These are my rankings based on hitting ability and positional value. I am only including guys who spent the majority of their time at full season A ball or above and haven't yet reached the majors. For what it is worth, here it goes:
1) Jonathan Singleton (1B), DOB 9-91. Good, young, all-around hitter.
2) Jonathan Villar (SS), 5-91. 43 extra base hits almost makes you forget about the 156 K's.
3) Domingo Santana (OF), 8-92. .287/.362/.471 slash line very promising.
4) Delino DeShields, Jr. (2B), 8-92. Not as many positives as Villar to offset low batting average (.220) and strikeouts.
5) Kody Hinze (1B), 7-87. I believe in the bat - patience and power combo. He was not overmatched at AA (46 K's in 199 AB's), even though his production fell some (.780 OPS).
6) Chris Wallace (C), 4-88. Rough transition to AA, but had moved from rookie league to low A to single A to AA in just over a year's time. 20 HR's - that's a good year for a catcher.
7) Austin Wates (CF/OF), 9-88. Solid all around, but didn't distance himself from other hitters in high A ball (105 OPS+). When I squint I see Jason Bourgeois. I expect that some of you would have him several slots higher.
8) Jiovanni Mier (SS), 8-90. Similar to Villar and DeShields, he needs to reduce K's and increase his batting average (.245 at Lexington, .233 at Lancaster).
9) Telvin Nash (OF/1B), 2-91. Great power (14 HR in 268 AB at Lexington), but the strikeouts are scary (103 K's). Could move him up a few slots, but doesn't offer much defensive value.
10) Adam Bailey (OF), 3-88. Contact hitter who needs to take more walks, but accumulated 24 HR's over three levels.
11) Jonathan Meyer (3B), 11-90. Steady improvement each year, and still young. I'm concerned about the bat though - possibility of a bit of a mirage from Cal League environment. .264/.343/.399.
12) Roberto Pena (C), 6-92. Overmatched at the plate this year (.576 OPS), but he is young. He'll need to show some strides next year though. I hope to see him repeat Lexington.
13) Jacob Goebbert (OF), 9-87. Performance didn't change much as he advanced from A+ to AAA. He was steady throughout the year. 12 total home runs is a bit underwhelming though.
14) Mike Kvasnicka (3B), 12-88. Still some faint hope that he will add power eventually. Only 4 HR's this year in 484 AB's.
15) Brandon Wikoff (2B/SS/3B), 4-88. Maybe a stretch here, but no one else was screaming to get on the list. Up and down season ended on a down note with a few games at AAA (6 K's in 15 plate appearances - very un-Wikoff-like!). Positional value added came into play here some, as did a .398 OBP at Corpus.
Others considered: Jay Austin, Emilio King, Brandon Barnes, David Flores, Ben Heath, J. Thompson
Poll
What would you change on this list?
Move Wates ahead of Hinze and Wallace (10 votes)
Move Nash higher (7 votes)
Substitute King, Barnes, or Thompson for Wikoff (0 votes)
Should have stopped at #10: big drop-off with the last few guys (13 votes)
30 total votes




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