It’s time for the last installment of the snubs from my top 100 prospects list, as we look at those that came from NL West organizations.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Top 100 Prospects: LHP Tyler Skaggs (#5), RHP Trevor Bauer (#14), LHP David Holmberg (#31), RHP Archie Bradley (#63), LHP Pat Corbin (#83)
(no notable snubs)
Colorado Rockies
Top 100 Prospects: LHP Drew Pomeranz (#29), OF Tim Wheeler (#56), 3B Nolan Arenado (#87), RHP Chad Bettis (#91)
C Wilin Rosario—Repeating Double-A after a breakout 2010, Rosario struggled, particularly with his approach. It’s not the first time he’s run into trouble, and 2010 looks like something of an outlier now. Rosario is probably the next Miguel Olivo more than a star-level catcher.
LHP Edwar Cabrera—Put up some silly numbers at both A-ball levels, and he’s not entirely without stuff, but he’s pretty old and looks like more of a fourth starter. Best case, he’s Dallas Braden with less control and more velocity.
San Francisco Giants
Top 100 Prospects: LHP Eric Surkamp (#64), OF Gary Brown (#76)
SS Joe Panik—Panik was viewed as a reach as the 29th overall pick in the draft, but he’s already improved his stock tremendously after hitting .341/.401/.467 in the Northwest League and showing well in the AFL. At the same, he projects more as a solid regular than a star, and it’s tough for me to rank a guy with that sort of B/B+-grade upside in the top 100 when he has no full-season experience. A nice credit to the Giants’ scouting staff, regardless of where I place him.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Top 100 Prospects: none
RHP Garrett Gould—An underrated curveball artist who wasn’t far off the cut, Gould pitched very well in Low-A as a teenager in 2011. His strikeout rate isn’t elite, though, and he doesn’t boast huge velocity, so he’s got a bit more to prove.
RHP Zach Lee—Statistically similar to Gould, although he boasts more velocity. Just off the cut as well, and many have him on their lists. It’s easy to understand why.
RHP Allen Webster—Webster threw well in High-A as a 21-year-old, but ran into some trouble in Double-A. He doesn’t have a true plus pitch, relying more on three solid-average offerings. He’s moved fairly quickly and has possible #3/#4 upside, but doesn’t have quite enough floor or upside to make it this year.
OF Alex Castellanos—Hit .320/.386/.573 in Double-A last year, but he was 25; that alone is enough a black mark. An intriguing sleeper, though, especially since he was working on playing second base in the AFL.
RHP Nate Eovaldi–Eovaldi throws really hard, and he made it to the majors at age 21 this year, but he’s never put up huge results, and his offspeed offerings are still iffy. A potential power closer, but far from a lock to be an impact starter.
San Diego Padres
Top 100 Prospects: LHP Robbie Erlin (#11), RHP Joe Wieland (#24), C Yasmani Grandal (#36), OF Rymer Liriano (#48), 2B/SS Jonathan Galvez (#58), RHP Keyvius Sampson (#62), RHP Matt Lollis (#74), 1B Yonder Alonso (#97)
2B Vince Belnome–Hit .332/.432/.603 in Double-A, and a career .301/.418/.500 hitter. He’s not a very athletic player, though, and he’ll have to prove himself at every level. You can see a lefthanded Dan Uggla here, but he’s soon to be 24, and he may have to move to the outfield corners a la Matt Stairs.
LHP Juan Oramas—Something of a lefthanded Webster, in that he’s moved quickly and has decent upside, but not enough to really blow anyone away. His flyball tendencies will play well in Petco, though.
RHP Casey Kelly—Strikeout rate continued to drop even as he repeated Double-A. Stats and reports continue to worsen.
3B/OF James Darnell—Crushed Double-A upon repeating the level to breathe life into his prospect status, but couldn’t even do much in the pinball-machine environment of Tucson. A terrible third baseman, he’s been largely moved to the outfield at this point, and probably isn’t an impact player there.
2B Cory Spangenberg—Like Panik, Spangenberg was thought to be an overdraft, and then he dominated the NWL. He’s omitted from the list for the same reason–his upside is “average-to-above-average starter,” and he’s still very far away from the majors.
Follow S2S on Twitter @Seedlings2Stars and yours truly @stoltz_baseball. Also, like our Facebook page!