Top Prospects in the Midwest League for 2009

[parkside21]

I posted this the other day on a T-Rats blog message board, but I figured I'd copy and paste it over here too as I'm sure there are some interested. This was from last week when I used the Baseball America Prospect Handbook to project who they thought might begin the season in the Midwest League, along with a few hunches of my own.

 

I know a lot of these players are mentioned already on the front page and the message board here, but I figured I'd take the Baseball America Prospect Handbook and go through the top 30 prospects of each team and see who they expect to begin or at least see some time in the MWL this year, along with their BA rankings. Let's see what we have:

 

 

South Bend (Arizona)

Wade Miley, P, #5 (college arm, so he may skip the MWL and go A+ this year)

Kevin Eichhorn, P, #6

Reynaldo Navarro, SS, #10

Trevor Harden, P, #13 (any relation to Rich?)

Rossmel Perez, C, #15

Bryan Shaw, P, #17

Tyrell Worthington, OF, #30

 

Peoria (Chicago Cubs)

Josh Vitters, 3B, #1 (Personally, I think he jumps to A+ to start)

Andrew Cashner, P, #3 (Probably ready for A+)

Chris Carpenter, P, #18 (Probably ready for A+)

Matt Cerda, C, #27

 

Dayton (Cincinnati)

Kyle Lotzkar, P, #6

Neftali Soto, 3B, #7 (Bat is beyond ready for A+)

Devin Mesoraco, C, #10

Juan Carlos Sulbaran, P, #20 (No professional experience)

Alex Bucholz, 2B, #30

 

West Michigan (Detroit)

Casey Crosby, P, #4

Mauricio Robles, P, #24

Brandon Hamilton, P, #26

 

Burlington (Kansas City)

Eric Hosmer, 1B, #2

Mike Montgomery, P, #4 (May stay in Arizona for a few weeks)

Tim Melville, P, #5

Kelvin Herrera, P, #12

Salvado Perez, C, #19

Sam Runion, P, #28

Yowill Espinal, 2B/SS, #29

Keaton Hayenga, P, #30

 

Cedar Rapids (LA Angels)

Manuarys Correa, P, #19

Luis Jimenez, 3B, #26

 

Great Lakes (LA Dodgers)

Ethan Martin, P, #3

Devaris Gordon, SS, #7

Chris Withrow, P, #9

Nathan Eovaldi, P, #10

Pedro Baez, 3B, #13

Kyle Russell, OF, #17

Jon Michael Redding, P, #18

Tony Delmonico, C/2B, #19

Daigoro Rondon, P, #23

 

Wisconsin (Milwaukee)

Brett Lawrie, C/2B, #3

Cutter Dykstra, OF, #7

Jake Odorizzi, P, #11

Cody Scarpetta, P, #15

Wily Peralta, P, #22

Efrain Nieves, P, #23

Evan Fredrickson, P, #24

Cody Adams, P, #28

Logan Schafer, OF, #29

 

Beloit (Minnesota)

Aaron Hicks, OF, #1

Shooter Hunt, P, #7

Angel Morales, OF, #10

Joe Benson, OF, #15 (This would be his 3rd year in the MWL, I doub it, same goes for #14 Chris Parmelee, at some point you just have to move the guy up I think)

Michael Tonkin, P, #30 (May start in XST)

 

Kane County (Oakland)

Brett Hunter, P, #19

Rashun Dixon, OF, #21

Dusty Coleman, SS, #22

Grant Desme, OF, #30

 

Quad Cities (St. Louis)

Lance Lynn, P, #15

Niko Vasquez, SS, #18

Richard Castillo, P, #24

 

Fort Wayne (San Diego)

Jaff Decker, OF, #3

Simon Castro, P, #14

 

Clinton (Seattle)

Mario Martinez, 3B, #7

Jharmidy DeJesus, 3B, #8

Maikel Cleto, P, #16 (Could be ready for A+, but I see him in A- to start)

Gabriel Noriega, SS, #19 (Young, but we all know Seattle likes to fast-track)

Tyson Gillies, OF, #20

Denny Almonte, OF, #22

Aaron Pribanic, P, #27

Danny Carroll, OF, #28

 

Lansing (Toronto)

John Tolisano, 2B, #13

Eric Eiland, OF, #16

Mark Sobolewski, 3B, #19

Tyler Pastornicky, SS, #23

Balbino Fuenmayor, 3B, #28

 

 

 

Obviously, they are only guesses, and there are many players that I didn't list that will begin in Extended Spring / Short Season, but see the MWL at some point this year. Also, there were a few players that are still rehabbing that should make it to the MWL when they are healthy. This list was taken mostly from BA's Prospect Handbook as I said, and their guesstimates, and a few of my own hunches as well.

[parkside21]

The following is what I went through and did today.

Okay, so this is the updated list of prospects that made their team's opening day roster. Obviously, some prospects that BA had originally predicted were either held in XST, or bumped up to start in A+. Players that BA (and I) incorrectly predicted have a strike through them, while players that BA (and in one or two cases, me) correctly predicted are marked with red. An asterisk means that player didn't appear on the original projection list, but is indeed going to start with their respective MWL team to begin the season. Keep in mind, these are only opening day rosters. They'll likely change a lot in the next few weeks as the weather warms up (hopefully), but I figured it's a good starting reference to have. Let me know if you notice any errors. I'm sure I missed something.

 

South Bend (Arizona)
Wade Miley, P, #5
Kevin Eichhorn, P, #6
Reynaldo Navarro, SS, #10
Trevor Harden, P, #13
Rossmel Perez, C, #15
Bryan Shaw, P, #17
*Isaias Asencio, OF, #24
Tyrell Worthington, OF, #30

Peoria (Chicago Cubs)
Josh Vitters, 3B, #1
Andrew Cashner, P, #3
*Ryan Flaherty, SS, #8
*Junior Lake, SS, #14
Chris Carpenter, P, #18
Matt Cerda, C, #27

Dayton (Cincinnati)
Kyle Lotzkar, P, #6
Neftali Soto, 3B, #7
Devin Mesoraco, C, #10
Juan Carlos Sulbaran, P, #20
Alex Bucholz, 2B, #30

West Michigan (Detroit)
Casey Crosby, P, #4
*Brandon Douglas, SS, #23
Mauricio Robles, P, #24
Brandon Hamilton, P, #26

Burlington (Kansas City)
Eric Hosmer, 1B, #2
Mike Montgomery, P, #4
Tim Melville, P, #5
Kelvin Herrera, P, #12
*Jason Taylor, 3B/1B, #17
Salvado Perez, C, #19
*Jose Bonilla, C, #26
*Kyle Martin, SS/3B, #27
Sam Runion, P, #28
Yowill Espinal, 2B/SS, #29
Keaton Hayenga, P, #30

Cedar Rapids (LA Angels)
*Will Smith, P, #12
Manuarys Correa, P, #19
Luis Jimenez, 3B, #26

Great Lakes (LA Dodgers)
Ethan Martin, P, #3
Devaris Gordon, SS, #7
Chris Withrow, P, #9
Nathan Eovaldi, P, #10
*Austin Gallagher, 3B, #11
Pedro Baez, 3B, #13
Kyle Russell, OF, #17
Jon Michael Redding, P, #18
Tony Delmonico, C/2B, #19
*Justin Miller, P, #20
Daigoro Rondon, P, #23
*Javy Guerra, P, #25
*Alfredo Silverio, OF, #27
*Jordan Pratt, P, #30

Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
Brett Lawrie, C/2B, #3
Cutter Dykstra, OF, #7
Jake Odorizzi, P, #11
Cody Scarpetta, P, #15
*R.J. Seidel, P, #18 (DL, out for the year?)
Wily Peralta, P, #22
Efrain Nieves, P, #23
Evan Fredrickson, P, #24
Cody Adams, P, #28
Logan Schafer, OF, #29

Beloit (Minnesota)
Aaron Hicks, OF, #1
Shooter Hunt, P, #7
Angel Morales, OF, #10
Joe Benson, OF, #15
Michael Tonkin, P, #30

Kane County (Oakland)
Brett Hunter, P, #19
Rashun Dixon, OF, #21
Dusty Coleman, SS, #22
Grant Desme, OF, #30

Quad Cities (St. Louis)
Lance Lynn, P, #15
Niko Vasquez, SS, #18
Richard Castillo, P, #24

Fort Wayne (San Diego)
Jaff Decker, OF, #3
*Allan Dykstra, 1B, #8
*James Darnell, 3B, #10
Simon Castro, P, #14
*Drew Cumberland, SS, #15
*Blake Tekotte, OF, #19
*Nick Schmidt, P, #21

Clinton (Seattle)
Mario Martinez, 3B, #7
Jharmidy DeJesus, 3B, #8
Maikel Cleto, P, #16
Gabriel Noriega, SS, #19
Tyson Gillies, OF, #20
Denny Almonte, OF, #22
Aaron Pribanic, P, #27
*Brett Lorin, P, #28
Danny Carroll, OF, #29
*Nolan Gallagher, P, #30

Lansing (Toronto)
John Tolisano, 2B, #13
Eric Eiland, OF, #16
Mark Sobolewski, 3B, #19
*Kenny Wilson, OF, #21
Tyler Pastornicky, SS, #23
*Markus Brisker, OF, #26
Balbino Fuenmayor, 3B, #28
*Henderson Alvarez, P, #29

Edit: keep in mind, the #'s are their rankings within their affiliated team's system, NOT their uniform numbers. You'll have to look those up on your own if you need them, as they tend to fluctuate from time to time.

[jjkoestler]

Thanks for posting. Its a huge help.

[colbyjack]

Yes, thanks for posting. The trio of Lawrie, Vitters and Hosmer is going to be fun to watch in the MWL this year. Quite often prospects are compared to and stacked up against one another when at a similar level and at a similar age. This happened to Gallardo a couple of years ago when he was compared to Phil Hughes and Homer Bailey.