State of the System: Boston Red Sox

Quick Look

The Red Sox are going to continue to compete for World Series titles annually. Along with their obviously powerful MLB team, they have a deep, diverse store of prospects and are willing to spend big to procure amateur talent.

Top Prospects

Casey Kelly, rhp

Age: 19 Level: High A-Triple-A

After receiving $3 million to spurn Tennessee as the last pick in 2008's first round, Kelly burst on to the scene this year. Although the '09 Futures Game participant still harbors dreams of playing shortstop in the majors, he showed why his future is on the mound (2.08 ERA and 1.6 GO/AO compared to .222/.302/.340 at the plate). He has a smooth delivery and advanced 3-pitch mix: a high-80s to low-90s sinking fastball, good curveball, and changeup.

Ryan Westmoreland, of

Age: 19 Level: Short-Season-Low A

Westmoreland has eye-popping tools; the lefty-swinging Rhode Islander has been compared to Jacoby Ellsbury with power. He went .296/.401/.484 with a strong BB-K ratio and 19 steals (in as many attempts) this season. The biggest concern with the former soccer star is that he's been injury prone during his short career. Westmoreland is farther away than most of the players on this list, but the early returns are outstanding.

Lars Anderson, 1B

Age: 22 Level: Double-A-Triple-A

It was a vexing year for last year's top prospect. He inexplicably went backwards in all phases, losing his power and feel for the strike zone (.673 OPS). Everyone gets a mulligan, though, and if Anderson can regain his former promise, he will be an above-average starting first baseman for Boston.

Junichi Tazawa, rhp

Age: 23 Level: MLB

Tazawa reached the majors in his first year in the U.S. Although the undersized righty struggled, he'll be an asset for the Red Sox in the near future--most likely as a mid-rotation starter. Tazawa primarily works with an 89-91 mph fastball, plus splitter, and average curveball. Despite an odd delivery, Tazawa has pretty good command.

Josh Reddick, of

Age: 22 Level: MLB

Reddick's free-swinging approach makes him susceptible to slumps and strikeouts, but he did make some progress in the plate discipline department this year. Reddick has a strong swing, a knack for barreling up the ball, and the raw power to hit 20-25 HRs in his prime. He has some athleticism and speed, and his sniper arm rounds out a strong defensive package in right field.

Anthony Rizzo, 1B

Age: 20 Level: High A-Double-A

Rizzo has already beat cancer; the road to the majors will seem simple to the 2007 6th-rounder. Similar to Lars Anderson, Rizzo has a feel for hitting, especially to the opposite field. He also has soft hands and good actions at first base. Ready for Double-A, the 6-3, 220-pounder is still growing into his power.

Ryan Kalish, of

Age: 21 Level: Double-A-Triple-A

Kalish, who compares well to Mark Kotsay, has an innate feel for hitting, and his power spiked in 2009 as well. He hit .279/.364/.455 with 18 home runs and 22 stolen bases between High A and Double-A. Kalish is a strong defender, albeit without a standout arm. He has bulked up considerably since turning pro, and if he loses a step he won't profile as well. The lefty draws walks, but also strikes out a fair amount. Kalish's goal in 2010 will be to master the high minors, and he could reach Boston as early as September.

Michael Bowden, rhp

Age: 23 Level: MLB

Bowden has a great work ethic and makes the necessary adjustments at each level. He also has solid stuff (88-93 mph fastball, curve, change). I'm not sold that his luck won't run out in the majors, though. Bowden isn't overpowering, lost control of the strike zone (one of his erstwhile strengths) this year, and gives up a lot of fly balls. He has also gotten hammered in the majors. Most troublesome, Bowden has ridiculous arm action. His ceiling is a #3-4 starter, but Bowden has work to do to avoid becoming just another filler.

Stolmy Pimentel, rhp

Age: 19 Level: Low A-Double-A

Pimentel took a steady, if not glamorous, turn through the South Atlantic League this year. He posted a 3.82 ERA and displayed a feel for pitching. The key for Pimentel moving forward will be improving his stuff a tick, or developing plus command (he already has plus control). Pimentel has an average fastball, effective changeup, and decent breaking ball. The 6-3 Dominican is somewhat hittable, but he's shown the pitchability and aptitude to become a mid-rotation starter.

David Renfroe, ss

Age: 18 Level: none-Low A

Renfroe is Casey Kelly Lite. A prep shortstop/righthander, he got a hefty signing bonus ($1.4 million) to eschew Ole Miss and will reportedly begin his pro career as a shortstop. Renfroe has a feel for hitting as well as easy power. He may shift to third base, where he would be a smooth defender. Renfroe has excellent arm strength, with a fastball that often hits the low-90s.

Che-Hsuan Lin, of

Age: 21 Level: High A-Double-A

Lin is unrefined at the plate and will need to take several steps forward to maximize his potential. (He does show good plate discipline, though.) If he can make some adjustments, he'll be a star. Lin has the speed of a track star, graceful actions in center, a rifle arm, and even a dash of raw power.

Others: SS Jose Iglesias; OF Reymond Fuentes; RHPs Stephen Fife, Alex Wilson, and Kyle Weiland

Impact Talent: B+

Farm System Depth: A-

2010 Breakout Prospect

Madison Younginer, rhp

Age: 18 Level: none-Low A

Younginer didn't receive much exposure in high school because he worked out of the bullpen. The Clemson recruit caught Boston's eye, though, and they gave him an above-slot bonus in the 7th round this year. Younginer has a premium arm, with a fastball that has been clocked as high as 97 mph, and a tight slider. He has nuances of pitching to work on, and needs to show the bullpen isn't is permanent home, but Younginer's stuff makes him a breakout candidate in 2010 regardless. He'll probably spend most of the year at Low A Greenville.

Ravishing Relic of the Week

I pulled this card from a Wal Mart blaster box of 2008 Topps Luxury Box Basketball. It's serially numbered 13/75 and I thinks it's kind of a cool card to have of two well known NBA centers. Let us GAZE upon it and move forward.

Chicken Scratch of the Day

I opened three boxes of Topps performance in 2007 and I was so happy when I pulled this lovely Barry Sanders HOF autographed card. What made it even sweeter was I had also managed to pull an Adrian Peterson autographed rookie in the previous pack before I hit the Sanders card and I thought I was one lucky dude! A hall of famer and a future hall of famer from the same box of cards.
Barry's signature has been consistent over the years and always seems to have a very legible autograph even when he's writing on the pigskin or on pigskin insert cards. It was too bad that Barry retired when he did as I felt he could have become the all time leading rusher. Barry has a very presentable signature and for this he receives 4 sharpies!

Joys of Parenting

Attention married couples and "happily in love young couples"- When having children please note that it is impossible at times to attend both sporting events that the children are participating in at the same time.
I hate it when my daughter's soccer games is scheduled around the same time as my son's football games. Like any good parent I try to attend a little bit of both games so no one feels "left out". However when their games are two counties apart then it's almost impossible. Now try to explain that to a crying seven year old who wants her Daddy at her soccer game instead of going to her "rotten" brother's football game. Then after talking with her for about ten minutes she finally calms down and says it's okay for me to go to her "rotten" brother's game. When Scott's football game was over we came home to see Caty looking kind of sad. She then proceeds to tell me, "Dad, we lost today 5-0 so I'm glad you weren't here to see it". A little dose of hugs, kisses, and words of encouragement from Daddy seem to make it all better for her as she then walks away smiling and happy as she can be. As for my son's pee wee football team...well they've managed a measly 1-8 record and are still going to the playoffs (everyone gets in). Hopefully they will have some type of mercy rule or something to that effect because his team has lost by an average of 32 points a game and I don't see things changing anytime soon. We need some new coaches badly! Anybody up for it? You cannot have a productive offense when you run the same plays over and over. Let's run it to the left...let's run it to the left again....let's run it to the left one more time. His football team has run up more negative yardage than any other team that has tons positive yardage. When you have 2nd and 25 and then 3rd and 35 you seem to just keep going that way. Then the kids are fumbling WAY too much. These kids are supposed to be learning the fundamentals and then you come to find out that some of the coaches never played football...makes you want to have some heads rollin! Poor kids!

Showdown In The West

Pujols vs. Ramirez

Wednesday at 8;37pm CT

TBS

Be There!!!

Carpenter was named the winner of the annual award, voted on by MLB.com beat reporters, on Monday. He may well have more hardware coming his way as well, since he's at least a candidate for a second National League Cy Young Award. For now, though, there's little doubt that Carpenter had the league's most impressive comeback in '09. Few had farther to come, and few ascended higher -- and no one could say they did both

As the Dodgers come limping into the Divisonial playoffs. The Cardinals hobble in to make another run to the 2009 World Series.

The two most successful franchises in NL history clash under the guidance of two of the busiest and winningest managers in big league history.

The Cardinals have 21 pennants, 10 World Series championships and Tony La Russa, who has managed more games than anyone except Connie Mack and ranks third in managerial wins.
The Dodgers have 22 pennants, six World Series titles and Joe Torre, sixth in games and fifth in wins on the all-time lists for skippers.
Torre -- who spent the middle part of his 18-year playing career in St. Louis, even winning an NL batting title with the Cardinals in 1971 -- is hell-bent to climb the wall he has been hitting in postseasons. He's in it for a record-tying 14th straight October, but he has been chased short of the World Series the past five trips, his teams going 14-18 in games.

The teams also have contrasting styles. St. Louis leads with its rights, a meal-ticket rotation of right-handers headlined by Game 1 starter Chris Carpenter. Los Angeles, which goes southpaw in the first two games with Randy Wolf and Clayton Kershaw, needs all the pieces in its kaleidoscope to fall into place to prevail.
But when they do, the Dodgers are formidable. They have boasted the league's top record all season, through charges and chills. Things like that don't happen by accident.
They do, however, happen by relief. Left-hander George Sherrill's non-waiver Trade Deadline arrival made a good bullpen great -- mirroring what Matt Holliday did for the St. Louis lineup. Dodgers relievers have by far the lowest aggregate ERA in the Majors, which helps explain why they've outscored foes by 70 runs late in games (seventh inning and after).

Giants End Season On High Note

The Giants ended their 2009 season on Sunday, going out with a victory in San Diego, capping off what was a very surprising and successful year for the organization.

Pablo Sandoval also put a nice final touch on his season, as he hit the game-winning solo home run in the 10th inning to put the Giants on top for good. Then Brian Wilson came on to shut the door on the Pads for his 38th save of the year. It was really a fitting way for "Big Panda" to finish off his year with that home run, as he really emerged as the Giants' team MVP in 2009. He showed a glimpse of what he could do at the end of the 2008 season, and didn't disappoint in the slightest in 2009. Sandoval's final line for the '09 season looks pretty darn good: .330 avg, 25 HR, 90 RBI, .943 OPS, and I think he's just starting to tap into the potential that he has. It took him a little while to get his power bat going too, as he only hit 3 home runs over the first two months of the season, so he's definitely got some room for improvement. What really surprised me throughout his season, was the improvement he showed in his plate discipline. It's no secret that he's more of a free swinger than your average ML hitter, and that works for him, but the reason why he was able to carry an average in the .330's for most of the season was because of his improved eye at the plate. He walked just 4 times in 145 at-bats as a rookie last year, but walked 52 times in 572 at-bats in 2009. Oh yeah, he's still just 23 years old, which means he's not even close to hitting his full potential yet, and that's pretty scary.

Unfortunately, the Giants didn't have many other young players step up and cement themselves a full-time role with this team going forward. Nate Schierholtz showed glimpses at times, but the more at-bats he got over the course of the year, the less impressive he was. Same with Eugenio Velez. His first 200 at-bats of the year couldn't have gone much better than they did, but then he mellowed out a bit towards the end of the year. Velez did, however, show that he deserves a pretty prominent role with this team going forward. If the Giants decide not to exercise their option on Freddy Sanchez, and don't add anyone else from outside the organization this winter, there's a solid chance Velez could end up at second base, or at least play heavily into the mix there, in 2010. He did go out on a positive not though as well, as he was 3-5 with 2 runs and 2 sb's in Sunday's season finale. Another guy who really stepped up at the end of the year was Andres Tores And it really was the younger players, Ishikawa, Sandoval, Schierholtz and Andres Torres, that carried the Giants in the second half. The team did not get big contributions from Bengie Molina, Randy Winn and Aaron Rowand in the second half whatsoever, but their pitching, defense, and young timely hitting kept them in the wild card race until the final days of the season, and that's likely more than any Giant fan was expecting out of them coming into the season.

GBB Note: Posting here has been a little sporadic over the last 2 weeks, as we've been busy with school and other obligations, but we fully intend to get back on track of at least 2-3 posts per week in the offseason. We'll have much more season review and offseason previews throughout October, as well as some other MLB playoff talk, so stay tuned!!!

State of the System: Baltimore Orioles

Quick Look
All signs are pointing in the right direction for the O's, despite their rugged division. Their ever-growing supply of young talent--from Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, and Matt Wieters; to Brian Matusz, Chris Tillman, and Jake Arrieta--is well-documented. It will be fascinating to watch if they can ride their young stars to AL East contention a la the 2008 Rays. Check out Camden Crazies and OriolesProspects.com for more coverage of the O's.

Top Prospects

Brian Matusz, lhp

Age: 22 Level: MLB

Matusz is arguably the top lefty pitching prospect in the game. He combines plus stuff (low-90s fastball and 3 advanced offspeed offerings) with savvy and command beyond his years. Matusz also has a solid delivery, track record, and good makeup. The only quibble with Matusz is that he doesn't establish or work off his fastball enough. He flashed his upside with a promising September callup, though, and will be at the forefront of Baltimore's rotation for years to come.

Josh Bell, 3B

Age: 22 Level: Double-A-MLB

Bell was the main return in this year's George Sherrill deal with the Dodgers, a boon for the O's. He hit .297/.378/.518 with 20 HRs and 35 2Bs during a breakout season Double-A this year, showcasing outstanding raw power and an improved feel for hitting (although his production comes almost exclusively from the left side). Bell's most important area of progress, however, was on defense. Despite a big frame, he showed that he works hard and has a good chance to play third, boosting his stock.

Zach Britton, lhp

Age: 21 Level: High-A-Double-A

The 6-2 lefty quietly continues to ascend the ladder. In 2009, despite some command struggles, Britton lowered his ERA (2.70 ERA) and raised his K/9 (8.4) for the third straight year. Roughly two years away from the majors, Britton features a heavy sinker, a 4-seam fastball, slider, and changeup, the last of which has improved immensely. I like Britton's groundball tendencies (3.38 GO/AO in 2009). He projects as a #3 starter.

Jake Arrieta

Age: 23 Level: Triple-A-MLB

Arrieta signed a slot-busting $1.1 bonus as a 5th-rounder in 2007 and proceeded to shine in High A in 2008. He backed up some in Triple-A this year, however, as his lack of command was exposed in the high minors. Arrieta will need to hone that aspect of his game to become a frontline starter (not to mention improving his below-average changeup), but his fastball (which reaches 96 mph) and tight slider will play in the bullpen at the very least. If he reaches his ceiling, he's a #2 starter.

Brandon Snyder, 1B

Age: 22 Level: Triple-A-MLB

Snyder has done a nice resurrection job on his career after a brutal 2006 campaign. The 2005 1st-rounder has a good, strong swing and is improving every year, showing some justification for his elevated draft status. This year, he hit .289/.362/.460 over 530 PAs between Double-A and Triple-A. Snyder doesn't have great BB-K rates and his career high in homers is 13, so it's unclear whether he can become an above-average player since he's relegated to an offensively-demanding position like first base. He is winning over more and more proponents each year, though.

Matt Hobgood, rhp

Age: 19 Level: Rookie-Low A

Hobgood went 5th overall in the 2009 draft, perhaps a reach considering he was ranked about 5th just among prep pitchers. The California native is still a high-upside prospect, though. He dials his fastball up to 94-95 at times, drops in a devastating curve with two-plane break, and has a stocky frame that suggests durability will be no problem. The flip side is that he lacks a lot of projection. He also needs to hone a changeup. Like any high school arm, Hobgood will need a couple years of seasoning, but his ceiling ranks among the highest in Baltimore's organization.

Brandon Erbe, rhp

Age: 21 Level: Double-A-Triple-A

Prospect fatigue has set in with Erbe, but it's easy to forget that he's still just 21 years old. Always young for his level, Erbe was hampered with shoulder issues this year (a result of his delivery, maybe?), limiting him to 73 IP in Double-A. While he may not stay in the rotation because of troublesome command, the slender Baltimore native has closer potential. His electric fastball touches 96 and his slider is a plus pitch at times, featuring hard late break. A full, steady 2010 season would be a step in the right direction for Erbe.

Ryan Berry, rhp

Age: 21 Level: none-High A

Tabbed by the Orioles in the 8th round this year, I have many a time touted Berry as an excellent value pick. He could have gone in the supplemental-round range if there weren't concerns about the health of his shoulder. When healthy, Berry aggressively pounds the zone with an average fastball, plus knucklecurve, changeup, and occasional slider. He's pretty advanced, and he could rise swiftly through Baltimore's system if he returns to health (not a given considering the track record of Rice hurlers).

Mychal Givens, rhp/ss

Age: 18 Level: none-Low A

Givens, a high-profile 2009 draftee, signed for $800,000 in the second round. He has plenty of tools as a position player, but he's raw, and may be a better bet on the mound. Givens reaches 97 mph from a near-sidearm slot, but is probably destined for the bullpen. The Tampa native has a lot of upside, but he also has his share of flaws.

Randy Henry, rhp

Age: 20 Level: none-High A

Henry has gotten little exposure in his career, having been limited by Tommy John surgery and a low-profile college (South Mountain CC). The O's aren't what sure what they have with their 4th pick in this year's draft, but they know he has touched the mid-90s to go along with a changeup and a curveball. It will be interesting to monitor him in 2010.

Others: RHPs Kam Mickolio, Luis Lebron, Bobby Bundy, and Brett Jacobson; LHPs Cameron Coffey and Ashur Tolliver; 3B Brandon Waring; C Caleb Joseph; OFs Ronnie Welty and Matt Angle

Impact Talent: B

Farm System Depth: B-

2010 Breakout Prospect

Jake Cowan, rhp

Age: 21 Level: Short-Season-High A

Cowan looks poised to put his name in the conversation of top Orioles pitching prospects. He throws a low-90s fastball with good sinking action, tosses a low-80s slider, spins a soft 12-6 curve that could be plus in the future, and mixes in a changeup. A 2009 draftee from San Jacinto JC, Cowan is projectable and will progress quickly.