[Sundance]

Minor League System Rank: 2nd
Top Overall Prospect: 3B Kun-Young Park (Toronto)

LHP Vic Rheaume – Age: 25 – Organization Rank: 1 – MLB Rank: 8
Rheaume once again tops our prospect list. I would guess that he’s about a season away from making the big league roster. At the moment, he’d probably be a very average pitcher, but he has shown that he still has some growing left to do. He throws in the high 90s with his fastball, has a very good curve, and he’s been working on a splitter. Right now he has passable stuff, but it should get better. He’s very close to being ready.

LHP Jared Best – Age: 22 – Organization Rank: 2 – MILB Rank: 9
He’s a former 14th round draft pick that we picked up as a free agent and he’s looking like quite the steal thus far. Throws in the mid 90s and already has 3 big league ready pitches. He doesn’t get as much movement on his pitches as we’d like, but he looks like he can effectively change speeds, which should help to keep hitters off balanced.

RHP Pete Taylor – Age: 21 – Organization Rank: 3 – MLB Rank: 24
Taylor was our 2nd round draft pick in 2033 and he has steadily improved since getting into our system. He lacks an effective 3rd pitch, which will keep him out of the starting rotation, but he already has an excellent fastball that he throws in the mid to high 90s and a great slider. He gets good movement on his pitches and has passable control that should get better. The big key for him will be just putting everything together and being effective in games.

CL Bob Harden – Age: 23 – Organization Rank: 4 – MLB Rank: 32
He has all the makings of a shutdown closer. He has an outstanding fastball that hits 99 MPH and a decent curve that should improve. The kid has got big league ready stuff, but he’s a little too wild still. He still might be a year or two off of challenging for a big league roster spot, but he’s not far off.

CF Luis Cortez – Age: 19 – Organization Rank: 5 – MLB Rank: 40
There’s a lot to like about this youngster. He’s performed well in the minors so far and he looks like he should develop into an average offensive talent. He’s got good speed and is an excellent defender with a cannon of an arm. He currently looks like he could be a very solid 4th outfielder option for us at some point.

LHP Antonio Garcia – Age: 22 – Organization Rank: 6 – MLB Rank: 47
Nothing Garcia throws is straight. Nothing. This kid might get more movement on his pitches than any other pitcher we have in our organization. Unfortunately, all that movement also leaves him a bit more wild than we would like. Still, this kid looks like he might challenge for a spot in our rotation at some point. He pitches to contact and batters have an extremely difficult time getting the ball up in the air off of him. He’ll need a solid defense behind him in order to succeed.

SS Artie Hall – Age: 23 – Organization Rank: 7 – MLB Rank: 49
Hall is probably good enough at the moment to be a backup. He’s still got some growing to do, and if he reaches his potential, he should be an above-average offensive talent. He’s got good speed and is always a threat to steal when he’s on base. He’s also a very solid defender. If he continues to grow, he might be challenging for a roster spot next season.

1B Antonio Sanchez – Age: 21 – Organization Rank: 8 – MLB Rank: 82
Sanchez has continued to improve since coming to our organization, and we’re just waiting for him to figure everything out. He should develop into a good hitter at some point. He is an extremely hard worker and has been working on smoothing out his swing. He’s a natural line drive hitter and he has shown the potential to develop into a legit homerun threat. He hit 46 doubles in A ball last year, but he only hit .253 and he struck out 127 times. He’s developing in chunks and probably has a couple of years of growing still to go.

C Al Simms – Age: 22 – Organization Rank: 9 – MLB Rank: 92
Simms looks like an average catcher. He’s decent all around, and the only true knock against him is his arm. He’ll struggle to throw out runners if it doesn’t improve. He hit a ridiculous .396/.485/.875 in Rookie Ball last year, and while those aren’t the numbers we’re going to expect out of him, we certainly aren’t going to complain about that sort of production. I don’t see stardom here, but he looks like he should have a long career behind the plate at some point.

SS Jim McGinnity – Age: 22 – Organization Rank: 10 – MLB Rank: 99
As mentioned previously, McGinnity is a player we targeted this offseason, so it’s nice to see him make this list. He’s patient at the plate and is a line drive hitter. He’s got good speed and great instincts on the base paths and he’s a solid defender. He’s a ways away from challenging for a roster spot, but there is a lot to like about the future of this kid.

Others to Keep an Eye On: 2B Dave Chin (105), 1B Ron Lambright (135), CL Whit Jackson (152), RHP Geoff Nelson (166), 2B Chris Frederick (187), 3B Bert Henri (188)