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Law: 2009 Orginizational Rankings

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  • Not sure if this is Insider material or not.

    Here's what he has to say about the Tribe after ranking them 5th in all of baseball:

    5. Cleveland Indians: The trades of Casey Blake and CC Sabathia combined with some depth-oriented drafts have filled out this system over the past two years, although it's arguable how many impact guys the Indians have after Carlos Santana. A healthy Adam Miller, who has No. 1 starter stuff, would have had them a little higher on the list. They are one of a half-dozen teams whose prospect lists genuinely run 12 to 15 names deep.

    As for the rest of the division, the Royals are 12th, the Twins 21st, ChiSox 23rd and the Tigers 28th.

    http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insider/col...&id=3848691

    Beanpot

  • Thanks.

    The life blood to any team is how they run their farm system.

    I am no Yankee fan by any means, but I have never understood that team. They have to coin to run a top minor league system.

    Just think how dominant they could be if they tried to run a top 10 system, and still be able to cherry pick any of the top free agents they wanted??

    Make's no sense to me.....maybe we should be glad they don't.

    If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.

  • Absolutely agreed about the Yanks, Peen.

    Law went on to rank his top 100 prospects in all of baseball and here are the guys in our organization:

    #13- Carlos Santana - C - 22 years old - '08 rank UR

    In 2007, Santana hit .223/.318/.370 in the Midwest League, didn't make Baseball Prospectus' list of the top 11 Dodgers prospects, and didn't crack the top 20 on Baseball America's list. Now, after hitting a combined .330/.435/.569 in high-A -- walking more than he struck out -- he projects as a middle-of-the-order, switch-hitting run producer who, by the way, is a legitimate big league catcher. Santana has a very compact swing and makes a lot of hard contact, but he also has enough strength in his upper body to generate power despite the short swing. Behind the plate, he's a good receiver and has an above-average arm, but needs to work on his game-calling. Given his tremendous control of the strike zone and above-average power, he has very little to do to turn into an average big league catcher, but there's a high probability that he develops into much more.

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    #27 - Matt LaPorta - 1B - 24 years old - '08 rank #37

    LaPorta is what he is (or what you thought he was, if you thought about him at all before this sentence): a slow, patient slugger, stuck at first base, whose power and on-base skills will make him a productive middle-of-the-order hitter and who is ready for the majors now.

    LaPorta's power is prodigious, and he gets very good extension through the ball; he's strong enough to power the ball out the other way but can get too pull-conscious. His swing is a little long, but he hasn't had trouble making contact through Double-A, fanning in just 19 percent of his plate appearances in pro ball.

    To the extent that he continues that, he can be more than just a three-true-outcomes player and would elevate himself from "above-average regular" to "potential star."

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    #58 - Adam Miller - P - 24 years old - '08 rank #26

    Miller has No. 1 starter stuff, and probably has No. 1 starter command as well, but has thrown a total of 94 innings the past two years because of a torn flexor tendon in his right middle finger that required surgery and ended his 2008 season. Miller has had injury trouble before, missing time in 2003, 2005 and late 2007 because of arm trouble, and it's unlikely that he'll bounce back in 2009 and handle a starter's workload. His stuff would be dominant in a short relief role, and he might stay healthy that way, sitting in the mid-90s with an out-pitch slider that will touch 88 with a hard, late break. At this point, he just needs to stay healthy for a full year, and if the way to do that is in one- and two-innings bursts three times a week, so be it.

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    #61 - Nick Weglarz - LF/1B - 21 years old - '08 rank #62

    Weglarz is one of the most disciplined hitters in the minors -- he's drawn three fewer walks than Lars Anderson the past two years in more than 100 fewer plate appearances -- and only his uncertain power potential keeps him out of the top quarter of this list. He also has better raw power than this year's performance would indicate, and projects to have 30-homer power down the road, but he's had trouble keeping his lower half involved, and while he has good bat speed he's not strong enough to just jerk the ball out of the park. He has improved in left field to the point where he's playable and could end up average, although he'll never be plus and could eventually drift back to first base. The physical potential for power is there, and he'll play this entire year at 21, probably starting in Double-A, so there's still time left on the clock for him to develop it.

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    #66 - David Huff - P - 24 years old - '08 rank UR

    Huff came out of UCLA as a soft-tossing left-hander with a good changeup and not much else to recommend him, but he has improved across the board and is now ready to step into Cleveland's rotation as soon as they need him. Huff will sit 89-92 now and touch 94, and he still has an excellent changeup. He throws both a slider and a curve, with the slider now showing solid-average, but the curveball has a chance to become at least fringe-average although its slow rotation means it probably won't be plus. He repeats his delivery very well and has an advanced feel for pitching. Because of that and the presence of a plus pitch, he has a good chance to adjust well to the big leagues when he gets the call sometime in 2009.

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    http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stor...&id=3840355

    Beanpot

  • In a related column, Law went on to pick one player from each organization that would likely make his top 100 next year. Here's his candidate from the Tribe:

    Cleveland Indians

    Hector Rondon (A+) was a candidate to make the top 100 this year; he sits at 93-95 with good life on his fastball and plus control, although his slider is a work in progress.

    http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?...;name=law_keith

    Beanpot

  • I really want to know what the asking prices are for Shoppach these days. I guess it's the safe (smart) thing to do to keep him around while we make sure Victor is back to form, but Shoppach just screams "Sell high!" to me. When we already have our Vic, Fasano (I know I know, but if he wore a B hat, he'd be an all-star), and apparently the best catching prospect in the game...and a bit of a question mark in our rotation, I think it's still just a matter of time before the trade happens. Of course, if all Shapiro can get back is another Sowers/Laffey/Huff type pitching prospect, there isn't much of a point.

    Did I just hijack another thread?

    Somewhat on topic, my friend (Ranger fan) was pretty thrilled about that list. Everyone down here had a good laugh when Nolan Ryan was named to the front office, but it seems like he's had a pretty good influence. The 1-year deal for Milton Bradley looked like a stroke of genius, I still say Texas won the Volquez/Hamilon deal, they have some outstanding pieces in Hamilton, Kinsler, and Chris Davis, and with Feliz, Teagarden, Andrus, etc in the system that's going to be a great team to watch. As long as they avoid another McCarthy for Danks fiasco.

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