Posted the first installment in the Padres Top 30 prospects. The middle 10 will be posted a week from today, the top 10 a week after that. Enjoy!
Baseball America’s 2002 Preseason All-America Teams
Not entirely baseball related but very amusing nonetheless: The Cheap Seats Bar & Grill
Holy smokes: Stat Based Baseball
Baseball America has released its Preseason All-America teams. Former Padre draftees Alberto Concepcion (Southern Cal, C, 1999, 2nd round) and Kevin Howard (Miami, 3B, 1999, 22nd round) made the Second Team, as did San Diego State outfielder Anthony Gwynn. Former Padre draftee Hunter Brown (Rice, 3B, 2001, 31st round) was named to the Third Team.
New Minor League and Prospect Web Sites
Minor League and prospect sites are popping up all over the place.
Gary Reed, formerly with About.com, has resurfaced at FloridaStateLeague.com
TheMinorsFirst.com is a promising newcomer. They’ve just released their top 100 prospects for 2002. Actually, right now only the top 50 are up, with the second half to follow next week. Sean Burroughs is at #1, Jake Peavy at #13, Dennis Tankersley at #17, Xavier Nady at #32.
ProtospectWatch.com is an offshoot of TopProspectAlert.com that looks like it has potential.
Speaking of TPA, they’ve got the Pads’ prospects ranked Burroughs, Peavy, Tankersley, Bem Johnson, Mark Phillips, Eric Cyr, Nady, Oliver Perez, Justin Germano, Cesar Crespo, Mike Nicolas. I’m glad to see Perez getting some props. Germano is a gutsy call and one that could look pretty shrewd by the end of the season. I tend not to think of relievers as prospects but there’s no question Nicolas has an electric arm. Any time a guy throws high-90s gas, it’s worth noting. TPA also ranks the Padres as the #3 organization behind the Cubs and the Rangers.
Over at KenPhelps.com there’s a list of top 300 prospects featuring some future Padres. Burroughs checks in at #3, Tankersley at #8, Peavy at #12, Nady at #26, Phillips at #43, Ramon Vazquez at #65, Mike Bynum at #109, Vince Faison at #207.
RotoWorld has its prospect rankings in full gear. Top 10 for the Pads are Burroughs, Tankersley, Peavy, Nady, Cyr, Bynum, Jake Gautreau, Johnson, Phillips, and Vazquez.
One thing I’m noticing is the mixed opinions on which of Peavy and Tankersley is the better prospect. It’s a nice problem to have, really. They both have tremendous upside. You’ll have to wait a little longer to find out which I prefer. I had trouble figuring it out myself.
Happy New Year
Happy New Year! I’m back. Putting the finishing touches on the Padres Top 30 prospects. Thanks to a few recent acquisitions it’s actually going to be the Top 31. Already did a writeup on Jason Anderegg, so he’ll be in there at #31. That first installment will be ready to go this Friday. Hope you like it.
Meantime, in looking at Baseball America‘s Top 15, I notice that we are almost in complete agreement on the names, with one exception. They have Mike Bynum at #14; I have him at #18, with Vince Faison, not in their list, at #15. Two of the prospects, Sean Burroughs and Xavier Nady, are in the identical slots for both of us, #1 and #4, respectively.
Is that enough of a tease? Okay, that’s all for now. Time to sit in front of a bunch of bowl games and work off that champagne hangover. Get to it!
Happy Holidays
I meant to post this earlier, but I’m one of those people who doesn’t start Christmas shopping until December 22. Needless to say, it’s been a hectic week. This is probably my last entry for the year, so happy holidays to all. And be sure to come back and visit in January, when I’ll begin rolling out the Padres top 30 prospects. Peace…
Good to see the Padres sign Kevin Jarvis to a long-term deal. Jarvis isn’t a great pitcher but he should give league-average production, and if he can keep the ball in the park a little more often, he could surprise. He’s intelligent, hard working, and a good guy to have in the clubhouse. Jarvis’ presence also allows the Padres a bit more time to develop some of their young arms.
Here is an early guess at the 2002 rotations in the organization:
San Diego: Bobby Jones, Kevin Jarvis, Brian Tollberg, Brian Lawrence, Brett Tomko
Portland: Jason Middlebrook, Junior Herndon, Brett Jodie, Dennis Tankersley, Rick Guttormson
Mobile: Ben Howard, Mike Bynum, Jake Peavy, Eric Cyr, Chris Rojas
Elsinore: Mark Phillips, Oliver Perez, Mike Thompson, Casey Burns, Duncan McAdoo
Ft. Wayne: Justin Germano, Nobuaki Yoshida, Jason Wiedmeyer, Jason Anderegg, Henry Perez
Padres Trade Reese to Yankees for Castro
Had a blast Saturday night hooking up with a bunch of Scoresheet buddies at the National Sports Grill in Torrance. Sat around, talked baseball, ate, drank, and admired the scenery. Thanks, guys!
In other news, the Padres traded outfielder and USD alum Kevin Reese to the Yankees for second baseman Bernabel Castro. Reese, age 24, would have ranked 24th in my top 30 Padres prospects. Since I won’t be including him now, here is the writeup:
24. Kevin Reese, CF
DOB: 03/11/78
Acq: draft 2000, rd 27; U. of San Diego
Ht: 5’11″ Wt: 195
Reese put up terrific numbers in the Midwest League in 2001. The downside is that he was 23 years old when he did it. He has a short stroke that generates a lot of doubles and the occasional homer, to go along with good plate discipline. He also runs well and is a solid defensive outfielder. Reese’s age is a definite strike against him but if he can maintain his solid numbers as he climbs the ladder, he could follow in fellow University of San Diego alum Brady Clark’s footsteps and make a terrific fourth outfielder.
Club Lvl AB BA OBP SLG BB SO SB CS
FtW A 459 .329 .402 .505 54 62 30 10
Castro, meanwhile, is an interesting prospect in his own right. He is extremely fast and has very good plate discipline but almost no power. He stands in at 5’10″, 165 pounds and is a switch-hitter. And perhaps the most intriguing aspect or Castro is this: he doesn’t turn 21 until July 14.
I haven’t figured it all out just yet but I’m thinking Castro will be in the 15-20 range in my top 30. Hate to see local boy Reese leave but Castro probably has higher upside, and the system is relatively thin at middle infield. I’m guessing he’ll start the season at Ft. Wayne, which might mean more time at shortstop for Josh Barfield. Interesting…
More information on Ryan Baerlocher, taken in the Rule 5 draft out of the Royals organization. He’s 6’5″, 221 lbs, out of Lewiston, Idaho, via Lewis-Clark State College. He is a converted infielder and turns 25 in August. Reports are that Baerlocher has a decent (90-92 mph) fastball and could end up as a swingman/spot starter if he makes the club.
Also found some info on Lavalroe Cash. He goes by the name Condor and put up some huge numbers (.347/.406/.576) in the Northwest League. The Cubs drafted him in the 12th round in 1999, out of a Georgia high school. I’m not sure what the rules are for players picked in the Triple-A phase of the draft are but this looks like a potential steal for the Pads.
Jones for Everett Deal Falls Through
Thanks to a clause in Bobby Jones’ contract which stipulated that the Red Sox would have had to pick up his $6 million option for 2003, Carl Everett isn’t coming to San Diego. I will always be grateful to Jones for this. Everett is a decent ballplayer but he would have pushed Mark Kotsay back to a corner spot, which is a waste. And Everett the citizen is nobody we really need in this neck of the woods, as far as I’m concerned. He’s since been dealt to Texas for Darren Oliver. Maybe he’ll find happiness in Arlington. Good for him. As long as he’s not here.
Elsewhere, the Pads are still shopping Kevin Jarvis and/or Ray Lankford. So far no takers.
And in the Rule 5 Draft the Padres picked up righthander Ryan Baerlocher from the Royals in the Major League phase and Cubs’ outfielder Lavalroe Cash (12th round pick in 1999 draft) in the Triple-A phase. They also lost local first baseman Graham Koonce to the A’s and righthander Juan Mejia to the Cardinals in the Triple-A phase, as well as second baseman John Powers to the Cubs in the Double-A phase.
Padres Trade Ben Davis
As you probably know by now, the Padres have traded Ben Davis, Wascar Serrano, and Alex Arias to the Seattle Mariners for Brett Tomko, Ramon Vazquez, Tom Lampkin, and $1 million.
My gut reaction on seeing this was close to horror. I still believe Davis is going to be a Mike Lieberthal type offensive player and one of the better defensive catchers in baseball. Wiki Gonzalez is a nice ballplayer, and it’s good to see him get a shot to start, but when all is said and done, he won’t be anywhere near what Davis will be. Long-term, the only legitimate catching prospects in the system are the intriguing but raw Omar Falcon and USD grad Greg Sain, who still is relatively new to the position.
His high error total as a rookie notwithstanding, I’m also not convinced of the need D’Angelo Jimenez off shortstop so soon. It goes without saying that Kevin Towers and his staff are better judges of baseball talent than I am but I liked Jimenez’ actions at shortstop. He appeared to move reasonably well to both sides; the biggest problem was his arm but I’m not sure it was a lack of strength so much as a lack of focus. He sailed a lot of easy throws where it looked like he just lost his concentration. At least that’s what it looked like to this observer.
Moving onto the other particulars, Serrano wasn’t going to start in San Diego so that’s not a great loss, although if he can keep the ball in the park, I believe he could be a Jose Paniagua type reliever. Still, a far cry from the #2 or #3 starter he was thought to be just a few years ago. I have mixed feelings about Tomko. On the one hand, he had some early success with the Reds. On the other, he’s done very little over the past three seasons. Over the course of his career, he’s gradually become more hittable while losing command. That’s not a good combination. If the Padres are lucky, he could be a late-model Dustin Hermanson, a #4 starter who can soak up a ton of league-average innings. I guess the one wildcard is that Tomko is a native San Diegan who apparently has been campaigning for a job with the Padres for 5 years. So maybe a return to SoCal will kick-start his career. I’m not overly optimistic but Towers has surprised me in the past so who knows.
As for Vazquez, he’s a bit old (25) for a guy just getting his first crack at the bigs and he doesn’t strike me as a player with a whole lot of offensive upside. But he’s supposedly very steady in the field, and steadiness on the infield is definitely something the Padres could use. I expect he’ll be a lot like Chris Gomez, and if that turns out to be the case, I’m sure the pitching staff will be very happy. John Sickels thinks "he can hit .275 with a nice on-base percentage." Basically, 1998 Gomez.
The interesting aspects of this trade are the ripple effect it causes within the organization. Short-term, the Padres will have a 100% turnover of their infield. Phil Nevin is replaced by Sean Burroughs at third, Jimenez by Vazquez at shortstop, Damian Jackson by Jimenez at second, and Ryan Klesko by Nevin at first. Okay, that’s really only 50% turnover, with the left side of the infield moving across the diamond.
Klesko moves to right field as anticipated, Mark Kotsay presumably remains in center, although talks of acquiring Boston’s Carl "Walk the Dinosaur" Everett put that in doubt, and Ray Lankford and Bubba Trammell platoon in left. So the Padres re-upped Jackson and Trammell, and now are relegating them to backup status. Granted, they still should get about 300-400 plate appearances each this year but this is a curious way for a "financially strapped" club to be spending its money.
The acquisition of Tomko also suggests to me that the Padres don’t expect to hang onto Kevin Jarvis. They have publicly stated that one of Lankford or Jarvis would not be returning, and I’m thinking that Tomko pushes the latter out of the picture for 2002. But then, if Lankford and Bobby Jones go to Boston as part of the rumored Everett trade (there will be no shortage of rants in this space if that goes through), maybe there would be room for Jarvis?
We’ll have to see how all that shakes out, of course, but in the meantime here’s what I have as the Padres 2002 lineup:
- Jimenez 2b
- Kotsay cf
- Klesko rf
- Nevin 1b
- Lankford/Trammell lf
- Gonzalez c
- Burroughs 3b
- Vazquez ss
And the rotation:
- Jones
- Brian Tollberg
- Brian Lawrence
- Tomko
- Jason Middlebrook/Dennis Tankersley/Brett Jodie/Rob Ramsay
Of course, this all could change at a moment’s notice. We’ll see what happens…
Baseball Sites of Potential Interest
Geez, where have I been? Well, among other things, I’ve been working on the Padres Top 30 prospects. I’m about 90% sure of the order I currently have, and I’m two-thirds of the way through the comments. They’ll be up in their final version shortly after the New Year.
Speaking of the Pads, gotta like that 5-year working agreement they made with the Mexico City Red Devils. A similar agreement brought pitchers Francisco Cordova and Esteban Loaiza to the Pirates back in the ’90s.
That’s about all I have to offer for now; meantime, here are links to some sites you might enjoy:
And, of course, more on (or, if you prefer, moron) the labor front:
- MLB Labor and Contraction Coverage by Doug Pappas
- Baseballhead: Bitter Bud Face
- Great article by Rob Neyer at ESPN.com
Till next time…
Where’s the ‘Trust’ in ‘Antitrust’?
I’ve written a very brief piece on the "Fairness in Antitrust in National Sports (FANS) Act of 2001." Others have articulated this better than I can but I felt that as a baseball fan, I had to say something.
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