BA Prospect Handbook

by Brett Perryman on Jan 26, 2006 3:41 PM CST

Here's the Rangers' top 30:

Volquez
Danks
Diamond
Arias
Hurley (I knew it)
Kinsler
Galarraga
Botts
Teagarden
Mayberry
Whittleman (didn't know it, I figured he'd be ahead of Teagarden and Mayberry)
Rupe
Schlact
Wilson
Feldman
Castro
Metcalf
Sinisi
Hudgins
Vallejo
Santana
Mahar
Bannister
Webster
Nickeas
Murphy
Beltre
Meyer
Poveda
Pina (Manuel)

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Comments

BA list

Where did you see that?

by Jamey Newberg on Jan 26, 2006 3:47 PM CST reply actions

I got my BA Prospect Handbook

in the mail.

by Brett Perryman on Jan 26, 2006 3:54 PM CST up reply actions

Wow

I thought it wasn't going to be sent out for another few weeks. Cool.

Where did AG land for SD?

by Jamey Newberg on Jan 26, 2006 3:58 PM CST up reply actions

AG

Is over the AB limit for rookie status, I believe. He wasn't listed in SD's.

by Brett Perryman on Jan 26, 2006 4:10 PM CST up reply actions

Am I the only one ...

... that isn't terribly impressed with Volquez?

by Athos on Jan 26, 2006 3:59 PM CST reply actions

Umm

Yes you hater

by jf55510 on Jan 26, 2006 4:00 PM CST up reply actions

I

I thought he looked like everything he was advertised to be: Young, raw, impetuous, and the owner of the best raw stuff we've seen out of a Ranger's prospect in a long time.

He's very hit or miss for a so-called "top prospect", but the hit could be spectacular.

Somebody's got to win the West in '06. Why not Texas???

by thedirkatron on Jan 26, 2006 5:33 PM CST up reply actions

Seeing him live leaves you with a much, much different take than what you'd get from looking at his season stats. I saw him three times at Frisco(two starts and a relief appearance in the All-Star game), and he was dominant every time.

Given what I've heard about his makeup, he seems like the one pitcher in the Ranger system who profiles as an ace.

by Alan Smithee on Jan 26, 2006 9:16 PM CST up reply actions

His pitches

are impressive, and he can be dominant. I've seen him both ways.

He reminds me a lot of Dominguez pitch-wise, although a lot of people will not like that comparison.

What makes me be a little hesistant to get too excited is that he doesn't always seem to get the most out of his quality stuff. He can throw quite a few great pitches in an inning but still get hit. It's like even though his makeup is supposed to be great, something's missing. And his stats reflect that.

And the old guys in my family, upon watching him, generally think there's a flashing red sign over his head sayind "reliever." He obviously still has room to grow past that.

by Brett Perryman on Jan 26, 2006 9:23 PM CST up reply actions

Pretty low ratings..........

for Kinsler & Botts if they're gonna be the Ranger's saviors. Rated a few spots below Arias? Maybe he needs to play second or move Young back and let him play short?

Any thoughts?

by tklawless on Jan 26, 2006 4:26 PM CST reply actions

Thoughts

The only real surprise to me is how high they were on Galarraga. Had no idea he was that highly thought of.

IMO, there are two groups of the "top" Rangers prospects, and, depending on how you want to argue, you could really justify ranking them in order you like wthin their respective group.

Group A: Danks, Diamond, Volquez, Kinsler, Hurley, Arias.

Group B: Galarraga, Botts, Teagarden, Mayberry, Whittleman, Rupe, Schlact, Wilson.

Not sure if that made any sense at all... but that's how I feel.

Somebody's got to win the West in '06. Why not Texas???

by thedirkatron on Jan 26, 2006 5:22 PM CST up reply actions

Could be...

that you'll see Galarraga in the Rangers bullpen before the season is over. He sounds like he could turn into a plus bullpen guy (an 86-87 mph slider is a pretty rare thing). I also have a hunch that you'll never see him in the Rangers rotation.

by mjh on Jan 28, 2006 4:51 AM CST up reply actions

John Sickles Prospect Reviews

Here's his take on the top 20...

Diamond
Danks
Kinsler
Dominguez
Gonzalez (gone)
Young (gone)
Sinisi
Hudgins
Nickeas
Arias
Hurley
Botts
Loe
Rupe
Lorenzo
M. Roberts
Webster
Littleton
Herren
McDougall

obviously a little behind... but nice to compare

The Hammer will Return!!!

by TheHossMan on Jan 26, 2006 4:28 PM CST reply actions

Is that from before the season?

Because Young obviously pitched the whole year, and some of the other stuff is very outdated.

by Brett Perryman on Jan 26, 2006 4:30 PM CST up reply actions

where was...

Volquez on that list?

Troy I.

by tdi1985 on Jan 26, 2006 4:32 PM CST up reply actions

I think Sickels

addressed that at some point, but it was a glaring oversight, even at that point. For that matter BA should be a little embarrassed only listing him #11 last offseason. If they had listened to the Rangers, they were touting him big time. I heard Daniels early in ST on the radio say that they were shocked that he wasn't on BA's top 100.

by Brett Perryman on Jan 26, 2006 4:35 PM CST up reply actions

Volquez

Am I the only one ...
... that isn't terribly impressed with Volquez?

by Athos on Thu Jan 26, 2006 at 04:59:26 PM EST

Nope. From what I've seen of him (at the MLB level), I am not impressed.

by LBrooks on Jan 26, 2006 4:50 PM CST reply actions

i have faith

that he was just a young guy gaining some exposure.

Where are the pitching prospects (DVD) expected to be pitching this year, on the Redhawks???

Troy I.

by tdi1985 on Jan 26, 2006 5:00 PM CST up reply actions

Volquez in the big leagues

Well, at least you gave him a lot of time to show something.....

Soriano trade = Good. Padilla trade = Good. Eaton trade = God Awful.

by LoneStarBallUser on Jan 26, 2006 5:07 PM CST up reply actions

i can't tell...

was that sarcasm?
lol

Troy I.

by tdi1985 on Jan 26, 2006 5:12 PM CST up reply actions

Are you kidding?

The one game I remember watching him start - he was phenomenal for a rookie. That's a dumb statement to say he wasn'y even remotely impressive IMO.

Texas Longhorns: 2006 National Champions! Now it's the Rangers' turn...

by utlonghorn24 on Jan 26, 2006 5:34 PM CST up reply actions

The first 50 big league innings...

are always a superb way to evaluate a pitcher's long'term outlook. For instance, look at what these guys did in their first exposure to MLB hitters and they all ended up sucking:

John Smoltz: 2-7; 5.48
Tom Glavine: 2-4; 5.54
Greg Maddux: 6-14; 5.61
Jason Schmidt: 2-2; 5.76
Javier Vazquez: 5-15; 6.06
Eddie Guardado: 3-8; 6.18 / 0-2; 8.47
Al Leiter: 2-2; 6.35
John Tudor: 1-2; 6.43
Jon Garland: 4-8; 6.46
Johan Santana: 2-3; 6.49
Jeff Shaw: 3-4; 6.66
Randy Johnson 0-4; 6.67
Robb Nen: 2-1; 6.75
Derek Lowe: 2-4; 6.96
Ryan Dempster: 2-5; 7.08
Shane Reynolds: 1-3; 7.11
Keith Foulke: 1-5; 8.26
Kevin Appier: 1-4; 9.14
Mike Hampton: 1-3; 9.53
Curt Schilling: 0-3; 9.82

by mjh on Jan 28, 2006 4:46 AM CST up reply actions

John Tudor..........damn......

that goes back a ways !

by tklawless on Jan 28, 2006 8:45 AM CST up reply actions

Thanks For Posting That, Z

I'm a cheap skate, so I won't be getting mine until Amazon starts shipping them next month and I was dying to see their rankings in full.

Somebody's got to win the West in '06. Why not Texas???

by thedirkatron on Jan 26, 2006 5:30 PM CST reply actions

cheaper?

How is it cheaper if you get it from Amazon?

by Brian Thomas on Jan 27, 2006 3:32 AM CST reply actions

Amazon

Discounts it, plus gives you free shipping. All bookstores probably do this. The only place (I've found) shipping it right now is Baseball America directly and they discount it... none.

Somebody's got to win the West in '06. Why not Texas???

by thedirkatron on Jan 27, 2006 12:15 PM CST up reply actions

Re: Amazon

Amazon has the book for about $10 cheaper than Baseball America sells it, and the shipping is cheaper to boot. Not sure why BA charges so much, but I'll be buying it from Amazon, as I have for the past few years.

by RCCook on Jan 27, 2006 8:20 PM CST up reply actions

I just got my

book today and it is utterly depressing. Not a single Ranger on any of the 4 top 50's. Same rank for 3 straight years (16th). Bleah. "The Rangers have depth at every position but have no prospects who look like big league stars." I'm calling in a bomb threat.

by Brian Thomas on Jan 27, 2006 5:14 PM CST reply actions

Take it easy

We already knew that they lacked star potential. And you missed Volquez at #27 on Will Lingo's list. The only reason that Danks and Diamond aren't in there somewhere is that they tailed off so much at the end. If Danks, for instance, starts with a strong few starts in Frisco this spring, he'll be right back in that consideration. I'd love to have one of the top five or so pitcing prospects, but overall, I'm very pleased with the pitching in the organization.

We do just lack a couple of top corner position players, but there is potential there in Botts, Whittleman, Mayberry and Sinisi - particularly the first two, if Botts can work out a couple of things in his swing(s). And of course you have pretty decent young guys in Tex, Blalock, Mench and Wilkerson/Nix in those spots on the ML roster.

Incidentally, I made my 5th round pick in my sim league today, and I picked Justin Maxwell. More than even back then, I'm really wishing that we could have signed him. There seems to be a lot of ability there, both offensively and as a true CF.

I'm feeling a lot better about the system lately than I did early this season.

by Brett Perryman on Jan 27, 2006 6:10 PM CST up reply actions