Toby Ziegler

Calhoun definitely helped the team. Jimenez and his .608 OPS at the hot corner? Not so much. Green may have helped a little, but he was only slightly above league average offensively (105 OPS+). Defensively, the numbers don't paint a very flattering picture. Overall, he was not a difference-maker.

Hamilton was on the juice in Texas. But now that he's gotten his last big contract, no reason to do it anymore. He gets paid regardless of his poor level of play. He looked like he lost at least 20 lbs in the offseason. Pretty obvious he was on something.

I've seen him play. Dude is nothing special. One of the most overrated prospects out there. He'll be a backup catcher when it's all said and done. The Angels should be targeting David Price, Matt Garza, and Shelby Miller. They should also be all-in on Tanaka and Ubaldo Jimenez. The Rays don't have much leverage with Price because everyone knows they're going to trade him since they can't afford him. Garza had somewhat of a down year and came off an injury the year before. Good time to try and buy low on him. Miller wasn't even used in the postseason. The Cardinals have more pitchers than they know what to do with and are kind of desperate for a shortstop. Aybar or Stamets and two other good prospects/Trumbo would probably get the job done. Ubaldo had an incredible 2nd half, and his underlying numbers point to it not being fluky. Bring in two of those pitchers and you've had a good offseason. Bring in three of them and the division is as good as yours.

Alvarez does have electric stuff, but Morin compares favorably with a guy like Trevor Hoffman, and he had a pretty good career. I wouldn't write him off as just a set-up man. And in general if you can be a bridge you can also be a closer. Since Morin should easily have the biggest impact of all the arms next year with the big club, I actually find it comical that he was left off the top-10. I'll be sure to bring it up during the season when he's dealing. Scouts need to be held accountable for their more egregious mistakes. No one ever takes them to task.

Scott Servais spoke to Zach about possibly starting the season in AAA. He's closer to MLB than most of you think... But it is a crowded outfield, no question about that. Trades need to be made to make room for him on that roster, or if not hopefully he gets traded this offseason.

Oh no? So you believe there are four pitchers in your system who are better prospects than Morin? Really? I would argue that he's the best of the bunch. Alvarez is talented, to be sure, but Morin is talented and refined. The jury is still out on Sappington. I'm not convinced he'll make it as a starter. In any case, I don't see his upside being much better than a back-end of the rotation innings eater if he remains a starter. Green is a project, not a prospect. Same with Sanchez. They may have promise (and/or large signing bonuses which makes you think they have promise -- see Ryan Bolden and Chevy Clarke), but they are at least 4-5 years away from sniffing MLB, assuming they get there at all. Raw talent is only part of the equation. It takes a lot more than natural ability to make it. Meanwhile, Morin was MLB-ready last season, IMO. He will come up and be a difference-maker right away in the bullpen. An absolute joke he didn't make the top-10. Cron had a good season at Inland Empire in 2012, but it wasn't even close to what Zach did. Same with Grichuk. And they were both mediocre this season. Hard to say that they showed any kind of real development. Mediocrity should not be rewarded or praised. And forget about mediocrity for a moment. What about an unmitigated disaster like Cowart? You could find 50 pitchers who would have hit better than him. Do you really, truly believe Cowart is the 2nd best prospect in your farm system? Because if you do I've got a bridge to sell you. Is his draft position and prospect status that important to you? I can say this with the utmost confidence: most organizations wouldn't want to touch him with a 10-foot pole right now. Meanwhile, there are teams who are interested in a "worse" prospect like my brother, and they are actively seeking him out. The Angels need pitching. You'll get a lot more for Zach and Morin than you will for Cowart. That is reality, not the prospect fantasyland some of you are living in. Trade Cowart, and you'll get pennies on the dollar.

More prospect prejudice, and now you're seeing it with Morin, too. Notice that no one on that list was drafted beyond the 5th round. Morin was drafted in the 13th round, by the way. Ricardo Sanchez is a 16-year old Venezuelan pitcher who is under 6 feet tall, and the Angels paid him $580,000. To put that in perspective, that's more than Trout will make this year. Sanchez has never even played a professional game. Phenom or not, it's not like he's Bryce Harper. He has no business being on this list. But Baseball Prospectus felt they had to justify all the money the Angels threw at him. Guarantee you no one at Baseball Prospectus has ever seen him throw one pitch. In my opinion, Morin is definitely the best pitching prospect in the Angels' farm. Cowart retains his prospect status, of course. Scouts and scouting organizations never like to admit they're wrong about anyone. Their high regard for Cowart in the face of abject failure is a testament to their incompetence and intransigence.

I think he is tired. By far the most games he's ever played in a year. Plus, he drove back all the way from California to Illinois and didn't get much rest in between the intense postseason and these meaningless games where he's getting sporadic playing time. Impossible to get into any kind of rhythm when you regularly sit for three or four days straight. He also sees the ball much better at night, and he's pretty much only played day games. Overall, I'd say it's been a waste of time. I can see why Javier Baez chose not to play in the AFL this year. Keep in mind Trout also struggled quite a bit when he played in the AFL after his first long pro season. I would attribute it to fatigue. At least he made some money, but he'd have been better off resting at home.

What do you want, a written confession? Do you want him to take the lie detector test. I can only go by the facts in front of me. And the facts speak to something prejudicial. Since Borenstein is about as Jewish a last name as there is and since Jews are not exactly beloved by the world, one would be foolish or naive to not consider anti-Semitism as a likely cause of the prejudicial treatment. In my experience, when something doesn't add up there is usually something sinister at the root of it.

Nor do I lightly make the accusation. Still, I have seen it enough to recognize it. The prejudicial evidence are all the things I just mentioned. Since age wasn't an issue for five hitting prospects who were older or the same age as Zach, we can eliminate that factor.

As I have already explained, I can't prove that it's anti-Semitism. I believe I have already proved it was a form of discrimination. That is the larger point I'm making.

There is evidence that he is prejudicial. That should be enough.

Speculation? There were three inferior hitters who made the top 20 who are the same age as Zach. There were two additional inferior hitters who made the top 20 who are older than Zach. There were other inferior hitters who made the top 20 who are younger than Zach. They were all drafted relatively high. 5th round for Muncy and Taylor. 4th round for Kivlehan. 3rd round for Williamson. 1st round for Peterson, Jankowski, and Story. Jim Shonerd's reason for leaving him off the top 20 was "...doubts about the outfielder's athleticism." This is an obvious pretense. If you know anything about Zach, you would know he's athletic. And the fact that he is part of the minority group that has been persecuted the most throughout history isn't relevant at all? It's not like there are a lot of kids playing baseball named Borenstein... The name kind of sticks out. You're saying there is no chance he was discriminated against? I'm just making all of this up? Connect the goddamn dots.

I can't prove it's anti-Semitism any more than I can prove the Tea Party is predominantly racist. But it could very well be anti-Semitism. It could also be prospect prejudice (draft slot, region, college, etc.). I think I have clearly demonstrated that it is definitely one of them, if not both of them. The point is there is some form of discrimination going on here, whether you want to acknowledge it or not.

Take your condescending tone and shove it where the sun don't shine. Next thing you'll be telling me that integration in baseball has been around since its inception. No, no bigotry in baseball. That's just absurd.

You know when you mock someone for being right you look like a moron. And yes, it goes on in prospect rankings. Bigotry and prejudice never truly go away. They take on different forms. They're more subtle, more concealed. And in this instance it's pretty much out in the open. I really don't understand the backlash I'm getting over this. As fans you should support your prospect and not go out of your way to look for ways to agree with the publication that disrespects him. But then maybe some of you aren't the greatest fans in the world. I could have sworn the Angels played in Los Angeles, not Philadelphia.

And I strongly believe it was deliberate. Pretty hard to overlook the MVP and the best hitter in the league by a wide margin.

I brought up anti-Semitism and prospect prejudice. Both are completely legitimate. What does my ego have to do with my brother getting screwed over? If you want to suspend my account, be my guest. I haven't done anything wrong, asshole. Since when is pointing out injustice in the world a bad thing? You want to play the big bad moderator who cracks the whip? That's fine. I stood up for my brother and one of the best prospects in the organization because he got ****ed. And he was discriminated against in some capacity. That could not be any more apparent. The topic is Zach Borenstein. I'm talking about Zach Borenstein. You call me a child and insult me. Stay on topic? Take your own advice.

Didn't turn 23 until the end of July. And 22.8 was the league average age for hitters. It was 23.2 for pitchers. Had he not gotten hurt, he would have been promoted to AA right after the All-Star Break. Max Muncy is the same age as Zach. He was 14th on the list. Muncy is also limited to 1B. Played half of his games at Stockton. Mac Williamson is the same age as Zach. He was 18th on the list. Chris Taylor is the same age as Zach. He was 11th on the list. Played half of his games at High Desert. I actually like Taylor quite a bit. Patrick Kivlehan is 7 months older than Zach. He was 7th on the list and played half of his games at High Desert. Jace Peterson is 4+ months older than Zach. He was 8th on the list. Another promising middle infielder like Taylor. Travis Jankowski is 1 year younger than Zach and posted a .711 OPS. He was 12th on the list. He swiped a lot of bags. Trevor Story was ridiculously bad. OPS was .700. He hit .233. Struck out over 30% of the time. Who cares how old he is? You honestly don't see a double standard?

You've got something to say? Say it. He was a victim of some form of discrimination. Anti-Semitism. Prospect prejudice. Take your pick. It happened. I obviously took exception to it. Do you think anything I said was illegitimate? Speak up and be a man.

I get what you're saying, but you can't hold it against Zach that Wood turned out to be a huge bust. Nor can you hold it against him that he thrived in a hitter's league. Wood also played at Rancho, which is definitely a hitter's park. Trumbo played at Rancho as well. And Zach had a significantly better season than Trumbo had when he was in High-A. Trumbo may be a bit one-dimensional, but he at least does one thing exceedingly well in MLB. Besides, Zach has a much different swing and approach than either of those players. Apples to oranges. And I'm curious. After the poor season Cron had in AA, are you ready to write him off yet? If scouts think that Zach only succeeded this year because of the Cal League hitting environment, then I don't even know where to begin. Being skeptical is one thing. Being blind is entirely different.

Don't tell me you think leaving him off the Cal League's top 20 list was justifiable? The athleticism pretense Shonerd used is obvious and grossly inaccurate. Watch him run. Look at his physique. Not athletic? Give me a break. He was told by a trainer last year that he could play right now on special teams in the NFL. And he didn't play football in high school or college, let alone Pop Warner. He's got game on the basketball court, too. Anyone with a set of eyes should be able to see the athleticism. I don't care what BA writes about him in the future. I've lost all respect for them. BA is spewing out BS. They dropped the ball, and they should have been camping under it. Just because anti-Semitism isn't as overt as it used to be doesn't mean it no longer exists. Jews are probably the most maligned and persecuted religious group in recorded history. If racism and homophobia are alive and well, you can bet anti-Semitism is as well. One way or another, Zach is a victim of prejudice. Could be anti-Semitism. Could be prospect prejudice. Could be both. Either way, he got screwed.

I was looking at his underlying numbers at Minor League Central. I noticed some very encouraging trends. In 2012 at Cedar Rapids, his line drive rate was 10.3%. The Midwest League average was 15.1%. His line against righties was .287/.365/.516, in spite of a line drive rate of just 10.9%. On the road, he had a .276 ISO. In 2013 at Inland Empire, his line drive rate was 20.5%. The California League average was 16.0%. His line against righties was .342/.408/.705, with a line drive rate of 21.5%. That's a .363 ISO. After he came back from his injury, his line drive rate went up even more, as did his walk rate. In July, his LD% was 24.6 and his BB% was 11.4. In August, his LD% was 24.7 and his BB% was 14.4. Bottom line: he doubled his line drive rate from a year ago, which goes to show how much harder he hit the ball this year than last year. He wasn't squaring the ball up nearly as much last season. As I see it, there are four primary reasons for his development as a hitter: 1. He added a toe tap this year, which really helped his timing quite a bit. In the past because of his great bat speed he would have a tendency to sometimes be out in front. But now that he has the toe tap timing mechanism down, he has virtually eliminated this problem. Apart from the toe tap, he has a very quiet approach; there is very little wasted movement, which is as it should be. 2. He managed to shorten his swing and use his lower half to generate more power. If his swing was at all loopy before, it is not so much now. Ever since I can remember, he always had a ton of top spin on the ball, which I know would frustrate him at times. Now that he's creating more backspin, he's elevating the ball a lot more and it's flying. This has allowed him to finally tap into his raw power, which I can say without boast is substantial. 3. He's not getting himself out as much as he used to by expanding the strike zone. He has a better idea of how pitchers are going to pitch to him and what they'll throw in different counts. 4. He's using the whole field now. He went oppo with regularity this year, something my dad and I have always urged him to do. After a time, he noticed pitchers were working him outside. Understandably, they didn't want to give him anything middle and in. He just took what the pitchers were giving him and went with the pitches. And if they made a mistake, they usually paid for it. He's also always been very good at not popping the ball up in the infield. Last year his IFB% was 4.7. This year it was 4.9. He's hit fewer and fewer groundballs every year as well, which is another factor in his power surge. Lastly, he had a .415 BABIP against lefties this year, which probably inflated his .321 AVG against them some, but on the flip side his LD% against lefties was 17.6. Last year, it was 7.8 and the year before it was 10.5. Overall, in 233 career PAs against lefties he has held his own, posting a line of .279/.358/.431.

I'd like to see what Rondon can do at a higher level. Same with Fish. Morin was MLB-ready last year, IMO. His changeup is a devastating pitch.

If he can't crack the top 20 for the Cal League, there is no hope that he'll even be mentioned when BA makes the Angels' top 10 list. Most power will go to Grichuk. Best hitter will go to Cron or Lindsey or Yarbrough. I think he's the best prospect in the organization by leaps and bounds. But what do I know? I'm sure I'll get some flak for this, but I could care less at this point. My top 15 would look like this: 1. Zach 2. Mike Morin 3. Taylor Lindsey 4. Randal Grichuk 5. Alex Yarbrough 6. R.J. Alvarez 7. Michael Snyder 8. C.J. Cron 9. Eric Stamets 10. Nick Maronde 11. Mark Sappington 12. Matt Long 13. Michael Fish 14. Jose Rondon 15. Sherman Johnson Kaleb Cowart has to have a bounceback season to get back into the discussion, IMO. If he struggles again next year, if I were him I would strongly consider converting to a pitcher, as he was a dominant high school pitcher. He was clocked at 97 mph. The conversion has worked out pretty well for Joe Nathan, Troy Percival, Kenley Jansen, Sean Doolittle, Rafael Betancourt, Sergio Santos, Jason Motte, Carlos Marmol, Alexi Ogando, etc.