Down on the Farm - 2007 edition

[Nasser22]

So they are saying Bonafacio is faster than Young and Upton, huh? :-o How's he hitting in the minors? Anyone have the stats for me?

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Dbacks headed for the AFL (Scottsdale Scorpions this year)

Mark Rosen
Max Scherzer
Greg Smith
Esmerling Vasquez
Wilkin Castillo
Josh Ford
Aaron Cunningham

Unfortunately no Carlos Gonzales, but that's because he is going to be playing in winter ball (I believe in the Dominican). Otherwise, that's a pretty decent roster for the Diamondbacks.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Not that this matters much anymore now that Upton is in the bigs (and in the playoffs no less), but he made BA's Minor League first team...

"Upton didn't stick around any league long enough to rank among the end-of-season leaders, but that didn't stop him from ranking as the No. 1 prospect in the high Class A California and Double-A Southern leagues. It also didn't stop the Diamondbacks from calling him to the big leagues in August . . . at age 19, just like the Devil Rays did with older brother B.J. And why not? Justin showed all five tools in the minors, batting .319/.410/.551 with 18 homers, 19 steals, 56 walks and six assists in 103 games."

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/features/264994.html

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Updated Top 10 Prospects list according to BA:

To get Dan Haren from the Athletics, the Diamondbacks parted with five of their top prospects: outfielder Carlos Gonzalez (No. 1 on our list), lefthander Brett Anderson (No. 3), outfielder Aaron Cunningham (No. 7), first baseman Chris Carter (No. 8) and lefty Greg Smith (No. 13). Factor in all the talent Arizona promoted to the majors last season, and 13 of its top 15 prospects from a year ago either no longer qualify for the list or have left the organization.
A year ago, we rated the Diamondbacks system as the third-best in the game. With all the changes, it will sit somewhere around No. 20 when we release our updated rankings in the spring.
Here's what the Top 10 would look like now:
1. Jarrod Parker, rhp
Had the most electric arm in the 2007 draft.
2. Max Scherzer, rhp
Has a violent delivery, but also throws in the mid-90s.
3. Gerardo Parra, of
Won the low Class A Midwest League batting title with a .320 average.
4. Billy Buckner, rhp
Acquired from the Royals in shrewd trade for Alberto Callaspo.
5. Juan Gutierrez, rhp
Sinker/changeup pitcher was part of the Jose Valverde deal with the Astros.
6. Emilio Bonifacio, 2b/ss
Stands out for his speed, middle-infield defense.
7. Reynaldo Navarro, ss
Third-round pick last June is a slick defender.
8. Barry Enright, rhp
One of the top command pitchers in college last spring.
9. Wes Roemer, rhp
See Enright.
10. Brooks Brown, rhp
Has the body, stuff to be a workhorse starter.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/askba/265412.html

 

[azmike74]

Ouch, we gave up that much talent for Haren? I had no idea those guys were rated that high.
I love the idea of having a great farm system, the Yankees did and they had great success from it iirc.

I thought those rankings (in parenthesis) were all MLB not just Dbacks prospects, my mistake.

 

[azmike74]

Should we invest any money in anyone named "Billy Buckner"?

BTW, thanks for the list, the Dbacks thread isn't that active, but I really do like the information.

 

[Brandon_Webb]

Ouch, we gave up that much talent for Haren? I had no idea those guys were rated that high.
I love the idea of having a great farm system, the Yankees did and they had great success from it iirc.

I thought those rankings (in parenthesis) were all MLB not just Dbacks prospects, my mistake.

We still didn't give away any current Major League talent thats been on the roster. 7/9 starters are home grown.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Top 20 Diamondbacks Prospects list by John Sickles

Arizona Diamondbacks Top 20 Prospects for 2008
All grades are EXTREMELY PRELIMINARY and subject to change.

1. Jarrod Parker, RHP, Grade B+
2. Max Scherzer, RHP, Grade B+
3. Gerardo Parra, OF, Grade B
4. Billy Buckner, RHP, Grade B
5. Wes Roemer, RHP, Grade B
6. Brooks Brown, RHP, Grade B-
7. Esmerling Vasquez, RHP, Grade B-
8. Barry Enright, RHP, Grade B-
9. Juan Gutierrez, RHP, Grade C+
10. Emilio Bonifacio, INF, Grade C+
11. Hector Ambriz, RHP, Grade C+
12. Matt Torra, RHP, Grade C+ (look at his first half/second half splits)
13. Cyle Hankerd, OF, Grade C+
14. Ed Easley, C, Grade C+
15. Dan Stange, RHP, Grade C+
16. Jailen Peguero, RHP, Grade C
17. Matt Green, RHP, Grade C
18. Reynaldo Navarro, SS, Grade C (great tools but too raw to rank higher for me)
19. Leo Rosales, RHP, Grade C (personal favorite, relief sleeper for '08)
20. Sean Morgan, RHP, Grade C

Other Grade C guys include Tony Barnette, Javier Brito, Dallas Buck, Bryan Byrne, Wilkin Castillo, Pedro Ciriaco, Pete Clifford, Josh Collmenter, Clayton Conner, Jamie D'Antona, Evan Frey, Mark Hallberg, Brad Miller, Dan Perales, Connor Robertson, and Cesar Valdez. The top of this system was lopped off by trades, but they have the ability to recharge quickly and some of these Grade C+ guys could end up being quite good.
Again, don't get all pissy about exact placement on this list. The grades are more important than someone being ranked 15th instead of 13th.
Of course, full statistics and reports on over 1,000 other players will be in the 2008 Baseball Prospect Book, now available for pre-order. Ships the first Monday in February!

http://www.minorleagueball.com/story/2008/1/5/14110/39616

 

[overseascardfan]

Now that we went out and got our #2 which we really needed we need to focus on retaining what prospects we have and hit homeruns in the next couple of drafts. Parker & Scherzer wil both be in the bigs in '09, other than them our system isn't that strong.