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A to AA

I thought this would be a fun thread to discuss what players you will be interested in watching making the jump from A ball to AA. This jump is usually 1 that will tell an awfull lot about a players true abilities. A ball has so many raw players and guys who will never play above this level. A players stats can be paded by succeeding against players who can't locate pitches very well or swing at far too many pitches out of the zone. Once going to AA players are more refined, spot pitches better, will swing at less bad pitches (work counts much better), and defensively much closer to ML average. Here are a few of the guys who interest me the most:

Zack Britton LHP(BAL)-- I think this year will tell how high his ceiling really is. A personal favriote of mine. I don't think he can carry his k rate over into AA but gets a lot of groundballs and imho I think he profiles closely to John Lannan.  Has better stuff then Lannan. I will be very interested in seeing how he handles AA.

Micheal Burgess OF(WAS)-- Strikes out way to much and I think 2010 will be a real struggle for him.

Starlin Castro SS--  Already has played at AA and had some succees but I can't wait to see if he can improve on 2009's year. I'm hoping he fills out some and adds some power.

Lonnie Chisenhall 3B(CLE)-- Had a great year in high A and struggled in brief promotion to AA but I'm not worried. 2010 should cement his status as an elite prospect.

Chrisitian Friedrich LHP(COL) and James Darnell 3B(SD)-- 2 polished college players from 2008 draft that I'm a little surprised niether saw time in AA in 2009. Both have good profiles that lead me to believe they will carry over their succees to AA.

Che-Hsuan Lin OF(BOS)-- I wonder whether he's a 4th/5th OF type (defensive replacement/PR) or if he can develop into and everyday player. Should get some answers in 2010.

Micheal Moustakas 3B(KC)-- Pivitol year for the once highly touted 3B. Some of 2009's struggles were written off to tough home park but reports outta the AFL saying he dosen't look like the same player. Big year for him.

Martin Perez  LHP(TEX)-- Struggled in brief promotion to AA. Could be written off for many reasons. Will be watched very closely this year by everyone who follows prospects after his amazing year and ascention to AA at 18. Should continue to shine.

Ben Revere OF(MIN)-- Highly controverstial prospect. I'm not a fan and wonder how much more he will get CS with more expierenced C. Power is huge question. 2010 should go a long way to telling whether he's more Joey Gathright or Jaun Pierre (in his good years).

Anthony Rizzo 1B(BOS)-- Not sure if he will start in AA but either way should make it at some point. Love his AVG/OBP skills. How much power will he hit for is the big question. I think he eventually hits for power and looks like a Freddy Freeman clone?

Chris Withrow RHP(LAD)-- Great stuff but control issues leave me wondering how much succees he will have initially at AA. I think when all is said and done he'll be good but may struggle in 2010. Although his 11.5 k/9 and only allowed 5 HR in 113.67 IP should go a long way to helping nuetralize his 4.5 bb/9. Also did improve in the second half last year.

So many ppl in this comunity become enamored w/ guys in A ball only to watch them jump ship when they initially struggle at higher levels. Please feel free to discuss any projections for the guys I listed or add any you will be interested in seeing at AA in 2010.

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Interesting

I’m interested to see quite a few guys… Friedrich is a big one. Moustakas/Montgomery/Crow from KC…

Coffee. The NEW Performance Enhancing drug for Sport's Writers. Just ask Ken Rosenthal.

by 306008 on Dec 8, 2009 1:30 PM EST reply actions  

Alex Cobb

He’s no superstar(or even star) prospect, but he struck out 7.7 per 9 and walked just 2.2 per 9. He gets a decent amount of groundballs too. His numbers increased from 2008 to 2009 when he was promoted from Columbus to Charlotte, so maybe they can increase again. E

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by Imperialism32 on Dec 8, 2009 1:43 PM EST reply actions  

A few

Alex Liddi, Thomas Neal, Roger Kieschnick, and Craig Italiano. Liddi and Kieschnick are two guys looking to prove ‘09 wasn’t a Cal League mirage, Neal is a guy I could see as knocking on the door to the majors if he gets off to a hot start in Connecticut, and Italiano put up some of the most ridiculous stats I’ve ever seen out of a reliever after his trade to the Padres last year (44/10 K/BB in 31.1 IP, 5.71 GB/FB), and if he keeps that up he has to enter the conversation about the Padres’ closer of the future.

by slamcactus on Dec 8, 2009 1:47 PM EST reply actions  

Neal

Yeah Neal is a big 1 I forgot to mention. i will be real interested in seeing him outside of the Cal League. John is a believer in his bat being for real. Should be fun.

by cubsfan1 on Dec 8, 2009 2:01 PM EST up reply actions  

Neal

Yeah, I think I like Neal more than most. I think he’s a better runner than he’s shown in the minors to date, too. He swiped 12 bags at an 80% success rate in the AFL this year. I’m less high on Kieschnick, but scouts have always liked his tools and 2009 definitely kept him on my radar.

by slamcactus on Dec 8, 2009 3:06 PM EST up reply actions  

Defenders...

did they move to Richmond?

by cooper7d7 on Dec 8, 2009 7:58 PM EST up reply actions  

Hey

wow, you’re right! The Richmond Flying Squirrels. Didn’t catch that one at all.

by slamcactus on Dec 9, 2009 3:30 AM EST up reply actions  

Good post

as a Royals fan, i’ll be interested in seeing how Moose performs. I agree it is a huge year for his prospect status, but I still have a lot of confidence in him. He still led the team in HR’s and RBI’s and performed well defensively according to scouts. He drew very good reviews for his hard-work ethic and I think he’ll put it together next year.

Also would like to see how Crow handles the transition.

From the above list, I’m not sure Castro even makes it to AA. He might be skip it entirely.

Agree on Chisenhall, that kid looks like the real deal. No one ever doubted the talent, but there were questions about his make-up, which seem to have been put to rest. Potential 25-30hr and .300 average may have the Indians brass looking really good in a couple years.

by MightyMoose on Dec 8, 2009 2:05 PM EST reply actions  

Moose/Castro/Chisenhall

Moustakas I’m not overly worried about. Could just be an off year and if he learns from it and helps him make adjustments in the long run could turn out to be just a blip. Still need to see some improvement though.

Castro— yeah i’ve heard rumblings about skipping AA (or even getting a chance to compete for a ML job) but i think that would be a disservice to him. Let him log some AB’s in AA for a couple months then see where he’s at would be my approach.

Chisenhall nees to work on hitting lefties and drawing some more walks but yeah I agree he’s the rel deal.

by cubsfan1 on Dec 8, 2009 2:14 PM EST up reply actions  

Danny Duffy

He’s been dominant so far in his minor league career, but that can happen sometimes with deceptive lefties in the low minors. AA should tell us whether or not what Duffy’s bringing will work against advanced hitters.

by PissedMick on Dec 8, 2009 3:14 PM EST up reply actions  

Dee Gordon..

interested if he can keep a .360 OBP in AA after a .370 in A ball in his first year..

by matthewmafa on Dec 8, 2009 4:51 PM EST reply actions  

Yeah that would be nice

Check out my website, it has scouting reports for all the Orioles' top prospects and is updated daily. www.oriolesprospects.com

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by Jordan Tuwiner on Dec 8, 2009 8:53 PM EST up reply actions  

some More Twins

SP David Bromberg
SP Tyler Robertson
1B/OF Chris Parmelee

I am soooo excited to see how Bromberg handles the Eastern League, also a tad nervous.

Deolis Guerra = Daniel Cabrera ?
I tend to think so

by SteveHoffmanSlowey on Dec 8, 2009 5:07 PM EST reply actions  

A couple guys I'll be watching as an A's fan

Grant Desme – He’s got good tools but he K’s a ton. He put up great numbers in A ball but scouts have said he has serious problems in his swing that will be exposed by better pitching. Playing in the 8 team Texas league will be a challenge as teams will easily be able to scout him and recognize the holes in his swing and the pitchers will likely be advanced enough to exploit them. The rest of Desme’s game is good enough that he can be a valuable player even with high strike out totals, but if his K’s rise as he moves up he will likely bust.

Anthony Capra – As a polished college lefty from the ‘08 draft he put up good numbers in A ball and was one the minor league leaders in K’s last season. If he can continue to use his plus change up to strike guys out in AA he could establish himself as a prospect who can be a good mid-rotation starter. Of course, there have been a lot of college pitcher’s who racked up K’s by being able to change speeds on less experienced hitters in the low minors. Should be interesting to see what happens with Capra.

by OkayJay81 on Dec 8, 2009 5:09 PM EST reply actions  

Hornbeck

Is this guy for real? If the answer is “yes,” he’s a top 25 prospect next offseason.

If it’s “no,” of course, he might end up being completely worthless.

O'Hara: Detective Lassiter is literally on fire.
Spencer: What kind of fire are we talking about-- "Michael Jackson in the Pepsi commercial" fire, or "misusing the word literally" fire?

by PaulThomas on Dec 8, 2009 9:29 PM EST up reply actions  

Jordan Lyles

He was obviously great in low A last season, and I think they’ll move him straight up to AA, skipping the horrors of Lancaster. Seems like Lyles has been falling a bit in the rankings as people being to lean toward the wait-and-see approach.

by auclairkeithbc on Dec 8, 2009 5:16 PM EST reply actions  

Willin Rosario

It took him a while to adjust from such a big jump from rookie to high A, it interests me how he will do as Tulsa’s projected starting catcher. Still has monster potential.

Impossible not to have positive thoughts.

I want Sam Deduno to pitch already.

by bballrox4717 on Dec 8, 2009 6:18 PM EST reply actions  

Oh Yeah

Count me as interested also. Though has some huge flags w/ his low walk rate and high K’s. Could be a rough year much in the same way as I see for Micheal Burgess.

by cubsfan1 on Dec 8, 2009 6:22 PM EST up reply actions  

another player is kyle russell

the man has as much power as anyone in the minors but struck out 180 times…

next year in AA will be a make or break year for him..

by matthewmafa on Dec 8, 2009 6:22 PM EST reply actions  

Matt Angle,

Maybe Rowell if he goes to Bowie

Check out my website, it has scouting reports for all the Orioles' top prospects and is updated daily. www.oriolesprospects.com

Follow me on twitter

by Jordan Tuwiner on Dec 8, 2009 8:55 PM EST reply actions  

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