Jason may be taking a break from Prospect Insider — but he’s still got his gig at the P-I. This week’s Farm Report discusses one of my two favorite prospects in the Mariners’ system: Adam Moore.

Here’s some food for thought — where does Adam rank amongst the M’s current catching prospects, especially now with Clement in the bigs and Johnson only finding hits when I’m shooting photos in Cheney.  Here’s Jason’s take on this in the Farm Report:

Rare in baseball is a catcher with an above-average bat. Moore’s abilities in the batter’s box could thrust him past Clement and Johnson on the Mariners depth chart, perhaps pushing both to other positions.

As much as I’m a fan of upper-tier prospects like Clement, Triunfel, Aumont, etc., I’ve always been a bigger fan of the under-the-radar prospects that don’t get a lot of press.  First it was George Sherrill, and recently it’s been Austin Bibens-Dirkx and Adam Moore.  I don’t think Adam’s going to fly under the radar much longer.

Well, dang — I’ve rambled on long enough. You don’t come here to listen to me — go read Jason’s Farm Report on Adam Moore in the P-I.

Photo by Mike Andruski

This week’s farm report is on right-hander Juan Ramirez.

Ramirez has been stellar, pretty much since the first day he stepped on the field last year in Everett.

Here’s an excerpt:

Ramirez may not be in the Midwest League for long if the club’s recent track record of pushing young talent plays out again in 2008.

“Not if he pitches like he has been, no way,” the AL scout said of Ramirez’s chances of pitching most of the season with the Timber Rattlers.

This week’s Farm Report is on the man of the hour himself, Wladimir Balentien, who, right on queue, homered three times just hours after the conversations for this report took place.

Here is an excerpt from the report:

“He was on every pitch all night,” said an AL Central scout in attendance. “He’s strong and may not have even got all of any of them, and they all went soaring. He showed he can run, too. That wasn’t a gift four-bagger there — he was moving.”

Balentien is one of four Rainiers hitters with an OPS over .900 and leads the club in homers with six, despite missing a week with the right knee bruise.

In case your are wondering, the other three with a .900+ OPS are Bryan LaHair (.932), Jeff Clement (1.227), and, surprise, Jeremy Reed (.932).

Photo of Wlad Balentien by Paul Marsh

This week’s Farm Report is up in the P-I for Wednesday, a piece I had been chewing on for more than a year.

Talking with Roger Hansen, the M’s catching coordinator, is a lot of fun, since all he really cares about is the catchers’ defense, which is obviously the only real question in Jeff Clement’s game.

And for anyone who wonders how much Hansen’s opinion matters to the organization’s front office and decision makers, wonder no more.

Prior to the 2005 Draft, Hansen sat up at UW and watched Clement and his USC Trojans take on the Huskies. He sat with Pat Gillick and Benny Looper and gave them his assessment on Clement.

Here’s what Hansen said about that exchange — this is not in the Farm Report linked above.

“Pat asked me ‘can he catch the ball, Roger?’ and I said ‘yes, absolutely. His feet are fine, he has the hands. It’s going to take awhile, so if the patience is going to be there, he’ll catch.’”

The Mariners, with Bill Bavasi and Bob Fontaine at the helm drafted Clement largely based on Hansen’s belief that Clement will catch in the big leagues, so if Hansen is telling Bavasi and Fontaine that Clement is ready to catch in the big leagues, then they are probably going to believe him.

Photo by Paul Marsh