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| Thursday, June 8 | |||||
| The next franchise players Special to ESPN.com | |||||
| REPORT FILED: JUNE 8
Jayson Stark's article nicely covers the "franchise" players in the major leagues today. But what about the minors? If you could pick one player and one pitcher to build a farm system around, who would they be?
When considering this question, I decided to exclude anyone who is currently in the major leagues and is not expected to return to the minors -- Pat Burrell, for example. As you will see, picking a definite franchise talent in the minors right now is not as easy as it sounds.
Position players The ideal franchise player has a broad range of skills, offensive and defensive. Ideally, you want someone who plays a premium defensive position like shortstop or catcher, and who can really bash the ball, too. Right now, however, there seems to be a shortage of such players in the minors. With the possible exception of Colorado prospect Ben Petrick, no catcher in the minors really impresses me right now as a potential franchise player. Even Petrick has defensive problems and may not remain at catcher long-term. Other catching prospects either have good bats but suspect defense (J.R. House of Pittsburgh, Jeff Winchester of Colorado), or excellent gloves with weak or questionable bats (Ben Davis of San Diego, Ryan Christianson of Seattle). Some guys like Miguel Olivo of the Oakland system have a balanced set of skills, but aren't so outstanding as to call them "franchise talents" at this stage. As for the shortstops, I would mention Rafael Furcal as a possible franchise player if he were still in the minors. All he really lacks is power, and at his age it isn't impossible he could develop some. But he doesn't count. Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees looks increasingly overrated in my view, while organization-mate D'Angelo Jimenez has been injured all year. Travis Dawkins of the Reds has the great glove skills, but his hitting is questionable. Like the catchers, the shortstops seem to lack guys who have the right combination of hitting, defense, and youth to currently project as "franchise players." So that leaves us with outfielders and corner hitters. The pickings are better here. Despite his slow start, I still love Corey Patterson, who I rated as the No. 1 prospect before the season. He's got power, speed, will hit for average with more experience, excellent defensive skills, and youth on his side. If he develops as expected, he will be the kind of player you build around. I do worry a bit about his lack of patience at the plate, but he should be able to improve that if he gets the right coaching. Vernon Wells in the Toronto system also has that sort of ability, but like Patterson he is off to a slow start, due in part to shaky strike zone judgment. He was rushed last year up the ladder and is paying the price for that now at Syracuse. Again, if he does what we expect him to, he could be a cornerstone player. Left fielder Dee Brown of Kansas City and third baseman Mike Cuddyer of Minnesota are major parts of their teams' futures, but both have defensive troubles and haven't done especially well with the bat this season. Excellent prospects, yes, but perhaps not complete enough talents to be true cornerstones. Drew Henson of the Yankees has franchise-like raw power, but his defense at third base is still unrefined, and he has to concentrate on baseball full-time at the expense of football to reach his potential. The best bet at the lower levels is Josh Hamilton of Tampa Bay, last year's number one overall choice in the draft and now playing in Class A. He has across-the-board skills at the plate, on the bases, and in the field. You can bet the Devil Rays see him as the foundation of future teams. About the only thing he lacks is patience at the plate, which may hurt him at higher levels as it has Patterson. We'll have to see about that. Overall, I think I would pick Patterson. Pitchers If looking at the hitters is hard, considering the pitchers is even worse. With Rick Ankiel safely in the majors, we have to turn out attention to other candidates. The most obvious nominee is Ryan Anderson of Seattle, the giant southpaw with 88 strikeouts in 60.2 innings at Triple-A Tacoma. His control has improved this year, and he's been more dominating than his PCL-inflated 4.45 ERA would lead you to believe. If I could pick one pitcher to have out of the minor leagues, he would be the one. Even so, he does come with question marks, namely how good will his control be, and is his emotional maturity, questioned in the past, still an issue? Last year's hot draft commodity, Josh Beckett of Florida, has allowed just one earned run in 13.2 innings, but has missed most of the year with shoulder soreness. He is expected to be OK, and while his talent is undoubted, we simply haven't seen enough to determine if he deserves the "franchise" label yet. He probably does; I'm just not certain he's going to stay healthy. Three left-handed prospects who looked like sure bets entering the season have all struggled with injuries this year: Wilfredo Rodriguez of Houston, Matt Riley of Baltimore, and Ed Yarnall of the Yankees. Odds are at least one of them will still develop into an excellent starter, but which one? Riley has the best stuff, Yarnall the best command, with Rodriguez a combination of the two. You're guess is as good as mine at this point. A newcomer to consider is Bobby Bradley, Pittsburgh's first-round pick last year who is breezing through the South Atlantic League. He is 8-2, 2.13, with an incredible K/BB ratio of 111/19 in 76 innings for Hickory. He has superb polish and poise, but relies on exceptional command and control of his curveball and changeup more than his fastball. He very well could be a franchise talent, but I want to see what he does at higher levels before putting that label on him. Chin-Hui Tsao of the Rockies system has a great arm and is also dominating the Sally League, but I'd never choose a Colorado pitcher as a franchise player. If he were with the Braves, that would be different. Everything considered, I'd have to go with Anderson, since he has the best chance to become a dominant force. John Sickels is the author of the STATS 2000 Minor League Scouting Notebook. You can email your questions to him at JASickels@AOL.com. | ALSO SEE Down on the Farm archive Sickels: Where the talent comes from  | ||||