Who's Got Minor League Depth At Shortstop?

by Satchel Price on Jan 14, 2011 3:16 PM EST

This is a great overview of where the league's future SS talent is coming from. Bumping to the front page and adding a jump for presentation purposes. - ed.

After the Rays added Hak-Ju Lee from Chicago in the Garza trade, some evaluators brought up the organization's new depth at the shortstop position. With Reid Brignac and Sean Rodriguez in the majors, Tim Beckham in Double-A, Lee in High Single-A and Derek Dietrich at Low Single-A, the Rays do have a nice group of players filling in the position for them throughout the organization.

Realistically, Lee is the only one of those prospects that projects as an average-or-better defender at the position, so that depth may be overblown on some levels. But it did get me wondering which teams have the most impressive cache of young talent at one of the league's weaker positions. I put guys that I consider to be B-grade prospects or higher in italics.

Atlanta: Mychal Jones (AA), Edward Salcedo (A), Matt Lipka (TBA), Andrelton Simmons (TBA)

Cincinnati: Zack Cozart (AAA), Kris Negron (AAA), Miguel Rojas (A+), Didi Gregorius (A), Billy Hamilton (A)

Houston: Tommy Manzella (AAA), Jonathan Villar (AA), Jiovanni Mier (A+)

Tampa Bay: Tim Beckham (AA), Hak-Ju Lee (A+), Derek Dietrich (A), Hector Guevara (SS)

Baltimore: Mychal Givens (A+), Manny Machado (A), Connor Narron (TBA), Jonathan Schoop (TBA)

Boston: Yamaico Navarro (AAA), Jose Iglesias (AAA), Derrik Gibson (A), Xander Bogaerts (TBA), Garin Cecchini (TBA), Sean Coyle (TBA)

Toronto: Adeiny Hechavarria (AA), Justin Jackson (A), Gustavo Pierre (TBA), Dickie Joe Thon (TBA)

Kansas City: Rey Navarro (AA), Jeff Bianchi (AA), Christian Colon (A+)

Seattle: Carlos Triunfel (AA), Nick Franklin (A+), Gabriel Noriega (A), Marcus Littlewood (TBA), Estelion Peguero (TBA)

Texas: Jurickson Profar (A), Leury Garcia (A), Luis Sardinas (TBA)

Some reactions:

- My favorite groupings are probably Baltimore, Boston, Texas and Atlanta. Love Machado like everyone else, and the other guys are intriguing even if each of them has some sort of question regarding their bat or glove. I have a hard time seeing Iglesias totally disappoint, and I think it's worth keeping an eye on the Bogaerts/Cecchini/Coyle trio going forward. Texas' young shortstops have been getting a lot of attention of late, with the rise of Elvis Andrus in Arlington and the emergence of Profar as one of the better shortstop prospects in the game. Sardinas doesn't get a ton of attention because of the latter two, but he's still got some serious potential. As for Atlanta, they don't have that elite guy but I really like the depth. Jones likely won't be more than a utility infielder in the majors, but Salcedo, Lipka and Simmons all have huge potential even if Simmons is the only one that's particularly likely to stick at the position.

- The Mariners went into last season with two top shortstop prospects in Triunfel and Noriega. Now, though, I wouldn't be surprised if people preferred Franklin and Littlewood or Peguero.

- Landing two top shortstop prospects is really, really hard. The Cubs had quite the situation with Castro, Lee, Junior Lake and Darwin Barney, but now it's Tampa that's more loaded with Brignac, Lee and Beckham. Every team that has a B-grade or better prospect at shortstop only has one of them. Reds have Hamilton, but guys like Rojas and Gregorius aren't close to him. Astros have an interesting combo with Villar and Mier, but they're both depending on strong 2011 campaigns to retain top prospect status. Some people are still optimistic on Beckham, but Lee's clearly the top shortstop prospect in that system now. Machado, Colon, Franklin and Profar are lightyears ahead of their positional counterparts in their respective organizations. So next time you see a team with multiple elite shortstop prospects, be aware that it's an extremely rare situation.

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The Rays also have two interesting international types.

Hector Guevara and Juniel Querecuto.

by R.J. Anderson on Jan 11, 2011 12:20 PM EST reply actions

Forgot about Guevara, I'll definitely add him above.

Don’t really know anything about Querecuto other than that he’s a small guy that couldn’t hit in short-season last year after signing for $500K plus as a 16-year-old in 2009. I’m guessing that many teams have intriguing, toolsy guys like Querecuto in the lower minors.

Baseball is my preferred sport. It should be yours, too.
I'm an editor for Beyond the Box Score, an SB Nation blog.

by Satchel Price on Jan 11, 2011 12:29 PM EST up reply actions

Such as Orlando Caxito...

Every team has those kind of guys in their organization. Until they play amongst the span of a full season it’s hard to really judge them than just base prospect status on them.

Dave Gershman - Beyond the Box Score / SPANdemonium / Royals Prospects / Twitter: @Dave_Gershman

by Dave Gershman on Jan 14, 2011 9:45 PM EST up reply actions

I think we see a lot more SS prospects in the lower minors and they shift up the defensive spectrum as they get older and are promoted through the system.

About the Atlanta guys, Mycal Jones is switching to 2B full time next year, it won’t be long before Edward Salcedo shifts to a corner, and it’s questionable whether or not Lipka can stick at SS. Andrelton Simmons is the only one whose going to be good enough, defensively, to stick there and his bat is a huge question mark. Plus he may end up pitching.

Tyler Pastornicky is probably their best chance of producing a useful, every-day SS. I suspect most farms are like this. They have a ton of people start out as SS prospects but they rarely make it as a SS, even if they make it to the show.

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by PWHjort on Jan 14, 2011 12:55 AM EST reply actions

Agreed, most of these guys don't stick at shortstop

That’s why having multiple, legitimate shortstop prospects at the upper levels is so rare.

Baseball is my preferred sport. It should be yours, too.
I'm an editor for Beyond the Box Score, an SB Nation blog.

by Satchel Price on Jan 14, 2011 3:24 PM EST up reply actions

What do you think about the Royals' options at SS, Satch?

Rany tells us that Colon will never stick, and might even be a 3B.

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by Justin Bopp on Jan 14, 2011 3:31 PM EST up reply actions

That view on Colon seems pretty pessimistic

I’ve heard concerns about his range at SS, but most evaluators seem to think he’s a 2B if he has to leave short.

I think it’s Escobar and Colon in the middle infield for a while in KC. I wonder what happens with Johnny Giavotella, too.

Baseball is my preferred sport. It should be yours, too.
I'm an editor for Beyond the Box Score, an SB Nation blog.

by Satchel Price on Jan 14, 2011 4:05 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

Thing is Satch...

He has bad range at short, but he has TREMENDOUS glove. Thus, he will be amazing at 2B. Out of every player picked in the 2010 draft, not only is Colon the most sold on being a Major League above average hitter, but he’s the closest to the big leagues. He’s going to be a great 2B. Like Placido Polanco possibly…

A few Royals missing even though they might be switching positions, although you can make the case for many players might have to switch.

Orlando Caxito, Cheslor Cuthbert, Mike Antonio, Mike Liberto.

Dave Gershman - Beyond the Box Score / SPANdemonium / Royals Prospects / Twitter: @Dave_Gershman

by Dave Gershman on Jan 14, 2011 9:48 PM EST up reply actions

Came on to say same info on Jones. Braves depth is more of a bunch of athletes position wise rather than any real position. None sticks out, but they could all move around and be solid regulars at multiple positions.

Twitter: @Ben_Duronio

by BenDuronio on Jan 14, 2011 8:54 PM EST up reply actions

I think that's a fair thing to say

Baseball is my preferred sport. It should be yours, too.
I'm an editor for Beyond the Box Score, an SB Nation blog.

by Satchel Price on Jan 14, 2011 8:56 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

I assume Wilmer Flores was removed due to not being considered a "legitimate shortstop"?

by garik16 on Jan 14, 2011 3:44 PM EST reply actions

Primarily it's the lack of quality prospects playing SS other than Flores

The Mets just don’t have a lot of quality prospects that can play or are playing short beyond Flores.

I think he’s a very solid prospect, though, a solid B/B+.

Baseball is my preferred sport. It should be yours, too.
I'm an editor for Beyond the Box Score, an SB Nation blog.

by Satchel Price on Jan 14, 2011 4:09 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

The Mets kind of sort of have a few other quality SS prospects

Wilfredo Tovar is an elite defender at SS. I’ve seen him play and he is the real deal. When I watched Tovar in the field, I was impressed by his confidence and competence. He knows what to do, and he doesn’t make unnecessarily flashy plays. His bat, however, not so elite. I’ve read that he is excellent at listening to instructors, and quickly incorporating what is taught to him into his play. This leaves me hope that he could develop to be respectable offensively.

Jordany Valdespin is a SS who has recently played more 2B due to organizational needs. He has exceptional athleticism. Valdespin’s problem is discipline. He has very poor plate discipline. In the field, his discipline problem is that he likes to make flashy plays when it is not needed, and this leads to errors. In the clubhouse, he has had discipline problems in the past, and this lead to two separate suspensions by the Mets.

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"Bounding and astounding!" - Clyde Frazier

by Russ on Jan 14, 2011 4:50 PM EST up reply actions