baseball prospects

Make no mistake about it, the Phillies are in the market for a pitcher.

Cole Hamels aside, their rotation is a mess; Brett Myers might be heading for the DL, Jamie Moyer and Joe Blanton have a combined ERA of 6.75, and J.A. Happ is largely unproven. Meanwhile, reports suggest that GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has been very busy talking with other clubs about acquiring a starter. 

While the odds of landing Jake Peavy seem slim, the small chance that it could happen is enough to ponder what it would cost. 

This story was written by Stan Whyte, currently a writer for Baseball Reflections.com.

June 1 tends to be the time when a lot of the top prospects start getting called up.  We are now two weeks away, so let’s take a look at seven prospects (I left out names like Clay Buchholz and Lastings Milledge, who have already seen extended time in the major leagues) that should be on owners radars, as they could offer potential help once recalled:

Matt Wieters - Baltimore Orioles

Every season there is a sizable list of prospects who appear primed to make a major impact in the major leagues, but the team has no place to use them.  “Blocked prospect” is a phrase we’ve all heard, and it definitely applies to the Padres first baseman Kyle Blanks.  All he has to overcome in order to be slotted into the middle of the Padres lineup is Adrian Gonzalez, one of the best players in baseball. 

In one of his first media interviews back in 2004, then general manager Jim Bowden made it very clear that first priority—his only priority really—was to stock the Nationals' barren farm system with pitching talent. "You develop pitchers," Bowden said, "and you find the bats through trades and free agency."

And so we watched as all those unknown names with a "P" next to their name were taken in the Amateur Draft in 2005, and 2006, and 2007, and we happily waited for them to mature from Minor League prospects into Major League pitchers.

And we waited.

For those of you in keeper leagues, David Price was probably drafted last year. Tommy Hanson was probably the first minor league pitcher off the board this year. So if these guys are already gone this weekend, don’t worry.

Pick Madison Bumgarner.   

Under Omar Minaya the Mets have done an outstanding job of finding and signing talent in Latin and South America.  Wilmer Flores and Jefry Marte might be the two latest big finds for the Mets organization. 

Wilmer Flores - SS (for now)

Wilmer created quite a buzz as the youngest player in rookie ball at Kingsport.  Then a 16-year-old, he let loose something people are not used to seeing from a kid in professional baseball—power. 

“Prospect -- the act of looking forward; something that is awaited or expected”

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary