Thursday, July 22, 2010

Trade Bait or Padres Top 20+ Prospects

Thursday July 22, 2010

Padres Top 20+ Prospects

All the talk of trades recently got me to thinking about who the top prospects are in the Padres system.  The pundits are saying no one in the Padres system was untouchable so who exactly are the prospects they are talking about and how good are they?

How would I rank them as of today. Who would be in my top 10? My top 20?

My 1st two picks would be real easy.
Both I would consider an A or an A- on John Sickels type of scale. Then it gets more difficult and they start to come in clumps.

#1 - Simon Castro -
The best pitcher in the Padres farm system. Power and control. September call up?

#2 - Jaff Decker
.405 BA last 10. .327/.444/.564/1.009 in 101 ABs since All Star Break. He is a Professional hitter.


Then 3 guys that I think are extremely close All would be B to B+ on Sickels scale.
#3 - James Darnell

#4 - Logan Forsythe

#5 - Keyvius Sampson
Surprised he is still at Eugene. Dominating there.


Then come 5 more that are pretty close, but not quite as good in my mind as the players above.
C+ to B- on the Sickels scale

#6 - Cory Luebke
He is the complete package. Power, control, goes deep in games.

#7 - Wynn Pelzer
Needs to go back to high leg kick, especially from stretch. Stuff better than record.

#8 - Aaron Poreda
7 hits allowed in 18.2 IP @ AAA  25 in 43.2 IP overall 2.68 ERA 23 years old LHP 98 mph FB

#9 - Drew Cumberland
After play this season would have been in 3-5 group if not for injury.

#10 - Everett Williams
On Tools alone. He is hitting .237 at Ft Wayne with 96 SO.

Then I come to a group that could fall anywhere from 11-15 (or even higher)
#11 - Donavan Tate
Hasn't played enough to know what kind of professional baseball player he can be
#12 - Cedric Hunter
Finally showing signs of why he was perennial top 10 Padres prospect. Still only 22.
#13 - Blake Tekotte
Hunter with a little more power. Moved up to SA when Hunter called up to Portland
#14 -  Edinson Rincon
19 years old in Ft Wayne. Hitting .302/.358 in 96 abs since AS Break
#15 -   Lance Zawadski
No one skill is spectacular, all are good. Has made steady progress up ladder. Future MLB utility?

Then we get a pack of about 20 that you could make a good argument of belonging in the 15-20 spots or even higher. In no particular order, other than the order they came into my fevered brain.

Rymer Liriano, Adys Portillo, Jerry Sullivan, Jedd Gyorko, Jeremy Hefner, Evan Scribner, Juan Oramas, Jeremy McBryde, Jason Hagerty, Nate Frieman, Craig Italiano, Cole Figueroa, Jerry Sullivan, Michael Watt, Chris Tremblay, Matt Lollis, Jonathan Galvez, Sawyer Carroll, Kellen Kulbacki, Anthony Bass.

Lots of C to B- prospects in that 11-20 group. Even a possible A prospect or two if Tate can ever stay healthy more than a week at a time or Portillo lives up to the hype or Gyorko continues to hit like he has to date as he moves up to LE and SA.

If he had signed already, Karsten Whitson would be in that group too.

Certainly enough good talent there for Hoyer & Moorad to go after any Bat or Pitcher the Padres decide to pursue at the trade deadline.

3 comments:

  1. The Pad Father7/22/2010 12:25 PM

    Good to see you writing fairly consistently again! As far as top 20 prospects go I think I would put Pelzer a little lower. He has struggled lately and was demoted to bullpen. I would probably trade him and Tate out on your list. Tate is just a manimal physically. If he stays healthy, he could be a true 5 tool player. I also don't think I would have Poreda so high. He walks one batter per inning. He would not be able to sustain his ERA at MLB level walking that many.

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  2. Larry Faria In Ocean Beach said:

    The problem with most Padres prospects is that they're not at AAA. I keep hearing of the trade requirements "major league ready" or "a year away", and the Padres minors are pretty thin in those categories. For this trade deadline, and probably the next offseason, the "trade bait" label probably doesn't apply.

    Moorad's plan is to build from within with a productive farm system, and don't think he'll change that plan before the conveyor belt has even been loaded yet. I expect no moves now, and only affordable free agents (or a minor trade) in the offseason.

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  3. There should be an announcement of a trade tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest with the Phillies sending an OF bat and the Padres sending pitching and a corner infield prospect.

    There will be another trade a little closer to the deadline.

    The Padres made a move on Oswalt with a nice package of players and were rebuffed early in the process. Oswalt will be traded, but its going to take a ML pitcher, ML ready corner infielder and a couple of other prospects to do it. Don't expect a Haren-like trade.

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