Llewyn Davis

Let's see what he can do in Independent Ball first. He'll be 35 in May. The last time he pitched was half his lifetime ago, and that was against bad competition. Mark Mulder he is not.

Yes. But he needs to stay healthy and maintain his peak years in his early-to-mid 30s. He can be what Barry Bonds was supposed to be - before he cheated. The greatest all-around player of all time. And Trout is a natural center fielder, not a left fielder like Bonds. Advantage Trout in that regard.

I mean it's not really a terrible idea. That is what Iannetta does best, and he does it pretty well. Against righties, his career line is .223.343/.392. A .343 OBP isn't bad, but I don't think it's quite good enough for him to bat 2nd against righties, given his baserunning limitations and lack of extra base hits to put him in scoring position. I also want to see what Conger can do with full-time ABs against righties. I think he has more upside against them. And since he hits for so much power against lefties (.233 ISO) aside from getting on base, I would want him in a position to drive in runs, especially with Hamilton in decline against lefties.

If Pujols and Hamilton were what they were 2-5 years ago, you could get away with batting Trout leadoff. But the reality is they're not what they were. And the team is best served by having its best hitter bat 3rd in a position to drive in runs, not two has-beens who are still above average but no longer anything special.

Iannetta is too station-to-station for my liking as a table setter. He only averages 23 doubles per 162 games, too. So he really doesn't get himself into scoring position even when he gets on base. Kendrick averages 38 doubles and 14 SBs per 162 games. OBP is important at the top of the order, but if you're station-to-station and don't get very many extra base hits, it's misleading.

Against RHP: 1. Howie Kendrick - R 2. Kole Calhoun - L 3. Mike Trout - R 4. Albert Pujols - R 5. Josh Hamilton - L 6. David Freese - R 7. Raul Ibanez - L 8. Hank Conger - S 9. Erick Aybar - S 1. Kole Calhoun - L 2. Howie Kendrick - R 3. Mike Trout - R 4. Albert Pujols - R 5. Josh Hamilton - L 6. David Freese - R 7. Raul Ibanez - L 8. Hank Conger - S 9. Erick Aybar - S 1. Howie Kendrick - R 2. Kole Calhoun - L 3. Mike Trout - R 4. Josh Hamilton - L 5. Albert Pujols - R 6. David Freese - R 7. Raul Ibanez - L 8. Hank Conger - S 9. Erick Aybar - S 1. Kole Calhoun - L 2. Howie Kendrick - R 3. Mike Trout - R 4. Josh Hamilton - L 5. Albert Pujols - R 6. David Freese - R 7. Raul Ibanez - L 8. Hank Conger - S 9. Erick Aybar - S Against LHP: 1. Howie Kendrick - R 2. Kole Calhoun - L 3. Mike Trout - R 4. Albert Pujols - R 5. David Freese (.312/.377/.465 career line) - R 6. Chris Iannetta (.251/.385/.484 career line) - R 7. Josh Hamilton (.201/.233/.363 last year) - L 8. Erick Aybar - S 9. J.B. Shuck (.310/.355/.390 last year) - L 1. Kole Calhoun - L 2. Howie Kendrick - R 3. Mike Trout - R 4. Albert Pujols - R 5. David Freese (.312/.377/.465 career line) - R 6. Chris Iannetta (.251/.385/.484 career line) - R 7. Josh Hamilton (.201/.233/.363 last year) - L 8. Erick Aybar - S 9. J.B. Shuck (.310/.355/.390 last year) - L 1. Howie Kendrick - R 2. David Freese (.312/.377/.465 career line) - R 3. Mike Trout - R 4. Albert Pujols - R 5. Kole Calhoun - L 6. Chris Iannetta (.251/.385/.484 career line) - R 7. Josh Hamilton (.201/.233/.363 last year) - L 8. Erick Aybar - S 9. J.B. Shuck (.310/.355/.390 last year) - L 1. Howie Kendrick - R 2. David Freese (.312/.377/.465 career line) - R 3. Mike Trout - R 4. Albert Pujols - R 5. Chris Iannetta (.251/.385/.484 career line) - R 6. Kole Calhoun - L 7. Josh Hamilton (.201/.233/.363 last year) - L 8. Erick Aybar - S 9. J.B. Shuck (.310/.355/.390 last year) - L Would Trout be a great leadoff hitter? Obviously. He already was one. But it really is a waste of his power and his contact skills. He is easily the best hitter on the team, and if guys are on base he's the guy most likely to drive them in with his skill set. Kendrick isn't really a true leadoff hitter, but he's better than Aybar. Plus, if Kendrick isn't batting 2nd he can't ground into double plays. And I would prefer Calhoun behind him against RHP because I think he has a little more pop and he's a lefty. Otherwise, there would be three righties in a row after Calhoun at 2, 3, and 4. I prefer that first lineup against RHP, but all of the lineups are pretty solid. A case could actually be made for having Hamilton bat cleanup and Pujols bat 5th. If Pujols is what he was last year and Hamilton bounces back, that's a switch I wouldn't be opposed to. Against LHP we have more potential combinations, but I feel like we also have more limitations. Freese could bat 2nd. Calhoun could bat 5th or 6th. Hamilton embarrassed himself against lefties last year (sub .600 OPS). His skills are declining fast. Shin-Soo Choo can't hit lefties at all anymore, either. But he's still very good against righties. And I would expect Hamilton to still be solid against righties as well. But it's getting to the point where he might have to be platooned. Having him and Shuck out there against LHP is less than ideal at this point, but it's what we have to work with. I think when Cron arrives, he'll help out us out a ton against LHP, at the very least. Ibanez is a placeholder until the organization feels that either Cron or Borenstein is ready. Honestly though, Cron could probably help us against LHP right now.

Santiago is a hard pitcher to gauge. Not too many throw screwballs these days. His peripherals have never been all that good and his command is spotty. Still, he's pitched above his peripherals the last two seasons. He's a candidate for regression, but there's no reason to think he can't do it again. Unlike Santiago, Richard's peripherals paint a portrait of a pitcher on the verge of taking the next step. His groundball rate (57.9%) was elite. His xFIP was 3.58, which was well below his ERA. His SwStr% has always been above average. He has the ability to miss bats. The key for him will be getting ahead in the count and throwing more first pitch strikes. You're not in a position to put away hitters if you don't get those 0-2 and 1-2 counts. He also needs to become more comfortable pitching from the stretch. His strand rates need to improve. That's one of the biggest reasons why his ERA was a little inflated last year. Reports on Skaggs losing velocity the last few seasons are a concern. Still, his curveball is a plus-plus pitch. I see Barry Zito upside if he develops. None of them will ever be aces. Santiago could be a good 4 or 5. Richards could be a good 3 or 4. Skaggs could be a good 2 or 3.

Most underrated prospect in the system, IMO.

Yeah, I think one of the biggest things with Chris Davis last year was the fact that he wasn't just willing to go the other way. He was looking to go the other way. And Camden Yards is a lot like Citizens Bank Park. I think Davis will put up similar seasons to Ryan Howard's 4-year peak for the next few years. Dwight Evans developed more power in the 2nd half of his career.

He's easily top 10 in the system. Not sure why some people are so down on him. Cron will be rated high, as he should. He's top 5 in my book, no question about it. He's got jaw-dropping power. But I really don't see that big of a gap between them. In fact, it could be argued that Borenstein is the better hitter. Numbers never tell the whole story. But they also don't lie. And Borenstein's numbers, even in the Cal League, stand out. He was 63% better than the rest of the league. Yarbrough was 8% better than the rest of the league. Snyder was 15% better than the rest of the league. Cowart was 9% better than the rest of the league in 2012. Cron was 12% better than the rest of the league in 2012. Grichuk was 9% better than the rest of the league in 2012. Lindsey was 9% worse than the rest of the league in 2012. Calhoun was 43% better than the rest of the league in 2010. Trout was 16% better than the rest of the league in 2010. Trumbo was 24% better than the rest of the league in 2008. Bourjos was 1% better than the rest of the league in 2008. Age is a factor here. But you'd think we would have learned from Calhoun not to underestimate a player like Borenstein. Am I missing something here? Speaking for myself, I'm excited to see if he can take the next step. There aren't many hitters in our system worth getting excited about. I think Borenstein is one of them, even if his brother is a colossal douche like I've heard.

Durable position players will give you 150-162 games. Durable starting pitchers will give you 30-35 starts. The position player impacts the games a lot more than the starting pitcher. I'm not saying pitching isn't important. But a good position player is unquestionably more valuable than a good starter. This isn't even really up for debate. Sabermetricians will tell you the same thing. That's why they like WAR so much. Mike Trout is the best position player in the game. Clayton Kershaw is the best starting pitcher in the game. Who do you want to start a team? Or take the five best position players in the game: Trout, Miggy, Goldschmidt, McCutchen, Cano/Tulo Now take the five best starting pitchers in the game: Kershaw, Darvish, Felix, Fernandez, Scherzer/Sale/Verlander/Bumgarner Which side do you take? I don't even have to think twice about it, especially now with how many quality pitchers there are out there and how few elite position players there are. I would take Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, and Xander Bogaerts in a heartbeat over Archie Bradley, Noah Syndergaard, Masahiro Tanaka, Taijuan Walker, and Jon Gray.

Guys I'd rank higher: Mike Morin (7) Zach Borenstein (9) Alex Yarbrough (10) Eric Stamets (14) Cal Towey (24) Michael Fish (26) Matt Long (27) Sherman Johnson (28) Michael Snyder (30) Wade Hinkle (33) Tyler DeLoach (34) Guys I'd rank lower: R.J. Alvarez (2) Kaleb Cowart (4) Mark Sappington (5) Hunter Green (6) Ricardo Sanchez (8) Cam Bedrosian (12) I'll always take the relatively proven position player over the pitching prospect who hasn't done anything just because pitching is so volatile and position players are more valuable. I'm also a proponent of tangible production over raw tools.

Fregosi had some monster seasons with the Halos. If he had been able to stay healthy for the 2nd half of his career, we might be talking about a Hall of Famer. 1964: 7.0 WAR 1970: 6.8 WAR 1965: 5.4 WAR 1967: 5.2 WAR 1966: 5.0 WAR 1969: 4.4 WAR

Interesting to note that closer Steve Bedrosian, father of Cam Bedrosian, undeservedly won a Cy Young over Ryan in 1987. It's a travesty Ryan never got that hardware, though. Definitely should have won in 1973. Beat Koufax's record, and Koufax never had to face a DH like Ryan did.

The things is Shuck is extremely limited. He's not a terrible player by any stretch. But he hits for an empty average. No power whatsoever and his OBP was only so-so last year. He's also not a very good outfielder. So his value is pretty much tied to his batting average. Shuck hit 11 points higher than Calhoun last year, yet Calhoun's OPS was over 100 points higher than Shuck's. And there's plenty of room for growth with Calhoun, too. That said, Shuck did demonstrate a much better walk rate in the minors, so you would think he would be more selective moving forward. His OBP could definitely improve, but he won't magically develop power. All you have to do is look at what Shuck and Calhoun each did in the California League and the PCL to see who is the better player and who has more upside. When Shuck played at Lancaster, his ISO was actually below .100. Same with the PCL. That's seriously hard to do. Calhoun might have Alex Gordon upside. To me it's not even close, and that's no disrespect to Shuck, who is probably a league average 4th outfielder. Calhoun should start every game that he is healthy enough to do so. If he needs some rest, Shuck can spell him. Talk of him taking away starts from Calhoun is very discouraging. Hopefully, MS hasn't completely lost his mind.

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130225&content_id=41998650&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp I knew Dickey-Stephens Park in the Texas League (AA) was a big pitcher's park. I did not know that San Manuel Stadium in the California League (A+) is basically the same. Dickey-Stephens Park: 0.818 R, 0.522 HR, 0.888 H San Manuel Stadium: 0.793 R, 0.552 HR, 0.920 H Calhoun's line (age 23) at San Manuel was .312/.382/.476 (.858 OPS), .164 ISO Borenstein's line (age 22) at San Manuel was .327/.388/.551 (.939 OPS), .224 ISO Yarbrough's line (age 21) at San Manuel was .328/.350/.448 (.798 OPS), .120 ISO Snyder's line (age 22) at San Manuel was .289/.364/.520 (.884 OPS), .231 ISO Cron's line (age 22) at San Manuel was .264/.301/.384 (.685 OPS), .120 ISO Lindsey's line (age 20) at San Manuel was .304/.350/.407 (.757 OPS), 103 ISO Grichuk's line (age 20) at San Manuel was .294/.327/.475 (.802 OPS), .181 ISO Surprised to see Borenstein and Snyder with the only ISOs above .200. Borenstein was actually the only player to post an OPS above .900. Snyder got close. He seems underrated to me. Calhoun did well there. Cron struggled big time there. Lindsey's power was still developing when he was there. We saw some of that development this season.

Skaggs, Cron, Borenstein, Lindsey, Morin, Alvarez I want to see the young pups get some ABs. I also want to see Skaggs' 12-6 curveball, Morin's changeup, and Alvarez blow guys away.

Good call. I don't think he'll be a poor man's Gordon, either. He could put up similar numbers, IMO.

I wouldn't compare anyone to Trout, even if they're on the same team. Somebody mentioned Brian Giles with Calhoun. I think that's a much better comp. He could be a poor man's Giles.

The writer for Prospect Digest, JM Werner, seems a bit like a rebel. I saw he had Bryant ranked #1 in the Cubs' system and Baez ranked #2. I think a lot of people would be reluctant to do that at this point. I like the list. It seems like most lists just regurgitate information, along with the scouting reports you read. I agree with Angelsjunky that it's too statistically-driven, but how many of these guys have actually watched the players they are ranking? I would be willing to bet very few. Jason Parks over at Baseball Prospectus kind of let the genie out of the bottle with this piece he wrote: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=15596 And at the end of the day, I'll take solid production over raw potential every time. Tools don't mean a thing if you don't know how to use them. And makeup is extremely important. Hello Bolden and Clarke!

http://www.prospectd...op-10-prospect/ 1. Taylor Lindsey 2. Zach Borenstein 3. Kaleb Cowart 4. C.J. Cron 5. R.J. Alvarez 6. Nick Maronde 7. Hunter Green 8. Kyle McGowin 9. Tyler DeLoach 10. Michael Morin Interesting. I dig the Utley comp for Lindsey. He should have made BA's top 100. Not sure why he didn't. Haven't seen Borenstein ranked that high on any lists, but if he's anything like Calhoun I'm on board. He seems down on Cowart. No surprise there. I think it's time to seriously consider converting him back to a pitcher like he probably should have been in the first place in pro ball. Fair assessment of Cron, I think. Although you have to give him a bit of a pass with the shoulder surgery and Dickey Stephens suppressing his power. Alvarez has filthy stuff. Could be our future closer. DeLoach intrigues me. A tall college lefty who dominated, even if he was a bit old for Low-A. Hope they promote him aggressively. Glad to see Morin finally make one of these lists. Criminally underrated. Wondering where Yarbrough is, though. Skaggs might as well still be considered a prospect, although technically I guess he isn't. Wish we still had Grichuk.