Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com gave a nice status report on the 30 players drafted in the first round of the 2007 first-year player draft. He notes that because of a recent change in draft rules, players must sign with the teams that drafted them by August 15th or they have to re-enter the draft pool for the following year. Each first rounder did so, although some not early enough to play last summer.
Some highlights from Mayo’s article (draft position in parentheses):
- David Price (No. 1, LHP, Tampa Bay Rays): His elbow injury did not require surgery; he will make his pro debut in Class A, probably this May.
- Ross Detwiler (No. 6, LHP, Washington Nationals): Brought up late last September, Detwiler will start the year in the minors but looks to be moving up quickly.
- Tim Alderson (No. 22, RHP, San Francisco Giants): His unorthodox delivery made some clubs shy away from drafting him, but an impressive performance out of high school has the Giants starting him in Class A Advanced ball.
- Aaron Poreda (No. 25, LHP,Chicago White Sox): He can get his fastball into the high-90s, but the White Sox are having him spend time in the minors this year to develop his secondary pitches.
Tags: Aaron Poreda, Chicago White Sox Prospects, David Price, MLB Prospect News, Ross Detwiler, San Francisco Giants Prospects, Tampa Bay Rays Prospects, Tim Alderson, Washington Nationals Prospects
Posted in Aaron Poreda, David Price, Giants Prospects, MLBPN Top Prospects, Nationals Prospects, P, Rays Prospects, Ross Detwiler, Tim Alderson, White Sox Prospects | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
There is a potential road hazard on Hayden Road in Augusta, GA. A place where Giants top prospect INF Angel Villalona likes to hit 450-foot bombs over the left-field fence and into oncoming traffic. Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News writes that the Giants low-A Augusta GreenJackets (yes, like the 4 that Tiger Woods has won) are stockpiled with some of the best talent the Giants have had in many, many years. Scouts will almost unanimously tell you that the best of these players is 17-year-old Angel Villalona, who is making the transition from 3B to 1B this season. Villalona told reporters that he thinks he’s probably BETTER at 1B than 3B, and he feels more comfortable over there in general. If his power and plate-discipline at age 17 are any indication, the kid they call “Big V” will be ripping up major league pitching within the next two years.
Along with Villalona, the GreenJackets boast a number of prospects with tremendous upside. These include the middle infield combo of 2B Nick Noonan (sandwich pick, 2007) and SS Charlie Culberson (2nd round, 2007), along with two of last year’s first round draft picks, OF Wendell Fairley and P Madison Bumgarner. 19-year-old P Tim Alderson, Baseball America’s #84 prospect could also be on board, but with his command, the Giants may opt to promote him to A-San Jose sooner rather than later. All in all, this influx of youthful talent should be welcome sign to Giants fans, who have suffered through years of barren farm systems due to their unbridled reliance on the free-agent market to stockpile veteran players to surround one, Barry Lamar Bonds.
Tags: 1B, 2B, 3B, Angel Villalona, Charlie Culberson, Giants Prospects, Madison Bumgarner, MLB Prospects, Nick Noonan, OF, P, SP, SS, Tim Alderson, Wendell Fairley
Posted in 1B, 2B, 3B, Angel Villalona, Charlie Culberson, Giants Prospects, Madison Bumgarner, Nick Noonan, OF, P, SP, SS, Tim Alderson, Wendell Fairley | No Comments »
