Top Ten Hitting Prospects in Baseball

[don_kessinger_was_good]

I find myself pining for young hitting talent, after pondering how fetid our own system has been. I'm curious who you'd list as the top ten hitting prospects in the game? To be on the list, the player would have to qualify for ROY in 2006, though he could be lower in the minors and be a year or two away yet, too. Here's my list:

 

1. Jeremy Hermida (Florida)

2. Stephen Drew (Arizona)

3. Delmon Young (Tampa)

4. BJ Upton (Tampa)

5. Carlos Quentin (Arizona)

6. Andy Marte (Boston)

7. Prince Fielder (Milwaukee)

8. Lastings Milledge (Mets)

9. Josh Barfield (San Diego)

10. Casey Kotchman (Angels)

 

Others (random order): James Loney (Dodgers), Franklin Gutierrez (Cleveland), Conor Jackson (Arizona), Edwin Encarnacion (Cincinnati), Brandon Wood (Angels), Ian Kinsler (Texas), Felix Pie (Cubs), Hanley Ramirez (Florida), Joel Guzman (Dodgers), Nick Markakis (Baltimore)

[donobr]

We did pass on Milledge for Harvey(squeaky clean).

[rawaction]

1. Delmon Young

2. Jeremy Hermida

3. Brandon Wood

4. Stephen Drew

5. Andy Laroche

6. Lastings Milledge

7. Casey Kotchman

8. Conor Jackson

9. Prince Fielder

10. Ian Stewart

 

Daric Barton, Carlos Quentin, Chris Young, Joel Guzman, Felix Pie, Ryan Zimmerman, Nick Markakis, Andy Marte, Carlos Gonzalez

[CaliforniaRaisin]

1. Delmon Young

2. Jeremy Hermida

3. Brandon Wood

4. Stephen Drew

5. Andy Laroche

6. Lastings Milledge

7. Casey Kotchman

8. Conor Jackson

9. Prince Fielder

10. Ian Stewart

 

Daric Barton, Carlos Quentin, Chris Young, Joel Guzman, Felix Pie, Ryan Zimmerman, Nick Markakis, Andy Marte, Carlos Gonzalez

 

Almost the same:

 

1. Delmon Young

2. Jeremy Hermida

3. Stephen Drew

4. Brandon Wood

5. Casey Kotchman

6. Lastings Milledge

7. Connor Jackson

8. Ian Stewart

9. Andy LaRoche

10. Daric Barton

 

dkwg, BJ Upton already has fulfilled his ROY eligibility.

[Tim]

Hermida's strikeout rate concerns me too much to put him #2. I'd certainly put Drew and Wood above him, especially if positional scarcity is considered.

 

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Howie Kendrick.

 

BTW - how nice it would be to have OF prospects like AZ or IF prospects like Anaheim.

[BigbadB]

1. Delmon Young

2. Jeremy Hermida

3. Brandon Wood

4. Stephen Drew

5. Andy Laroche

6. Lastings Milledge

7. Casey Kotchman

8. Conor Jackson

9. Prince Fielder

10. Ian Stewart

 

Daric Barton, Carlos Quentin, Chris Young, Joel Guzman, Felix Pie, Ryan Zimmerman, Nick Markakis, Andy Marte, Carlos Gonzalez

 

Almost the same:

 

1. Delmon Young

2. Jeremy Hermida

3. Stephen Drew

4. Brandon Wood

5. Casey Kotchman

6. Lastings Milledge

7. Connor Jackson

8. Ian Stewart

9. Andy LaRoche

10. Daric Barton

 

dkwg, BJ Upton already has fulfilled his ROY eligibility.

 

How is Kotchman eligible for ROY?

[illiniguy]

1. Delmon Young

2. Jeremy Hermida

3. Brandon Wood

4. Stephen Drew

5. Andy Laroche

6. Lastings Milledge

7. Casey Kotchman

8. Conor Jackson

9. Prince Fielder

10. Ian Stewart

 

Daric Barton, Carlos Quentin, Chris Young, Joel Guzman, Felix Pie, Ryan Zimmerman, Nick Markakis, Andy Marte, Carlos Gonzalez

 

Almost the same:

 

1. Delmon Young

2. Jeremy Hermida

3. Stephen Drew

4. Brandon Wood

5. Casey Kotchman

6. Lastings Milledge

7. Connor Jackson

8. Ian Stewart

9. Andy LaRoche

10. Daric Barton

 

dkwg, BJ Upton already has fulfilled his ROY eligibility.

 

How is Kotchman eligible for ROY?

he is on the jess settles plan. :P

WHat about Alex Gordon and Billy Butler? No one very high on them?

[mhuber92211]

i don't believe that encarncion is available for ROY either.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

Illiniguy, I'm very high on Billy Butler indeed, I hear about him a lot being in KC. I just want to see him keep posting good numbers at a higher level before I really jump on the bandwagon.

 

Someone mentioned Howie Kendrick, I've seen him play--he's the real deal indeed. The Angels have Manny Aybar too, what an embarassment of infield riches with Wood, Macpherson and Kotchman as well.

 

There is a real dearth of decent catching prospects, which isn't really all that new, but it seems especially bleak at this point in the cycle. Teams would do well to hoard any catchers in their system with even marginal hopes for the big leagues.

 

I forgot about Daric Barton :oops: And yes, I put that list together off the top of my head, don't know what I was thinking with Encarnacion, Kotchman and Upton, all three have exceeded ROY requirements.

[Laura]

Is Hermida slotted for Opening Day with the Marlins?

[don_kessinger_was_good]

Is Hermida slotted for Opening Day with the Marlins?

 

Heck, he'll probably be their cleanup hitter behind Cabrera.

[BigbadB]

Illiniguy, I'm very high on Billy Butler indeed, I hear about him a lot being in KC. I just want to see him keep posting good numbers at a higher level before I really jump on the bandwagon.

 

Someone mentioned Howie Kendrick, I've seen him play--he's the real deal indeed. The Angels have Manny Aybar too, what an embarassment of infield riches with Wood, Macpherson and Kotchman as well.

 

There is a real dearth of decent catching prospects, which isn't really all that new, but it seems especially bleak at this point in the cycle. Teams would do well to hoard any catchers in their system with even marginal hopes for the big leagues.

 

I forgot about Daric Barton :oops: And yes, I put that list together off the top of my head, don't know what I was thinking with Encarnacion, Kotchman and Upton, all three have exceeded ROY requirements.

 

Did the Angels ever lock down Kendry Morales? I believe he was a Cuban defector. Can't recall whether he was a 1b or an outfielder.

[Laura]

Is Hermida slotted for Opening Day with the Marlins?

 

Heck, he'll probably be their cleanup hitter behind Cabrera.

 

Heh. I haven't kept up with what position players they still have left.

[BigbadB]

Is Hermida slotted for Opening Day with the Marlins?

 

Heck, he'll probably be their cleanup hitter behind Cabrera.

 

Heh. I haven't kept up with what position players they still have left.

 

They don't have any position players left outside of Cabrera. Conine, Encarnacion, Pierre, Lowell, Gonzalez, Castillo, Delgado and LoDuca are all gone.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

This would be my list:

 

1. Delmon Young

2. Brandon Wood

3. Jeremy Hermidia

4. Andy Marte

5. Carlos Quentin

6. Ryan Zimmerman

7. Stephen Drew

8. Alex Gordon

9. Prince Fielder

10. Daric Barton

[mhuber92211]

 

Did the Angels ever lock down Kendry Morales? I believe he was a Cuban defector. Can't recall whether he was a 1b or an outfielder.

 

Morales played mostly at 1B last season in A and AA. He seems to be the flavor of the month for many LAA fans now but will likely not make it to the bigs until midseason.

 

The angels I don't get. One of my buddies is a huge fan and they are probably my fave AL team. But their offseason has been dreadful and they have nothing really on the horizon. They left both Byrd & Washburn go and haven't replaced them. I am not sold on Escobar coming back strong right away and who knows about Colon. The 5th starter is still a hole and their depth in positional players is great but their pitching is pretty weak. I can see Kevin Gregg and Jake Woods (who I am high on) could slot into the rotation but they really need some depth there. I would imagine that they should be hot after Jeff Weaver who would fit perfectly especially seeing that his brother is close to the bigs.

 

As far as their infield depth don't forget about Macier Izturis who is a pretty solid option as a 5th INF. There have been Patterson rumors who would be an excellent fit for the Angels (hitting 6th behind Vlad, GA, Alfonzo) but they are a team that rarely deals and they hold onto their minor league talent with a vice grip. I don't know how Morales, Kotchman, Alfonzo, McPherson, Rivera will all fit together but Kennedy could be shopped.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

You can't play both Kendrick and Wood. I wouldn't mind seeing a Chicago double-play combination of Howie and Ronny Cedeno AT ALL. Given where Kendrick is at, Carlos Marmol would be an even swap. Or if LA needs a starting pitcher right now, I'd send them JWill for Wood so fast it makes your head spin. I'll include a relief prospect like David Aardsma or Andy Shipman too, or Roberto Novoa at the big league level, no sweat.

 

But I think you're right, the Angels seem to be among the most reticent teams in baseball to trade their prospects. It hasn't backfired on them yet, but as one example, Kotchman would have fetched a whole lot more 12 months ago then he would today if on the market. If the Angels were smart, they'd capitalize on the value TODAY of Wood and Kendrick, choose the one they want to put their money on for the future, and trade the other to get some young pitching help.

 

Arizona and Tampa should do the same thing, those two teams REALLY need the pitching, and they have the extra hitting prospects to make something happen. Tampa in particular, I just don't understand how they can sit on all those outfielders, with Delmon Young coming on strong behind them, and not move one or two of them for pitching. Aubrey Huff, I mean c'mon, the guy will make over $5MM!!

[mhuber92211]

I think that trading Williams for Brandon Wood is like offering Pie for Byung Yung Kim

[rawaction]

Hermida's strikeout rate concerns me too much to put him #2. I'd certainly put Drew and Wood above him, especially if positional scarcity is considered.

 

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Howie Kendrick.

 

BTW - how nice it would be to have OF prospects like AZ or IF prospects like Anaheim.

 

I like Kendrick, thought I put him on my others list. Something about Hermida I really like. I could easily see putting Wood and Drew ahead of him.

[CubinNY]

I'm not as up on the prospects as you guys so I ask this question out of ignorance:

 

What has Stephen Drew done in the minors beside be JD's yournger brother?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I'm not as up on the prospects as you guys so I ask this question out of ignorance:

 

What has Stephen Drew done in the minors beside be JD's yournger brother?

 

.389/.486/.738/1.224 in 175 High-A PA's

 

He then got promoted to AA where he had much less success (.687 OPS) in 113 PA's. He was 22 last year.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I'm not as up on the prospects as you guys so I ask this question out of ignorance:

 

What has Stephen Drew done in the minors beside be JD's yournger brother?

 

.389/.486/.738/1.224 in 175 High-A PA's

 

He then got promoted to AA where he had much less success (.687 OPS) in 113 PA's. He was 22 last year.

 

And .337/.439/.708/1.147 in the AFL.

[Balsa]

.708 SLG?!

 

:shock:

[illiniguy]

Illiniguy, I'm very high on Billy Butler indeed, I hear about him a lot being in KC. I just want to see him keep posting good numbers at a higher level before I really jump on the bandwagon.

 

Someone mentioned Howie Kendrick, I've seen him play--he's the real deal indeed. The Angels have Manny Aybar too, what an embarassment of infield riches with Wood, Macpherson and Kotchman as well.

 

There is a real dearth of decent catching prospects, which isn't really all that new, but it seems especially bleak at this point in the cycle. Teams would do well to hoard any catchers in their system with even marginal hopes for the big leagues.

 

I forgot about Daric Barton :oops: And yes, I put that list together off the top of my head, don't know what I was thinking with Encarnacion, Kotchman and Upton, all three have exceeded ROY requirements.

yeah living in kansas city I hope to get to see billy a little this year either in witchita or kc. But, I guess the doug meinkeiwitz signing has blocked that for the time being.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

Illiniguy, I'm very high on Billy Butler indeed, I hear about him a lot being in KC. I just want to see him keep posting good numbers at a higher level before I really jump on the bandwagon.

 

Someone mentioned Howie Kendrick, I've seen him play--he's the real deal indeed. The Angels have Manny Aybar too, what an embarassment of infield riches with Wood, Macpherson and Kotchman as well.

 

There is a real dearth of decent catching prospects, which isn't really all that new, but it seems especially bleak at this point in the cycle. Teams would do well to hoard any catchers in their system with even marginal hopes for the big leagues.

 

I forgot about Daric Barton :oops: And yes, I put that list together off the top of my head, don't know what I was thinking with Encarnacion, Kotchman and Upton, all three have exceeded ROY requirements.

yeah living in kansas city I hope to get to see billy a little this year either in witchita or kc. But, I guess the doug meinkeiwitz signing has blocked that for the time being.

 

I'm pretty sure he'll start the season in AA Wichita. If he continues to post good numbers, a promotion to Omaha is likely, and maybe a late season September call-up. But 2007 is the year he'll likely hit the bigs.