The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim just might have the worst farm system in baseball, and their Arizona League team may feature the fewest prospects of any team in the league. They did have some guys see time there either in rehab, Taylor Lindsey, or to start their pro careers, Sean Newcomb, but for the most part, their team has featured a bunch of guys who don’t project to amount to much.
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They are the team I saw the least of this season, and that was intentional. The only player that really intrigued me on the team I never did get a chance to see, Joe Gatto. Gatto was taken with the 53rd overall pick in this year’s draft, and is behind only the Angels top pick, Newcomb, on MLB.com’s team prospect rankings.
Gatto has not gone more than three innings this season, which is typical for high school pitchers in the AZL, but has given up at least one earned run in all but two of his nine outings. His WHIP is near two, but from people I have talked to that have seen him, his stuff does look good, he just needs to improve his command.
Offensively, the team really doesn’t have any prospects. Ayendy Perez has 15 steals for the team, the most impressive stat line of any Angels position player, but he looks more like an org center fielder than much of a prospect.
Mario Martinez might have the highest upside of any Angels position player in the AZL, but he isn’t even a regular starter right now. The 18-year old catcher is hitting under .200 this season, but he has turned it around some lately, hitting .258 over his past ten games.
The strength in the Angels AZL squad is in the pitching staff, which does have some decent arms, but the club perfectly resembles the team’s system, unremarkable.