Somehow, the folks who compile Baseball America's Top 20 prospects list for the Arizona League failed to include "American League All-Star" Chevy Clarke on the list. I'm sure his entourage is furious.

No other Angels prospects made it, either. Considering that our top picks in June's draft were all college players, this is no great surprise. But I think it reflects poorly and depressingly on the state of our international player development. Put plainly: We got no Vlad Guerreros - or even Pedro Guerreros - in the pipe.

Having yielded two of our best prospects (Mike Trout, Garrett Richards), two of the Diamondbacks' best prospects (Tyler Skaggs, Pat Corbin), one overperforming sleeper who looks like a star-closer-in-the-making (David Carpenter) and a bevy of promising-if-underperforming players who may yet reclaim their prospect-hood (Randal Grichuk, Tyler Kehrer, Travis Witherspoon), the Halos' 2010 draft certainly looks bullish at this point.

Just imagine if we had signed this wanker, too. Blimey.

With the Halos' season slowly vanishing into the deep, dark nothing like DiCaprio at the end of "Titanic," one can always turn to player development news and minor league stats for a small measure of succor. (This is what got me through a good deal of the 80s and all the 90s, by the way.)

Mike Trout: Among his many glorious attributes, has an uncanny knack for getting on base. Currently nurturing a 22-game on-base streak. Unlike so many Halo prospects of late, the guy can actually take a walk.

Which prompts the question: Where will he ultimately bat in the Angels line-up? With his modest power (7 HR) he seems like a prototypical three-hole hitter. Hmm... but that OBP... such a shame not to have it at lead-off. Hopefully, he will present the team with a sort of a Alfonso Soriano dilemma... except with higher AVG and OBP.

The Jersey Messiah missed Saturday and Sunday after taking a fastball off the leg Friday. He currently has a 16-game on-base streak.

So, keeping count, here are the top-tier Angels prospects currently not playing due to injury: Trout, Grichuk, Martinez-Mesa, Cam Bedrosian... some of our biggest names.

I admit this is the absolute worst case scenario for our beloved Kowbell. But it's a scenario nonetheless. These tibia shears are no joke. Some people simply never make it back.

Let's just hope the bone graft takes, lest we lose our potential perennial All-Star to the hands-down most asinine on-field, career-ending injury in MLB history.

An update on the the progress of the player we picked before we picked Mike Trout. Would love to see this dude join Trout in Anaheim and make the Halos' 2009 draft one for the ages. Does anyone know what happened to fellow '09 draftees Kehrer, Reynolds and Mallard? None of them have played this year.
•Link also includes an update on Gabe Jacobo changing positions in AA.

After a slow 0-6 start, our boy Mike Trout legged out an inside-the-park dong over the weekend and then busted out the above stat-line last night. Here's my one annual f-bomb waiver:

Take heed, American League: You are all so FUCKED.

Ryan Mount's off to a hot start, too. And Garret Richards got the win. That's a sexy little line-up they've got in Arkansas.

Can you believe this sh*t? Baseball America's Top 20 prospect list for the Pacific Coast League comes out today, and one player is staggeringly conspicuous in his omission: rising Angels catcher Hank Conger.

That's right - the same Hank Conger who hit .300 as a 22-year-old in AAA, allowed zero passed balls and ended the year in the major leagues.

Instead of giving Conger his due, BA draped laurels on overaged non-prospects like Mitch Moreland, whoever the eff that is. Even Trumbo and Bourjos made the list.

Baseball America has started publishing its yearly league-by-league Top 20 Prospects lists and the early returns for the Halos... ain't so good. Only two Halos prospects from of the June free agent draft made the short season rookie league lists:

Chevy Clarke (No. 18 in the Arizona League)
Daniel Tillman (No. 3 in the Pioneer Leauge)

It should be noted that top pick Kaleb Cowart didn't accumulate enough PAs to qualify for the list, and I'm pretty sure RHP (and fellow first rounder) Cam Bedrosian also lacked sufficient playing time (12 IPs before getting shut down). But still, with five out of the first 50 picks, the Halos were in a position to do better. Evidently, rival AZL managers and BA staffers weren't bowled over by 2B Taylor Lindsay, and they unsurprisingly dismissed Ryan Bolden (sub Mendoza line BA) as a project.

Best insight: Due to his "clean mechanics" and development of a change-up, Tillman may get a shot at starting next year. If he put up numbers even close to what he did this year (sub 2.00 ERA, 13+ SO/9) as a starter, that would be special.

The Angels' 40th rounder has one of the more interesting backstories of the 2010 draftees. Baseball America says he can dial it up to 93 MPH, and you gotta like the size... 6'4" 250.

The unusual career path reminds me a little of Bryan Harvey, who the Halos famously signed out of a slow-pitch softball league. Love it if this guy became half the player. (Harvey is my favorite all-time Halos reliever... Percy and K-Rod were more prolific, but when Harvey had his split going... Good Lord, the guy was electric.)

I love the line "Have you ever seen a first-year player with this kind of feel for hitting?" (paraphrasing a bit)

When I read shit like that, it makes me want to make superlative statements like "I think we got a freakin' Mickey Mantle on our hands, guys!"

But, hey, I'm rational. So I'd never do that.

Our hoss-like AAA firstbagger had a fine night at the plate on Wednesday, smacking a pair of two-run home runs. Granted, the season in Salt Lake is only - what? - five games old, but Trumbo's .320 average is immensely encouraging. In years past, he's usually hovered around the Mendoza line until the second half. Maybe he's a legit prospect after all.

Randal Grichuk and Mike Trout have hogged most of the press, but the top Angel draftee thus far is an 18th rounder: James Mallard, a 6-foot, 265-pound monster who has clubbed four home runs in 36 ABs for the Rookie-A team in Arizona. And he's only 18.

With a heck of a lot less fanfare than his NFL counterpart, Alibay Barkey - the NYC schoolboy who the Angels selected with the 1521st and final pick in the MLB amateur draft two weeks ago - signed with the team, according to Baseball America.

He's a big lad of Ryan Howardesque proportions (6'3" 250) and also plays first base. And he's got an interesting backstory (click on the above link).

I like it when the Angels sign late-round high schoolers (e.g. JIm Edmonds). Maybe this kid will flourish too once he gets away from all the devastating poverty and stuff.