In looking at a late draft of the handbook today, I recognized that a lot of the mid-tier prospects go unnoticed, whereas the top-tier talent gets most of the attention. Since I’m nowhere near the analyst Jason is, I’ll hold off on updating you all on how they’re doing. But I do have some photography skills, and Jason’s enlisted me for photographic coverage of Tacoma.
Consider this post a little bit of an update to the photo section of the handbook. You have purchased the handbook, haven’t you??? And, I’ll even throw in some interesting guys who probably aren’t on anyone’s prospect list (Tug Hulett, Andrew Baldwin (traded for Jamie Moyer), Bryan Lahair, Mike Kinkade).
Photos after the jump…
Click on the pictures for full-size versions.
Yung Chi Chen:
Rob Johnson
Tug Hulett
Andrew Baldwin
Bryan LaHair
Mike Kinkade
Luis Valbuena
Adam Moore
Michael Saunders
Marwin Vega
Photo Credits: Vega, Moore, Valbuena & Saunders: Courtesy of Lonnie Mathis. Everyone else: Paul Marsh for ProspectInsider.com
Very cool. It’s too bad they look sketch condensed, but once you click on them they’re very nice.
Nice pics. One mid-tier prospect that seems to have been forgotten is Marshall Hubbard, the infielder from West Tenn. I know that he is older(26), but his numbers this year are very strong. A BA of .362 and a OPS of 1.049 should put him in some rare company with all of minor league baseball players.
Over Hubbard’s career he has a solid .286 BA in over 1,660 at bats. We hear lots of nice things about LaHare at Tacoma, and we should, but Hubbard’s numbers are very solid and should be mentioned more often.
Hey Paul ive been reading so much about how bad are farm system was when Bavasi got here i did a little work on it. Funny results i think we may have been loaded and not empty when he got here..These guys where here in the minors Baek,Balentine,Feirbrand,Felix,Jiminez,Adam Jones,Jose Lopez,Oflaherty,Rowland-Smith and Sherrill and Putz.That my friend is not bare that is what i would call loaded i know you havent wrote this but i get a laugh everytime people say the prior GM left the cupboard bare that is the furthest thing from the truth on the minor league side dont you think?
Hah — you’re correct cujo! The M’s system indeed wasn’t bare, really. It’s amazing that a lot of the youthful turnover that has churned into the current Mariner team indeed has come mostly from the “barren” farm system that Gillick left the team with.
Of that list you provided, only Adam Jones, Eric O’Flaherty, Ryan Feierabend & JJ Putz came from the draft. Most of the other guys came from international free agency (and my fave from that list — Sherrill — from the Indy Leagues ;-). It never ceases to amaze me how often that fact is overlooked.
Yeah, Gillick mostly blew off the draft (by surrendering draft picks for questionable free agent acquisitions — a strategy with which I don’t necessarily agree), but he didn’t neglect the farm system. There were definitely some missed opportunities from guys whose trade value was higher than their performance value ended up being to the M’s. A lot of the backlash against the farm system Bavasi inherited seems to be precisely because the top-touted prospects (Anderson, Meche, Blackley, Nageotte, Pineiro, etc…) either got hurt or flamed out (or both). Certainly the previous regime didn’t leave the cupboards as bare as some say they did, though.
Anyone who says that really isn’t paying attention. Yes, there were missed opportunities and it certainly might not have been maintained as well as it could’ve been. But it definitely wasn’t completely neglected to the point of being barren.