Texas League hitters

The Texas League has long been a hitter's paradise: smaller parks and drier air mean more offense.  That said, there were some hitters who managed to exceed the higher standard of expectation.

Keith Ginter is an anomaly for this list.  He's actually kind of old to be considered a prospect in AA, but the fact that Biggio struggled so much this year and that the Astros released Ken Caminiti makes me think that they might consider him in spring next year, either at his natural position at second, or possibly at third.  Still, it was his tremendous year that attracted this consideration.  Good power, good eye at the plate, above average speed and passable defense from a middle fielder is a rare combination, old or not.  This Texas Tech grad will be playing in Houston somewhere next year.

The A's already have a first baseman in likely MVP Jason Giambi, so Jason Hart will likely have to learn a new position if he hopes to get any major league at bats in the next few years.  Hart has tremendous power, as evidenced by his 77 extra base hits, and a fairly good eye at the plate, so the A's will make every accommodation to try to get him into their line-up.  One thing is for sure: the A's have devised a successful formula for winning baseball: draw walks and hit home runs on offense.  That formula almost put them into the World Series this year.  Had it not been for a tight race with the Mariners and Indians down the stretch costing them another playoff start from either Barry Zito or Tim Hudson, the A's probably would have dispatched the Yanks in the ALDS and we wouldn't be listening to all this New York series pabulum.

The Red Sox had hoped that Carlos Pena would fall to their #12 pick in the 1998 draft.  He had played his high school ball near Boston and his college ball at Northeastern.  But alas, the Rangers knew a good hitter when they saw one and snatched him up with the 10th pick overall.  Along with very good power, Pena has an incredible eye for balls and strikes and a real feel for the game.  For example, he doesn't have great speed, yet he stole 12 bases this year without being caught once. The guy simply knows how to play.  Eventually, Raphael Palmeiro will give way to Pena, but that might not be too soon.  Even at 35, Palmeiro showed no signs of aging this year, hitting his customary .290-ish with 35+ homers and 100+ RBI.  As long as Palmeiro is producing, the Rangers won't rush him.

Lyle Overbay might have trouble finding playing time in Arizona unless the D-backs move to the American League as Commissioner Bud Selig has hinted.  The problem is that Erubial Durazo plays his position, first base, and is one of the best young hitters in baseball, this year's injury plagued campaign notwithstanding.  And the D-backs outfield is fairly crowded as well with solid hitters.  Actually, the same could be said of Jack Cust, who plays outfield on the same team as Overbay, but who's defensive skills are probably more suited to DH.  So the D-backs have 2 excellent young hitters with good power and a good sense for balls and strikes, but no position available.  I suspect one of these two will be offered to an AL team for some infield help or a starting pitcher.

Mike Curry is about as fast as baserunners get.  Last year he stole 85 bases between two levels of A ball.  This year, he stole 52.  What's more, he doesn't get caught, having success 76% of the time.  With hs combination of speed and strikezone control - nearly 100 walks this year - He will make an ideal leadoff man for Kansas City when he finally arrives.  The Royals are currently considering whether or not to re-sign Johnny Damon to play center.  Curry has a similar skills set and with Jermaine Dye, Mark Quinn and 1999 rookie of the year winner Carlos Beltran already in the fold, they might opt to let Damon go and let Curry play his way into the starting role.

For whatever reason, the Rangers promoted Craig Monroe directly from low A Charlotte to AAA Oklahoma last year, with not-so-surprising results.  This year, they let him play at a more comfortable level in AA with much better results.  Monroe has decent power and has improved his strikezone judgment over last year substantially.  With as many good hitters as they have in the outfield and first base/DH, they probably won't be giving too many at bats to Monroe any time soon.  But he is a quality hitter and will make a decent major league player if given a chance somewhere.

Jack Wilson was one of the reasons the Cardinals felt comfortable trading Pablo Ozuna in 1998.  He's as solid a defender at short and probably a better overall hitter.  The knock on him has been throwing errors, but he seems to have gotten that under control this year.  In addition, his power stroke is starting to develop.  It's unlikely that he'll be able to challenge Edgar Renteria at short anytime soon, but with his improving on base and power, he may challenge for the second base spot once Fernando Vina's contract expires.  In the meantime, he will spend a year at AAA and possibly come off the bench a la Placido Polanco.

This may be as good as it gets for Chris Haas.  He's a solid third baseman, but has the unenviable position of being in between an All-Star talent at the Major League level (Fernando Tatis) and another All-Star level talent in the low minors (Albert Pujols).  Haas has average power for a corner position player and has improved his control of the strikezone over last year.  Ultimately, he'll probably end up as a Craig Paquette-type role player.

Luis Saturria is not as obstructed as Haas, although he might be facing as many obstacles to the majors.  The Cardinals outfield could probably use some young blood, as Eric Davis is nearly 40 and Jim Edmonds and Ray Lankford have extensive injury histories.  Saturria has the raw tools to be a productive major league outfielder with a good speed and power combination.  The problem lies in that tools are still very raw.  Notice the terrible strikeout to walk ratio.  Once major league pitchers, or for that matter, good minor league pitchers, realize that Saturria will expand his strikezone, he'll get very few good pitches to hit.  Then, all the tools in the world won't matter.  Unless he can improve his walk totals and reduce his strikeouts, Luis Saturria's prospects aren't promising.

Oscar Salazar might be the only A's prospect who doesn't draw a ton of walks.  Of course, that's an exaggeration, but that certainly will hold him back in that organization if he doesn't continue to improve.  The A's have an organizational policy that a player can't receive any awards or promotions until he displays a certain level of plate discipline.  Salazar's discipline isn't terrible by any means, but it could definitely use some offseason attention.  There's nothing wrong with the rest of his overall game, although he did commit a high number of errors.  However, high error totals aren't that uncommon for minor league infielders as they are still working on footwork and throwing mechanics, and the fields are not exactly major league caliber.  Salazar will have plenty of time to devote to developing his considerable talent, as the A's already have one of the best shortstops in the game at the major league level in Miguel Tejada.