Name: Anthony Gose
DOB: 8/10/90
Organization: Blue Jays
Position: Outfield
Notable 2011 Stats: .253/.349/.415 with 20 2B, 7 3B, 16 HR, 154/62 K/BB, and 70-for-85 SB in 137 games with New Hampshire (AA)
Why He’s This High: Gose may seem like an odd pick on my list, since he’s always been a raw tools guy more than a performance prospect, and I obviously weight performance/floor more heavily than a lot of others. But to push Gose far down the list would be to ignore the immense potential he has. It’s one thing to steal 70 bases–which doesn’t have as much value as a lot of people think–but it’s quite another to do it while ripping 16 homers and working 62 walks as a 20-year-old in Double-A. If he can cut down on his strikeouts, Gose will be an extremely valuable leadoff hitter, and he’s got plenty of time to work on that.
Defensively, Gose is great as well, as he boasts a plus arm and excellent range in center field and is no threat to need to move to a corner. He still has room to grow into his frame and could end up being a 20-HR player in the majors. How many people are in the 20/70 club?
Why He’s This Low: Really, Gose has but one flaw–the strikeout. He does mitigate that weakness in two ways–he walked enough in 2011 to give himself a respectable .4 K/BB ratio, and his BABIPs have always been high. Therefore, he’s been able to hit for decent averages and OBPs in his career despite the strikeouts. Still, of course, the whiffs will limit his ceiling if he can’t get them under 20%, and he struck out 26.2% of the time in 2011.
He ran into a lot of outs in 2010, getting caught 32 (!) times on the bases, but seemed to clean that mistake up in 2011. There should still be a bit of concern about that past and his big power spike in 2011 (regarding the power, note that he didn’t hit as many doubles and triples as you might expect, so perhaps he just got the ball to clear the fence a few more times than normal?).
Conclusions: Gose looks like a potential franchise player if he can continue to make progress in all areas of the game, and he’s certainly done a nice job of translating his tools into skills thus far in his career. He does remain raw, particularly in his approach at the plate, but his other skills are so great that he should have a Michael Bourn sort of career even if he can’t do a whole lot to fix his strikeout problems. And if he can eliminate those worries? Well, then the sky is the limit.
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