Mound Talk

1. Angel Villalona, 3B, A-. Villalona will likely have to move off of third base, but at the tender age of 17, that isn’t the biggest concern at the moment. Villalona is a very talented player who will need time to refine his skill. Look for him in Low-A for all of next season.
2. Madison Bumgarner, LHP. Has not thrown a professional inning but in his final year of high school flashed a very nice curveball and slider
3. Tim Alderson, RHRP, RK. Alderson is in line to be the closer in San Francisco before too long. He threw five innings in rookie ball this year and struck out 12 of the 19 batters he faced. The only blemish was four hits allowed.
4. Wendell Fairley, CF, HS. Taken with the 29th overall pick in 2007, Fairley didn’t see any professional action this year. He is a very toolsy player that projects to hit for average and plus power. He’s a left handed pull hitter and should be more than adequate defensively. A very early, high comparable player is Carl Crawford.
5. Nick Noonan, 2B, Rk. Noonan did well in Rookie-Ball hitting .316/.353/.451 with 18 extra base hits in 224 plate appearances. He projects to hit for a very good average.
6. Nate Schierholtz, OF, MLB. Spending most of 2007 in Triple-A, Schierholtz hit .333/.365/.560 with 54 extra base hits in 411 at-bats. He’ll make a nice addition to the Giants big league club next year.
7. John Bowker, RF, AA. Bowker is the best pure hiter in the organization. He hit .307 with 22 home runs and 35 doubles. He has a good arm and should get a chance to compete for a job in San Francisco next year.
8. Henry Sosa, RHSP, A+. Sosa boasts a high-90s fastball that has become his calling card. A move to the bullpen might be necessary.
9. Emmanuel Burriss, SS, A+. Burriss struggled offensively this year but that has not diminished his prospect status. He is a very talented player with incredible speed.
10. Sergio Romo, RHRP, A+. Dominating relief pitcher who has some work to do yet. He should be able to quickly move through the system and be a productive relief pitcher. Projects as a set-up man.
Flier. Andy D’Allessio, 1B, A-. A four-year guy from Clemson, D’Allessio is very polished relative to his competition. He was drafted in the 19th round of this years draft. He’s got very good power, slugging .676 in 204 at-bats (186 in Rk, 18 in A-). He hit 33 home runs between Clemson, Az Giants and Salem-Kaizer this year in 417 at-bats.

The Giants aren’t as bad as they once were, but that’s not saying much. They have a lot of very young, very raw, but talented players in their system. If a few pan out right, they’ll be sitting pretty in 3-5 years. With a change in management, they will need to continue to feed their farm clubs to move into life after Bonds.