Two years ago, Michael Ohlman faced a crossroads. The Baltimore Orioles catching prospect was suspended 50 games after testing positive for a recreational drug. In three professional seasons, the 2009 11th-round draft pick had hit .217 with six home runs.

After looking both ways, Ohlman took the right turn. Following a solid 2012 season in low-A, he broke out in 2013. Playing for high-A Frederick, Ohlman hit .313/.410/.524, with 29 doubles and 13 home runs, in 361 at bats. He was honored as the Carolina League’s player of the year.

Ohlman, who celebrated his 23rd birthday last month, talked about his game shortly before the new year. Read the rest of this entry »

The Orioles front office doesn’t get enough credit for developing a solid, home-grown system that boasts some impressive talent — especially on the mound. The system lacks impact bats — outside of Jonathan Schoop — but the scouting staff acquired some intriguing hitters in the 2013 amateur draft. Read the rest of this entry »

Quite a lot has happened since November 22nd. Not to the author, specifically — his life is more or less a metronome of quiet anguish — but for the world, generally, that is. Among those many events which have come to pass in the last month-plus: the conclusion of the regular season for each of the four major Caribbean winter leagues.

Not necessarily because such an exercise is of great utility, but definitely because it provides a means to contemplating baseball whilst moping through the depths of January, the author has published below a final statistical report on those same Caribbean Leagues.

Specifically, what the author has done is to identify the regressed hitting and pitching leaders in the Dominican Winter, Mexican Pacific, Puerto Rican, and Venezuelan Winter Leagues separately. What he’s then done is to combine the hitting and pitching leaders of those leagues into a triumvirate of top-10 lists, which one can find below. Note: all ages are as of July 1, 2013; all organizations, as of the end of regular-season play.

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Clint Frazier has as much power as any player who was taken in the 2013 draft. Selected fifth overall by the Cleveland Indians, the right-handed-hitting outfielder can propel baseballs long distances. A big reason is his bat speed, which Baseball America called the best in his draft class.

Frazier — who celebrated his 19th birthday in September — projects as more than a home-run threat. Blessed with above-average athleticism, he was named Gatorade National Player of the Year after hitting .438 in his final season at Loganville [Ga.] High School. After inking his first professional contract, he hit .297/.362/.506, in 196 plate appearances, in the Arizona Summer League.

Frazier talked about his game, including the adjustments he’s making in pro ball, late in the 2013 season. Also weighing in was Carter Hawkins, Cleveland’s assistant director of player development. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier this week, polite and Canadian and polite Marc Hulet published his 2014 organizational prospect list for the Houston Astros.

It goes without saying that, in composing such a list, Hulet has considered the overall future value those prospects might be expected to provide either to the Astros or whatever other organizations to which they might someday belong.

What this brief post concerns isn’t overall future value, at all, but rather such value as the prospects from Hulet’s list might provide were they to play, more or less, a full major-league season in 2014.

Other prospect projections: Arizona / Chicago AL / Miami / Minnesota / New York NL / San Diego / San Francisco / Seattle / Toronto.

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Mark Appel learned a lot in his four years at Stanford University. The 22-year-old right-hander graduated with a degree in management sciences and engineering. Along the way, he aced Pitching 101. This past summer, the Houston Astros selected him with the first-overall pick in the amateur draft.

Appel isn’t your typical power pitcher. He possesses an overpowering arsenal, but he goes about his craft like a technician. That doesn’t mean he’s a finished product — he has just 38 professional innings under his belt — but it does suggest his time in the minor leagues could be short.

Appel talked about his cerebral approach to pitching — including the importance of knowing who you are — late last week. Read the rest of this entry »

The Houston Astros organization boasts both depth and some high-ceiling talent. The club has compiled its impressive collection of prospects through both solid scouting via the draft and shrewd wheeling-and-dealing via the trade market. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier today, polite and Canadian and polite Marc Hulet published his 2014 organizational prospect list for the San Diego Padres.

It goes without saying that, in composing such a list, Hulet has considered the overall future value those prospects might be expected to provide either to the Padres or whatever other organizations to which they might someday belong.

What this brief post concerns isn’t overall future value, at all, but rather such value as the prospects from Hulet’s list might provide were they to play, more or less, a full major-league season in 2014.

Other prospect projections: Arizona / Chicago AL / Miami / Minnesota / New York NL / San Francisco / Seattle / Toronto.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hindsight being 20/20, Cory Spangenberg was probably an overdraft. Two years ago, the San Diego Padres took the speedy second baseman 10th overall. George Springer and Jose Fernandez, among others, were still on the board.

That doesn’t mean Spangenberg won’t be a productive big-leaguer. The 22-year-old has great wheels, and his left-handed stroke shows plenty of promise. Playing at high-A Lake Elsinore and Double-A San Antonio, he hit .292/.346/.407, with nine triples and 36 stolen bases. His glove has been a question mark, but he made great strides this year working with former defensive whiz Rich Dauer.

Spangenberg further fine-tuned his game in the Arizona Fall League, with the Peoria Javelinas. The Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania product discussed his development in the final week of the AFL season. Read the rest of this entry »

The strength of the Padres system is definitely young pitching but many of the arms are still in A-ball. Luckily help will be more readily available from the likes of Matt Wisler and Casey Kelly, both of whom could contribute to the big league roster in 2014. There are also some very intriguing hitting prospects that came to the organization via the international market but they just missed being ranked within the Top 15 prospects in the system. Read the rest of this entry »