PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE
TOP 20 PROSPECTS
1. Buster Posey, c, Fresno (Giants)
2. Neftali Feliz, rhp, Oklahoma City (Rangers)
3. Travis Snider, of, Las Vegas (Blue Jays)
4. Michael Saunders, of, Tacoma (Mariners)
5. Cameron Maybin, of, New Orleans (Marlins)
6. Alcides Escobar, ss, Nashville (Brewers)
7. Brett Wallace, 3b/1b, Memphis (Cardinals)/Sacramento (Athletics)
8. Kyle Blanks, 1b/of, Portland (Padres)
9. Justin Smoak, 1b, Oklahoma City (Rangers)
10. Vin Mazzaro, rhp, Sacramento (Athletics)
11. Bud Norris, rhp, Round Rock (Astros)
12. Esmil Rogers, rhp, Colorado Springs (Rockies)
13. Mat Gamel, 3b, Nashville (Brewers)
14. Brandon Allen, 1b, Reno (Diamondbacks)
15. Gio Gonzalez, lhp, Sacramento (Athletics)
16. Jeff Samardzija, rhp, Iowa (Cubs)
17. Adam Moore, c, Tacoma (Mariners)
18. Angel Salome, c, Nashville (Brewers)
19. Adrian Cardenas, 2b, Sacramento (Athletics)
20. Gaby Sanchez, 1b/3b, New Orleans (Marlins)

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/league-top-20-prospects/2009/268996.html

1. Mat Latos, rhp, San Antonio (Padres)
2. Justin Smoak, 1b, Frisco (Rangers)
3. Chris Carter, 1b, Midland (Athletics)
4. Jhoulys Chacin, rhp, Tulsa (Rockies)
5. Brett Wallace, 3b, Springfield (Cardinals)
6. Jason Castro, c, Corpus Christi (Astros)
7. Esmil Rogers, rhp, Tulsa (Rockies)
8. Trevor Reckling, lhp, Arkansas (Angels)
9. Peter Bourjos, of, Arkansas (Angels)
10. Hank Conger, c, Arkansas (Angels)
11. Kasey Kiker, lhp, Frisco (Rangers)
12. Lance Lynn, rhp, Springfield (Cardinals)
13. Daniel Descalso, 2b, Springfield (Cardinals)
14. Michael McKenry, c, Tulsa (Midland)
15. Adrian Cardenas, 2b/3b, Midland (Athletics)
16. Jeff Bianchi, 2b/ss, Northwest Arkansas (Royals)
17. Logan Forsythe, 3b, San Antonio (Padres)
18. Dan Cortes, rhp, Northwest Arkansas (Royals)
19. Corey Brown, of, Midland (Athletics)
20. Samuel Deduno, rhp, Tulsa (Rockies)

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/league-top-20-prospects/2009/268990.html

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-hot-sheet/2009/268861.html

 Team: high Class A Myrtle Beach (Carolina) / Double-A Mississippi (Southern) / Triple-A Gwinnett (International)
Age: 20
Why He's Here: .323/.408/.555 (117-for-362), 17 HR, 25 2B, 4 3B, 63 RBIs, 51 BB, 51 SO, 10-for-11 SB 
The Scoop: When Jason Heyward was in high school, scouts struggled to get a good read on the Atlanta prep prodigy. Opposing teams pitched around him, and his coach struggled to throw a good batting practice, which meant a crosschecker or scouting director could fly in, watch a Heyward game and leave without really ever getting a chance to see what he could do.

The Braves were thrilled that other teams weren't getting a good look. Heyward slipped past 13 teams, giving Atlanta a chance to develop another hometown star with their first pick in the 2007 draft. Ever since then, Heyward has lived up to every expectation. He dominated low Class A Rome in 2008, but he was even better in 2009. Heyward can run, he can hit for power and he can hit for average. But as his Myrtle Beach manager Rocket Wheeler explained, his defense is the part of the game that is underrated.

"He's an outstanding player. He has a plus arm, he makes diving catches and he has great instincts on the bases when he runs. He's the complete package."

SO i was curious around a yr + later, how the santana/harden trade returns for 2 small market teams look Twins and A's look so far

Santana kind put Minn in a corner and forced their hand, to trade 1 season of a cost controlled to the mets

gomez- still has superstar potential?

humber- i believe DFa'd or off 40 man

mulvey- PTBNL in rauch deal

guerra- mixed results but lots of projectability, only 20 in AA

A's traded harden/gaudin. They opted to get something of value for the injury prone pitcher.Harden has pitched just as many starts in 1+seasons around 35+ than he did in 3 seasons combined with A's. Gaudin was released by cubs, then later sold from padres to yankees

gallagher- injuries, poor performance, later traded  for scott hairston

donaldson- lots of double/walks in AA, not a ton of power, solid yr

patterson- a AAAA superstar, destroys the minors, but doesnt carry over to mlb. A's trying to make him a wanna be figgins

murton- later traded for corey wimberly

So will either team salvage much value out of these trades or it will likely be major non factors eventually?

His last 4 starts vs the yankees, red sox, rangers, and orioles have gotten some attention. Seems like he's been on the prospect radar for awhile having been involved in several major trades, leading the minor leagues in K's a couple yrs ago, etc. After a tough mlb audition in 08, he fell off the radar. At 23 and still with rookie eligibility hes salvaged some of his value and has shown steady improvement in recent weeks. So does he still profile as a decent back rotation SP or will the stretches of bad control always be his downfall? Early on there was some ideas of making him a reliever since he was passed up  by Anderson, Cahll, and others. Any thoughts on Gio Gonzalez?

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=461829

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/sweetspot/0-4-155/A-s-Gonzalez-shows-promise.html

I'm still not convinced of two things:

1. "Short shutout" is a better term than "shortout" (or "short-out").

2. Gio Gonzalez is going to make it.

Since rejoining the A's in late June, Gonzalez is 5-4 with a 5.23 ERA. Of course that's nothing special, but there's one disastrous start in there. Take out that one, and Gonzalez has been just fine for a 23-year-old starting pitcher who's getting just his second taste of the Big Boy League.

Olney today on Gio's start:

A. Baltimore hitters went 0-for-9 against off-speed pitches, including 0-8 against curveballs. On the season, hitters have a .083 batting average off Gonzalez curveballs (5-60).
B. He threw at least one of the first two pitches for a strike 96 percent of the time.
C. Fifty-eight percent of plate appearances lasted three pitches or less.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=1B&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=474892

discuss.

leads the texas league w/ a .975 OPS, next best player is 50 pts less.

Carter leads the texas league in hits, runs, doubles, obp, slg %, ops, etc. Along with being 2nd in walks, just behind league leader josh domadlson

he's hit .280 + at every level other than the 08 cal league.

.430+ OBP since june

So give me reasons why he's overlooked as a potential top 50 prospect?

Should be be promoted to AAA or stick to his 1 level per season approach theyve had his whole milb career?

Any thoughts on his future? He didnt make BAs top 30 or so prospects last week. Is he  considered a guy with polished hitting ability but not alot of upside? Did his short stint in AAA hurt his status. He hasnt shown alot of HR power, but solid gap power. A better athlete with upside is pushing him at the lower levels in Jemile Weeks. Would a Cardenas shift to 3b lessen his status? Some would would say he might be a 2b version of a daric barton. No star upside,but a decent bet to be an avg/above avg player.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=2B&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=502133

He was the 12th overall pick in the 2008 draft. By most projections he was considered  to be chosen in the 20's, a fringe 1st rd type. Then late draft, he became a high riser due to the lack of quality up the middle position players. But no one expected him to go as high as 12 and was considered an overdraft. If you ask most A's fans they preffered wallace or hicks. But A's were hesitant on Wallace defensive value and loooked at Hick's as a pitcher. Fast forward to the offseason and recently, Wallace /Hicks became top 50 prospects, Weeks took 10 months of rest/rehab from a hip flexor injury. So the pick of weeks was looking very questionable.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Jemile%20Weeks&pos=2B&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=457789

He was activated in late may and sent to the cal league. He has started his season with a 17 game hit streak and 5hr over that span of games. It is only a sample size of 70 ab's but there's already thoughts of being aggressive with a promotion to AA by mid seson. Especially when other picks like alonso, castro, wallace, g. beckham, smoak, etc have been doing well. High end projections of Weeks ive read could be a top of the order energizer orlando hudson, brian roberts, jimmy rollins (2b version) type. Of course low end, another pennington, quintanilla type A's fans are used to. With cardenas tearing up AA and probably the best 2b prospect in milb, how  will they handle Weeks future position? So looking back at 08 draft updates was the area of the Weeks pick justified, would he go any lower if there was a re do?

http://mlbbonusbaby.com/2009/06/06/2008-draft-first-round-stats-update/

So i was reading this week BA prospect hot sheet. "Mazzaro doesn't have any outstanding pitches, but he throws strikes and keeps the ball on the ground, which is why he has a 2.38 ERA in 56 2/3 innings this year." There has been skepticism over his 08 texas league pitcher of the yr production since he struggled in 06/07. Has his 09 so far answered those critics and put him into top 100 prospect territory? So will the real vin mazzaro please stand up...is he closer to the 06/07 or the 08/09 version? I've read varying reports on bowden, who's gotten alot of prospect expert media attention, red sox has even made him untouchable in trade discussions. so how does mazzaro compare? Do both profile more than mid rotation types at best?

Also from the BA chat:

john (boston): michael bowden or vin mazzaro?

Ben Badler: Mazzaro

BP preseason top 11 writeup:

8. Vin Mazzaro, RHP
DOB: 9/27/86
2008 Stats: 1.90 ERA at Double-A (137.1-115-36-104), 3.49 DERA; 6.15 ERA at Triple-A(33.2-49-9-27), 7.52 DERA
Last Year's Ranking: Not Ranked

The Good: Some scouts rank Mazzaro's sinker as a tick above even those of Cahill and Anderson. It's a bowling ball of a pitch that sits at 92-94 mph, with one scout commenting, "I can't help but be reminded of Kevin Brown when he pitches." He has good mechanics and has made great progress in his command and control, while also showing a mature knack for getting hitters out even when he doesn't have his best stuff.
The Bad: Mazzaro lives off of that sinker, because his secondary pitches lag well behind. His slider flashes average at times but can also flatten out, while his changeup could use more separation in velocity from his other pitches.

Perfect World Projection: He's a mid-rotation starter.
Glass Half Empty: He'll work in the back end of the rotation.

Both these players were among the better college OFs in the 07 draft and now looks like future CFs for the AL West teams around 2010-2011.

Julio Borbon Rangers:

leadoff type. speed, defense, not much power. top of the order energizer that could be a terror on the basepaths

mlb comparison: lofton/damon type

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Julio%20Borbon&pos=OF&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=474865

Corey Brown A's:

Oakland Athletics in 1st Round (59th overall) of 2007 amateur entry draft

multi tool CF, but K's/contact issues. Sickles on Brown: "The former Oklahoma State star is quite toolsy, with outstanding raw power, good speed, and a strong arm."

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Corey%20Brown&pos=OF&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=446395

mlb comparison: cameron