There isn’t an official top prospect list, but BA’s is kind of the standard. Today they announced the Tigers 2008 top 10
- Rick Porcello, rhp
- Cale Iorg, ss
- Scott Sizemore, 2b
- Michael Hollimon, 2b/ss
- Yorman Bazardo, rhp
- Jeff Larish, 1b
- Matt Joyce, of
- Danny Worth, ss
- Francisco Cruceta, rhp
- Brandon Hamilton, rhp
Rick Porcello is the clear cut stud, but after that things get cloudy. I’m surprised to see Cale Iorg rated so highly. While he may have all the tools, those tools haven’t really even been on display for several years. Plus a hamstring injury in the Hawaiian Winter League added to the lack of exposure to competitive baseball.I have a hard time rating him that highly, at least this year.
I’m also surprised to see Scott Sizemore rated number 3. While I like what Sizemore has done, the AFL is his only exposre to players in his age range.
The rest of the list is pretty much in line with who’d you would expect to see. As for the order, I don’t think there is a lot of separation so the composition is probably more important than the ranking.
There are write-ups on the top 10, but they are premium content. I will point out a couple of items though:
Bazardo
It would come as no surprise if he opened the season as Detroit’s fifth starter.
I’d be quite surprised given the rotation is set barring injury. I do like him as the 6th starter though and do expect him to make the team. (edit: in his chat, Morosi indicated that was written before the Willis trade)
Hollimon:
Second base would be his best position, but the Tigers have Placido Polanco under contract through 2009. Hollimon is athletic enough to play in the outfield, but Detroit has no plans to move him there this year in Triple-A.
Hadn’t heard him listed as a potential outfielder before.
Joyce:
Joyce has moved swiftly since signing in 2005, and he’ll move up to Triple-A this season. If all goes well, he’ll challenge for a big league job in 2009.
I’d like to see him at AAA, but with Timo Perez, Freddy Guzman, and Brent Clevlen the outfield appears full.
Worth:
Worth will return to Lakeland or Erie to begin 2008 and could move quickly in a system that lacks depth at shortstop in the upper minors.
Brent Dlugach, Tony Giarratano, and Hollimon figure to provide depth. Not that Dlugach should block anybody, but he’s still depth. Plus Tony G is still on the 40 man.
Bill, I’ve yet to hear good things on the recovery of Tony G and Brent Dlugach, who both had surgery to repair torn labrums last year. Their respective prospect statuses, contrary to Lynn Henning’s expertise, are shot.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not high on either player. But I get the impression that both will have the opportunities at the higher levels – right or wrong. Giarratano’s presence on the 40 man is a pretty strong indicator of that.
When you say “6th starter” for Bazardo, you mean as emergency starter, right? You’re not advocating a six-man rotation, are you?
Looks like a 1 year deal for Cabrera
http://tinyurl.com/29z6qm
Bill,
Hollimon to the OF was brought up in the Fall by the Free Press when talking to his college coach I think Hollimon was working out at 3rd this Fall too, for Team USA.This was was on the subject of Hollimon being thought of as a utility guy for the majors. Plays just about every position if he plays in the OF.
I’d been waiting for the BA prospect rankings to come out – I love a good horror movie. After the Renteria/Cabrera-Willis deals I figured it was going to be pretty ugly. I’d assume Casey Cosby would have made this list were it not for the whole being out with Tommy John surgery thing. Bazardo should definitely make the club since he’s out of minor league options and all. I wouldn’t mind seeing him as a spot starter/reliever. His stuff reminds me of Fausto Carmona. (note: Fausto the starter, not Fausto the “closer”) I’ve heard good things about Larish, but haven’t seen him in person.
I don’t care how talented Cale Iorg is, having 2 years away from baseball is WAY too much to overlook. And honestly, this year, BA’s lists have really let me down. Some questionable calls and some sloppy writing in some of the articles recapping things for their online content.
My top 8 I wrote for Project Prospect looked different from BA’s.
Mine was:
1. Porcello
2. Jeff Larish
3. Charles Furbush
4. Brandon Hamilton
5. Danny Worth
6. Casey Crosby
7. Cale Iorg
8. James Skelton
Billfer,
I wouldn’t give up on Joyce playing some at Toledo or even taking Clevlen’s job. I watched Clevlen several times last year with the Mud Hens. He played like a cadaver every time. He just looked completely disinterested. Every time I watched him in the outfield, he was looking around and just seemed out of it. I don’t think he is a prospect. To use a Sparky-ism, he’s a suspect.
Clevlen isn’t a prospect anymore. Any prospect list for the Tigers that contains Clevlen in the top 20 is automatically a big mark against said list in my opinion.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see Joyce moved to Toledo. But Clevlen is going to get every opportunity this year. It’s his last option year, and he’s shown that when he can make contact the ball can go a long ways.
And if it comes down to battling for playing time in Toledo or starting everyday in Erie (which should have an interesting outfield with Scram, Ramirez, and maybe Thomas and/or Joyce), I’d rather he (Joyce) play everyday.
Oddly enough I think Timo actually has a place in Toledo. I’m not a Timo fan by any means, but in terms of depth – at least at this point he’s got a decent shot to out produce the other candidates involved in an emergency call-up situtation.
Another thing to keep in mind is Larry Parrish is pretty good at sprinkling playing time around when it looks like it could be a problem. He did it when he had more infielders than infield positions for a couple years. (e.g. Hessman, Hannahan, Hooper, Raburn)
For example, there’s no reason Timo Perez can’t play DH and also have Clevlen fill in there from time to time.
I was also wondering about Guzman’s option situation. I thought I had read he was out of options when the Tigers picked him up. It seems possible he would pass through waivers, but if that’s true and he doesn’t clear waivers the problem will have cleared itself up.