Top Prospects #3-5

Ok guys, I want to do a mock draft next week so I'm pushing through this today. One change is that I'm going to do a max of 5 prospects per team. That way I can hopefully get it done. Here's 3-5, I should be able to get #1 & #2 done and out by the end of the work day. As a quick refresher, here's what the values mean:

Team rankings include (Total Quality Points / Average Quality Points / Average Rank)

After player’s name is (Woco Rank / Overall Prospect Rank)

And now onto the good stuff:

5.) Snapdragons (60.0 / 4.62 / 63.1) – Grade = 61.0

Desmond Jennings – 4 / 5

Carlos Santana - 7 / 8

Pedro Alvarez – 11 / 13

C. C. Carter - 22 / 25

Brett Lawrie - 29 / 38

Mike Montgomery – 32 / 41

Casey Crosby – 40 / 60

Simon Castro – 45 / 86

Trevor Reckling – 48 / 97

Scott Sizemore – 49 / 100

Brandon Allen – NR / 120

Brad Lincoln – NR / 132

Coming in at #5 is our other recent expansion team, Handsome Chuck Trotter’s Snapdragons. The Snappers appear to have a plan of acquiring as much high upside talent as possible in order to build a winner. Even though they’re coming in at #5 now, it would be no surprise to see them in the top 2 next offseason. Jennings is referred to many as the next Carl Crawford. Great speed, great defense, solid average and enough pop to be more than a Michael Bourn / Jacoby Ellsbury type. That would appear to be his floor while Crawford would be his ceiling. Santana is regarded as one of the top 2 catching prospects in the game. He can hit for average and has good pop for a catcher and is a strong enough defender that he’ll be able to stick at the position. Alvarez is a heavily debated prospect among enthusiasts. Some view him as an elite bat, sure to hit 30+ home runs regularly. Others see holes in his swing and point to the rumors of laziness and think he’ll never reach stardom. CC Carter (aka the Black Deer) is another highly debated prospect who will be outlined below. Lastly, Simon Castro is a personal favorite of this writer who was upset to learn the Snappers had him and a prospect who could very easily be in the top 20 next year. Castro has always possessed a nice 92-94 mph fastball with great movement but made major strides in 2009 with his change-up and slider making him a more complete pitcher. His K rate jumped while his walk rate and FIP fell, all positive signs of things to come.

Prospect Profile – Chris C Carter

Pros – Good size (6’4”, 210 lbs) and mammoth power, solid walk rates, upside has been compared to Jim Thome and Ryan Howard, potential elite bat

Cons – Poor defensively, dangerously high K-rates, viewed by some as a 3 true outcomes player such as Jack Cust or Rob Deer (hence the nickname)

3t.) The DLB (30.5 / 6.10 / 38.8) – Grade = 64.0

Justin Smoak – 9 / 11

Domonic Brown – 12 / 14

Lonnie Chisenhall – 30 / 39

Jarrod Parker – 31 / 40

Jonathon Niese – 46 / 90

I’m pretty sure no one but me cares so this will be quick. Chisenhall is a solid 3B prospect that might not have the ceiling of an Alvarez but at the same time has a higher floor. Brown is a potential 30/30 or 20/20 candidate. Upside would be an Abreu / Kemp type, downside a Corey Hart type. Smoak is the man, put up good numbers and is still highly ranked despite playing most of last year with an oblique injury. Can’t wait to watch him rake. Niese has a chance to be a JA Happ type, solid back of the rotation pitcher. Parker is out for the year after Tommy John but has excellent command and still has great potential if he recovers adequately.

3t.) Limerick Lynchmob (20.5 / 6.83 / 6.5) – Grade = 64.0

Jason Heyward – 1 / 1

Madison Bumgarner – 10 / 12

Alex Liddi – NR / NR

The Lynchmob always seem to pick up the right players at the right time. In recent years, they’ve seen Joey Votto, Clay Buchholz, Joba Chamberlain and Hunter Pence go from mid range prospects to well regarded young major leaguers after picking them up. It looks like they’ve done it again twice over. First, let’s start with Alex Liddi. Liddi had a huge year in A+ but many feel that it may be a mirage based on his .413 BABIP. Still, if he can carry that into AA he’ll quickly become a legit prospect. Jason Hewyard we all know about. He’s a physical specimen who’s killed the ball at every level, he takes walks, he breaks car windows in the parking lot. With little left to prove in the minors he should be in Atlanta by the end of May. There’s not much negative to say outside of the fact that Delmon Young was once regarded similarly and look how he turned out. When he’s not jerking off on airplanes to help himself pass out, Eric still cries himself to sleep over Delmon’s failures. For more on Mad-Bum, see below.

Prospect Profile – Madison Bumgarner

Pros – Solid 3-pitch mix with all 3 having above average potential, close to MLB ready, ERA has yet to be above 1.93 at any level

Cons – Loss of velocity at the end of 2009 scares many, K rate has dropped and both walk rate and FIP have increased at every level, more cute than handsome