Top 20 PRE-SEASON San Diego Padres Prospects in Review

    This is the PRE-SEASON list. That means it was generated BEFORE THE SEASON STARTED and that the grades were PRE-SEASON. Anyone complaining about the grades based on 2006 performance will be smacked up the side of the head with a Junior Herndon autographed baseball.

1) Cesar Carrillo, RHP, Grade A-
    Out with an elbow injury. Had a 3.21 ERA in 10 starts between Double-A Mobile and Triple-A Portland before getting hurt. Status unclear at this point.

2) George Kottaras, C, B+
    Hitting .275/.393/.454 for Mobile, showing good plate discipline and moderate power. I still like him a lot.

3) Josh Barfield, 2B, B
    Hitting .279/.315/.396 in 78 games for the Padres, with 10 steals. I'd like to see more pop and I think it will come in time.
4) Chase Headley, 3B, B
    Hitting .279/.369/.443 for Class A Lake Elsinore, with 43 walks. Good plate discipline, moderate power. Will be interesting to see how he does next year in Double-A.

5) Clay Hensley, RHP, B
    5-6, 4.16 ERA in 15 starts for the Padres, holding his own with a decent rookie year.

6) Ben Johnson, OF, B-
    Hitting .240/.321/.400 in 32 games for the Padres. Capable of better if he gets the playing time in the long term.

7) Nick Hundley, C, B-
     Hitting .284/.362/.495 in 54 games for Class A Fort Wayne. Solid performance.

8) Paul McAnulty, 1B-OF, C+
     Hitting .312/.405/.520 for Portland, 1-for-5 in limited action for the Padres. He can hit if they find a place for him.

9) Cesar Ramos, LHP, C+
     4-4, 3.11 in 15 starts for Lake Elsinore, 45/26 K/BB in 90 innings. He throws strikes but I don't think he dominates a game consistently enough to thrive at higher levels. We will see.

10) Ernesto Frieri, RHP, C+
    13 innings combined between Lake Elsinore, Fort Wayne, and short-season Eugene. Has a 4.05 ERA and a 13/11 K/BB. Needs better control but the sample is small.

11) Geoff Vandel, LHP, C+
     9.82 ERA in 11 innings for Eugene. Sample is too small but control problems are evident.

12) Josh Geer, RHP, C+
      6-5, 3.60 in 14 starts combined between Fort Wayne and Lake Elsinore. 63/17 K/BB in 89 innings. Good command but K/IP and H/IP are mediocre.

13) Neil Jamison, RHP, C+
     Combined 2.54 ERA and 21 saves between Lake Elsinore and Fort Wayne, 40/12 K/BB in 39 innings. Projects as solid middle reliever.

14) John Madden, RHP, C+
    1.88 ERA in 29 innings for Fort Wayne. Good numbers in a fairly small sample.

15) Freddy Guzman, OF, C
     Traded to Texas, hitting a combined .278/.366/.380 between Triple-A Portland and Triple-A Oklahoma, with 24 steals. Very fast but lack of power is a major handicap if you want to use him as a regular.

16) Kenny Baugh, RHP, C
      Hasn't pitched this year.

17) Jared Wells, RHP, C
     4-5, 3.01 in 16 starts between Portland and Mobile, 65/42 K/BB in 81 innings. I like his low home run rate and H/IP ratio, but his command still needs some work.

18) Leonel Rosales, RHP, C
     3.24 ERA with 31/19 K/BB combined between Lake Elsinore and Mobile in 42 innings. Still a middle relief sleeper but very unlikely to get a chance to close at higher levels.

19) Matt Bush, SS, C
     Has missed most of the year with a broken ankle. Hitting .289/.385/.333 in 14 games for Fort Wayne. Too soon to tell if he has truly rebounded.

20) Kyle Blanks, 1B, C
     Hitting .280/.371/.456 for Fort Wayne, with significant power potential. A sleeper.

Comment:
    There are some decent prospects here, but only Kottaras looks like a potential impact player at this point, although Carrillo also has that potential if his elbow is OK.