Despite being a bit old, he has put up some very solid ratios in AAA, striking out over 9/9IP, and seems to have finally figured out how to command the strike zone. His fastball and curveball are both plus pitches. He seems to me to be a late bloomer. Although he has been roughened up in his first 2 starts, his 3rd in the big league was promising. I think he will be a league average starter once he learns not to beat himself.

Age isn’t the concern with pitching prospects that it is with hitters. Good stuff and minor league pedigree combined with recent minor league dominance give him a good chance of being a mid-rotation starter. That’s worth a B.

Purcey’s a month younger than Dustin McGowan.

Bouncing back nicely from a miserable campaign last year. Has a sweet lefty swing but is still a bit of a 1-tool player, his only plus skill has been his ability to hit for average. Was bad/terrible at base running and defense coming out of high school and has shown steady improvement for a year and a half and is now seen as average to above average at both skills with room for further improvement. Still not a great natural athlete but playing more instinctive now with a pretty good arm in the outfield. At the plate Sulentic still has a mediocre BB/K rate but it is not terrible and has hit a decent amount of doubles but is still lacking in power for a corner outfielder.

Now that he is hitting again Sulentic is at least worth keeping an eye on but unless he can start to show more power or improve his plate discipline he still profiles as not much more than a 4th outfielder. The positives are that he is still young and has demonstrated a strong work ethic during his struggles so there is still a decent amount of potential there.

The guy still has a ton of talent. Ok, he’s 19 and struggling in AA. Is it troubling? A little, but talent is talent, and the kids still got tools, and a pretty good track record before this season.

Still young and projectable. I’d cut some slack for a 19 year old in AA.

jseiner and I agree on this one.

Tabata failed to show any power and couldn’t even adjust to the new conditions in Trenton. He didn’t even hit for average. I doubt any meaningful power will show up, but I think he’ll be able to hit .280 in the majors, at least. I honestly think Tabata should focus on being more of an extreme-contact guy, a la Ichiro, instead of hitting for power, because he would then be more valuable in the majors. He just doesn’t have the frame for 30 homers. That said, he is still young and he could get much better.

In AA this year, he had a 44:42 K:BB in 76 IP. His last 41 IP has been the first time in his entire career where he struck out more a large amount of batters. I’m not saying he doesn’t have potential, but I want to see a lot more

That fastball isn’t to be ignored. He can probably survive the bigs with that great fastball and bad breaking ball. He could be great when he improves that breaking pitch.

Power has been there all along, but now average has started to climb

No position and horrible strikeout rate. Great power at .260 average in the Cal league doesnt project well…imo.

freaking amazing hitter.

B-. I’m tempted to drop him even more, but this seems to be a case of a guy forcing patience and thus hurting his natural instincts. Willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Doing what people expected last year in AA, but at this stage, he needs to show more improvement. Potentially inching towards a move to the pen, where as a power pen arm, he could build a long career. That said, I think you give him until the end of the year, and maybe early next year.

Needs to show that his constantly improving minor league contact skills can translate to the big leagues. He’s walking more, striking out less, and hitting for more power in his second run at AAA, and there’s no reason for him not to be playing for the Mariners right now. He could easily be putting up a .300/.400/.600 line in Tacoma if it weren’t for bad BABIP luck.

The only reason he doesn’t keep the B+ is because I don’t trust the M’s to give him the ABs he needs to make the next step.

Big improvement in K/BB this year, but the gopheritis is concerning.

High risk/high reward.

Always struck out a lot of people. His control is a bit iffy, but he still looks like a very good pitcher

Rowell gets a C. Scouting reports on him aren’t very good in just about every way possible, and the numbers have gone from decent to sucktacular.

Right now, his age and pedigree are basically all he has going for him. And while those will give him opportunities galore, I’m skeptical at this point that it’ll all translate into a useful major leaguer in the end.

Defense is still a major question mark. Elite batting eye (53BB:49K in 87 games) and constantly improving power.

After putting a .279/.390/.397 skipped a level to AA and putting up a .343/.436/.489.

B+. Kid can clearly hit and he’s got elite speed. Solid eye at the plate too.

I think he’d be a good candidate to skip the FSL next year.

Strikes out a load of people and solid control. B+?

Definitely a B

Good stuff, good control, good stats; I don’t see any reason why he can’t be a very good pitcher.

He’s a little bit like a faster 2B version of Russell Martin – a very solid player at a shallow position who could, if everything works out, become one of the better players at the position simply by being good at a lot of things. I’d probably go B+

He’s heading off to the Olympics, so he won’t see AA this year, but he’s passed all of his tests so far.

Defensive questions means he’s gotta mash to be a solid prospect. He’s shown signs of a plus bat at catcher, but he’s struggled equally as much. There’s a lot of upside here, as he has all the talent to be an all-star catcher, but needs to catch up with the skills.

but with the (good for him) caveat that I think he’s equally valuable to the A’s at catcher or third base. So maybe a B- value-wise.

He will be the second best pitching(behind Davis) heading into next year. He has everything going for him…except having to pitch in Texas

‘Tweener status keeps me from giving him a higher grade. If he can prove he can play major league CF defense, he’s a solid B.

Guy can flat-out hit. His power was down for a month or so after the wrist injury but it’s back now.

I like prospects with good all-around games—they’re typically underrated in favor of players with one elite skill even though they’re as good overall.

It’s hard not to like his control but there are a lot of reasons to worry about a 22 year old who can’t even strike people out in the A levels. That being said, he could be interesting

No change from last year. His K/BB improved significantly this year, but he’s repeating a league he’s too old for.

Low ceiling of average big league regular, but he’s not far from that ceiling now.

Solid B. Good looking bat at a low level with significant defensive issues.

Cortes gets a B. Still projects as a guy with the build to eat lots of innings using good, not great, stuff.

Sounds right. BA said he had the best fastball and curveball in the Royals’ system last year (if I remember right) so I wouldn’t undersell his stuff. Decent strikeout rate and below-average control in his first try at AA, so he’s going to need to do some work to reach the majors before 2010.

Tempted to give A-.

I really like Cegarra, probably more than I should. He pitched in A ball last year when he was 18 and got knocked around. In retrospect, though, he didn’t do terribly, especially considering his young age; He had a 37:16 K:BB in 58 IP though his ERA was 5.12. This year, at 19, he returned to A ball and for his first 9 starts, decimated the opposition. He struck out 53 and walked only 5 in 54 IP and had an ERA of 2.67, at which point he was promoted to A+ ball. There, he’s done a bit less well. His control is still excellent, but his strikeout numbers have tumbled to a pitiful 33 in 69 IP. I still like him, though. In a few games of his which I’ve followed on-line, he started off excellently but collapsed late as they kept him in too long. He has good stuff and excellent control, and in the one time when he played against age-appropriate hitting, he did excellently. I give him a B-

B-

Still looks like a B+ to me

that the defensive questions and lack of power keep him from A- territory, but I think a 23:29 BB:K in 170 AB is a pretty impressive show of patience for a 21-year-old catcher in AAA. Jason Kendall’s career looks pretty attainable. He’s a solid B+ in my eyes.

Even though I don’t agree, I think the case for an A- can be at least argued. If a Grade A prospect is a guy who’s a near lock to be a major leaguer, and has star potential, wouldn’t Anderson fit those qualifications? 21-year-olds who hit well in AAA are as certain to reach the majors as anyone, and a .300/.370/.450 catcher with average defense should sniff an all-star game or two. Who was the last catcher to put up good AAA numbers at 21?

Was a B+ last year and has only gotten better. A legit A-, I think.

Had a real good start tonight against Mat Gamel and Huntsville. His biggest issue is he super blocked by Price, Davis, Kazmir, Shields, Garza, Niemann, Sonnanstine, et al. Man they should be looking to trade Sonnanstine and Niemann.

B+. Personal guess is that he’s a No. 3 pitcher, splitting the difference between those who see him as a frontline candidate and those think he’s more of an back-end innings eater type with a repertoire of average pitches and good control, albeit with pronounced gopherball tendencies. But there’s some upside there and he’s young enough to have a reasonable chance at making good on it, so B+.

I don’t see anything about Hellickson other than his absurd BB/K ratio in A ball this year that screams truly elite pitching prospect to me, with regard to peripheral statistics and scouting reports.

Not a top-end pitcher, but he is as sure a thing to be an average MLB starter (or better) as you will ever find in a prospect. That’s quite valuable.

Simmons is the definition of a solid B grade pitching prospect. Solid chance to contribute, probably nothing special but a useful arm that can eat innings.

I think some will go B- and I can see the case for that (a little too hittable for a Double A finesse pitcher to project well at higher levels, perhaps), but I think he has a decent chance at being able to maintain his peripherals against better competition given some experience.

Average fastball, fringe-average breaking stuff, above-average changeup, plus-plus command. The statistics back my assertion up – he’s a strike-thrower who’s going to give up his share of hits but compensates with good control and pitching savvy.

Age doesn’t make nearly as much of a difference with pitchers performance-wise as it does with hitters, as has been stated many times before. The areas where it DOES make a difference are projectability and command/control. Simmons isn’t projectable and he’s most likely about as good as he’s going to get as far as control goes. He could improve his breaking pitches . . .but then again, he’s had years to do that already and he hasn’t, so the track record suggests that he most likely will not do so in the future.

B. Numbers are great for a kid but very far away and with iffy plate discipline.

B. Grade A arm with a C+ idea of what to do with it right now. Almost certainly a reliever in the future which makes grading him a little difficult . . .maybe he’d tighten his command out of the pen?

Hmm . . .B+ I think. Looks like a future very good player to me but maybe not in the true star range. Have to see just how much power he shows in the future, and that might depend on how his body matures.

He looks like a solid hitter; reasonable power, doesn’t strike out too much, draws an okay number of walks. He’s fast, but not as fast as he used to be and his SB totals dropped significantly this year. Could be a very good outfielder

B+ . . .which is a substantial downgrade from a guy that I adored 2 years ago. Good post-hype sleeper for next year, when he should be sufficiently recovered from injury and in position to make a run for somebody’s third base job.