Goldstein's Great Leap Forward

Kevin Goldstein at BP, its pay content, has listed prospects that have made the biggest strides for each team. For the Indians, he tabs De La Cruz. His runner-up is Hector Rondon. Hard to quibble with his selections.

over 3 years ago ClarkM 6 comments 0 recs |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

You’d think that Carlos Santana would be mentioned as well.

Speaking of which, there’s an article on catching prospects at BA. It’s insider though, so does anyone have access to it? They show a very nice pic of Santana on the homepage.

by JP_Frost on Sep 9, 2008 5:50 PM EDT reply actions

Hard to see how it could be anyone but Huff, who went from pitching 60 good innings in the low minors a year ago to being one of the best starters in Triple-A. The best guess is that he’s already an average major-league starter, and that’s quite a leap from being a rehabbing dude in the Carolina League.

by Jay on Sep 9, 2008 6:43 PM EDT reply actions

I blanked on Huff. KG was higher on Huff last season than some, but still, I think he would qualify moreso than either De La Cruz and Rondon.

by ClarkM on Sep 9, 2008 11:58 PM EDT up reply actions

Hello ClarkM,

I agree about Huff – he’s closer to the Majors than either De La Cruz and Rondon (though Rondon should be in AA to start 2009, so he’s closer than De La Cruz, who probably needs most of 2009 to work through High-A).

I remember a publication or two (BA, I think) mentioned when the Indians picked Huff that he was that polished college lefty who could move quickly when we drafted him, but seemed to imply that he was more along the lines of Sowers in that he’d be a nice mid-rotation starter at his best, but not a guy with a very high ceiling, partly because I think they said he only threw in the upper-80s to low-90s at best.

I think that’s another reason why Huff would seem to be perhaps the best choice for making the most strides – I think many of us see him now as perhaps being better than a #3 starter, probably not an ace, but I think a quality #2 could be a realistic expectation for him, especially with the increasing K rate.

While De La Cruz and Rondon both have had great seasons, I think Huff has opened up as many or more eyes than the other two because I think most knew the prior two have had the stuff to put up those type of performances, plus are young enough to have a good amount of projection, but I’m not sure too many expected Huff to pretty much dominate the upper-levels of the Minors with the K rates he’s been showing, being that he was drafted out of college in his early 20s and that he was also coming off an injury (to his elbow, I think).

Besides KG last season mentioning about Huff, I remember that the scouts at the 2007 Arizona Fall League mentioned that the prospect who opened their eyes the most (or perhaps it was called the “Most Surprising Prospect”) was Huff.

Just my 2 cents.

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Sep 10, 2008 12:20 AM EDT up reply actions