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Thanks, I know more about these guys than I did 5 minutes ago. I like small lists that I can read and that make me feel like I know something about the Giants farm system. I hope Denker doesn't lose any of his patience going through the system and stays at 2B. Good offensive teams need shortstops, second basemen and catchers that hit better than their peers. We've had that in the past with Aurilia, Kent, and Durham, and we'll need some more of that in the future.

...not more Aurilia, Kent and Durham though. We need two less of them.

I wonder whether any player has ever started off his pro career as poorly as Brian Bocock and gone on to have a significant major-league career. His career line at age 22 is .241/.311/.334, all in A-ball. Adam Everett, by contrast, hit .263/.356/.385 in AA at age 22.

Bocock is well behind Vizquel at the same age. He's well behind last year's Worst Player in Baseball, Nick Punto. He's behind Belanger and Aparicio and Bill Russell and Ozzie Guillen and Jose Vizcaino; most of those guys were in the majors by age 22.

You can find a few shortstops, like Eckstein or Ozzie Smith, who were stuck at a lower level at age 22, but they hit a lot better while they were there.

In conclusion, I am not optimistic about Brian Bocock.

I have irrationally high hopes for Matt Downs.

The haters will say that he was too old for the NWL last summer. They will complain that he spent more time as a pitcher than a hitter at Alabama. And they will point out that he therefore has no true position.

In response, I would say "Who cares?" He can't control when he's drafted nor which league he's assigned to; his college needed him to pitch, the Giants not so much; and his positional flexibility is an advantage.

He led the Volcanoes in most offensive categories.  He led the league in several of those categories. He hits for power and average. He can steal a base if needed. He was voted either the MVP or co-MVP of the league (too lazy to look it up).

When Angel Villalona is officially moved to firstbase after 2009, the gaping hole in our minor league system at 3B will be dramatically filled by...Matt Downs.

I like Pablo Sandoval.  Sure he's hacktastic, but if he can keep throwing out 50% of base stealers and hit 15-20 big flies a year, then he'll do just fine.  

Horwitz is probably my favorite.  I've got a soft spot for guys that are short on talent and long on heart.  

I could see Turpen in the bullpen.  He's got such great life on his 2FB that he could make it with a halfway decent slider.  

D'Alessio of course is intriguing.  Maybe he can't breaking pitches, maybe he's an a**hole, but I just don't see how a guy with his upside could fall to the 18th round.  

 

Nick Noonan is supposedly well thought after, and he may get some looks this spring. He's one of those guys they throw around the infamous "Five tool" when they talk about. He had a monster final year in high school and went from college bound to MLB in a matter of months. Noonan has good speed (stole 18 bags in AZ last year), good defense (plays 2B and SS) with a questionable arm, and even though his power numbers were low (3 hr in AZ) his extra base hits (15) should translate into a little more power at the major league level. What suprises me, at least for a Giants prospect, is that his strength is usually listed as his bat. Apparently he's quite consistent with the stick, and from the articles I've read, most feel his bat, even now, is major league level.

One article I read even included these comments :
"He would be what you consider a five-tool player"

"reminiscent of Derek Jeter at that age"

"He understands the game very well. He's a student of the game"

Proof: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070522&content_id=1979209&vkey=draft2007&fext= .jsp

Without researching it, I'll go with Waldis Joaquin -- who is BA's breakout choice for the Giants and has been mentioned by the good Dr. --, Sharlon Schoop, Justin Hedrick, the returning Perkin' Merkin Valdez, and the (hopefully) rebounding Billy Sadler.

Looking at Brute's prospect list, I think Billy at #47 is the most underrated.  When a guy has a good year, we tend to overrate him.  When he has a bad year, the opposite is often true.  Billy really struggled with his control, but he did rebound well after being demoted to Connecticut.

Just as Billy's former LSU teammate Brian Wilson rebounded from control difficulties and eventually found his way toward becoming the closer this season, I think Billy too will bounce back.

Dan Griffin could also be a bounceback candidate, although I agree that his star is dimming.

If we're talking true dark horse, I'll go with Jesse English. If we're just shooting around guys we are pulling for/have a feeling about, I'll throw out Eddy ME.

1.  Alex Hinshaw got hurt early last season, but check out the numbers he was putting up in CT.  He was reportedly OK in instructional league.  I have his autograph on a baseball that a mutual friend gave me.
2.  Not sure why, but I have a suspicion that we could see a breakout season for Wilmin Rodriquez.
3.  If Jose Valdez ever gets it together, he will be a great one.
4.  17 yo Hector Sanchez put up some mighy fine looking numbers in the DSL, a pretty extreme pitcher's league last summer.

I'll go with Julio Izturis.  In the DSL he had 36 SBs in 67 games and took 30 walks in 232 ABs.  Plus that 'baseball pedigree' and all that jazz.  And he turns 18 this year (in Aug).

I don't how much of a 'breakout' to expect, as he's probably a long way away from AA, but if he can make it out of the AZL I'd consider it a breakout.  

And along the lines of extremely young little brothers, I'm also interested in seeing what Jorge Bucardo does.  He had a 5.6:1 K:BB in the DSL.  He turns 19 this year, so maybe his age will come into play.  

I don't know if these two are 'under the radar' or just so far down the system that they aren't relevant yet.  But when your team is full of 26 year old in AA regularly, that 17 years of age is appealing.  I guess this is like taking a HS draftees as a your breakout pick.

I agree with the Adam Witter talk.  Look- I'm not trying to be all Moneyball with things... I mean, that's so 2002, but he's one of those guys who's produced on every level he's ever been at.

He gets the job done.  The only downside is that the organization wants to pump up their younger guys and Witter has to do what he does with part time work behind the plate.  At the beginning of last season when he struggled- it was mostly in situations where he never knew if he was even going to play.

If you look at his splits after June 1 or so- they are as good as anybodies.  If it weren't for a late season slump he would look even better.

The real key for him his getting off to a good start.  In both seasons in the minors so far- he's been too slow out of the gate.

Marcus Sanders.  Stayed healthy, will get his groove back this year.

Did you ever think that they're playing those two to start off the season in hopes of them having a good first half, and possibly being able to trade them away?