Mound Talk

With the departure of Cam Maybin and Andrew Miller, I have redone the Tigers Top 10 Prospects. Remember, this is a system that has lost Gorkys Hernandez, Jair Jurjjens, Maybin, Miller, Dallas Trahern and Euligio de la Cruz.

1. Rick Porcello, RHSP, HS. Porcello fell in the draft because of his contract demands. Detroit went ahead and paid for the highest ceiling high school pitcher in the 2007 draft and gave him a $3.58 million bonus.
2. Casey Crosby, LHSP, HS. Taken in the fifth round of the 2007 draft, Crosby has the talent that he should have been taken higher, but, as with Porcello, Detroit was willing to pay him and that’s a huge advantage in the draft. He’s a project with delivery issues and questionable stuff but at 6-foot-5 and a good groundwork, Crosby has a lot of potential. Don’t expect him to shoot through the system.
3. Brandon Hamilton, RHSP, HS. Taken in the supplemental round of the 2007 draft, Hamilton is yet another high school pitcher the Tigers have been focusing on. Though he doesn’t have the ceiling of Crosby, he is much more refined. He has a very nice pitching body and offers a good fastball and curveball. He should make a smooth transition into professional baseball.
4. Jeff Larish, 1B, AA. Larish is a good first base prospect, though he’s getting older for a prospect. At 24 in AA he hit .267/.390/.515. He will never hit for a great average but he’ll get on base and hit the ball hard. The Tigers will give him a shot to make the club out of Spring Training but a stop in Triple-A wouldn’t be completely unexpected.
5. Cale Iorg, SS, A+. The 21 year old taken in the sixth round of the 2007 draft was sent to High-A after signing for a quick five game stint. In 18 at-bats he managed a walk, five punchouts, three singles and two doubles. Iorg will likely be sent to the Florida State League again next season.
6. Scott Sizemore, 2B, A. Sizemore moved to second base this year from short and the move looks to be a big improvement defensively for him after one season.
7. Michael Hollimon, SS, AAA. Hollimon spent most of 2007 in Double-A where he hit .282/.371/.478. Despite the nice looking line, he was 25 years old in Double-A, not the most encouraging news for him. He’s got some power and some speed but looks like a utility player at best.
8. Clete Thomas, OF, AA. Thomas did exactly what you’d like to see out a player moving from High-A to Double-A ball: He improved across the board. He hit the ball harder, more frequently, struck out less, walked more and hit for more power. The only downside to this is that his ceiling is limited.

9. Yorman Barzardo, RHP, MLB. Barzardo will be used primarily as a reliever for the Tigers. There isn’t much that stands out for Barzardo, but he should be a sufficient reliever for the Tigers in 2008.
10.  James Skelton, C, A. Skelton has really turned himself into a fine catching prospect. In the pitching friendly Midwest League, Skelton hit .309/.398/.448. He cut his strikeout rate from nearly 20% down to under 13%. Skelton will be given the proper time to develop as a catcher but his defensive skills project to be more than adequate.
Flier. Jonah Nickerson, RHSP, A. Nickerson was taken in the seventh round of the 2006 draft out of Oregon State. He’s a polished pitcher who knows how to pitch. But, he doesn’t have the best stuff.

The Tigers have spent a lot of money on the draft recently and it is paying off. By taking, and paying for, a lot of talented high school arms, the Tigers have begun to build a very solid system. Though the talent drops off in the latter part of this list, it is certainly not short on potential big leaguers. By continuing this policy of going above slot money, the Tigers are ultimately ‘creating’ more first round picks. Guys like Casey Crosby, Cale Iorg, Rick Porcello and so on have become Tigers recently because they were willing to invest money in the draft. Whether this risky strategy pays off is more a factor of how good their scouting department is. Either way, the Tigers are a very interesting ball club.

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