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www.minorleagueball.com review of tigerssystem

john sickels of the sb nation runs a site at www.minorleagueball.com  He has some great insite that he brings everyday, much likejeff will do here, i am sure.

at any rate, john writes the baseball prospect book, and has shared his view of the tigers system.  i copied and pasted it here below.

Detroit Tigers Top 20 Prospects
By John Sickels
Posted on Thu Mar 03, 2005 at 11:21:20 AM CST

  1. Justin Verlander, RHP, B+        
  2. Curtis Granderson, OF, B        
  3. Tony Giarratano, SS, B          
  4. Kyle Sleeth, RHP, B-              
  5. Joel Zumaya, RHP, B-              
  6. Jeff Frazier, OF, C+            
  7. Ryan Raburn, 2B, C+              
  8. Chris Shelton, 1B, C+            
  9. Juan Tejeda, 1B, C+              
  10. Lucas French, LHP, C+            
  11. Eric Beattie, RHP, C+            
  12. Andrew Kown, RHP, C+              
  13. Humberto Sanchez, RHP, C        
  14. Brent Clevlen, OF, C            
  15. Eulogio de la Cruz, RHP, C      
  16. Collin Mahoney, RHP, C          
  17. Josh Kauten, RHP, C              
  18. Kenny Baugh, RHP, C              
  19. Matt Vasquez, RHP, C            
  20. Dallas Trahern, RHP, C          
Oh, boy, what a dismal system. Even Verlander at Grade B+ is a risk; he has no pro track record, and while he has an excellent arm, there are some questions about his command and his polish. I really like Curtis Granderson, one of my favorite Grade Bs and perhaps should be a B+. I don't know what people are talking about when they complain that he's not toolsy enough. He runs well, has a quick bat, and I think is underrated as an athlete. He's also very intelligent. Giarratano is an infield version of Granderson: a polished guy who is an underrated athlete.
After that, things really thin out fast. Sleeth and Zumaya are hard throwers, but both have problems with their command and mechanics. Jeff Frazier looks like a possible sleeper, but he's an '04 draft and we need to get more data about him. Shelton and Tejeda can hit, but are limited defensively and will have to fight for platoon/DH/1B roles.

The Tigers have a bunch of live arms, with several guys who can hit 95 MPH or higher. But strangely enough most of them don't actually pitch very well. De la Cruz and Sanchez both burn the radar, but both have sketchy track records and are more throwers than pitchers. The same thing can be said for Collin Mahoney and Josh Kauten. De la Cruz's K/IP is bizarrely low for a guy with an alleged 100 MPH fastball.

On the other hand, guys like Kenny Baugh and Matt Vasquez throw strikes and know how to pitch, but have marginal stuff and will have to be perfect to survive at higher levels. A sleeper is Dallas Trahern, a 34th round pick from an Oklahoma high school last June, but he is a long way away. I haven't given up on Grade C outfielder Brent Clevlen, but he needs to rebound this year.

Other Grade C guys you could include are RHPs Nate Bumstead, Josh Rainwater, and Jay Sborz, and OF David Espinosa.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Bless You Boys writing staff. However, it does reflect the views of this particular fan, which is as important as anything else written here at BYB.

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Thanks, peoples27
John Sickels also asked his readers what they thought the Tigers should do with some of their top minor leaguers.

http://minorleagueball.com/story/2005/6/23/13121/3915

by Jeff on Jun 30, 2005 10:13 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

This is why DD is now GM
Boy, I sure don't know how someone as clueless in so many phases of the game as Randy Smith was held on to his GM job as long as he did. The Tigers were in worse shape than many expansion franchises the day DD took over as GM. It takes time to rebuild from the dreadful mess we were in. It will take DD 5-7 drafts to return our terrible farm system to respectabilty.

by rebellingboxer on Jul 18, 2005 10:22 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Agreed
Just because Verlander, Zumaya, and Granderson are prospects doesn't mean the rest of the system is any better.  There are a lot of Ramon Santiagos waiting to happen.

by Jeff on Jul 18, 2005 11:06 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

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