Offseason Notes for October 6th

As Anthony Gose, so gose the Blue Jays’ future.

Arizona Fall League
Arizona Fall League Action
There some was Arizona Fall League action last night… if you know what I mean.

Notable Performances
Here are some notable AFL performances from Wednesday — where “notable performances” continues to mostly mean “hit a home run” (except, of course, when it means “hit two home runs”):

• Blue Jay prospect Anthony Gose hit a home run on the first pitch of Phoenix’s game at Mesa — Gose’s second home run in as many games.
• Pirate prospect, 22-year-old Robbie Grossman, answered in the bottom of the first inning with his second home run. Grossman has an interesting profile, with some power, some plate discipline, and some speed. He slashed .293/.418/.450 (.350 BABIP) with a 16.9% K and 18.0% BB in 616 plate appearances at High-A Bradenton this year — while also going 24-for-34 on stolen-base attempts.
• Mike Olt, a 23-year-old third baseman in the Ranger system, struck out and homered twice each. He will continue to do those things often, it seems, if his numbers heretofore are any indication.

Prospecting
John Sickels Reviews His Top Fitty Pitchers
Prominent, and probably really nice, prospect maven John Sickels reviewed his top-50 pitching prospects from before the season. Matt Moore distinguished himself as baseball’s best pitching prospect — although, it should be noted, he was rated pretty highly before the season began. Toronto’s Kyle Drabek and Minnesota’s Alex Wimmers saw their respective outlooks most “problematized” — as they say in graduate school and nowhere else.

Among the pitching prospects who’ll miss most, if not all, of 2012 with Tommy John surgery are Minnesota’s Kyle Gibson, Kansas City’s John Lamb, the Mets’ Jenrry Mejia.

John Sickels on the Hypothetical Grade A+ Prospect
“[T]hrough 16 years of prospect analysis,” writes Sickels, “I have never given anyone a Grade A+.” Consider, however: he started just after Cub pitcher Henry Rowengartner completed his meteoric rise to baseball stardom.

Baseball America’s Southern League Top 20
Baseball America released its list of the Double-A Southern League’s top-20 prospects from 2011.

Here are the top five:

1. Matt Moore, LHP, Rays
2. Tyler Skaggs, LHP, Diamondbacks
3. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, Diamondbacks
4. Brett Jackson, OF, Cubs
5. Jarrod Parker, RHP, Diamondbacks

Purke Will Play in AFL, Rendon Not So Much
Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post reported Wednesday morning that third-round draft pick, left-hander Matt Purke (who signed a considerably above-slot bonus of $4.4 million), will play in the Arizona Fall League soon, but sixth-overall pick, third baseman Anthony Rendon, will continue to rest and rehabilitate a shoulder injury that affected him for much of his junior year at Rice University. Depending on his development, Purke could contribute soon to what appears to be a young and talented Nationals rotation, including Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Brad Peacock, and Tom Milone.

Villalona to Re-Join Giants
Giant prospect Angel Villalona, involved in a little bit of a “murder” “situation” for the better part of two years, will return to the team’s farm system soon. The 21-year-old received a $2.1 million bonus when the Giants signed him at age 16 in 2006. Villalona appears to profile as a right-handed Juan Francisco, given his combo package of power and absolute disregard for the strike zone.

Mock 2012 Draft
Matt Garrioch of SB Nation blog MLB Bonus Baby conducted his own private 2012 MLB draft. Here’s some video of the present author — whose knowledge of amateur baseballers is minimal — reading Garrioch’s piece: