Archive for Martin Perez

The 2013 season is still in its infancy but two organizations have already faced more than their fair share of struggles in their minor league systems. The Texas Rangers entered the year with one of the better systems in baseball, while the Toronto Blue Jays fell somewhere in the middle after nearly gutting the system in what may amount to a misguided attempt to rebuild the big league team in one off-season.

Just 20 years old, shortstop Jurickson Profar has already spent time in the majors and he opened the 2013 season in triple-A. The Curacao native, who entered the year as the club’s No. 1 prospect, struggled out of the gate but he’s hardly embarrassed himself. It’s a different story for second overall prospect Mike Olt and his struggles have been well documented. He hit just .139 with 32 strikeouts in 20 games before hitting the disabled list with vision problems. He has excellent defensive skills at third base but lacks a spot at the big league level so his bat is going to have to pick up if he’s going to shift to a corner outfield spot of first base.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Texas Rangers organization continues to churn out high-ceiling prospects but, unlike some clubs, it relies heavily on home-grown players rather than flipping them in trades for established big-leaguers. If the playing time develops, look for Jurickson Profar to have a Bryce Harper-type impact in 2013.
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
The Relief Pitchers
The Right Handed Starting Pitchers

1. Danny Hultzen, Seattle Mariners

Read the rest of this entry »

Delino DeShields Jr., 2B, Houston Astros
Current Level: A
2012 Top 15 Prospects Ranking: 8th
Current Value: Increasing

When it comes to prospects and stolen bases, Cincinnati’s Billy Hamilton gets all the love. However, former first rounder DeShields has been quietly having a nice year in low-A ball. The 19-year-old second baseman is repeating the level (130 wRC+) after struggling there in 2011 (79 wRC+) but he’s already surpassed his steals from all of last year (30) with 51 in 58 attempts. He’s doing a better job of getting on base, both in terms of hitting for average (.274) and walking (13.4 BB%), and he’s starting to chip away at the too-high strikeout rates. DeShields’ development is going to require patience but the reward could definitely be worth the wait.

Read the rest of this entry »

Prospect followers, please stop panicking over the demise of Texas Rangers pitching prospect Martin Perez. He will be fine. My first in person look at Perez came last week facing off against arguably the best pitcher on the planet in Dodgers Clayton Kershaw. Yes, he needs more seasoning at the Minor League level, but he should. As he approaches legal age, Perez is still far ahead of the prospect curve and has both the stuff and time to turn his three pitch mix into on-field results.

Video after the jump
Read the rest of this entry »