absolutely!

In 57 innings at A+ and AA he struck out 66 while walking only 11 and allowed 34 hits, only ONE of which was a bomb. After throwing 150 stellar innings last year, this kid is close. Count me among the believers

Yeah, I can see that as his potential ceiling, but not his most probable landing spot. Santana has more than a plus changeup. It’s downright devastating. Holland has a lot of work to do to have a second devastating pitch.

Big discussion at lonsestarball on how to interpret that comp. Basically, not that a scout thinks he will become Kazmir, but ,like Kazmir, Holland can bring it and has a pretty good slider. I think I recall reading more about Holland’s change than his slider during his AA run, but the real story on Holland is his command of his fastball and the velocity he added this year. The question is whether the velocity will be there next year.

your B’s and your B-’s

Prior to John’s (The Master) Evaluation…I’m sitting here:
1. Jarrod Saltalamachia, B-; Probably should be taken off the list, but he’s yet to start a season on the 40-man roster. He didn’t wow anybody last year…but he’s in the show and he’ll have an opportunity to show his stuff if he isn’t traded.
2. Elvis Andrus, B-; This guy has more potential than anyone on the list, but speed can’t get you all the way.
3. Justin Smoak, B-; The best hitter taken in 2008. Not sure what they are going to do with Chris Davis once Smoak is ready…or vice versa. Can’t move him higher since he’s at least 2 years away.
4. Chris Davis, B-; This guy doesn’t have the potential…but he does have the resume. I wanna see what he does in his second season before I get too crazy…but so far so good!
5. Neftali Feliz, B-; I didn’t have him projected to move up this fast, but he’s really making the case. I’m just a little bit worried that he didn’t have the same success at AA that he had at single A.
6. Micheal Main, B-; Has the potential based on single A performance, but didn’t look “special”…could go either way at this point.
7. Blake Bleaven, B-; Very much like Main. His stats were a little better, but he gave up the long ball too often. I like him, so I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say next season things turn around.
8. Kennil Gomez, B-; VASTLY under-rated in these discussions. Very similar stats to Main and Bleaven.
9. Derek Holland, B-; VASTLY OVER-RATED in these discussions. The stats look great…but I’m worried that he went up to fast. One more season of what he did in 2008, however, and it’ll be time for him to start moving up my list fast.
10. Max Ramirez, B-; I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt because he’s close…but his failures at AAA and MLB levels worry me.
11. Eric Hurley, B-; Got a chance last year and didn’t look great…but I think he’ll improve depending on his health.
12. Julio Borbon, B-; Putting up the numbers so far. Would like to see a little more power and see if he can hit .300 at the AAA level.
13. Neil Ramirez, B-; Good groundball pitcher, would like to see more.
14. Kasey Kiker, B-; He throws strikes, over 100/year…but it also shows in his ERA.
15. Tommy Hunter, C+; He’s got something…just need to see if he’s going to be successful at the MLB level. Need to see more.
16. Omar Poveda, C+; Good groundball pitcher, throws strikes…just not sure if there’s anything special that’ll make him anything more than a middle reliever.
17. Matthew West, C+; He’s still got a ways to go…but I gotta put a guy that hits .400 somewhere on my list.
18. Greg Golson., C; A top 10 prospect in the Phillies organization, he has the numbers to make a case for a trial run in the show.
19. German Duran, C; Lack of power worries me.
20. Matt Harrison, C; A good groundball pitcher that will probably never be more than an average middle reliever in a bad ballpark.

I’d say they all deserve even grades, because none of them have done anything to say without a doubt that one is better than the other. I’m fine with top pitching prospects getting a B+, because of the uncertainty of attrition with pitchers.

But A-, B+… whatever. Both teams know they have 2 of the 10 best arms in the minors.

are A- to me, all definitely top 10 arms right now.

…that clearly ahead of Feliz and Holland?

I think the consensus is that Texas does indeed have depth, just not a ton of high impact players at the superstar level. When you start running down the system level by level, you see that each level had guys that are seen as potential quality MLB players. The system is especially deep for pitching across all levels. I’d say this is the best farm system because of the depth.

no question about that. But the depth might be more along the lines of future bullpen aces instead of all starters, and major league everyday players instead of superstars. But they are stacked no question about that.

just because the guy’s a Dutch doesn’t mean he has an accent!

Smoak should not be more than a B+. The only person in their system with a shot at and A is Neftali Feliz with Holland and Andrus with a shot at A-. They should have a lot of people with at least a B or B- like Smoak, Beltre, Main, Perez, Teagarden, Borbon, Beaven, M. Ramirez, N. Ramirez, and Hurley.

A (leaning towards A+)

Honestly, Derek Holland should get the first ever A+++

He will make people believe that Rangers Ballpark is a pitcher’s park.

He doesn’t qualify as a prospect statistically, either. 143 ABs. But he projects as a good bat utility infielder in my opinion.

but a B was always too generous. John was the only person (that I saw) to identify him as a legitimate prospect after 2006, so he probably had a good vibe after Duran’s breakout 2007. I’d say that he’s the kind of guy who looks like a backup/utility type, but who has enough pop that if he made some contact and got an opportunity, he could pop up as someone’s every day 2B at like age 27 or 28 and not have a bad year.

1. Holland
2. Hunter
3. Harrison
4. Hurley

1. Holland (by far, at this point)
2. Hurley
3. Harrison
4. Hunter

Neither of Harrison or Hunter look like they will be more than a back end starter. Hurley probably won’t be, but I think that he stands more of a chance of being consistent than Harrison.

Supposedly viewed as a first round talent by some people, slid into the second round because of bonus demands. Small lefty (only 5’10", I believe), throws hard. Has been compared to Billy Wagner, like every small hard-throwing lefty.

Murphy was a high schooler who, according to scouting reports, had big raw power but issues with the rest of his game. No speed, limited to 1B defensively, but his bat may be enough for him to advance.

Kyle Boddy at Driveline Mechanics just did a writeup on his mechanics with some good background info, too. Link Here.

he definitely could. He had some nice outlier stats in the Cal lg last year as well as a really good year in CLinton in 07. After he came back from an injury he pitched a whole lot better at the end of the year. Got a real nice Changeup/Fastball combo.

I’m thinking of putting him somewhere between 17 and 20 on my list. Trying to decide where he slots against Robbie Ross, Joe Wieland, and Carlos Pimentel, the 3 who are 18, 19, and 20 for me.