BBA Minor Leagues: Outfields of 2039

[RonCo]

So I’m looking at minor league systems again, to day focusing on outfields. This starts to get really hard, really fast because there are so many ways to decide how to rate and rank things. There’s raw volume, and there’s potential rating, and position value. Then there’s readiness. Do you rank a team with one superstar center fielder in Short A over a team with three pretty nice-looking players who are scattered between AAA and AA?

It’s tough.

To make it worse, the differences across the league can be pretty minuscule as best as I can say.

So, to highlight differences a little better, I took a different take, and ranked minor league outfields by division (using 2040 alignment) rather than as a whole. Shoot me. Seriously, shoot me now. Why am I doing this? I dunno. I should probably also say that I included all players who are rated 50 and above in potential.

To complete this, report, I’ll likely write up four separate posts—one for each division.

Starting with:


THE HEARTLAND DIVISION

All right, in the 2040 Heartland division we run smack dab into one of the foibles of rating these things. Even within this division we have three buckets of teams, and how you decide to view things depends on how you balance the idea of stars, solid players, and the time value of performance. Let’s see how I looked at it.


#1: Yellow Springs

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
LF	Rex Foster	R	19	L	75	9	11	8	5	7	6	5	6	5	5
LF	Ricardo Mendoza	AAA	18	L	65	8	9	8	3	9	6	7	5	10	10
RF	Javier Rodríguez	AA	21	L	60	6	8	8	7	5	4	9	7	3	6
LF	José Camacho	AA	22	R	55	7	9	7	6	6	4	5	4	1	3
RF	Raúl Valdés	AAA	19	R	50	6	8	7	5	5	5	9	7	7	7

Rex Foster should be fantastic when he gets to Yellow Springs, but that could be awhile. In the meantime, the value comes from Ricardo Mendoza (who looks ready to play now) and Jose Comacho. Raul Valdez will provide some value, and can even play 3B a bit (though that doesn’t matter for these assessments. Javier Rodriguez has pop, but struggles defensively—as does Camacho, really. There’s an argument that OOTP rates Camacho too highly for that reason.

#2 Huntsville

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
LF	Hao Hang	R	19	L	70	8	9	8	6	5	5	7	6	6	6
RF	André Ly	AAA	19	L	60	7	9	5	7	6	8	11	7	9	8
LF	Paul Kemp	R	18	R	60	9	8	7	4	8	4	6	6	2	4
RF	Jaime Geerdinkck	AAA	20	L	55	7	8	7	5	6	7	7	5	6	1
RF	Ricardo Torres	S A	19	L	50	6	7	7	5	6	7	6	5	4	5
RF	Danny Bennett	R	18	L	50	6	7	7	5	6	4	6	7	7	3
LF	Arturo Mendoza	R	18	L	50	7	7	7	4	7	7	6	6	8	8

My grandfather might have call this a helluva mess of fish. Huntsville is bludgeoning the outfield ranks with seven bonafide prospects. LHB Andre Ly could probably make it in the bigs right now, though he’s benefitting from more time down in Carolina. Geerdinkck is probably ready, too, though he’s probably better considered a left fielder. Bottom line, there could be reason to rank Huntsville over Yellow Springs—but I liked Mendoza as the best player in the list, and the Phantoms/Sox don’t have anyone of Foster’s quality in the lower ranks. That said, the team has a phalanx of guys down there to pay attention to.

It’s an interesting system.

#3 Louisville

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
CF	Théo Bourges	AA	18	L	80	9	10	8	5	8	9	7	7	10	9
RF	Donald Miller	R	18	L	70	7	10	8	7	5	5	11	6	4	3

Here we come to the second group. If you like thin ultra-quality over thick, but good, you’ll rank Louisville #1 in the Heartland and probably the next two as #2 and #3. In Bourges and Miller, the Sluggers have a pair of prime beef players, including one of the better CF prospects in the league. The issues here, though, are: (1) other than these two, there’s not much here, and (2) Both players are probably two years out, and in Miller’s case, maybe three. Bourges, at 18, has just made AA, though…but his numbers say he’ll be there a while.

Still, it’s an eye-grabbing set of outfielders, and if they both yield to team with Kwakou and Hubbard, Louisville’s outfield will be among the best in the league for some time.

#4 Madison

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
RF	Manobu Shimizu	AA	18	L	80	10	10	8	6	9	6	10	8	9	5
LF	Juan Martínez	R	18	R	55	6	8	7	6	5	6	8	7	10	4

Like Louisville, there’s not much here, but what is here will turn your head right around. Manobu Shimizu was last year’s first round choice for the Wolves and is one of the more anticipated arrivals in the league. He’s 18 and blitzing AA, which to be fair is probably wise, though one thinks he’ll be in AAA before the season is up. Probably the most pressing question here is whether he’ll start his big league career in April of next year, or wait a month or two to “cough, cough,” work on his defense.

At this point, though, as soon as Shimizu graduates, the Madison outfield farm system crashes.

#5 Des Moines

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
CF	Jorge Aranda	AAA	20	R	60	7	8	7	4	7	9	7	11	10	5
LF	Carlos Ricerdo	S A	20	R	50	6	7	7	5	5	6	9	6	10	6

The Kernels are the third and last of the second group I mentioned in the opening—thin, but very good. In this case, the “very good” is Jorge Aranda, a centerfielder who looks to be about a year from being ready to yield. He’s in AAA, and his numbers are kind of “meh,” suggesting the 20-year-old might be stronger served by taking reps in AA. Shrug.

I debated listing them ahead of Madison, but in the end I took an 80 RF over a 60 CF. Your mileage may vary. The bottom line, though, is that while Des Moines has been focusing their minor league acquisition on pitching, they still have a pretty interesting guy or two around the outfield.

#6 Omaha

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
RF	Bret Powers	R	18	R	65	8	9	9	4	6	6	7	11	4	6
CF	Lorenzo Bueno	AA	20	R	50	8	8	1	3	9	9	10	8	11	7

Omaha is the first of the third group—teams that have a little help in their systems, but with most of that coming out considerably into the future. The Hawks may sit on the borderline of this definition, depending on how you view Lorenzo Bueno. If Bueno could take a walk, he’d probably be a top 100+ kind of prospect, unfortunately, he hasn’t show that kind of discipline. He’s in AA right now, though, and struggling a bit, so if he does yield it’s likely to be late 2041.

Brett Powers, this year’s top pick for the club, is a solid looking player, though is probably going to more suited to LF than RF. Regardless, it’s an interesting pair

#7 Nashville

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
RF	Nacho Méndez	A	19	R	50	7	7	7	6	5	4	11	7	8	7
RF	Cliff Fallon	R	18	R	50	7	6	6	4	7	5	9	6	8	6
LF	Carlos López	R	18	R	50	6	9	8	6	4	3	7	8	3	8
CF	Arthur Daniel	R	19	L	50	6	7	1	6	7	9	10	11	9	9

With four players, the soon-to-be Bluebirds have a few numbers, Other than Daniel in center, they all have a little trouble defending, but they also all look like they can hit a little. I’m scoring them #7 now because none of them grab your eyes, and because they are all a long, long way from being ready. But, to be honest, I kind of like this group. They’re my kinds of players—not gaudy individually, but on the whole each capable of making a difference. So, yeah, I’ll say this is a group that’s certainly likely—if it grows up together well—to raise up considerably before it’s all said and done.

#8 Twin Cities

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
LF	Jorge Gutiérrez	S A	18	R	70	8	10	6	6	8	7	9	5	9	9
CF	Henry Curtis	S A	19	R	55	7	9	7	5	6	8	8	5	10	7
CF	Florian Rudhart	S A	21	R	50	4	5	4	6	5	10	8	6	11	10

I like that the River Monsters essentially have an entire outfield coming along together (Gutierrez is probably the best of them, and could slide to right field if Mr. Spicolli so desired. Rudhart, however, isn’t overly exciting, and I don’t like that their system is essentially barren at the top rungs, meaning that it’s likely three seasons before you see much of anything out of it when it comes to the outfield.

# # # So there we have the Heartland. To give you a visual of how that looks to my eyes, here’s a little table. [grin]

[GoldenOne]

I'm torn. While I'm happy to be on this list, as well as the Catcher list, because that means I've drafted well, in a few years these guys will be beating my ass, especially under Recte's tutelage.

[jleddy]

While I'm happy to be on this list, as well as the Catcher list, because that means I've drafted well...

Everyone in your division was listed and you were second-to-last, so I wouldn't be patting yourself on the back too hard.

[GoldenOne]

While I'm happy to be on this list, as well as the Catcher list, because that means I've drafted well...

Everyone in your division was listed and you were second-to-last, so I wouldn't be patting yourself on the back too hard.

Not everyone was on both lists though.

[RonCo]

BBA Minor Leagues: Outfields of 2039


Carrying on…


THE PACIFIC DIVISION

Fans of Pacific division teams look like they are going to be subjected to some brilliant baseball players in the near future. The division hosts some of the brightest prospects in the league—all of the top four having premier prospects that should yield within the next year. Like all of these lists, then, this makes the division a bit hard to slot.

Such is the hardship of fiddling around with these kinds of things, righ?

Sigh.

Anyway, let’s get on with it. Starting with…


#1: Vancouver

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
RF	Fernando Castillo	AA	22	S	80	10	8	8	4	8	7	8	7	10	7
CF	Ángel González	AA	19	L	70	9	10	7	4	9	9	11	7	10	10

Let’s say it together: Castillo and Gonzalez (both in AA) are going to be the faces of the Vancouver franchise any minute now. As soon as that happens, this Vancouver rating will crash to the floor and their record will begin to soar. Castillo still has his power to grow into a bit, but in all seriousness, if the Mounties needed them, both could come up and play in the bigs right now. Combined with this season’s rookie Jeffrey Smith, and you’ve got some serious stuff.

#2 Valencia

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
CF	Aaron Haney	AAA	20	R	80	10	11	10	6	7	10	8	8	10	9
LF	Brad Parkinson	R	18	R	70	6	10	9	6	4	8	4	4	10	9
LF	James J. Barney	R	18	R	65	7	3	9	6	4	6	10	7	7	7
RF	Dennis Caldwell	R	18	R	55	8	9	7	4	7	4	6	5	1	1
RF	Gene Meade	R	18	L	55	7	11	7	6	5	6	7	3	8	7
CF	Enrique Hernández	AAA	20	R	50	6	6	3	5	6	10	11	10	10	9

If you’re a Valencia fan, you’ll want to argue with that Mountie ranking, and you’d just as likely be right. Aaron Haney is already a household name (well, at least in this household), and Enrique Hernandez should be a perfectly solid contributor somewhere. And if you go with depth, as I usually do, you can argue that the Stars’ system has greater staying power than Vancouver’s. So, yeah, I could be wrong.

At the end of the day, I like how Valencia’s prospect waves are staged here.

#3 Seattle

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
CF	Alexander Julyan	A	20	R	80	9	10	9	5	8	8	8	10	10	7
CF	Aires Penharanda	AAA	19	R	60	8	8	7	6	6	8	11	11	10	5
LF	Carlos Rangel	R	18	R	60	8	8	7	5	6	6	6	5	7	6
RF	Gary Wright	AA	21	R	55	8	9	7	4	8	5	10	6	2	4
RF	Ernesto Alfonso	A	19	R	55	9	10	5	2	10	6	9	7	10	9
RF	Rubén Rodríguez	AAA	21	L	50	6	7	6	5	5	8	11	8	6	6
LF	Iemitsu Kojima	A	22	R	50	7	8	7	6	7	3	7	6	1	4
LF	Abakada Angosisye	R	18	L	50	6	6	8	6	5	3	4	5	2	4

Of course, if you were going on pure volume, you could go wrong than ranking Seattle up there close to or at #1.

I grade them down here, though, because their best prospect, centerfielder Alexander Julyan, is only in A-ball—though that might change quickly. That said, the guy in AAA, Aires Penharanda, is about ready to go and only a step or so down from Julyan. And below them, Nathan Egan has amassed a big collection of guys who are now in the process of fighting it out to see who survives.

Good times are coming to the Storm (as if they haven’t been having enough of those already).

#4 Long Beach

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
LF	Cris Martínez	AAA	19	L	75	8	9	9	6	5	5	11	6	2	7
LF	Gonzalo Martínez	AA	18	R	70	9	9	8	6	8	3	6	5	7	2
LF	Pedro Ávila	A	21	L	55	6	7	7	8	6	5	7	4	5	6
RF	Pepe Rocha	AA	23	R	50	7	7	4	6	8	8	8	7	10	9

Of course, if your gig is good players, ready to go, the Surfers might be your choice.

Of the Martinez duo, Chris may well see some time with the BBA in September, and Gonzalo is probably a half-year behind him. Both should be able to make a dent in the roster soon, though—despite some angst with the glove. Avila and Rocha look like they could be fun players to have around, with Rocha having some capability to handle center in a pinch.

#5 San Fernando

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
RF	Reggie Vargas	R	19	L	70	8	8	9	6	7	5	7	6	2	6
LF	Rodrigo Barbosa	S A	19	R	60	6	8	9	4	4	7	6	5	9	8
LF	Pedro Torres	AAA	20	R	50	6	9	7	5	5	4	7	7	5	9
LF	Reynaldo Ávila	AA	21	R	50	7	7	7	5	8	5	11	8	4	2

The “good news” for the rest of the league is that the quality of Pacific division outfield prospects starts to simmer down at this point. Yes, Rookie leaguer Reggie Vargas looks pretty sweet, and Short-A’er Rodrigo Barbosa could blossom, but these two are a few years away and the other guys look like walks in the park relative to the player’s we’ve been discussing. Bottom line, I’d describe San Fernando’s system as “functional” here—which, to be fair, is probably a step up from where they’ve been in the past. This is a team that traditionally builds through volume trades.

#6 California

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
CF	Arvin Duggan	R	18	L	60	6	7	7	6	6	8	10	8	8	9
RF	Luis González	AA	20	L	55	6	8	8	6	5	5	11	8	3	2
LF	Jim Lorenzen	A	20	R	55	5	6	7	6	4	10	6	8	10	7
LF	Joe Lacy	R	18	R	55	7	7	6	4	7	8	7	9	9	10
RF	Keith Schultz	R	18	R	55	7	7	6	4	7	8	7	8	10	8

The California Crusaders move further into Doug Olmstead’s tenure carrying a wide array of interesting guys. It’s a testament to the Pacific’s depth here that in the Heartland, it’s possible this is a top-2 or top-3 system. And, as I’ve said before, if you like quantity, there’s something to be said for ranking them higher. That said, I don’t think there’s enough star power in the California ranks to make me push them up. In addition, their best prospect (Luis Gonzalez) is still in AA and maybe needs to be there a little longer—the ratings are coming in, but the numbers seem a little anemic.

The most attractive thing to me about California’s system is that Olmstead’s laid down a really nice class in Rookie ball, which makes it possible that we’ll see a super-cheap, very good outfield in California from, say, 2042-2045. It’s a long-haul, and lots can go wrong, but if this comes through, expect this ranking to rise each of the next few years.

#7 Hawaii

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
LF	Ernest McBride	R	18	R	80	10	11	10	6	7	2	10	5	5	6
LF	Bastião Fardos	R	18	L	60	8	8	7	5	7	5	6	10	8	5

Given the Tropic’s focus on pitching the past few drafts, one can expect the outfield might score down a little. One would be right.

Of course, they do have this Ernest McBride guy working his way through Rookie ball, and Bastião Fardos, who doesn’t get the same ink, but is already beginning to blast away at Rookie ball pitching. Look for Fardos to be up to SA soon. You might be inclined to grade them above California, and if both these guys weren’t Rookie ballers, or if they had any real support around them, we’d probably agree with you. As it is, we’ll leave them right where they’re at.

#8 Portland

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
None	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

To Be Determined

# # # So there we have the Pacific. As with the Heartland, here’s a visual!

[RonCo]

Carrying on carrying on …


THE FRONTIER DIVISION

With the hell do you do with this division that has teams filled with great prospects up and down the chain. I mean, five of these eight teams have players rated at least “70” in their ranks, some with multiple—and they’re scattered up and down the ladder. And in with them are teams like Wichita, who doesn’t have the mega-power, but has a fleet of guys pretty much ready to go.

Ranking: it’s not for the weak.

Anyway, let’s dive in. Starting with…


#1: Boise

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
CF	Félix Román	AA	19	L	80	9	9	10	5	7	10	11	9	11	7
RF	Ricardo Ruíz	AA	20	R	65	9	8	6	4	9	8	8	5	10	9
RF	Ismael Alfonzo	R	18	R	55	9	9	7	3	10	3	6	4	4	6
RF	Jim Des Jardien	AAA	22	R	50	6	6	8	6	5	5	10	7	3	7
RF	Masamichi Kubo	A	19	R	50	6	6	6	6	5	7	8	5	10	8

Yes, we know: Boise is the land of Dennis French. But pretty soon he’s going to have some guys to play with, specifically 2038 #1 pick Felix Roman (19) and scouting find Ricardo Ruiz (20). Both of them can play defense, and both can hit. Oh, sure you’d like Ruiz to find a little more plate discipline, but let’s not be so picky we lose the forest for the trees. So before we miss him, let’s note that 22-yearold Jim Des Jardien is perhaps one of the better “50”s out there, and he’s essentially ready. We’ll see if (or when) he’s trade bait.

#2 Phoenix

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
LF	Pedro Guzmán	S A	18	L	80	9	11	10	6	7	3	9	6	1	1
RF	Ramiro Hernández	R	19	R	75	8	9	9	6	5	5	10	5	3	3
RF	Norihisa Yokoyama	R	19	R	70	8	8	8	6	5	3	11	4	6	6
LF	Jesús Valenzuela	S A	20	L	50	5	6	8	6	4	5	8	7	4	7

All right: we give. At one point I actually had Phoenix down as far as sixth in this mix, merely because all the big names are so-so young. But I can’t help myself. I’m dazzled by all the blue. In Guzman, Hernandez, and Yokoyama, you’ve got a swath of teenage hitters that will make a grown man weep. The fact that “50” rated Jesus Valenzuela has power to spare just makes it look unfair.

Sure, you’ld like them to be 20 and 21 rather than 18 and 19, and sure, you’d like them to have a center fielder in the mix. But screw that. For just a moment, let a Talon fan close their eyes and dream.

#3 Calgary

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
CF	José Figueroa	AAA	20	L	70	9	9	7	5	9	9	9	6	9	4
RF	Sawyer Slizz	R	18	L	70	7	10	7	5	7	9	9	11	10	9
LF	Robinson Trujillo	AA	19	R	55	6	8	5	5	6	9	8	6	10	8
CF	Casimiro Mouriz	A	20	L	50	5	7	4	6	5	9	7	5	10	9
LF	Tim Battle	R	18	L	50	8	8	6	5	7	3	8	4	4	7
RF	Myeong-hwan Kim	R	20	L	50	8	9	2	3	10	7	7	9	10	9

Jose Figueroa is nearly ready in AAA at age 20, and is going to be brilliant. Then there’s a bit of a waiting period until Sawyer Slizz (18) works his way through the system from his Rookie ball home, but assuming he makes it unscathed, he’ll transition in fine. We originally had them #2, but slid them back a notch because we just couldn’t stomach putting them in front of all those Phoenix guys.

#4 Wichita

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
RF	Wilson Villanuela	AAA	22	L	50	7	8	3	4	8	8	12	9	10	10
CF	Héctor Garza	AAA	20	R	50	6	7	5	5	6	9	9	10	10	7
LF	Juan Hernández	AAA	21	R	50	6	10	5	5	7	8	9	9	10	10
LF	José Carlos Flores	AAA	20	R	50	6	7	7	6	7	5	8	7	3	2
RF	Jim Ashford	R	18	L	50	9	10	6	2	9	5	7	7	7	7
RF	Luis Ayala	R	18	L	50	6	9	7	6	5	6	9	5	4	2
LF	Matt Chambers	R	19	L	50	7	7	6	4	8	5	8	6	1	5

Wichita in the number four slot seems like a negotiated settlement. I had them #3 for a while, then down in #5. What we have here is your basic old high school fire drill where you get to a stop sign and everyone in the car gets out and then gets back in a different place. Except, imagine that same game, but with brand new kids. The Genius has it set up to basically swap out his entire outfield with hungry rookies over this coming off-season, so it should be interesting to see what happens.

None of Villenueva, Garza, Hernandes, or Flores is likely to be bringing home All-Star hardware, but every one of them can play, and when you look at the aging guys Stu’s been using as a stop gap, you see that the team is ready to take a solid step up.

It’s like an instant upgrade. Everywhere. Just add water and watch.

So, do they belong at #4? Who knows?

#5 Edmonton

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
LF	José Salas	AAA	20	R	80	10	10	6	8	9	5	7	7	10	9
LF	Sebastian Fradesso	A	18	R	65	8	8	7	6	8	5	11	7	7	5
RF	Pedro Huerta	R	19	L	65	8	11	7	4	9	5	11	6	9	6
CF	Robert Menzies	R	18	L	50	6	5	4	5	3	10	11	11	8	7
LF	Matt Normore	R	18	L	50	9	9	5	4	9	3	7	8	6	6
RF	Júlio Uribe	R	18	R	50	9	9	4	4	9	4	7	11	6	6

Do an internet search for “ideal left fielder” and if this were a sane world, you’d get a picture of José Salas. If I were sane, I’d probably have Edmonton up a notch, but I slid them back for fact that Salas can probably benefit from more time in AAA, and the combined weight of Wichita’s four. I won’t argue if you make the swap yourself. Salas is going to be just that good. Add on that Fradesso is AA ready in A-ball, and that Fradesso has the arm for right field, and you’ve got a pair that Jackrabbit fans are going to be enjoying for some time.

#6 Mexico City

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
RF	Fernando Moreno	AAA	20	R	70	10	10	5	5	9	8	8	7	7	7
LF	Juan Rocha	AA	19	R	55	7	10	7	3	6	5	11	7	5	9
CF	Frédérick Brisset	R	19	L	55	6	7	7	6	5	8	12	9	10	8
RF	Manny Collazo	R	18	S	55	8	9	7	5	7	3	8	7	3	4
CF	Juan Valverde	A	22	R	50	5	8	6	6	5	10	10	9	10	7
RF	Jean-François Hamon	S A	19	L	50	6	8	8	4	7	5	9	8	4	7

This version of Fernando Moreno will not be hitting homers, and may well be best not considered as a future Hall of Famer (though it’s always possible). Instead, he’s a prototypical Fred Holmes player, high on contact, and able to get around the bases when he puts the ball into the gaps. While he looks like he could hold his own right now, the team is probably doing him a favor by letting him get his last reps in AAA. He’s 20. He’s got time. RHB Juan Rocha is just about as ready in AA. Underneath them is a layer of solid players who will be interesting to watch, perhaps the one with the most upside being Jean-Francois Hamon.

#7 San Antonio

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
RF	Wayne Morris	R	18	R	65	9	8	7	4	8	5	7	5	5	6
CF	Dax Norris	AAA	21	R	55	6	7	7	3	8	9	7	7	10	9
LF	Tony Vega	AAA	22	R	55	8	7	7	5	7	5	7	6	4	3
CF	Roberto Vega	AA	21	R	55	5	7	6	6	4	10	8	8	11	9

Let’s face it, the Outlaws have Dax Norris and Tony Vega ready to yield from AAA to the bigs, and a “65” rated Wayne Morris working his way out of Rookie ball, and are still #7 on the division’s list. This just goes to show how deep the division is, because a lot of teams would like to have the core functionality that San Antonio’s building. I like that its prospects are staggered up and down the chain, so the club will be feeding players into the parent club at a steady rate.

But the fact is that these are probably more blue collar players than elite superstars.

#8 Las Vegas

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
LF	Girolamo L'Archibudelli	S A	18	L	65	11	10	4	4	9	6	5	7	10	9
RF	Declan Hounsell	S A	19	L	55	6	7	6	5	7	9	12	8	9	10

Vegas’s outfield prospects are good, but thin, which in some situations (like in the Heartland) might get you mid-pack. But in the Frontier it’s not good enough, and the fact is that the Hustlers’ outfield real prospects are also quite young (18 and 19), so they’ve got a lot of distance to go. It’s certainly possible that at the end of the process, folks could look back and see this was wrong, but we’re not betting the … er … farm.
# # # So that ends the Frontier. Like I said, lots of great outfield play coming to the division soon.

As with the others, here’s a visual!

[crobillard]

I'm dreading French, Roman and Satino in the Boise outfield. I think Boise will have the best outfield in the BBA soon and it wont be close. I don't envy your position in having to rank these outfields though.

Salas is awesome. I'd like to see him develop a little faster. I was hoping he could be ready next season, but like you said, he'll probably see a full season in AAA first. Love him. He wasn't mentioned, but I love Menzies. He's far away, but he's going to be able to play any position well once he's ready with a 6 contact. He'll be generally bad at the plate, but he'll be pretty solid. Fantastic support behind a powerful outfield.

[RonCo]

Menzies is who I was hoping Brandon Howeth-Arneson, Jr. was going to become.

[RonCo]

BBA Minor Leagues: Outfields of 2039


Carrying on carrying on carrying on …


THE ATLANTIC DIVISION

After looking at the Frontier division’s outfield fire power, the Atlantic’s numbers feel pedestrian. I had to take a minute and re-position myself to compare them against the Heartland and Pacific, and then things kind of came back into focus. Taken on the whole, the talent in the Atlantic at the top end may be a little better than the other two, or not. Hard to call. But it’s a division deep in solid talent.

Let’s take a look and see, though.


#1: Atlantic City

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
CF	Juan Rivera	AAA	20	L	80	10	10	9	6	7	9	7	8	10	9
RF	António Martínez	S A	19	L	70	9	9	8	5	6	5	11	6	5	6
RF	José Valentín	S A	19	L	55	7	8	7	5	5	6	8	6	10	9
CF	Edward Lake	R	19	L	55	6	9	7	6	5	8	11	7	11	5
RF	John Noble	AAA	22	R	50	7	9	7	6	5	5	8	6	5	4

Scouts say Juan Rivera has more growth to go, so GM Joshua Biddle is probably wise to take it easy despite numbers that say he’s ready. Bottom line, though, his position on the list makes Atlantic City pretty much a lock for the #1 position. He’s a splendid looking player.

But, wait, there’s more. John Noble has had a shot in Atlantic City and it hasn’t gone so well, but he’ll be back and there’s some confidence he’ll make it work. And a second wave is forming up with Martinez and Valentin in Short A.

It all adds up to say Atlantic City’s going to have some hitters for the foreseeable future.

#2 Brooklyn

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
RF	José Ramos	AA	18	L	75	9	9	8	6	7	5	8	8	2	5
LF	Felipe Vega	A	20	L	75	9	9	8	6	8	6	7	6	1	1
RF	Bobby Parker	AAA	20	L	50	6	8	7	6	4	7	7	7	8	5
CF	Bing-zhang Kim	AA	22	L	50	5	8	5	6	5	9	8	10	10	9
CF	Jorge López	AA	19	L	50	7	8	5	5	7	9	8	7	10	4
CF	Miguel Cortéz	S A	20	L	50	5	6	3	6	5	10	9	10	11	8
LF	Hadji Ufanisi	S A	18	R	50	7	6	7	3	9	7	7	5	8	10

Brooklyn and depth go together like hand and fist, so it’s no surprise to see a whole supply chain of prospects in the Robins’ register. The fac that it’s top end (Ramos and Vega) are rising through the ranks is kind of an indirect indicator of where their rebuild is at. Yes, they’re performing better than expected—and fans are clamoring for Ehlers to go all in sooner, but the fact is that this rocket probably can’t be said to be fully lit until a couple more prospects hit the AAA level, so, say 2041.

That said, newly acquired Bobby Parker is probably better than his “50” tag, and sitting in AAA, maybe that means the launch window has been pulled up a notch?

#3 New Orleans

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
RF	Juan Donéstevez	AA	18	L	75	9	9	7	6	8	8	8	7	10	9
LF	Jesús Báez	A	19	R	60	8	8	7	4	7	5	5	7	2	9
RF	Xavier Rangel	AAA	21	S	55	6	8	6	4	7	10	6	8	10	10
LF	Pedro Costa	AA	27	R	50	5	7	7	5	6	5	9	8	7	11

I won’t be horribly surprised to see Juan Donéstevez have a shot at playing center field, but regardless, he’s going to be a very good player, CF or RF. He’s more than holding his own as an 18 year old in AA, so his window is maybe September 2040? Of course, I could say that Xavier Rangel is being listed at RF right now (I assume for development purposes), but is a true CF—so maybe we can ignore the idea of JD in center for now.

Regardless, throwing Baez into the mix in left means the Crawdads are in the middle of molting themselves an entire outfield of young and productive hitters. There’s not much after this wave, but right now who cares, am I right?

So, yeah, New Orleans is going to be good for a long while again.

#4 Jacksonville

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
CF	Ramón Gabriel	AA	18	R	65	7	8	7	5	6	9	8	10	10	10
CF	Omer Dijkstra	A	19	L	65	8	8	7	2	7	9	8	9	11	8
RF	Jorge Rodríguez	S A	18	R	50	6	5	7	6	5	7	9	6	4	3

I’m not sure what to do with Jacksonville. I like all their guys. The term “workmanlike” comes to mind when I scan them. Solid defenders each, meaning pitchers are going to love them, and Dijkstra has a hole in his plate discipline, all of them have something positive to bring to the table offensively. In other words, it’s a group of very good, cheap table setters coming though the pipeline that, if they break out, will do insane damage, and if they merely hold serve will act as the background upon which Tyler can and most certainly will paint over with star power veterans.

In other words, kind of business as usual in Jacksonville.

#5 Rockville

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
CF	Gilberto Falchonelli	A	19	R	70	7	7	7	6	7	9	7	7	9	9
LF	Matthew Reilly	R	18	L	65	9	9	7	4	8	5	10	4	8	7
LF	Wilson Alomar	R	18	L	60	8	7	7	5	8	4	10	5	2	5
CF	Man-keung Sui	S A	18	R	50	8	7	2	2	8	9	8	8	10	9

I originally scored the Pikemen down a notch, but the team’s overall depth made me rethink it a little. I’d like to see a right fielder in the mix for completeness, but I’m sure I’d like a lot of things that just aren’t there. Such is life. If I were doing a pure ratings thing, Rockville would be higher on this list, but I’m not, and the fact that only Falchonelli is as high as A-ball makes me leery of going too far out on a limb.

Falchionelli is, however, a better than solid prospect, a guy who’s going to be able to play the field in center as an above average guy as well as bring some thump to the top of the order. Reilly and Alomar both have glove issues, but both have the arms for right field, so there’s hope—given that their bats look more than workable, that’s good hope. And Sui has one of those odd profiles. He will not walk, and will not his for power, but could still wind up finding his uses.

#6 Montreal

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
LF	Jim Antolin	AAA	22	R	70	6	7	9	9	4	6	5	8	9	9
CF	Don Jaramillo	R	18	R	60	6	8	9	6	5	7	6	5	10	8

There’s a whole lot to like about Joe Antolin, who came to the team two seasons back in a deal with Vegas. The only issue if you’re a Blazer fan is that you’d like to see him grow into those ratings. At 22, he’s taking his sweet time. Kevin Spencer has time, of course. The perhaps not-so-soft rebuild is in process, and I doubt fans think the Blazers are going to take a Landis in 2040. But the kid needs to hit, and he need to hit soon for emotional support if nothing else.

Jaramillo is a good looking guy in R-ball, but first he’s looking more left-fieldery than center filedery to my eyes, and as a rookie baller, that’s a long, long way away to start getting too excited over.

#7 Charm City

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
CF	Tomás Guillén	A	18	L	60	8	9	6	5	9	8	9	6	10	7
RF	Manoell Whanon	A	18	L	55	7	8	5	5	8	9	9	6	10	10

“Don’t cry for me Charm City, I’ve been focused in other places.”

The Jimmie’s outfield register is fairly thin, and moderately young. Guillen looks like he’ll be average at best in the field, but a more than that hitter. I love that profile of gap power and lack of Ks. Kind of a silent killer if you ask me. And Whanon is similar. Given that both develop, Whanon is probably the center fielder of the Jimmie future, with Guillen sliding to a corner, but that’s a problem for another time.

Bottom line, while everyone can use a superstar, give the overall planning that seems to be unfolding in Charm City, it seems to me that Brandon only needs these two to just be solid by sometime in 2041 (going into 2042) for things all work out well enough in the end.

By that point, either the system will be in the process of being restocked, or it won’t matter.

#8 Charlotte

POS	Name	Lev	Age	B	POT	CON	GAP	POW	EYE	K	RNG	ARM	ERR	SPE	STE
None	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

To Be Determines
# # # So that ends the Atlantic—and all of the outfield slots.

As with the others, here’s a visual!

[udlb58]

Interesting stuff! I've only read my division so far, but will definitely read the other 3 in the next day or so. (This should probably get more credit than one League Feature...not that you need the PP)

Jax is interesting because of the young Allen and White already in the majors. That means it is likely one of them, Gabriel, or Dijkstra are dealt. I like Rodriguez as a potential backup corner OF/platoon option (a la Jimmy Brown, who has been a 1+ WAR player in a part time role each of the last 3 seasons). Plus, there's Encarnacion (who can play center, and when Arredondo is ready, I'm not sure what will happen); Salazar in the complex (though his power is a big letdown); and the odd Holden Dickson, who can play RF.

[ae37jr]

2041 seems about right for our rebuild. Next year could be interesting though. I plan to call up a wave of decent players and possibly make a play in free agency for a youngish player or two on front loaded contracts. If I can hang around the playoff race, heck I am this year with a crap roster, then I could potentially bring up Vega and Ramos for the push.

But ideally I want to wait till May of 2041 to start bringing up the better players.

[bcslouck]

Drew will probably go in your IF rankings, but I think he's going to end up in the OF. I'd love to keep him at 2B but I don't know if he'll be able to keep the errors down. Probably be, left to right, Guillen, Whanon, and Drew, which is a damn fine OF. But you're right in saying we are weak here.

[StormZ_23]

2041 seems about right for our rebuild. Next year could be interesting though. I plan to call up a wave of decent players and possibly make a play in free agency for a youngish player or two on front loaded contracts. If I can hang around the playoff race, heck I am this year with a crap roster, then I could potentially bring up Vega and Ramos for the push.

But ideally I want to wait till May of 2041 to start bringing up the better players.

Why did you just describe my plan?

[handaspencer]

I also believe LF is the future home for Jaramillo. But its much easier to teach someone CF when they are 18. If he can develop to play both positions that definitely increases his value to the Blazers. Will give him a season or two and see if we can get him to play CF for his secondary position at an average level. If not I guess he will simply be a LF. Antolin won't ever hit for high avg. and will strike out a lot but I am most certainly frustrated in his season this year.