Archive for ariel pena

I’m a little concerned about the overall depth of the Brewers system but the Top 15 list filled out a little bit better than I expected it to. There are a number of pitching prospects that appear capable of developing into solid big league starters, which should be welcomed news in Milwaukee considering how thin the big league staff is at this time.

#1 Tyler Thornburg (P)

Questions about Thornburg’s ability to remain a starter have been raised since he entered pro ball. He’s a shorter right-hander and has some effort to his delivery but, to this point, he’s been durable by providing more than 130 innings in each of the past two seasons. The Texas native is a hard thrower. As a starter, he works in the 89-94 mph range but has hit the upper-90s as a reliever. He flashes a good changeup and a solid curveball.

Thornburg, 24, has steadily moved through the system since being selected in the third round of the 2010 amateur draft out of Charleston Southern University. He made 13 starts in double-A and then another eight in triple-A in 2012. He also made his MLB debut with eight appearances (three starts) but an ideal situation would allow the right-hander to return to triple-A to open 2013. With the big league rotation as thin as it is, though, Thornburg has a decent shot at opening the year in the starting rotation. Read the rest of this entry »

Seeing prospects in person is my passion. In 2012, I was fortunate enough to visit parks in five different leagues — collecting information and video on 200 legitimate prospects or more. The lists released over the next few weeks will highlight the best prospects I’ve seen in person at each position during the 2012 season. The rankings will be adjusted based on projected position at the major league level, not present position (in italics if ranking includes position shift). After writing the first three lists, I realized there’s really no way to keep statistical information out of the equation completely and focus on scouting/projection alone. This has caused me to hedge my bets a bit on high ceiling talents and focus more on the complete player. Additionally, understand this is not meant to be a complete list of the best prospects at each position across all of Minor League Baseball, but the best of what I’ve seen.

Previous Rankings:
The Catchers
The First Basemen
The Second Basemen
The Third Basemen
The Shortstops
The Corner Outfielders
The Center Fielders

1. Domingo Tapia, New York Mets

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The Milwaukee Brewers finally pulled the trigger on the trade that everyone was expecting: The team traded starting pitcher Zack Greinke. In return, the Los Angeles Angels sent a three-prospect package, which middle infielder Jean Segura headlined.

Segura, 22, was recently promoted to the majors for the first time in his pro career and was one of the Angels’ top prospects — if not their best, with the graduation of MVP candidate Mike Trout — but the system is also among the bottom 10 in baseball (and now possibly is one of the five worst). Milwaukee — another bottom-feeder, in terms of their minor league system — moves up a couple of slots with this deal that also included Double-A pitchers John Hellweg and Ariel Pena.

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