BluGrass Baseball rankings in BA’s 2010 Prospect Handbook

Minor League Baseball

The Baseball America Prospect Handbook is simply a must-have for any minor-league baseball fan. My handbook, in which Baseball America ranks the top 30 prospects in each organization, came in today, and since I ordered it straight from BA they included a 31st prospect supplement for each team. I’m listing where Kentucy players rank in their organizations below, but I’ll leave all BA’s analysis out as incentive for you to go buy their great product.

Houston Astros

  • 3) — RHP Jordan Lyles — 2009 Lexington Legends
  • 4)  — RHP Sammy Gervacio — 2005/2006 Lexington Legends
  • 6) — RHP Ross Seaton — 2009 Lexington Legends
  • 8 — OF Jay Austin — 2009 Lexington Legends
  • 11) — SS Tommy Manzella — 2006 Lexington Legends
  • 12) — RHP Daniel Meszaros — 2009 Lexington Legends
  • 14) — LHP Fernando Abad — 2008 Lexington Legends
  • 15) — RHP Matt Nevarez — 2009 Lexington Legends
  • 19) — RHP Arcenio Leon — 2009 Lexington Legends
  • 20) — C/OF Koby Clemens — 2006/2007 Lexington Legends
  • 21) — OF Brian Bogusevic — 2006 Lexington Legends
  • 23) — RHP Evan Englebrook — 2005 Lexington Legends
  • 25) — OF Collin DeLome — 2008 Lexington Legends
  • 26) — LHP Polin Trinidad — 2007 Lexington Legends
  • 27) — RHP Henry Villar — 2009 Lexington Legends
  • 28) — RHP Ashton Mowdy — 2009 Lexington Legends
  • 29) — LHP Brad Dydalewicz — 2009 Lexington Legends
  • 30) — RHP Kyle Greenwalt — 2009 Lexington Legends

Oakland Athletics

  • 27) — LHP Justin Marks — University of Louisville

Toronto Blue Jays

  • 1) — RHP Zach Stewart — 2009 Louisville Bats
  • 7) — RHP Josh Roenicke — 2009 Louisville Bats
  • 20) — RHP Daniel Webb — Ashland, Ky. (Blazer)
  • 22) — RHP Trystan Magnuson — University of Louisville

Atlanta Braves

  • 22) — LHP Richard Sullivan — Louisville, Ky. (Ballard)

St. Louis Cardinals

  • 27) — LHP Ben Jukich — 2009 Louisville Bats

Arizona Diamondbacks

  • 9) — OF Collin Cowgill — University of Kentucky

San Francisco Giants

  • 18) — 3B Chris Dominguez — University of Louisville

Baltimore Orioles

  • 31) — C Craig Tatum — 2009 Louisville Bats

Philadelphia Phillies

  • 24) — RHP B. J. Rosenberg — University of Louisville

Texas Rangers

  • 7) — LHP Robbie Ross — Lexington, Ky. (LCA)

Tampa Bay Rays

  • 4) — LHP Matt Moore — 2009 Bowling Green Hot Rods
  • 6) — SS Tim Beckham — 2009 Bowling Green Hot Rods
  • 10) — RHP Nick Barnese — 2009 Bowling Green Hot Rods
  • 13) — RHP Joe Cruz — 2009 Bowling Green Hot Rods
  • 26) — LHP Frank De Los Santos — 2009 Bowling Green Hot Rods
  • 29) — C Jake Jefferies —  2009 Bowling Green Hot Rods
  • 31) — OF Keyong Kang — 2009 Bowling Green Hot Rods

Cincinnati Reds

  • 1) — INF/OF Todd Frazier — 2009 Louisville Bats
  • 2) — 1B Yonder Alonso — 2009 Louisville Bats
  • 4) — OF Chris Heisey — 2009 Louisville Bats
  • 5) — 3B Juan Francisco — 2009 Louisville Bats
  • 7) — LHP Travis Wood — 2009 Louisville Bats
  • 8 — LHP Matt Maloney — 2009 Louisville Bats
  • 12) — SS/2B Chris Valakia — 2009 Louisville Bats
  • 14) — RHP Logan Ondrusek — 2009 Louisville Bats
  • 19) — RHP Enerio Del Rosario — 2009 Louisville Bats
  • 22)  — LHP Pedro Viola — 2009 Louisville Bats

Colorado Rockies

  • 2) — LHP Christian Friedrich — Eastern Kentucky University
  • 24) — RHP Chaz Roe — Lexington, Ky. (Lafayette)

Kansas City Royals

  • 19) — OF Jordan Parraz — 2007 Lexington Legends

Detroit Tigers

  • 11) — 1B Ryan Strieby — University of Kentucky
  • 24) — 3B Wade Gaynor — Western Kentucky University
  • 28) — RHP Scott Green — University of Kentucky

Minnesota Twins

  • 5) — OF Ben Revere — Lexington, Ky. (Lex Cath)

Chicago White Sox

  • 25) — OF John Shelby — University of Kentucky
  • 26) — RHP Nathan Jones — Northern Kentucky University

Reds set 40 man; Guillen wasn’t on UofL radar

College Baseball, Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball

Chris Heisey; Photo via Flickr

Free agency is officially in full stride. All free agents can now negotiate with new teams so some might start signing contracts in the coming days. Don’t look for any of the Kentucky natives to sign until later this offseason though.

  • The Reds added 2009 Bats Chris Heisey, Logan Ondrusek, Chris Valaika, Philippe Valiquette and Travis Wood to the 40 man roster.
  • MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports 2009 Bat Lance Nix refused assignment to Louisville and became a free agent.
  • Rick Bozich of the Louisville Courier-Journal reports UofL did not recruit White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen’s son Ozney Guillen despite published reports he signed with South Florida over Louisville.
  • The Bowling Green Daily News reports on WKU’s new baseball signing class.
  • Dan Conolly of The Baltimore Sun reports the Orioles claimed 2009 Bats catcher Craig Tatum off waivers from the Reds.
  • Tristan H. Cockcroft of ESPN.com answers some questions about the 2010 top 200 fantasy players rankings including one about Pikeville-native Mark Reynolds. (Check back latter for full breakdown)

Wednesday Links: Maloney Wins Number Seven

College Baseball, Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball

Only one Kentucky minor league team was in action Tuesday, but there was still plenty of baseball news in the Bluegrass.  Here are some morning links to get you through the early hours:

  • Matt Maloney earned his seventh win of the season in 5-2 Louisville victory over Buffalo.
  • Lexington and Bowling Green were both off Tuesday.  The Legends start a four-game series against the Lake County Captains tonight and Bowling Green will face the Hagerstown Suns for four games starting Wednesday.
  • Lexington native Robbie Ross continues to dominate short-season ball in his first season.  He earned his third win of the season with five shutout innings.
  • Mark Sheldon at MLB.com has a feature about former Louisville catcher Craig Tatum’s recent big league call-up.
  • Former WKU third baseman Wade Gaynor and Murray State pitcher Daniel Calhoun were named first-team All-Americans by CollegeBaseballInsider.com.
  • Mark Maloney at the Herald-Leader previews Lexington’s series with Lake County.

BluGrass Baseball Top Prospects (Part 1)

Minor Leagues

If you click over to the “Ky. in the Minors” page you can see an in-depth list of every minor league player with Kentucky ties.  As always, if you know of a player who is not on the list you can send me an email at jhale@blugrassbaseball.com.  So you have a list of every Kentucky player in the minors, but which of those players have the best chance to become impact major leaguers?  My goal in this series of posts is to let you know which minor leaguers from Kentucky are top prospects.  I’ll start by examining where these players and the members of the state’s three minor league teams rank on their Baseball America’s organization top 30s and will work toward a master list of Kentucky prospects.

In the first installment of the “BluGrass Baseball Top Prospects” post, here are the top organizational prospects on the state’s three minor league teams according to  Baseball America.

Bowling Green Hot Rods

  • #2 — SS Tim Beckham — Beckham ranked only behind Tampa Bay pitcher David Price on the Baseball America top 30 prospects list for the Rays.  Since Price is currently pitching for the Rays his prospect status will soon be exhausted, and Beckham should move up to the number one spot.  Beckham, the number one pick in the 2008 draft, is from Griffin, Ga., and has all the tools to become an all-star shortstop.  In Baseball America’s mid-season prospect report for Tampa Bay, the publication listed Tim Beckham as the player who took the “biggest leap forward.”
  • #6 — LHP Matt Moore — According to Baseball America, Moore’s only weakness entering 2008 was his control which he dramatically improved on during his time with rookie Princeton.  After posting a 2-2 record with a 1.66 ERA in 2008, BA said that Moore only needed to prove himself against tougher competition.  Moore, a 2007 8th round pick, hasn’t disappointed this season in Bowling Green.  The lefty is 6-3 with a 2.87 ERA with 116 strikeouts and 45 walks in 81.2 innings.
  • # 18 — C Jake Jeffries — Jeffries was the Rays third round pick in 2008 out of UC Davis.  In his first professional season he batted .315 with two home runs and 41 RBI for short season Hudson Valley.  Jeffries has continued to hit for Bowling Green this season.  He is currently hitting .270 with six home runs and 43 RBI in 77 games.  He has shown and exceptional eye at the plate with 28 walks and 25 strikeouts in 281 at-bats.
  • #27 —  OF Kyeong Kang — Kang was the first South Korean to be selected in the MLB amateur players draft.  He moved to the United States with his family in high school and was selected by the Rays in the 15th round of the 2006 draft.  Kang was named a mid-season all-star in the New York-Penn League in 2008 and finished the year with a .278 average, six home runs and 43 RBI.  Kang was selected to represent the Rays for the World team in the 2009 Futures Game.  Through 48 games for Bowling Green, Kang is batting .285 with two home runs and 22 RBI.

Hit the jump for the top prospects on the Lexington Legends and Louisville Bats.