what's a baby snake called?
ok last time we talked about miguel montero, conor jackson, orlando hudson, stephen drew, and justin upton. this time we're gonna talk about carlos gonzalez, chris young, "charles" quentin, dustin nippert, and garret mock.

carlos gonzalez:

Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB   W   K  HR  23  WAL  CON  POW  AVG
2003 Missoula     Pio  17 Ari Rk  278  21  61   6  18 .070 .781 .111 .258
2004 Yakima       Nwes 18 Ari A   302  25  70   9  17 .076 .768 .112 .273
2004 South Bend   Midw 18 Ari A    51   1  13   1   4 .019 .745 .132 .275
2005 South Bend   Midw 19 Ari A   515  48  86  18  34 .085 .833 .121 .307

ok he's young. you can't really complain about those numbers. he looks pretty fuckin good. if you figure he plays high a at age 20 and double-a at age 21 he's ahead of the curve. good contact for a player that young. good power. doubt he'll be ready in 2007. but so far so good.

chris young:

Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB   W   K  HR  23  WAL  CON  POW  AVG
2002 Azl White So Ariz 18 Chw Rk  184  24  54   5  14 .115 .707 .146 .217
2003 Bristol      App  19 Chw Rk  242  27  40   7  21 .100 .835 .139 .290
2003 Great Falls  Pio  19 Chw Rk   34   1  10   0   3 .029 .706 .125 .176
2004 Kannapolis   SAL  20 Chw A   468  77 145  24  36 .141 .690 .186 .262
2005 Birmingham   Sou  21 Chw AA  466  70 129  26  44 .131 .723 .208 .277

ok the pow is retarded and he *is* young for his league. he also steals a lot of bases. but that con is really bad. it makes me think he'll have a difficult adjustment. but man he *is* mashing. he's young enough to get his con under control. maybe if he doesn't swing quite so hard. he *will* get stronger. he's *got* to cut down those strikeouts. there's no way to know.

usually when a guy dominates so completely in two areas, as young does with wal and pow, it's a good indicator for future success. but that con is so low. we'll just have to wait and see.

hey he skipped high-a! that's pretty impressive. ok my gut feeling is he's gonna make it.

carlos quentin:

Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB   W   K  HR  23  WAL  CON  POW  AVG
2001 Stanford U.  NCAA 18 0   NCA 254  30  42  11  12 .106 .835 .108 .345
2002 Stanford U.  NCAA 19 0   NCA 247  42  38  12  17 .145 .846 .139 .303
2003 Stanford U.  NCAA 20 0   NCA 265  51  28  12  25 .161 .894 .156 .396
2004 Lancaster    Cali 21 Ari A   245  52  33  15  15 .175 .865 .142 .310
2004 El Paso      Tex  21 Ari AA  212  34  23   6  19 .138 .892 .132 .357
2005 Tucson       PCL  22 Ari AAA 452  72  71  21  32 .137 .843 .139 .301

the fox sports guy has him listed as "charles" quentin but the baseball cube and the tucson sidewinders have him as carlos. mr quentin is a super-killer. i've been hyphenating that word today. usually i write it as two words.

well-above average in wal, con, and pow. young and improving. getting stronger. he started in high-a and crushed. then he went to double-a and crushed. then he went to triple-a and crushed. he'd be replacement-level in the majors right now so they might as well let him play in triple-a. but soon he'll be too good. they'll have to play him. what are they gonna do? they have luis gonzalez and shawn green. gonzalez is off the books in 2007. so they could wait till then. assuming they don't pick up the option. $10 million. that would be a bad idea. plus i hear they're in financial trouble. so they probably won't. carlos quentin starts in 2007. rookie of the year.

they could trade green or gonzalez, but they probably won't get to because there's a good chance they'll win the division. the al west is crap, and this lineup is good. johnny estrada conor jackson orlando hudson craig counsell chad tracy green gonzalez byrnes. that is strong. all-around. everyone makes contact. they can hit good pitching. they are gonna be good.

what about the staff well they got problems. brandon webb is good but after that there's problems. valverde is a killer though. a top starter and a top closer that goes a long way. i gotta make these guys the favorites. plus with all that young talent that shit has a way of helping out. in a pennant race. cf the atlanta braves.

ok let's talk about these pitchers.

dustin nippert:

Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl    IP   H  HR  BB  SO  WAL  CON  HRP   ERA
2002 Missoula     Pio  21 Ari Rk   54.2  42   2   9  77 .042 .626 .016  1.65
2003 South Bend   Midw 22 Ari A    95.2  66   4  32  96 .083 .728 .016  2.82
2004 El Paso      Tex  23 Ari AA   71.2  77   0  40  73 .120 .750 .000  3.64
2005 Tennessee    Sou  24 Ari AA  117.1  95   4  42  97 .086 .783 .011  2.38
2005 Az Diamondba NL   24 Ari MLB  14.2  10   1  13  11 .194 .796 .023  5.52

looks like a sinkerballer. pretty good con not so great wal really low home run percentages. no home runs allowed in 2004. if he can get his control worked out he can be good. that's a big if. actually he doesn't have to get it that much lower because he's so retarded at limiting home runs. a player with real talent like this has a much better shot than a more rounded player who's pretty good at everything.

i couldn't find garret mock because there's a typo in the fox sports article. or maybe it's the baseball cube. it's hard to tell sometimes. ok, in the interest of accuracy, let's check, i don't know, the lancaster jethawks! ok it's "garrett". he led the team in innings and strikeouts.

Year Team         Lg. Age Org Lvl    IP   H  HR  BB  SO  WAL  CON  HRP   ERA
2003 U. of Housto NCAA 20 0   NCA  86.0  69   8  44  66 .119 .798 .031  4.50
2004 U. of Housto NCAA 21 0   NCA  68.0  68   1  25  42 .084 .846 .004  3.71
2004 Yakima       Nwes 21 Ari A    23.1  18   1   4  14 .043 .841 .014  1.54
2004 South Bend   Midw 21 Ari A    54.0  49   2  12  37 .054 .825 .011  3.00
2005 Lancaster    Cali 22 Ari A   174.1 202  19  33 160 .044 .779 .034  4.18

he's young. and he's polished. he's pretty good at everything. uh-oh! yeah he doesn't look like he'll be good enough at any one thing to be much of a dominating major leaguer. he could be a guy. if his control works out like it looks like it will, and his contact stays good, he could be jon garland. which is pretty good. but that's the absolute top.

here's the link.

conclusion: yes, these are some prospects. montero not so good but conor jackson stephen drew carlos quentin. super killers. justin upton chris young carlos gonzalez. probable. nippert, mock. maybe. good shot. put it all together and you got one hell of a prospect class. they still got some pitching concerns but with all the money they'll be saving in the field they should be able to work something out. the era of the diamondbacks has begun.
- posted by julien @ 2:04 PM