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Wednesday, February 15, 2006
 
top prospects: giants
here's what the giants got:


1. Matt Cain, rhp
2. Marcus Sanders, ss/2b
3. Eddy Martinez-Esteve, of
4. Travis Ishikawa, 1b
5. Merkin Valdez, rhp
6. Jonathan Sanchez, lhp
7. Nate Schierholtz, of
8. Fred Lewis, of
9. Kevin Frandsen, ss/2b
10. Craig Whitaker, rhp


it's a sorry state of affairs in giantstown. by which i mean the giants' minor league system.


Career Pitching Statistics for Matt Cain:
Year Team Lg. Age Org Lvl IP H HR BB SO WAL CON HRP ERA
2002 Azl Giants Ariz 17 Sf Rk 19.1 13 1 11 20 .134 .718 .020 3.72
2003 Hagerstown SAL 18 Sf A 74.0 57 5 24 90 .079 .677 .026 2.55
2004 San Jose Cali 19 Sf A 72.2 58 5 17 89 .058 .678 .027 1.86
2004 Norwich East 19 Sf AA 86.0 73 7 40 72 .108 .782 .027 3.35
2005 Fresno PCL 20 Sf AAA 145.2 118 22 73 176 .116 .683 .058 4.39
2005 SF Giants NL 20 Sf MLB 46.1 24 4 19 30 .104 .816 .030 2.33


cain is the bright spot. but don't get your panties in a bunch. the giants have made two common, terrible mistakes:

1. they brought a kid up too early. matt cain does not have enough control to succeed yet in the majors. this mistake is not as terrible as the next one.

2. he threw too many innings. a kid with a lot of strikeouts and a lot of walks is a classic type for an arm injury. and he threw 192 innings. that's way too much for a twenty-year old, especially considering it's his first time in the majors, he wants to impress, he may be overthrowing . . . even if he's holding back, it's 30 more innings than he threw the year before, and 120 more innings than he threw two years before. look at the giants pitching prospects over the years and you see they do not have a good development record.

but yeah cain has a lot of talent. 176 strikeouts in 145 innings is high high quality. if he stays healthy, he'll be good. there'll be an adjustment period while he gets control.


Career Batting Statistics for Marcus Sanders:
Year Team Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB W K HR 23 WAL CON POW AVG
2004 Azl Giants Ariz 19 Sf Rk 212 46 45 3 16 .178 .788 .114 .292
2005 Augusta SAL 20 Sf A 423 78 90 5 23 .156 .787 .084 .300


marcus sanders is young, fast, a middle infielder, and he walks. those are good things. the problem is he doesn't make contact, and he doesn't have power. ok those are two problems. but together they are one big problem. i mean, you can't write him off yet because he's young. and his patience shows an ability to learn. but he's got a long way to go. when you don't have contact or power, you're fighting an uphill battle.

matt cain throws a curveball too. even worse for the injury chances. that would be too bad if he went down because he's the only prospect with any kind of shot. i mean sanders maybe 20% or something. this is a sad sad club.


Career Batting Statistics for Eddy Martinez-Estevez:
Year Team Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB W K HR 23 WAL CON POW AVG
2004 Florida Stat NCAA 0 0 NCA 275 40 41 19 27 .127 .851 .197 .385
2004 Azl Giants Ariz 0 Sf Rk 15 1 2 0 2 .063 .867 .154 .357
2004 San Jose Cali 0 Sf A 70 4 9 0 9 .054 .871 .148 .420
2004 SalemKaizer Nwes 0 Sf A 35 7 7 0 4 .167 .800 .143 .286
2004 Hagerstown SAL 0 Sf A 47 9 8 1 2 .161 .830 .077 .217
2005 San Jose Cali 0 Sf A 482 97 82 17 47 .168 .830 .160 .313


ok. estevez is a better prospect than sanders. i know sanders is a middle infielder but he can't hit. eddy shows the potential to hit major league pitching, which is a requirement for major-league position players.

he hasn't been challenged yet, and he played high-a last year. his wal and pow were super, and his con was ok.

you gotta feel good about this kid. presumably he'll play double-a this year.


Career Batting Statistics for Travis Ishikawa:
Year Team Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB W K HR 23 WAL CON POW AVG
2002 Azl Giants Ariz 19 Sf Rk 68 9 20 1 6 .117 .706 .146 .279
2002 SalemKaizer Nwes 19 Sf A 89 6 22 1 3 .063 .753 .060 .307
2003 Hagerstown SAL 20 Sf A 195 36 69 3 5 .156 .646 .063 .206
2003 SalemKaizer Nwes 20 Sf A 249 49 77 3 21 .164 .691 .140 .254
2004 San Jose Cali 21 Sf A 57 11 16 1 7 .162 .719 .195 .232
2004 Hagerstown SAL 21 Sf A 356 56 110 15 21 .136 .691 .146 .256
2005 San Jose Cali 22 Sf A 437 77 129 22 35 .150 .705 .185 .282


travis ishikawa cannot hit. he's got patience and power, but he can't make contact. he's old for his level. he's a first baseman. he's not gonna make it.


Career Pitching Statistics for Merkin Valdez:
Year Team Lg. Age Org Lvl IP H HR BB SO WAL CON HRP ERA
2003 Hagerstown SAL 21 Sf A 156.0 119 11 49 166 .077 .717 .026 2.25
2004 San Jose Cali 22 Sf A 35.2 30 4 5 44 .035 .679 .043 2.52
2004 Norwich East 22 Sf AA 41.2 35 3 15 31 .086 .806 .023 4.32
2004 Fresno PCL 22 Sf AAA 5.0 6 0 4 5 .160 .762 .000 7.20
2004 SF Giants NL 22 Sf MLB 1.2 4 1 3 2 .250 .778 .143 27.00
2005 Norwich East 23 Sf AA 107.0 99 7 45 96 .097 .771 .022 3.53


merkin valdez had a great run in high-a in 2004, but it looks like it was an anomaly. he's old for his level. it looks like he's behind the curve. the development curve.


Career Pitching Statistics for Jonathan Sanchez:
Year Team Lg. Age Org Lvl IP H HR BB SO WAL CON HRP ERA
2004 Azl Giants Ariz 21 Sf Rk 26.0 22 0 9 27 .083 .730 .000 2.77
2004 SalemKaizer Nwes 21 Sf A 22.1 16 3 19 34 .186 .590 .061 4.84
2005 Augusta SAL 22 Sf A 125.2 122 8 39 166 .072 .667 .024 4.08


ok. that's a hell of a lot of strikeouts in the sally league. i don't know where this guy came from, but he's a lefty. that's not good sentence structure, but i wanna see what this guy does. he was a little old for his level, but it looks like he doesn't have much experience. these sentences all have the same pattern, but i don't know what to do about that.


Career Batting Statistics for Nate Schierholtz:
Year Team Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB W K HR 23 WAL CON POW AVG
2003 Azl Giants Ariz 19 Sf Rk 45 4 8 0 2 .082 .822 .054 .400
2003 SalemKaizer Nwes 19 Sf A 127 17 15 3 8 .118 .882 .098 .306
2004 San Jose Cali 20 Sf A 260 18 41 3 27 .065 .842 .137 .295
2004 Hagerstown SAL 20 Sf A 236 22 52 15 22 .085 .780 .201 .296
2005 San Jose Cali 21 Sf A 507 38 132 15 45 .070 .740 .160 .319


nate schierholtz hits the ball hard. patience and contact are lacking.


Career Batting Statistics for Fred Lewis:
Year Team Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB W K HR 23 WAL CON POW AVG
2002 SalemKaizer Nwes 21 Sf A 239 29 58 1 12 .108 .757 .072 .322
2003 Hagerstown SAL 22 Sf A 422 74 112 1 25 .149 .735 .084 .250
2004 San Jose Cali 23 Sf A 442 96 109 8 31 .178 .753 .117 .301
2004 Fresno PCL 23 Sf AAA 23 5 5 1 1 .179 .783 .111 .304
2005 Norwich East 24 Sf AA 516 72 124 7 35 .122 .760 .107 .273


ok, i copped out of the nate schierholtz assessment. the thing is he's hard to project. you get the feeling that if he stopped swinging at everything he could do some things. but is he ever gonna stop swinging at everything? corey patterson didn't.

fred lewis played double-a at the age of 24 and didn't hit. he sucks.


Career Batting Statistics for Kevin Frandsen:
Year Team Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB W K HR 23 WAL CON POW AVG
2002 San Jose Sta NCAA 20 0 NCA 161 25 14 7 11 .134 .913 .122 .317
2003 San Jose Sta NCAA 21 0 NCA 222 32 13 4 15 .126 .941 .091 .332
2004 San Jose Sta NCAA 22 0 NCA 198 35 18 2 16 .150 .909 .100 .321
2004 SalemKaizer Nwes 22 Sf A 99 12 9 3 5 .108 .909 .089 .296
2005 San Jose Cali 23 Sf A 292 41 22 2 25 .123 .925 .100 .351
2005 Norwich East 23 Sf AA 130 10 14 2 8 .071 .892 .086 .287
2005 Fresno PCL 23 Sf AAA 94 4 5 2 11 .041 .947 .146 .351


anyone with this much contact has a shot. the hard part about hitting major league pitching is making contact. everyone has their challenges, but you can get stronger. you can learn patience. not everyone does these things, but it's not like hand-eye coordination, which a gift. great strength is a gift too, but it's not necessary the way coordination is.

having said that, power looks like a long shot for kevin. he just doesn't have the home runs. a good fielder can make it without power. it depends on how good a fielder he is.


Career Pitching Statistics for Craig Whitaker:
Year Team Lg. Age Org Lvl IP H HR BB SO WAL CON HRP ERA
2003 Azl Giants Ariz 18 Sf Rk 5.1 2 0 4 8 .182 .556 .000 1.69
2004 SalemKaizer Nwes 19 Sf A 70.2 58 4 43 77 .137 .715 .021 3.44
2005 Augusta SAL 20 Sf A 58.0 54 3 39 72 .146 .684 .019 4.66


lots of walks, lots of strikeouts. maybe he'll get it together.

not likely.

so that's the giants. i was gonna write about some of the guys that came up last year, but what's the point? they're crap. ok i'll talk about lance niekro.


Career Batting Statistics for Lance Niekro:
Year Team Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB W K HR 23 WAL CON POW AVG
2000 SalemKaizer Nwes 21 Sf A 198 15 25 5 18 .070 .874 .133 .362
2001 San Jose Cali 22 Sf A 167 4 14 3 11 .023 .916 .092 .288
2002 Shreveport Tex 23 Sf AA 300 9 32 4 21 .029 .893 .093 .310
2003 Fresno PCL 24 Sf AAA 384 20 39 4 17 .050 .898 .061 .302
2003 SF Giants NL 24 Sf MLB 5 0 1 0 1 .000 .800 .250 .200
2004 San Jose Cali 25 Sf A 62 2 5 1 8 .031 .919 .158 .311
2004 Fresno PCL 25 Sf AAA 242 15 32 12 25 .058 .868 .176 .299
2005 Fresno PCL 26 Sf AAA 4 0 1 0 0 .000 .750 .000 .250
2005 SF Giants NL 26 Sf MLB 283 19 53 12 19 .063 .813 .135 .252


niekro has talent, he just needs to quit playing like an idiot. ever watch him play? he swings at everything. what a surprise, he only walked 6.3 percent of the time.

niekro was nobody till he all of a sudden developed power in 2004. that's the thing with contact, though. if you have it, you can always develop power and make it. but he's gotta take some pitches. come on lance, don't waste your career.

don't be corey patterson.

alfonso soriano. many would say he's good. but he's not. the nationals are idiots.


Career Batting Statistics for Jason Ellison:
Year Team Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB W K HR 23 WAL CON POW AVG
2000 SalemKaizer Nwes 22 Sf A 301 36 45 0 17 .107 .850 .066 .300
2001 Hagerstown SAL 23 Sf A 499 81 68 8 41 .140 .864 .114 .291
2002 San Jose Cali 24 Sf A 324 27 37 5 13 .077 .886 .063 .270
2002 Fresno PCL 24 Sf AAA 196 25 28 3 9 .113 .857 .071 .311
2003 Fresno PCL 25 Sf AAA 464 45 52 6 26 .088 .888 .078 .295
2003 SF Giants NL 25 Sf MLB 10 0 1 0 0 .000 .900 .000 .100
2004 Fresno PCL 26 Sf AAA 506 43 66 9 39 .078 .870 .109 .315
2004 SF Giants NL 26 Sf MLB 4 0 1 1 0 .000 .750 .333 .500
2005 Fresno PCL 27 Sf AAA 38 3 9 0 2 .073 .763 .069 .237
2005 SF Giants NL 27 Sf MLB 353 27 44 4 20 .071 .875 .078 .264


ellison has contact and speed but no power. and he doesn't walk. you gotta get on base. do teams teach this? do baseball teams teach their players to get on base? what do they teach them?


Career Batting Statistics for Todd Linden:
Year Team Lg. Age Org Lvl AAB W K HR 23 WAL CON POW AVG
2000 U. of Washin NCAA 20 0 NCA 199 30 43 6 18 .131 .784 .154 .390
2002 Shreveport Tex 22 Sf AA 395 73 101 12 28 .156 .744 .136 .314
2002 Fresno PCL 22 Sf AAA 100 21 35 3 3 .174 .650 .092 .250
2003 Fresno PCL 23 Sf AAA 471 57 105 11 27 .108 .777 .104 .278
2003 SF Giants NL 23 Sf MLB 38 1 8 1 1 .026 .789 .067 .211
2004 Fresno PCL 24 Sf AAA 494 70 149 23 30 .124 .698 .154 .260
2004 SF Giants NL 24 Sf MLB 32 6 7 0 1 .158 .781 .040 .156
2005 Fresno PCL 25 Sf AAA 342 72 97 30 29 .174 .716 .241 .321
2005 SF Giants NL 25 Sf MLB 171 15 54 4 8 .081 .684 .103 .216


linden hits bombs but he strikes out. too much. major league pitchers eat him up. like they're gonna do with ryan howard. and brad eldred.


Career Pitching Statistics for Jeremy Accardo:
Year Team Lg. Age Org Lvl IP H HR BB SO WAL CON HRP ERA
2002 Illinois Sta NCAA 20 0 NCA 21.0 25 0 8 27 .083 .693 .000 2.57
2003 Illinois Sta NCAA 21 0 NCA 36.1 34 3 19 27 .117 .811 .026 5.94
2004 San Jose Cali 22 Sf A 55.0 57 3 15 43 .063 .806 .017 4.25
2004 Norwich East 22 Sf AA 8.1 9 1 2 5 .056 .853 .034 5.40
2005 San Jose Cali 23 Sf A 2.0 1 0 1 3 .125 .571 .000 0.00
2005 Norwich East 23 Sf AA 9.2 8 0 1 15 .026 .595 .000 0.93
2005 Fresno PCL 23 Sf AAA 32.1 25 0 10 30 .076 .754 .000 1.95
2005 SF Giants NL 23 Sf MLB 29.2 26 2 9 16 .073 .861 .020 3.94


jeff francoeur was the rookie of the year last year. accardo what can we say he doesn't look that good. there's not much sample size. he moved up fast. he could be good. he limits home runs. he must have talent if they brought him up that fast. ok maybe he's good.


Career Pitching Statistics for Scott Munter:
Year Team Lg. Age Org Lvl IP H HR BB SO WAL CON HRP ERA
2001 SalemKaizer Nwes 21 Sf A 35.0 42 3 12 28 .075 .810 .025 5.91
2001 Hagerstown SAL 21 Sf A 5.1 5 0 1 2 .045 .905 .000 3.38
2002 SalemKaizer Nwes 22 Sf A 29.2 33 0 20 20 .141 .836 .000 6.98
2002 San Jose Cali 22 Sf A 4.1 12 0 4 2 .138 .920 .000 10.38
2003 Hagerstown SAL 23 Sf A 68.2 62 3 28 47 .095 .825 .014 3.01
2004 Norwich East 24 Sf AA 65.0 63 4 22 30 .079 .884 .018 2.35
2004 Fresno PCL 24 Sf AAA 15.2 20 1 4 5 .056 .925 .016 3.45
2005 Fresno PCL 25 Sf AAA 12.1 17 0 4 5 .069 .907 .000 5.11
2005 SF Giants NL 25 Sf MLB 38.2 40 1 12 11 .071 .929 .007 2.56


also limits home runs. he doesn't limit contact, which gives him a thin margin for success. but if he can keep the home runs down and throw strikes, he'll be usable.

he will munt for years to come.


Career Pitching Statistics for Jack Taschner:
Year Team Lg. Age Org Lvl IP H HR BB SO WAL CON HRP ERA
1999 University o NCAA 21 0 NCA 53.0 21 0 41 79 .186 .561 .000 1.53
1999 SalemKaizer Nwes 21 Sf A 28.2 26 1 10 36 .082 .679 .013 2.51
2000 San Jose Cali 22 Sf A 26.1 23 0 17 22 .143 .784 .000 4.10
2001 San Jose Cali 23 Sf A 65.2 62 7 29 72 .101 .722 .037 4.11
2003 Norwich East 25 Sf AA 75.2 78 7 45 46 .129 .849 .027 5.71
2004 Norwich East 26 Sf AA 58.0 47 5 16 55 .068 .751 .030 2.48
2004 Fresno PCL 26 Sf AAA 53.1 71 14 32 44 .122 .810 .075 9.28
2005 Fresno PCL 27 Sf AAA 49.1 30 3 24 62 .119 .652 .026 1.64
2005 SF Giants NL 27 Sf MLB 22.2 15 0 13 19 .135 .771 .000 1.59


taschner had good contact rates in fresno last year, but walks have been a problem. it doesn't look like he'll have much success.

the thing about the giants is they've got no possibilities for stars. matt cain, but he's not a great prospect. i mean, he's probably top twenty. but that means there are nineteen teams with better prospects. and there's nothing else. the system is bereft. maybe martinez-estevez will make it. maybe someone else will get it together. but we're talking about whether people will make it. we're not talking about whether there are players who will contribute to a winning team. we're not even close to that discussion.
Comments:
i would like to take this opportunity to say alfonso soriano is good.
 
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