Written by Greg Fertel
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14 January 2008
To take a quick break from writing profiles, I'd like to take a look at a very interesting mix of A ball position players. The Yankees have been fortunate to acquire in the later rounds of the drafts a myriad of promising college and high school draftees in recent years. They have a good problem - more prospects than playing slots at their ideal levels. Indulge me for a second while I speculate on where they will end up. The players that I am referring to:
- Charleston OF Seth Fortenberry
- Charleston 3b Mitch Hilligoss
- Charleston C Kyle Anson
- GCL 3b Brandon Laird
- GCL SS Ryan Wehrle
- GCL OF Abraham Almonte
- GCL 2b Prylis Cuello
- Staten Island SS Justin Snyder
- Staten Island 3b Braedyn Pruitt
- Staten Island 2b Damon Sublett
- Staten Island OF Austin Krum
- Staten Island OF Donald Hollingsworth
- 3b Brad Suttle
- OF Taylor Grote
- Tampa Shortstop Eduardo Nunez
There's not a blue chipper in that group, but there are a lot of overlapping positions. Mitch Hilligoss, Eduardo Nunez, Braedyn Pruitt, Justin Snyder, Damon Sublett, and even Brandon Laird and Ryan Wehrle could all much a strong case for spots in Tampa's infield. Here are the lineups that I'm going to project Charleston and Tampa to have:
Charleston
- C Jesus Montero
- 1b Kevin Smith
- 2b Prylis Cuello
- SS Ryan Wehrle
- 3b Brandon Laird
- LF Andres Perez
- CF Abraham Almonte
- RF Taylor Grote
- DH Wady Rufino
That's an interesting lineup. I have no faith in Calzado (BA still loves him though), but between Laird, Almonte, Cuello, and Montero, we could see a real slugger or three emerge. The Yankees haven't seen a lot of power out of their prospects recently, and that could change in Charleston this year. It should be noted though that Charleston's ballpark has a big time suppression affect on home runs. Keep your eye on Grote - we don't yet know what to expect from him, but the Yankees paid over-slot for him. Ryan Wehrle will have to prove that his fantastic sophomore season at Nebraska was not just an aberration, but he's worth a real look.
Tampa
- C Kyle Anson
- 1b Chris Malec
- 2b Damon Sublett / Mitch Hilligoss
- SS Justin Snyder / Mitch Hilligoss
- 3b Braedyn Pruitt / Mitch Hilligoss
- LF Donald Hollingsworth / Austin Krum
- CF Seth Fortenberry
- RF Josue Calzado
- DH Sublett/Snyder/Pruitt
Meet your future NY utilityman: Mitch Hilligoss. Hilligoss proved that your ability to be a productive offensive player almost entirely rests upon your ability to hit for average and you cannot play even average defense at a key defensive position, you lose out. He's adequate at the middle infield positions, and has even played in the outfield. The Snyder/Pruitt/Sublett trio are all college hitters who were underrated for one reason or another and all were extraordinary at Staten Island. They are on a different level from Hilligoss, who has very little offensive ceiling.
The outfield is interesting. Fortenberry has plenty of tools to go along with a solid performance in Charleston - he was one of the few Yankee farmhands to show legit power this year. The odds are against him, but who knows what could happen.
That should be one of the better defensive teams in the league. The infield is solid, and the outfield spectacular. Tampa's pitching staff will benefit.
Next, I'll take a look at the two team's rotations.
