1) Mike Trout - The clear number one.
2) Peter Bourjos - Speed, athleticism and defense. Be patient with the bat.
3) Hank Conger - On track to be a solid all-around player and potential allstar at a premium position.
4) Trevor Reckling - Sure he hit a wall in AAA, but the guy's only been able to (legally) drown his sorrows for a couple of months and he's still competently getting AA hitters out.
5) Mark Trumbo - Chicks and Angels fans dig the long ball. Is his 2010 progress for real? The wisdom of crowds (and his K/BB ratio) say it is.
6) Tyler Chatwood - His fastball/curveball combo were too much for California League hitters, and are holding the line in AA. He's come as far this season as any prospect not named Trout.
7) ???
So will it be the hotly debated Garrett Richards, owner of the deepest arsenal and some of the best raw stuff in the system? Alexia Amarista, defensive whiz and little giant with the bat? Fabio Martinez Mesa, who could get major leaguers out right now with his overpowering fastball/slider combo, if he only knew where each pitch was going? Randal Grichuk, who's back to bashing homeruns in the Midwest League? Jean Segura, who stole his 40th base of the season?
0 recs | 13 comments
I don't get how Garrett Richards drops from #5...
…to #7 or lower based on the strength of his season thusfar. He’s shown only positive trends this season, and should be holding steady or moving up the rankings.
Meanwhile, Chatwood has an abysmal K/9 of 4.3 in Arkansas, while giving up more flyballs than he has in two years — in a pitcher’s park, no less — and he bests Richards. Yes, he’s younger — I’ve seen him pitch, and he has some stuff. But I don’t think he has the upside that Richards has.
I’m officially going negative on the America’s Got Talent phone-in segment of the prospect parade.
Turks Teeth - August 10, 2010
I really feel like age is the deciding factor on this one.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with what Richards has done so far this season. It’s not dominant, but it’s good. The thing is though, 22 year old vs the Midwest League takes the wind out of the sails for Richards’ argument to be higher. Sean O’Sullivan is less than a year older than Richards and is in his 2nd season pitching in the bigs. Can we imagine what he’d look like in low A ball?
I feel like Richards will be in our rotation someday, but it won’t be until he’s 25. There’s guys like Chtwood who look like they could make the team at 21 or 22. By the time they ar 25, they could be league vets.
Halowood - August 10, 2010
Maybe I'm misreading the stats
but what I see is Chatwood throwing groundballs at a higher rate than he did last year at Cedar Rapids and just ever so slightly lower than he did in Rookie ball 2 years ago.
Also you talk about strikeouts and yea Chatwood isn’t striking many out in AA but it’s not like Richards struck out a ton more guys than him when comparing their numbers in Cedar Rapids and Rancho.
Chatwood in CR 106 K in 116 IP
Richards in CR 108 in 108
Chatwood in RC 70 in 81
Richards in RC 13 in 10.2
MH252525 - August 10, 2010
Yes, but a lot of that has to do with stuff too....
Chatwood’s fastball curve combo was good enough for swing and miss at the lower levels, and it remains to be seen if it is at higher levels. Richards however, has the stuff to maintain his K levels across high levels of minor league baseball. I stil rank Chatwood over Richards because of age and polish.
Halowood - August 10, 2010
So.....
Richards has the stuff that Chatwood doesn’t……
But Chatwood, being younger and at a higher level gets pretty much the same amount of strikeouts……
What exactly does that say about Richards????
MH252525 - August 10, 2010
... that Richards hasn't shown much yet
As far as I’m concerned, Richards is treading water, and has yet to answer any of the questions hanging over him since his college days. He isn’t a worse prospect than he was at the beginning of the year, but he’s not really a better one either.
He’s still all about projection,
rghan - August 10, 2010
I think he was definitely worth a supp. round pick
Might as well take a shot on him, his stuff is so great. Honestly, did anyone actually believe he’d figure it all out in his first year as a professional? 22 years old or not, he’s still just in A ball. His stuff alone will take him through Cedar Rapids and Rancho. We’ll see if he’s really developed when he reaches Arkansas and starts having to really battle for outs.
Halowood - August 10, 2010
Agreed that he was worth the pick
The upside is tremendous. What I am saying is that we don’t have a better sense of whether he will reach that ceiling than we did at the beginning of the year.
rghan - August 11, 2010
Its so good to see Grichuk back
And doing what he does best. I love his XBH power, especially for a 18/19 year old kid. If he could improve his K/BB and BB rate over the next few years, my god i’d be excited. Ryan Braun II.
Lets go Darth Richards, #7 is his lucky number (it better be seeing as i’ve voted for him since #4).
TheQuestforMerlin - August 10, 2010
40 bags is 40 bags
I am in the Segura camp
Rev Halofan - August 10, 2010
just wait though until he speaks enough English
to understand even half of what Hacker says.
MH252525 - August 10, 2010
I like him a little more than Amarista
But I like the both of them for the top 10 (Trumbo would have been #11 on my personal list). Segura just has an exciting mix of tools and talent. Segura is the Howie Kendrick/Erick Aybar of prospects to Amarista’s David Eckstein. Both solidly in the tradition of Angel prospects mind you.
TheQuestforMerlin - August 10, 2010
How does Richards keep dropping.
He’s the 3rd best prospect in my opinion and should be in everyone else’s top 5 (Angels’) prospects.
SenorChuckles - August 10, 2010
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