Greg Golson, OF: Prospect Profile

Written by Greg Fertel | 28 January 2010

Yesterday, the Yankees acquired the recently designated for assignment Greg Golson from the Texas Rangers in exchange for infield prospect Mitch Hilligoss. Hilligoss is best known for maintaining a 38 game hitting streak while playing with for the Charleston RiverDogs in 2007. He always possessed an "empty" batting average and since 2007, the bottom has fallen out. He has been terrible over the past two seasons in High-A Tampa.

Golson was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the first round of the 2004 draft. He spent five seasons with the team and was always regarded as a good prospect. After the 2008 season, the Phillies dealt Golson to the Rangers for a more powerful outfield prospect, John Mayberry, Jr.

When people talk about Golson, you'll hear them talk about his tremendous tools. After he was traded to the Yankees, Frankie Piliere gave us a brief overview of Golson via Twitter:

Skinny on Golson from good source: Plus-plus speed/arm, good defender, outstanding makeup. Big holes at the plate, lacks feel w/ the bat.

Obviously, that last sentence is the most important, and it is what has kept Golson from developing into the player many thought he'd become. Baseball America sang Golson's praises for years.

For the 2006 season, Baseball America ranked Golson the Phillies' second best prospect. They also noted that he was the system's best athlete and possessed the system's best outfield arm.

In 2007, BA dropped Golson down to the tenth best prospect, but still continued to love his tools. He was the best athlete, the fastest baserunner, the best defensive outfielder, and he had the best outfield arm in the system.

After struggling in 2007, BA still had high hopes for Golson and ranked him the team's seventh best prospect for the 2008 season. He remained tops in the system in the four categories from the year before, but he also ranked as the system's best power hitter after posting a mediocre .153 ISO.

This is the point where I usually try to use a graph to show a statistical trend, but I can't find a lasting trend that is positive or negative. There were some differences in his game last season, though. In 2009, Golson posted by far the lowest ISO of his career. At the same time, he posted the lowest K-rate of his career and second highest walk rate.

This signals a change in approach, but it did not appear to work as he put together a miserable offensive season. Golson is still only 24, but it is unlikely that he turns into the offensive force he once was predicted to be. Maybe if he can continue to cut down his strikeouts and increase his walks, he will have value as a bench player for a National League team, even if that means sacrificing his power.

Golson's tools give him all the potential in the world, but sometimes that just doesn't transfer over into hitting a baseball. Even with his weak hitting, he can still play a role in 2010 for the Yankees. Freddy Guzman was on the Yankees postseason roster in 2009, and there isn't a single thing he does better than Greg Golson.

Golson is good depth to have as a sixth outfielder waiting in the minors because of his remarkable tools. If you put him in the outfield, it's likely he'll be the best defender out there. He has also improved his baserunning and can be an asset as a pinch runner. He was a very low risk pickup for the Yankees, and has the chance to contribute in some form or another.

*For those of you who are big Melky Mesa fans, take a look at Golson and remember that hitting a baseball is a terribly difficult thing to do, even with all the tools in the world. Mesa probably has a bit more power potential than Golson, but it's unlikely he'll ever amount to much more than Golson has.