Ducksnorts Top 20 Prospects

The good folks at MadFriars.com have published my list of top 20 Padres prospects. As always, this list represents a snapshot in time. I’m expecting a few of these names to shift places by the time I send the book off to the printer in February.

That said, I feel pretty good about the list. The guys who are giving me the most trouble are Mat Latos and Jonathan Galvez (whose careers could go any number of directions at this point) and Will Venable (who refuses to stop impressing me despite what his statistics say).

I also love that Jaff Decker checks in at #4. Do you know how many years he would have been our best prospect? That’s no knock against Decker — I’m a big fan — but a little organizational depth never killed anyone…

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10 Responses »

  1. I like the list. Nice to see some guys on there like Galvez, who don’t get much mainstream coverage.

    Non-tenders are popping up everwhere. There are several which could be useful additions to the Padres. Chris Burke, Joey Gathright, Joe Nelson, Daniel Cabrera, Robby Hammock, Chuck James, Jonny Gomes. Not to mention Clay Hensley…!

  2. Great List GY! do you think Antonelli will make the 25 man roster out of ST or do you think he will spend another season in AAA and Denker will be the clubs starting 2B this year?

    I really don’t get why they non-tendered Hensley when they are trying to fill spots in both the pen and the rotation…I wonder if there is some medical stuff that they are not sharing with us.

    Also as far as non-tenders I think the Padres should take a peak at:

    Chuck James – at this point is he any worse than our 3-5 starters?
    Daniel Cabrera – We can see how he does at petco still can’t be any worse than Beak
    Takashi Saito – since we are giving away roster spots (see Rule 5) might as well take a chacne on this guy if they can sign him to a minor leauge deal.
    Joey Gathright or Willy Taveras – I know I know OBP! but both are still young and if you can sign one to a minor league deal then it gives the team a lot of flexibility with Giles, Gerut (if he has another good year), and either Kouz or Headley.

  3. Venable will make a believer out of you yet, Geoff!

  4. #2@Steve C: Cabrera could be a fun project. The main problem I have with Gathright and Taveras is that they suck.

    #3@Chad Gramling: Yeah, I’m already liking him way more than I ever thought I would.

  5. #2@Steve C: I definitely think something was up with Hensley. While he pretty obviously was pitching above his ability before getting hurt, he was useless afterwards. I imagine his true value is somewhere in between.

    Daniel Cabrera seems like a no-brainer for SD…pun slightly intended

  6. Chuck James won’t be ready until halfway through the season, if then. You’d basically be signing him for 2010, which isn’t a bad idea.

    Cabrera’s velocity was down this year. If he’d be open to a relieving role, that’s a good buy. If he wants to start, lowered velocity and too many walks will kill us.

    I’d definitely sign Saito if he’ll go for either a minor league deal or an incentive-based major league contract.

    Absofreakinlutely on Joe Nelson. Why did the Marlins let him go?

    Have our second basemen of the last few years taught us nothing? Yes, it CAN be worse.

  7. re: Gathright/Taveras, they are fast and…..

    5: no-brainer as in don’t have to think about it or the other meaning?

    Saito if he’s healthy would be a good gamble but how much would he cost the Padres.

    BTW: Sickels not big on the Rule 5 guys and neither am I…but then again I never expect much out of the Rule 5 draftees.

    http://tinyurl.com/6za382

  8. #6@Tom Waits: Didn’t realize Cabrera’s velo was down. Without that, he’s just another guy who can’t throw strikes.

  9. 8: We got plenty of those already.

    I’d say trade Huffman now while the valuable perception around the league is still just that.

  10. Is Huffman considered valuable to most other teams? Then maybe but I imagine we could also find some value in trading Kouz or even Blanks since we are pretty stuck at 1B for an extended period of time.