AngelsWin.com Today: Angels Top 30 Prospects Mid-Season Edition

[krAbs]

On 7/3/2017 at 3:50 PM, AngelsWin.com said:

3. RHP Griffin Canning – Second round pick out of UCLA.  Considered one of the best pitchers in the country, but a pre-draft medical screening scared teams away due to potential shoulder issues down the road.  Tumbled out of the first round and into the Angels lap.  Fringe-plus fastball, plus curve, plus slider, plus change up.  Funky delivery.  Won’t need much time in the minors.  Grade: A-/B+

Sounds about right.

[krAbs]

All kidding aside, I like the look of some of those top prospects. Our outfield has a bright future. That being said, I AM concerned about the future of our infield. There are a couple names in there, but no one too exciting. And in the majors, the only long term/real solution we have is Simmons. The way I figure, we have 10 competent starters (our injured 5 rotation - rich, skaggs, heany, shoe, trop; and our makeshift replacement 5 - meyer, bridman, ramierez, chavez, nolasco). A few of them aren't great, and a few of them are going to leave soon (well...nolasco is, at least), but...10 feels excessive. I'm sure a couple will go back to relief, and we will keep some depth, but I kind of wonder if we can trade some of that for some decent high upside minor league infielders who may come up within the next year or so.

[totdprods]

Wanted to give a couple shoutouts to other guys too. I know relief prospects are a dime a dozen, but these sorts used to be what rounded out our list a few years back when things were barren, and some are worth keeping an eye on still.

Adam Hofacket (23, A+/AA RHP): 2.93 ERA, 25 G, 40 IP, 1.13 WHIP, 8.3 H9, 0.7 HR9, 1.8 BB9, 9.2 K9
Connor Lillis-White (24, A+/AA LHP): 3.51 ERA, 23 G, 41 IP, 1.02 WHIP, 5.4 H9, 1.3 HR9, 4 BB9, 10.5 K9
Samil de Los Santos (23, A RHP): 1.67 ERA, 21 G, 32.1 IP, 1.02 WHIP, 7 H9, 0.3 HR9, 2.2 BB9, 11.7 K9
Sean Isaac (24, A-AAA, RHP): 1.54 ERA, 16 G, 41 IP, 1.15 WHIP, 5.5 H9, 0.2 HR9, 4.8 BB9, 12.3 K9
Sam Holland (23, A+, RHP): 2.97 ERA, 28 G, 36.1 IP, 1.27 WHIP, 8.2 H9, 0.5 HR9, 3.2 BB9, 8.9 K(
Mike Kaelin (23, A, RHP): 4.10 ERA, 22 G, 41.2 IP, 1.27 WHIP, 8 H9, 0.6 HR9, 3.5 BB9, 9.9 K9

These guys have been getting it done and could be pushing for MLB action in the near future, and a handful of our newest draftees - Rogalla, Procopio, Hanewich, Riley, Ziemba, Brady - could be right behind them. 
 

[Angelsjunky]

@Scotty@AW, sorry, but the farm has been dross for years now, and I don't think it is simply a matter of perception because of a disappointing crop of former top prospects 10-15 years ago. It just isn't as steep a decline as one might think, because it wasn't as good as people thought it was in the mid-00s. And a few good prospects don't change that (As an aside, you always mention Grichuk, but the guy has yet to establish himself as a good player. He has a good partial season in 2015 but regressed in 2016 and has been even worse this year. He could be a decent player, but he's hardly proof of the strength of the farm during the early 2010s).

That said, the farm is improving rapidly, although it might take another year or two for this to show up on the radar of prospect rankings, as almost all of their good prospects are in the low minors. But I would say the farm was good to very good (but not great, and pretty overrated) in the early-to-mid 2000s, then kind of mediocre from around 2008 to 2012, then terrible from 2013 on - since Trout graduated. I think they're working their way back up from the rock-bottom that was 2013-16.

[Inside Pitch]

On 7/4/2017 at 1:50 AM, Angelsjunky said:

That whole generation of prospects was just disappointing - Kotchman, McPherson, Wood, Mathis, even Kendrick didn't reach his early potential, although still turned into a decent player. Aybar pretty much fulfilled his potential and Napoli probably exceeded it, but for the most part "Stoneman's boys" were overrated.

The strength of that farm system wasnt it's top end guys but it's sheer depth...

Behind Kotch there was Morales

Behind Wood there was Aybar

Behind Mathis there was Napoli

Behind Kendrick there was Callaspo, Alexi, Casillas, and the kid we sent to SD for Frieri.  Callaspo started life as a SS but was moved over to 2b because of Aybar..

3B is where the system crapped out..    When D-Mac's back went bust there wasn't anyone behind him to step up -- Wood moved over from SS and we know what happened there..

Morales, Aybar, Naps, Kendrick, and Callaspo all went on to have solid MLB careers...    People will argue that none became stars but, that's a lot of MLB regulars along with Weaver, Santana, Saunders, Krod, etc...   Few teams of that era can say they saw as much talent come out of their farm at the time.

[Angelsjunky]

Yeah, which is why I said in the post before yours that it was "good to very good (but not great)." Maybe very good is the most accurate adjective to use.

 

[Inside Pitch]

1 hour ago, krAbs said:

our injured 5

Bro -- I hate to cut away your entire post cause you were making a solid point -- but "Our Injured 5" sounds like the name of a emo boy band or something.  Made me laugh.

[Second Base]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

The strength of that farm system wasnt it's top end guys but it's sheer depth...

Behind Kotch there was Morales

Behind Wood there was Aybar

Behind Mathis there was Napoli

Behind Kendrick there was Callaspo, Alexi, Casillas, and the kid we sent to SD for Frieri.  Callaspo started life as a SS but was moved over to 2b because of Aybar..

3B is where the system crapped out..    When D-Mac's back went bust there wasn't anyone behind him to step up -- Wood moved over from SS and we know what happened there..

Morales, Aybar, Naps, Kendrick, and Callaspo all went on to have solid MLB careers...    People will argue that none became stars but, that's a lot of MLB regulars along with Weaver, Santana, Saunders, Krod, etc...   Few teams of that era can say they saw as much talent come out of their farm at the time.

Callaspo was the best 3B from an era of Angels 3B prospects that were going to be Stars.......ouch.

[Dave Saltzer]

It's good to see our #6 and #28 prospects getting promoted. Congrats!

[Chuck]

9 hours ago, Dave Saltzer said:

It's good to see our #6 and #28 prospects getting promoted. Congrats!

Let's see those video interviews!