MLB Scoop

A popular feature from last year returns.  Once again MLBscoop has collected the rankings of popular prospect opinion sites and averaged them out to give you a sense of a consensus  top 100 prospects in Major League Baseball farm systems.  While the top prospect lists all are very similar at the top with either Price or Wieters as #1 or #2, its in the middle and towards the end of the list that the individual organization’s bias comes in.  Without further ado, here are MLBscoop’s aggregate top 100 MLB prospects entering the 2009 season:

1. David Price, LHP, TAM
2. Matt Wieters, C, BAL
3. Jason Heyward, OF, ATL
4. Travis Snider, OF, TOR
5. Cameron Maybin, OF, FLA
6. Colby Rasmus, OF, STL
7. Rick Porcello, RHP, DET
8. Madison Baumgartner, LHP, SF
9. Mike Moustakas, 3B, KC
10. Tommy Hanson, RHP, ATL
11. Brett Anderson, LHP, OAK
12. Neftali Feliz, RHP, TEX
13. Trevor Cahill, RHP, OAK
14. Brian Matusz, LHP, BAL
15. Buster Posey, C, SF
16. Alcides Escobar, SS, MIL
17. Jarrod Parker, RHP, ARI
18. Dexter Fowler, OF, COL
19. Lars Anderson, 1B, BOS
20. Chris Tillman, RHP, BAL
21. Matt LaPorta, OF, CLE
22. Tim Beckham, SS, TAM
23. Wade Davis, RHP, TAM
24. Austin Jackson, OF, NYY
25. Jesus Montero, C, NYY
26. Fernando Martinez, OF, NYM
27. Eric Hosmer, 1B, KC
28. Pedro Alvarez, 3B, PIT
29. Mike Stanton, OF, FLA
30. Angel Villalona, 1B, SF
31. Mat Gamel, 3B, MIL
32. Derek Holland, LHP, TEX
33. Andrew McCutchen, OF, PIT
34. Brett Wallace, 3B, STL
35. Yonder Alonso, 1B, CIN
36. Elvis Andrus, SS, TEX
37. Carlos Santana, C, CLE
38. Justin Smoak, 1B, TEX
39. Carlos Carrasco, RHP, PHI
40. Kyle Blanks, 1B, SD
41. Nick Adenhart, RHP, LAA
42. Josh Vitters, 3B, CHC
43. Carlos Triunfel, SS, SEA
44. Wilmer Flores, SS, NYM
45. James McDonald, RHP, LAD
46. Logan Morrison, 1B, FLA
47. Gordon Beckham, SS, CHW
48. Adam Miller, RHP, CLE
49. Tim Alderson, RHP, SF
50. Jordan Walden, RHP, LAA
51. Aaron Hicks, OF, MIN
52. Jordan Zimmerman, RHP, WAS J
53. ake Arrieta, RHP, BAL
54. Michael Inoa, RHP, OAK
55. Jeff Samardzija, RHP, CHC
56. Ben Revere, OF, MIN
57. Jhoulys Chacin, RHP, COL
58. Jeremy Hellickson, RHP, TAM
59. JP Arencibia, C, TOR
60. Jason Castro, C, HOU
61. Lou Marson, C, PHI
62. Jose Tabata, OF, PIT
63. Freddie Freeman, 1B, ATL
64. Julio Teheran, RHP, ATL
65. Phillippe Aumont, RHP, SEA
66. Matt Dominguez, 3B, FLA
67. Aaron Poreda, LHP, CHW
68. Yorman Rodriguez, OF, CIN
69. Wes Hodges, 3B, CLE
70. Michael Bowden, RHP, BOS
71. Greg Halman, OF, SEA
72. Jordan Schafer, OF, ATL
73. Jeff Decker, OF, SD
74. Gio Gonzalez, LHP, OAK
75. Austin Romine, C, NYY
76. Scott Elbert, LHP, LAD
77. Brett Cecil, LHP, TOR
78. Gerardo Parra, OF, ARI
79. Jeremy Jeffress, RHP, MIL
80. Ivan De Jesus, SS, LAD
81. Chris Carter, 1B, OAK
82. Todd Frazier, SS, CIN
83. Dellin Betances, RHP, NYY
84. Adrian Cardenas, SS, OAK
85. Daniel Cortes, RHP, KC
86. Cedric Hunter, OF, SD
87. Daniel Bard, RHP, BOS
88. Hank Conger, C, LAA
89. Chris Marrero, 1B, WAS
90. Cole Rohrbough, LHP, ATL
91. Reid Brignac, SS, TAM
92. Wilkin Ramirez, OF, DET
93. Gorkys Hernandez, OF, ATL
94. Mat Latos, RHP, SD
95. Michael Burgess, OF, WAS
96. Wilson Ramos, C, MIN
97. Bryan Anderson, C, STL
98. Christian Friedrich, LHP, COL
99. Desmond Jennings, OF, TAM
100. Michael Main, RHP, TEX

A tournament is always better when there are shocking upsets, and by that standard the 2009 World Baseball Classic has already surprised the initial WBC.  The big story so far has been the Dutch defeating the Dominicans not once but twice to advance out of Pool D against all odds.  While nothing quite matches that, each pool had its own surprise result.  In Pool A, the Chinese beat the Taiwanese.  In Pool B, the Australians put the mercy rule on the Mexicans in Mexico City during their first match-up.  In Pool C, the Italians finished ahead of the Canadians.   The minnows of world baseball made some noise.  That’s the exact type of progress the WBC is made for.

If you love baseball, the World Baseball Classic offers something the MLB does not.  At the MLB level, the game is so dominated by guys who draw walks, strike out and blast three run homers that even teams who play more small ball do this only to a certain extent.  When you see the Dutch and the Koreans use pitching, defense and smart hitting to slay giants,  you see a style of play that is not on display in this form in Major League Baseball.

Then there is the exotic talent.  The Cubans and Japanese show you players who you may never see again in their primes in any other format.   21 year old Cuban lefty Aroldis Chapman is a specimen throwing near 100 MPH and dominating hitters, causing former GM Steve Phillips to say that he would throw millions and millions of dollars at him as a GM were Chapman available.  Japanese ace Yu Darvish stands tall among his peers, five years from when he’d normally be posted for MLB teams to bid, showing the arsenal that has him called the best pitcher outside of the Major Leagues.  Third baseman Yulieski Gourriel, one of the few stars of the ‘06 WBC to return and outfielders Frederich Cepeda and Alfredo Despaigne led a virile Cuban attack.   There are also standouts who may never see the major leagues, but have made their mark.  Gift Ngoepe, an electrifyingly speedy shortstop from South Africa, hit two triples in a game.  The Dutch and Italian teams featured European-born players that made a serious impact.

With Round 2 underway, the upsets are not going to match the magnitude of the Netherlands over the Dominican Republic (unless the Dutch slay the USA later today).   Seven of the eight teams in Round 2 were there last time around.  It’s not as impressive when major leaguers from Puerto Rico beat major leaguers from the USA, or Venezuela.  The Cubans have established themselves as a team to beat in any form of international play, and the Koreans are coming off an Olympic gold.  The Japanese won it last time out.  The Mexicans feature fewer major leaguers and with the Dutch are the only true underdogs left in the proceedings.

The best part of the 2009 WBC has no doubt passed and hopefully the next edition, scheduled for 2013 unless the Cubans get there way and it becomes bi-annual.  Hopefully in 2013, we’ll see a qualifying round or an expanded Round 1, where more countries feature.  The best of the WBC comes out when the opportunity for real upsets like the Dutch over the Dominicans, the Aussies over the Mexicans, the Italians over the Canadians and the Chinese over the Taiwanese are in the offing.  Bring on 2013, and perhaps the Israelis, Irish, British, Germans, Spanish, Croatians, Czechs, Colombians, Nicaraguans, Ghanaians,  Greeks, Belgians, Filipinos, French, Russians … the more minnows the merrier.

The Chinese national baseball team was unmercifully put to the sword this morning by the South Koreans, in a 14-0 defeat that knocks China out of the World Baseball Classic.  Regardless of emphatic nature of this loss, the 2009 WBC is an enormous success for the Chinese, simply because they won a game.  Manager Terry Collins looks at it the right way when he says, “This was a great experience for us. We did not play well tonight and the game got ugly, but I think the future is bright. I hope my players leave with the memory not of this game but the first two games in which we played well.”

China may have a larger population than any other country on the face of the Earth, but when he comes to developed baseball talent, it is one of the weakest teams on paper in the WBC.  It is light years behind Japan and South Korea, and well behind Taiwan.  That China leaves the tournament in third place in its pool, having shocked Taiwan behind the heroics of second generation Chinese-American Raymond Chang, is a massive accomplishment.

Aside from the American-born Chang,  China sported only two other players in MLB systems.  Kai Liu, a lefty pitcher, and catcher Zhenwang Zhang, play in the lower reaches of the New York Yankees farm.  Righty pitcher Dawei Zhu is in the Seibu Lions system in the Japanese League.  Apart from that, the Chinese roster consists of players who ply their trade in the domestic China Baseball League, which has only been around since 2002.  Compare that with Taiwan, who have had their own domestic league since 1989 and sport a roster with 10 players in MLB systems.  That’s a vast difference in experience and developed talent for the Chinese to have overcome.

While China’s 4-1 victory over Taiwan will be overshadowed by the Dutch’s amazing win over the Dominican Republic which was a greater upset in this WBC, one can only hope that the result spurs on the development of the game in both rival nations.   For China, the win should inspire national pride in the sport, hopefully help get more support for the domestic league and attract more young players to the game.  For Taiwan, hopefully the lose and the shame of being the first team eliminated from their group will cause them to take the next WBC more seriously, to make sure that their best players like Chien-Ming Wang and Hong-Chih Kuo play for national pride.

Shocking upsets like China’s win over Taiwan and the Dutch defeating the Dominican Republic are great for the game of baseball.  The World Baseball Classic’s purpose is to serve as baseball’s true World Cup and give the game greater exposure internationally in countries that normally don’t pay attention.  Results like these only help the fledgling WBC nations gain more interest in the sport domestically, and show young baseball players in nations outside the WBC group that anything is possible with hard work, disciplined play and determination.

It seems like only a few years ago that Major League Baseball was considering contraction, after two expansions totaling four new franchises in the 1990s.  Baseball purists decried the dilution of the talent pool.With global development of the game shown off by the World Baseball Classic tournament and South Korea winning the Olympic gold medal, it should be clear to all that there is more baseball talent in the world that any other time in history, and by far.

When you look back to the 16 team era, the MLB pulled from a much smaller pool of talent: White Americans.  When Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, an immediate pool of MLB-ready talent was waiting to join from the Negro Leagues.  Sadly, that integration did not come fast enough for some of the greatest ballplayers ever like Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston and Satchel Paige (though Paige of course had a brief MLB career in his 40s).  Transportation advances made a league of teams across the 48 contiguous states viable. Expansion was not only possible but necessary to maintain a similar level of talent and to reach a wider audience.

Baseball is the most popular sport in countries like Japan, Taiwan, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and Panama.  Latin America is providing the MLB with an incredible number of players these days, with the Dominican and Venezuela leading the way.  There is a league filled with quality players in Japan and an AAA level league in Mexico.

Within the next five years or so, Major League Baseball will be ripe for expansion again.  Before 1998, the gap between expansions was 16 years (1977 to 1993). We’re getting coming into our 11th year now.   There are plenty of cities in AAA worthy of examination for an MLB team with Portland, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Indianapolis and the Tennessee cities of Nashville and Memphis worth a look.  Canada deserves consideration again, with Vancouver growing and Montreal, yes Montreal, the largest city in North America without a baseball team, worthy of re-consideration contingent on a properly committed ownership group sometime in the future.

Economic times may be hard right now but the baseball industry is growing strong, opening up new markets of talent and markets in which to sell products.  The business of baseball is stronger than ever.  The talent pool available is bigger than ever.  The equation leads to one answer, and that is further expansion of Major League Baseball sometime in the next 5 years or so.  Which cities are the best candidates?  That’s a debate for another day, but the trends show it will be a debate whose time will come.

Australia has been cited as a prime area of emerging talent in the baseball world for the past decade, but the Aussies underperformed greatly at the 2006 World Baseball Classic.  In 2009, they have been seeded alongside Mexico, Cuba and South Africa.  While this group is not easy, it is possibly the most favorable trio of teams the Aussies could have realistically asked for.  With a roster of major league and minor league players, Australia has the opportunity to make a statement at the 2009 World Baseball Classic by pipping the Cubans or the Mexicans and advancing to the second round.  The Mexicans will have home field advantage and the Cubans have the advantage of being in mid-season form and playing together regularly on the international stage, but talent-wise, the Aussies can field a starting 9 that has the ability to take their rivals out.

Here is the Australian depth chart:

Catcher: Australia’s most famous major leaguer may have been a catcher, Dave Nilsson, but since he’s long since retired there’s no real solid Aussie backstop candidate.  Justin Huber used to play there, but since Huber’s bat will play anywhere in the Aussie lineup it is likely they will go for another catcher.  Angels prospect Michael Collins is another possibility here, but he has also moved to first base.   Joel Naughton, who played half a season for the Phillies’ Sally League team the Lakewood BlueClaws, and participated in the Olympic qualifiers for Australia, may feature behind the plate.  Andrew Utting and Mat Kent are other catchers who appeared on the Olympic roster.

First Base: Justin Huber will be the likely starter at first base for the Aussies.  While Huber has yet to win himself a consistent MLB job, he has excelled in his minor league career and should cause plenty of problems for the Cuban, Mexican and South African pitchers.  If Huber goes to the outfield, then Michael Collins could play here.

Second Base:  Luke Hughes played in the Twins organization in 2008, spending time at AA and AAA.  He was outstanding in 285 AA at bats, hitting 15 home runs and posting .319 BA/ .385 OBP / .551 SLG, numbers anyone would love to have from a second baseman.

Third Base: Adam Morrisey played second base and third base for the Arkansas Travelers (AA, Angels) and Salt Lake Bees (AAA, Angels) in 2008.  The 27 year-old hit .280 and .299 with some power in AA and AAA respectively.

Shortstop:  Brad Harman had a cup of coffee with the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies this year when Jimmy Rollins was out hurt and has done well at the A-ball level in the USA.  He has also competed for Australia internationally before, including in the 2006 Classic. He primarily plays second base but he spent plenty of time at short.

Outfield: Chris Snelling is a former top prospect who spent time this season with the Phillies AAA squad, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.  Trent Oeltjen is another AAA player, he was in the Diamondbacks system in 2008, who should feature for the Aussies.  Oeltjen hit .317 in a full season for the Tuscon Sidewinders.  James Linger (Braves, A ball) and Daniel Berg (Twins, A ball) could feature.

Pitchers:  Major League hurlers like Grant Balfour (Rays) and Ryan Rowland-Smith (Mariners) could be the aces of the staff and standout on the mound for the Aussies.  Peter Molyan (Braves) probably will not play because of the Tommy John surgery he had less than a year before the tourney, but he would join those two if he did somehow.  The rest of the Australian staff should consist of former major leaguers and current minor leaguers like John Stephens, Travis Blackley, Adam Blackley, Brad Thomas and Brendan Wise.

Outlook:  The Aussies have a real chance to surprise some people.  Their roster will mostly be made up of bush league players but against the likes of Cuba, Mexico and South Africa that may not be such a bad thing.  While I wouldn’t expect them to advance to the second round, I would not be surprised if they did.