dubee. Dubee, son of Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee, was originally drafted by the White Sox in 2004 but did not sign.
I guess that leaves just the Mets for the pads to contend with for a 2B.
Re: 65 you beat me to it!
65: An A-ball reliever with pretty bad peripheral numbers…all right.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Michael%20Dubee&pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=452774
67: But it was really close
And only because you cited your source
This is completely off the subject but there was an interesting post on Barry Bonds/Bob Costas/etc on BP today. Not sure if it’s a free link but here it is:
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=461
Now I’m defending Bonds in any way but this certainly seems to make sense, doesn’t it? I’ve never been a big fan of “Game of Shadows” since one of their “facts” is that his hat size has gone up 1/8 on an inch, which is a pretty silly fact to base anything on. What if Bonds is telling the truth in this situation? Everyone seems to jump on him more because they despise him and like Hank Aaron, which isn’t exactly objective journalism. Not sure if this was covered before, but this is Joe Sheehan column on the Bonds/Selig/baseball mess:
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6497
I would love it if Bonds hit 756 here and Teddy had to make the call!
Iguchi wasn’t having a big year, and I’m not sure that he’d be an upgrade on Giles, but it might have been worth trying him if the price was a low-A reliever.
71: He might just stay quiet and let the boos resound throughout the stadium.
It’s going to be a bummer from a historical sense if the HR happens on the road and Bonds is mercilessly booed as he rounds the bases. It’s going to look a little silly and classless in 20 years.
ha can you imagine the signs people will come up with
71.
I would love if he hit 756 here and I caught it!
70: A person might choose THG (the clear) over Winstrol or any other “old school” steroid because it’s easier to ingest.
But, many people are completely lost when it comes to Bonds.
Throw it back! Throw it back!
F-THAT!!! I’m milking that sucker for all it’s worth. In about a month I’m going to be a dad and I’d love for Barry to pay my daughters way through the best schools money can buy. haha
77: Those chants might sound to no avail…tough to throw back a ball that will be worth 6 figures–no matter how much you dislike the guy.
76: That’s kind of a weak reason. If you aren’t going to get tested, why would you use a steroid that’s main selling point is that it’s undetectable? That doesn’t make any sense. But of course you are completely right when you say people are lost when it comes to Bonds. I’m assuming that most of the players used steroids before they decided to test them. I mean, why wouldn’t they? Whatever risks are outweighed by their benefits. But Bonds takes most of the abuse, with some directed toward McGwire, Palmeiro, and Sosa while Giambi and Sheffield get what’s left.
Of course, most is this is reporter driven posturing as you could tell from Nick Canepa’s column this morning in the UT. He goes to town on cycling and the Tour de France for cheating, saying everyone is cheating, while he criticizes the NFL, not for the fact that all their players are taking steroids, but for the fact that they haven’t suspended and banned Michael Vick yet. I know the NFLPA is pretty powerless but I doubt that Goddell can do much before his trial and it’s outcome.
#78: Congratulations on fatherhood. Best thing that happens to a guy. I have 3 sons, all voted most likely to commit a felony by their nursery school classes. They make me so proud. Plus, we’re talking about adopting Steve C.
Padres get Scott Hairston from the D-Backs for Leo Rosales.
Is there an article or blog post I can read to learn about the problems with the AAA squad? What’s been the problem there?
Will Carroll says we made an offer on Iguchi, but it wasn’t enough. Wow. Not more than a low A reliever?
RE: 81 sure you say that now that college is payed for.
82: I dont get this move? Another AAAA outfielder? We are overstocked with them.
My thoughts exactly.
What made the Padres decide to move Hensley to the ‘pen? Was he doing well over the first few innings of his starts in AAA only to go downhill in the 4th or 5th innings?
85: We’d have done it sooner, but it was, and still is, those pesky spousal support payments that’s holding things up.
80: I don’t know that much about The Clear, but if it’s something you can swallow but still get the kick of injectable Winstrol, that’s a pretty good selling point. Winstrol comes in tablets, but those are generally believed to be less effective.
Serious steroid abusers eventually run out of places to stick the needle. Despite what Gary Sheffield says, steroids can be injected lots of places, just like anything else. Butt, stomach, between the toes, directly into an arm, and so on. If you don’t like needles and someone offers you the flaxseed delivery method, why wouldn’t you take it?
We also don’t know the production process, at least I don’t. If BALCO was able to make it without having to buy Winstrol as the base, then obviously that’s why you’d do it, because it was readily available to you without an FDA trail.
88: I don’t think there was any real pattern to Hensley in Portland. He wasn’t doing well, but he’s had success out of the pen (05 and 06) and they need innings.
88: Because, if you havent noticed, the ‘pen has been sucking lately and they need the help. He is also now an option to start for CY if he has to miss a start. Hensley was great out of the pen in ‘05, if he can help there again, why not put him there.
OT: Anyone else hear that reebok pulled all the Vick jersey’s out of stores and NFL removed all Vick items from thier online store? I feel sorry for anyone that bought this douche bag’s jersey in the offseason.
Is Hairston going to Portland or San Diego? Anyone know?
He seems like a pretty solid hitter in AAA, but that hasn’t ever translated to real MLB success. I guess he’s a potential option at 2B, don’t see how he helps in the outfield.
94: Thats exactly what our 40 man (and 25 man) is loaded with. Solid AAA hitters that cant do it in the big leagues, i just dont know why we even add another one.
If Hairston can play 2nd, he’s an upgrade. Lots of power for a 2B. He played 85 games in the majors at 2B in 2004, but hasn’t played the position in MLB since. It’ll be interesting to see what we do with him.
U-T says that Hairston will join the Padres on Saturday.
Maybe Hairston’s part of a package to get Loretta? Or someone’s after Jose Cruz, Jr.?
81.
Thanks man!!!
98: I hope you are right because I am not really feeling happy about this trade much yet. And with Hillenbrand being announced to be close to a deal my frown is turning into full-on scowl