Innholdsfortegnelse for 10-6 MINOR LEAGUE TOP 10 PROSPECTS i Baseball America

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE 1. RONALD ACUNA, OF GWINNETT (BRAVES) AGE: 19. B-T: R-R. HT.: 6-0. WT.: 180. SIGNED: Venezuela, 2014 Acuna began the year in high Class A before pushing all the way to Gwinnett and improving at each level. He has tantalizing tools and all-star potential. Acuna’s bat speed is elite, which will produces above-average power or better. He has excellent feel to hit and the ability to drive the ball to all fields. More power could come as he continues to develop physically, with 30 home runs a possibility. On top of that, Acuna is currently a plus-plus runner, though he needs to become a more efficient basestealer. He has plus arm strength from center field but must improve his decision- making on throws. Scouts have pegged him as…

MIDWEST LEAGUE 1. VLADIMIR GUERRERO JR., 3B LANSING (BLUE JAYS) AGE: 18. B-T: R-R. HT.: 6-1. WT.: 200. SIGNED: Dominican Republic, 2015. In a testament to Guerrero’s talent and aptitude, he exceeded expectations in his full-season debut. Guerrero’s contact skills are without peer. He doesn’t have his father’s gangly physique and long arms but still shows the ability to cover the plate. Thanks to his plus bat speed and the strength from his stocky build, he has at least plus power, with some scouts not shying from plus-plus grades on that tool. His hit tool is a plus weapon, at least the equal of his power. Guerrero has average to tick above arm strength, enough to play third base, but his thickening body has scouts projecting a move to first…

After Team USA’s 18U National Team won its fourth straight World Cup title, Greg Hamilton thought about hockey. The head coach and director of Canada’s national baseball teams had just witnessed one of the most dominant 18U teams in U.S. history go 9-0 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and shut out opposing international teams in six of the nine games. “Obviously, I would compare USA Baseball to Canadian hockey,” Hamilton said. “We could put five teams in the world junior hockey championships and probably beat everybody with every one of those five teams.” “(The U.S. teams) are similar in baseball, you could put five or six teams in every world tournament and every one of them would be battling for gold, I’m sure . . . The depth is tough to…

EUGENE “GENE” MICHAEL, whose two stints as the Yankees’ general manager included the 1981 American League pennant and acquiring or keeping the homegrown players at the heart of the 1990s Yankees dynasty, died Sept. 7 in Oldsmar, Fla. He was 79. Michael, who carried the nickname “Stick” due to his listed 6-foot-2, 183-pound frame, had a 10-year major league career from 1966-75, when he played second base and shortstop for the Pirates, Dodgers, Yankees and Tigers. After a brief stint as the Yankees GM in 1980, Michael managed the Yankees from 1981-82 and served as a organizational scout from 1983-85. He then took over as the Cubs manager from 1986-87, finishing his career with a 206-200 managerial record. Michael became the Yankees GM for a second time on Aug. 20,…

@BaseballAmerica @BaseballAmerica BaseballAmericaMag ReadBA BA POSTSEASON PODCAST Baseball America editors John Manuel and J.J. Cooper will podcast daily in October during the major league postseason. For a full BA podcast directory: BaseballAmerica.com/today/media/podcasts BA BOOKS The full library of 2018 Baseball America books is now available for preorder. store.baseballamerica.com BA MUST-READ The college recruiting rankings by Teddy Cahill were the most-read content at BaseballAmerica.com for the month of September. Vanderbilt, Florida and Arkansas headed a top 25 ranking heavy on Southeastern Conference teams. Search the site for “recruiting rankings.” NATIONAL TREASURE The Venezuelan media played up the fact that 19-year-old Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna won the Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year. Follow international writer Ben Badler: @benbadler @ben.badler benbadlerbaseball benbadler…

EASTERN LEAGUE 1. RAFAEL DEVERS, 3B PORTLAND (RED SOX) AGE: 20. B-T: L-R. HT.: 6-0. WT.: 195. SIGNED: Dominican Republic, 2013. From the beginning of the EL season until the moment he left on July 15, Devers ranked among the very best prospects in the minors. Devers this season developed into an allfields hitter, a departure from the days when teams had the lefthanded batter shifted heavily to his pull side. He hits a fastball as well as anyone but also didn’t show particular vulnerability to offspeed stuff. Devers projects as an above-average hitter with above-average or better power. He has improved defensively and should stick at third base with decent range as well as soft hands and an above-average arm. The Red Sox traded many high-profile prospects but look wise…

Some players become switch-hitters to hasten their paths through professional ball. Josh Bell learned the drill somewhere between preschool and kindergarten. His father Earnest was a wide receiver and track star at Southern University, and he saw the requisite coordination in his son to think the arrangement might work. So he handed the boy a bat, and from tee-ball through Little League, young Josh Bell alternated between hitting from the left side and the right during games. “It was fun to give the pitcher a different look,” Bell said. “It was cool to be able to hit homers from both sides of the plate at a young age.’’ Some competitive thrills withstand the test of time. As the rookie first baseman Bell has discovered in his first full season with…

Leatherstocking Hand-Split Billet Co. knows its wood. Their wood is used to make some of Major League Baseball’s bats. Located in upstate New York, Leatherstocking’s headquarters sits among some of the best hard ash, maple and birch growths anywhere in the world. The Leatherstocking process starts with raw timber, sometimes still standing, found within a 300-mile radius of the company’s headquarters. It ends with a hand-split billet, basically a bat blank dowelled and cut to specific lengths for sale to bat manufacturers. Leatherstocking buys standing timber and manages the crews that cut it. Sometimes they also buy already-cut timber. Either way, they truck in the logs and cut it to raw lengths. Essentially, they are cutting bolts of wood and then processing those bolts in their mill at roughly 40…

The trade wasn’t a lead story. It happened late on the night of Nov. 23, between two teams in the Pacific Time Zone. Headed to the Mariners were shortstop Jean Segura, a five-year veteran who had just batted .313, and outfielder Mitch Haniger, who was a month shy of his 26th birthday and had just 74 games above Double-A. Headed to the Diamondbacks were righthander Taijuan Walker, who was just 24 but carried a below-average 4.18 ERA through 357 innings, and shortstop Ketel Marte, who was coming off a disastrous 2016 season but was still just 23. “It was a traditional baseball trade,” Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto said. “Four players who were under (club) control. No money moving. It was all about baseball talent, and how that talent was…

HAVE A QUESTION? @jjcoop36 askba@baseballamerica.com QIs there any rule in place prohibiting a team from signing Japanese righthander Shohei Otani for the maximum bonus and then extending his contract at a much higher rate after he reaches the major leagues? —BRENDAN SURMEIER @BSUR2193 ASuch an agreement would violate the international signing rules. Legally, the only thing a team can offer Otani is a minor league contract with a signing bonus. And that signing bonus is limited by current international spending pools. So teams will be limited to offering Otani a signing bonus between $5-10 million—and only those teams that trade for additional pool money would be able to go as high as $10 million. Another 12 teams would be capped at a $300,000 bonus because they exceeding spending limits under…

CALIFORNIA LEAGUE 1. BRENDAN RODGERS, SS LANCASTER (ROCKIES) AGE: 21. B-T: R-R. HT.: 6-0. WT.: 180. DRAFTED: HS—Lake Mary, Fla., 2015 (1). Rodgers turned heads when he hit .400 in the first half before being promoted to Double-A. He returned to Lancaster at the end of the year to get extra reps in the playoffs after missing nearly 40 games with a hand injury and a quad strain. When healthy, Rodgers earned wide praise for his elite hand-eye coordination, approach, pitch recognition and ability to drive the ball to all fields. He stays balanced in the box and is quick and controlled with his hands, resulting in a smooth swing that packs thump. Rodgers lacks optimal speed for a shortstop but positions himself well, possesses sure hands and has a…