Honourable Mentions:
Gregory Polanco, OF,
Pittsburgh Pirates
Tyler Austin, OF, New
York Yankees
Austin Hedges, C, San
Diego Padres
Garin Cecchini, 3B,
Boston Red Sox
Keury De La Cruz, OF,
Boston Red Sox
Carter Capps, RHP,
Seattle Mariners
Delino DeShields, 2B,
Houston Astros
Jesse Biddle, LHP,
Philadelphia Phillies
Sleeper Prospect:
Anthony Alford, OF, Toronto Blue Jays
Alford is a guy that really has huge upside and potential
in the game of baseball, but has yet to decide whether to pursue football or
baseball. We Blue Jays fans all certainly hope he chooses baseball as his raw
power and sheer speed make him a very rare breed. I ultimately see him choosing
baseball seeing as he has already gone pro and him retweeting me when I asked
him to pursue baseball. If he does choose baseball, he could be the next great
Blue Jays outfielder.
Projected 2013 Stats: .285 AVG/ 19 HR/ 73 RBI/ .895
OPS (APP)
Sleeper Prospect: Yimi
Garcia, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers
Yimi Garcia to me is one of the most underrated prospects
in the game for many reasons. He is very young (22) has a ridiculous K/9 rate
of 14.1 and has relatively good command for his age (22 BB over 52.1 IP). Why
Garcia is higher up on the prospect ladder is beyond me. Could it be that he
has already made the transition to closer at such an early age? I am not quite
sure what the reasoning is, but I think that he will show the baseball world
what he’s really made of in 2013.
Projected 2013 Stats: 4-2/ 2.45 ERA/ 28 SV/ 70 IP/ 13.5
K/9/ 1.05 WHIP (MID)
Sleeper Prospect:
Michael Wacha, RHP, St. Louis Cardinals
Taken 19th overall in last year’s entry draft,
Wacha has the chance to move through the minors pretty quickly. With a solid 3
pitch mix, he has enough control and poise on the mound to remain a starter
throughout his big-league career. In limited innings last season, he was able
to climb all the way to AAA Springfield by the end of the season, which is
likely where he will end up starting this year as well. Again, his K/9 ratio is
an unheard of 17.1 (close to 2 strikeouts per inning) while only walking 4
batters over 21 innings of work. HE did not record a win or loss, so we won’t
judge him on that, nor should we as it’s the other stats (K/9, WHIP, etc.) that
tell the true story as to how a prospect is doing down on the farm.
Projected 2013 Stats: 12-5/ 2.05 ERA/ 95 IP/ 14.5
K/9/ 1.10 WHIP (AAA/ MLB)
Sleeper Prospect: Roberto
Osuna, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays
Another Blue Jays prospect, Osuna has been overshadowed by
the big names at the top of the farm system, but with many of those names gone
through trade, Osuna has been given the chance to truly shine and become one of
the more coveted prospects in baseball. With a miniscule WHIP of 1.08 over 43.2
IP last year, this fireballing 18-year old farmhand has the chance to reach the
major leagues before his 20th birthday, which in this day and age,
with all of the precautions that clubs take towards their pitchers, is pretty
remarkable. It may be my inner AA talking here, but I see a lot of similarities
between Osuna and Mariners ace Felix Hernandez. They have the same build
physically (with Osuna having room to grow) which is huge, they share the same
repertoire, and Osuna is being brought along pretty quickly, much like Felix.
Projected
2013 Stats: 13-3/ 2.05 ERA/ 110 IP/ 8.9 K/9/ 1.15 WHIP (Short/MID/ AA)
Sleeper Prospect:
Oswaldo Arcia, OF, Minnesota Twins
Much of the talk surrounding the future of the Twins
outfield has been given to 2012 2nd overall pick Byron Buxton.
Buxton has all five tools that makes scouts drool (I see Alford in the same
category, hence the underrating) and has the chance to be an MVP candidate in
the not too distant future. However, with all of this anticipation and hype
surrounding Buxton, Oswaldo Arcia put together a truly remarkable 2012 season
which saw him post a slash line of: .320
AVG/ 17 HR/ 98 RBI/ .928 OPS. That is a very impressive slash line and
should he continue this success he, along with Buxton, could be roaming the
outfield in Minnesota very, very soon.
Sleeper Prospect: Jorge
Alfaro, C, Texas Rangers
The most underrated catching prospect in the game award
goes to Jorge Alfaro of the Texas Rangers. With David Price seemingly on his
way out of Tampa, I have the Rangers as the team that has the best chance of
acquiring him. They have the money to lock him up long-term, they have the need
for an ace, and most importantly, they have the prospects to get a deal done.
Of course, Rays fans are going to be unhappy if and when Price is shipped out,
especially after shipping out James Shields this winter, but they simply have
no room payroll-wise to keep him around after locking up 3B Evan Longoria to a
$100 MM deal this past offseason. One of the names that the Rangers could trade
is Alfaro. The Rays need a long-term solution at catcher and could demand that
Alfaro be part of the package that comes back to Tampa Bay. The reason why he
is so underrated is because of how stacked the Rangers farm-system is. I see
the Rangers doing what the Blue Jays did this offseason in blowing up the farm
and going all in and Alfaro, whether it be in Texas, Tampa, or wherever, is
going to be a very successful big-leaguer. With his advanced approach at the
plate coupled with his rock solid defense, Alfaro will show us that he was very
much underrated.
Projected 2013 Stats: .275 AVG/ 15 HR/ 70 RBI/ .845
OPS (SAL)
Sleeper Prospect: Joc
Pederson, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
The LA Dodgers have one of the worst farm systems in
baseball, and quite frankly, the don’t really need to have a good one for the
foreseeable future as their Major League roster is pretty well set for the next
few years. However, they do have some very nice outfield prospects coming in
Yasiel Puig and Joc Pederson. Both tore the cover off the ball last year and I
expect much of the same from both. With Pederson, the much more underrated
prospect, he really is a five tool player as well with his .313 AVG/ 18 HR/ 70
RBI/ .913 OPS slash line along with 26 steals. Those are some pretty gaudy
numbers for the 20 year-old and I do see him continuing to improve and at least
give the Dodgers some minor league credibility as he approached elite prospect
status.
Projected 2013 Stat Line: .305 AVG/ 23 HR/ 88 RBI/
.935 OPS (CAL/PCL)
Sleeper Prospect: Lucas
Giolito, RHP, Washington Nationals
I really wanted the Blue Jays to take Giolito with the 17th
pick, but he ended up going to the Nationals with the 16th pick and
that could pay huge dividends for them. Once thought of as the prospect who
could be the first high scholl right hander to be selected 1st
overall, a UCL sprain in March 2012 ended his season and subsequently hurt his
draft stock. He is fully healthy now and should put up monster numbers as he
continues his charge towards the front of the Nationals’ rotation (which could
be downright scary in a few years).
Projected
2013 Stat Line: 8-5/ 2.75 ERA/ 75 IP/ 15.8 K/9/ 1.00 WHIP (GCL/ Short)
Sleeper Prospect:
Addison Russell, SS, Oakland Athletics
The second most underrated prospect in baseball is Oakland
A’s SS Addison Russell. Russell is a player that reminds me a lot of Derek Jeter, and yes those may be some
pretty heavy expectations to put on a 19 year old, but I think he has the
potential to be that type of player. When you look at his stats, they do
resemble Jeter in a lot of ways; a ridiculous career AVG of .369, a decent
amount of steals (16) and a very low strikeout rate of 22%. Am I saying that he
is going to end up as good if not better than Jeter? Absolutely not, but when
you look at what he has been able to accomplish over his minor league career,
it shouldn’t be too long before we see him dominating at the big-league level.
Projected
2013 Stat Line: .345 AVG/ 14 HR/ 58 RBI/ .965 OPS (AAA/MLB)
Sleeper Prospect:
Adonys Cardona, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays
The most underrated prospect in the game to me is Adonys
Cardona. In very limited minor league time, he has been up and down but you go
on YouTube and watch him pitch, he is downright nasty and is the type of
pitcher that can head a rotation for many years. Think of Cardona as a young
Michael Pineda but with better mechanics and command. He is the type of pitcher
that comes around once in a generation, and the Blue Jays are lucky to have
such a diamond in the rough on their hands.
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Nicholas Bell
