Prospect Watch 8/23/08

An early post for once, as all of the minor league games finished before I went to bed (though this may be more a factor of me staying up late than the teams finishing early). The night included some dominating pitching performances in the lower minors and more plate appearances by Posey and Gillaspie in short season ball. Wendell Fairley collected an 0-fer and snapped his nine game hitting streak. The lines:

Prospect Watch 8/22/08

I had a confusing moment of deja vu when I looked at Fresno’s box score which was eerily similar to the score from the night before. Damn you John Bowker and your 1 for 5’s. And a round of bravos for Erick “Sudden SP Depth” Threets. Other nicknames include: “At least I’m not Pat Misch” and “Yes, I’ve maybe become a part of the future.” Well done Erick/Giants management.

Posey Sighting!

Buster’s DHing tonight in the AZ heat.

Prospect Watch 8/21/08

Sorry for the lateness of this post. There was a medical emergency this morning involving a good friend of mine and his renegade gall bladder. The good news is he’s fine. So now that I’m back home, life turns back to minor league ball…

And boy, another dominating performance by Bumgarner. One interesting note was that he shut down White Sox draftee Gordon Beckham who has been absolutely on fire since he signed. As I’ve said before, my knowledge of college baseball is quite limited, but my draft board for the Giants in the last draft was 1. Alvarez, 2. T. Beckham, 3. Justin Smoak, 4. Gordon Beckham, and 5. Buster Posey. Onto the lines!

Prospect Watch 8/20/08

A dismal day in the minors as the Arizona Giants had the day off and only Salem-Keizer was able to come through with a victory.

“Wednesday” Web Watch

• All Bumgarner, all the time. Madison’s been putting up ridiculous stats, and the baseball world is noticing. Here are write-ups from MiLB.com, Baseball America, and Baseball Prospectus. What’s your guess on where he’ll end up on the end of season prospect lists? I would venture somewhere in the 15-20 range.

Prospect Watch 8/19/08

Another good day in the minors as Fresno and Salem-Keizer were the only losers. Connecticut shut out Akron 8-0, but they still remain 4 games out of second place with 14 games to go. The Giants sent down Eliezer Alfonzo to help out the offense, and Notgardo has been taking up the challenge admirably. Unfortunately, second place Portland has shown no signs of letting up as it has won five of its last six games.

Prospect Watch 8/18/08

In the process of updating the Minor Transactions page, I discovered that the Giants had activated Henry Sosa off the DL and sent him to Augusta. He hasn’t appeared in a game yet, so I suspect he’s working with a coach down there. I’m inclined to give his performance a mulligan for this season, but the injury definitely hurt his prospect stock.

In more exciting news, Brandon Crawford makes his debut for the AZL Giants in a night where the Baby Giants shut out the Baby Brewers and the Little Giants outslugged the Visalia Oaks. Connecticut had the day off.

Prospect Watch 8/17/08

Connecticut snapped its three game losing streak with a defeat over Erie. Unfortunately the losing streak dropped them to four games behind second place. It was also a day of position changes as Erick Threets started a game and catcher Elio Sarmiento played at second base.

John Sickels

reviews his preseason Giants Top 20 on his blog.

For comparison, here’s my preseason list:

1	Angel Villalona
2	Madison Bumgarner
3	Tim Alderson
4	Henry Sosa
5	Nate Schierholtz
6	Clayton Tanner
7	Nick Noonan
8	John Bowker
9	Wendell Fairly
10	Pat Misch
11	Travis Denker
12	Waldis Joaquin
13	Charles Culberson
14	Paul Oseguera
15	Ben Snyder
16	Pablo Sandoval
17	Nick Pereira
18	Andy D’Alessio
19	Osiris Matos
20	Emmanuel Burriss