Continuing the series . . .
11. Pete Kozma
See you in: Palm Beach
Journey Theme Song: Here We Are
Best Case 2009: Slow but steady wins the race. Solid defense at short. Hit for average. Walk in more than 10% of your plate appearances. ISO around .100.
Worst Case 2009: Jose Martinez like collapse. The cacophony would crescendo.
12. Allen Craig
See you in: Memphis
Journey Theme Song: I’ll Be Alright Without You
Best Case 2009: Allen Craig rakes. 25 HRs with moderate walk rate. Gets traded to another organization.
Worst Case 2009: Gets moved around the diamond as the club can’t find a trade partner for his bat. The defensive failings stick as a label and he’s mired as a left fielder in an organization with too many outfielders.
13. Jon Jay
See you in: Memphis
Journey Theme Song: Opened the Door
Best Case 2009: Jay opened enough eyes in spring training to get a call up from injuries or become a serious trading chip. He shows the ability to be an everyday player.
Worst Case 2008: The floor is pretty high but Jay becomes a fourth outfielder who can’t establish a solid role with the organization and is pushed aside by Daryl Jones.
14. Clayton Mortensen
See you in: Memphis
Journey Theme Song: Someday Soon
Best Case 2009: Mortensen gets it together and dominates AAA hitters with a heavy sinking fastball and swing-and-miss secondary offerings that he can command. His success spells the end of Pineiro-esque signings.
Worst Case 2009: Being rushed to AAA really did impair his development. The groundball and strikeout rates never rebound as the command returns to college levels.
15. Niko Vasquez
See you in: Quad Cities
Journey Theme Song: Lovin’ You is Easy
Best Case 2009: He displays capable defensive skills at short or 2nd with plus power relative to the position.
Worst Case 2009: He grabs a lead glove label and struggles to hit for average.
Entries (RSS)
It would be great to see Pete Kozma have a great year and establish himself as the SS of the future in StL. All five of these guys are interesting players that seem to have a very good shot of playing in the big leagues – and we’re only at 11-15! That’s good news if you ask me.
i would also love to see kozma establish himself as a very good prospect and the future shortstop, but depending on what happens this year, i wouldn’t mind khalil greene sticking around for another 5 years.
Niko Vazquez was playing catcher every time I saw him in drills last week. I didn’t read anything into that.
@ Liam …. Paul Vazquez?
i hope he meant paul vazquez…though that kind of pop at catcher coul dbe intriguing
I never realized how applicable Journey titles were to the world of baseball prospects. You’re opened a whole new world to me.
I’m pretty hopeful on all these guys. I hate to see him go, but Craig is going to have to be traded. Can’t hold back Freese and Wallace. Maybe we trade him with Glaus, give a team a today and tomorrow option.
That’s a fine goof on my part. Thanks for the correction.
@ Mookie:
Who do you imagine we’d be trading Glaus to? Not to sound incredulous, but I can’t imagine we’d get much of a package when the 3B-man we’re giving up will be playing five months of the season (at best) in a walk year after shoulder surgery (read: power outage).
Craig would up the ante, of course, but I can’t imagine a team being too interested in Glaus in the first place.
@ archsupport
Is this the first you’ve heard someone mention trading Glaus? It’s an extremely likely trade. He’s got a lot of pop in that bat, and some team making a push for the playoffs will love having him there. I’m not saying we’re going to get a Top 5 prospect for him, but we’d certainly get some value.
As for who, not sure yet. That will unfold as the season does.
I wouldn’t call any trade involving a player with a no-trade clause extremely likely.