July 29, 2008 6:55 PM
Sizing up the competition
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Arizona:
Best Prospect: Jarrod Parker, RHP
Other names to know: Max Scherzer, RHP, Gerardo Parra, OF
With Scherzer likely graduating to the majors by the end of the season and several system depleting trades over the last eight months, the D-backs will have quickly drained a system that was arguably baseball's best two years ago. While this is good news for first round pick Daniel Schlereth (son of the Broncos great) as he'll instantly be one of the team's top three prospects once he signs, it's got to be at least a little disconcerting for Diamondbacks fans to be left without any quality minor league depth to rebuild around. Parra represents the best of the Diamondbacks more recent Latin American signs, a department that hasn't been producing as much as it had in the past (Miguel Montero, Tony Pena, Emilio Bonifacio and Edgar Gonzalez were all signed by the team between 2000 and 2002). Parra's hitting .261 with just nine extra base hits in 165 AB's for AA Mobile.
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Colorado:
Best Prospect: Dexter Fowler, OF
Other names to know: Jhoulys Chacin, RHP, Casey Weathers, RHP, Aneury Rodriguez, RHP
Graduations to the majors and MLB struggles by pitchers Franklin Morales and Greg Reynolds as well as injuries to middle infielders Chris Nelson and Hector Gomez have taken some of a toll on the system, but breakout seasons by Chacin and Fowler helps mitigate this somewhat for the Rockies. A steady steam of well scouted Latin American talent helps them keep pace with divisional foes that are more willing to spend on the draft.
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Los Angeles:
Best Prospect: Clayton Kershaw, LHP
Other names to know: Andy LaRoche, 3B, Xavier Paul, OF, James McDonald, RHP, Andrew Lambo, 1B
Kershaw's considered the best prospect in baseball at this point, but he's likely seen the last of his days as a minor leaguer. Meanwhile, trading away promising catcher Carlos Santana and reliever Jonathan Meloan for Casey Blake also weakened the system a little bit. What's more, while the Dodgers have long held some of the best minor league depth within the division, only a couple of their players have emerged as elite prospects this season. While not facing a complete farm rebuild like Arizona is, the Dodgers do seem to be seeing a gap before their next wave of talent hits Chavez Ravine. Because of the large bonus thrown his way, the Giants Angel Villalona gets all the hype as the division's best teenage first base prospect, but clearly Lambo has something to say about that. The nineteen year old has mashed 42 extra base hits this season for Great Lakes of the Midwest League.
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San Diego:
Best Prospect: Kyle Blanks, 1B
Other names to know: Matt Latos, RHP, Wade LeBlanc, LHP, Will Inman, LHP
San Diego's reportedly concerned that first round pick Allan Dykstra may have a degenerative hip condition and might not end up signing the slugging first baseman, which would be a big hit for a system that was already weak heading into this year's draft. The good news for Padres fans was a steep investment in Latin American talent this summer, which should eventually pay some nice dividends. Unfortunately, the typical turnaround on Latin signs is about five or six seasons, and it may be a few years before San Diego's system provides a steady stream of MLB talent.
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San Francisco:
Best Prospect: Tim Alderson, RHP, or Madison Bumgarner, LHP, depending on who you ask.
Other names to know: Pablo Sandoval, C, Henry Sosa, RHP, Clayton Tanner, LHP, Jesse English, LHP, Ben Snyder, RHP, Angel Villalona, 1B
With Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum already intimidating NL West hitters, it seems unfair to note that the Giants have the best collection of minor league pitching in the division, but it's a pretty clear edge for San Francisco in this department. Numbers gurus love what Bumgarner's doing in Augusta, but keep in mind that he's putting up those figures with what amounts to a one pitch repertoire right now. While his slider and change-up should improve, they are still nascent and aren't close to being out pitches just yet. Meanwhile, while Alderson's fastball is considered a little inferior to Bumgarner's, he's succeeding in the California League thanks to a much better secondary pitch, a wicked curve. Position players are still a bit of a weak spot for the Giants, but they should improve dramatically in this department once, and if, their top two picks from the 2008 draft (Buster Posey and Conor Gillaspie) sign. As brilliant as Posey was at Florida State this season, don't disregard Sandoval as having the chance to beat him out as the Giants catcher of the future with his breakout season continuing at AA Connecticut after he mashed through the California League with San Jose. San Jose's starting rotation this season proved quite dangerous, and while only a couple of those guys are going to graduate into the Giants rotation, they all have qualities that would suit them well in an MLB bullpen.
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Overall, the NL West's minor league systems have somewhat mirrored the play of the division's MLB teams this season, which isn't necessarily a good thing. Only one team, the Giants, seems to be clearly rising in minor league talent relative to the rest of the MLB, with the other four falling back to varying degrees. The Rockies haven't suffered nearly the attrition of Arizona or San Diego, however, and have had more breakout success than the Dodgers this season, which still leaves the team in good shape going forward for the next few seasons given the young talent they already have at the MLB level.
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Colorado Springs:
Franklin Morales lasted two outs into the seventh inning in his last start, allowing just four singles and four walks and no runs. Mike McCoy (whom the Rockies acquired for infielder Juan Castro from the Orioles on July 19) has nine hits in his last five games with two doubles.
Tulsa:
The 86 runs scored by Dexter Fowler and the same number of RBI for Matt Miller are tops in the Rockies system right now.
Modesto:
Despite losing Sunday, Jhoulys Chacin remains the minor league leader in wins this season with fifteen. He's not likely to hold that lead for long, however, with the Rockies deciding to hold him to a strict 75 pitch/5 inning limit for the duration of the season to avoid wearing out his arm (Chacin also leads the minors in innings pitched at 147 2/3). Chacin ranks second to Stockton's Trevor Cahill in minor league strikeouts with 134.
Asheville:
Speaking of minor league leaders, Asheville's got a few of them: Darin Holcomb's 40 doubles tops all minor leaguers, Everth Cabrera's 61 steals leads that category by ten, and with 27 saves on the season, Randall Taylor is just one save behind Birmingham's John Link for the overall lead in that category. Modesto's Andrew Johnston is tied for ninth with 24.
Tri-City:
While batting only .234, infielder Thomas Field has reached base via hit or walk in 46 of 94 plate appearances for a .415 OBP. A patient hitter, Field has collected 24 walks, and the number of times reaching safely is good for third on the team behind Charlie Blackmon and Jordan Pacheco. Kane Simmons was promoted from Casper to replace Bo Bowman, who in turn has moved up to Asheville. Austin Chambliss picked up his league leading tenth save of the season this morning.
Casper:
Outside of two games at Orem where they broke out for sixteen runs, the Ghosts have been struggling to find any sort of offensive groove of late. One of the lone bright spots has been Kiel Roling, who's gone 9 for 19 in his current five game hit streak with five doubles. Tyler Massey gave up a baseball scholarship to Virginia to sign with the team for a $525,000 bonus. Because Massey was a two sport player and recruited as a quarterback in football, baseball's rules allow the Rockies to spread the bonus over four seasons. The Rockies 14th round draft selection this year, Massey collected his first professional hit and stolen base against Ogden on Saturday.
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