Prospect Insider - M's in Futures Game

M's in Futures Game

By Jason A. Churchill

By 06-22-2010

The Futures Game Rosters are out -- or will be released shortly -- and the Seattle Mariners have two players competing next month in Anaheim.

Alex Liddi and Carlos Peguero will play for the World Team.

I am wondering if Michael Pineda was asked and turned down the offer in order continue his developmental path, especially considering his recent promotion.

Among the more interesting names that appear on the rosters include 2009 first-round draft pick Mike Trout, who plays in the same league as Nick Franklin and is about the same age.

He's a beast, and a steal of a pick that late in the round.

Also in the game are Cincy reliever Phillippe Alliquette who has reached 100 mph in the radar gun this season, Twins outfielder Ben Revere and Yankees catcher Austin Romine, whose names will come up -- by me at the very least -- in trade talks for Cliff Lee.

Trout is not the lone 2009 draft pick in the game as Texas RHP Tanner Scheppers, Detroit LHP Andrew Oliver and St. Louis RHP Shelby Miller were also selected.

This may be most M's fans first look at LHP Christian Freidrich, who should have been the pick when the M's tabbed Josh Fields two years ago. He's not a future ace, but he's pretty solid and will be representing the Rockies in the Futures Game.

m\'s-in-futures-game

Comments
The following 14 comment(s) for this article are shown below:

1. By: Slack on 06-22-2010 17:06:36
I was disappointed not to see Pineda on the roster. He seems to be under the radar.

2. By: randallball on 06-22-2010 17:07:02
Trout has been insanely good with the stick. Last I checked he was hitting ~.375. I hate the Angels.

3. By: rocketdawg31 on 06-22-2010 18:07:25

Yup. The sad truth of the matter is that the Angels have been blasted good at talent analysis. And for quite a while.

We're going to have to deal with them for years, they are not going away as a quality org anytime soon.

4. By: Jason A. Churchill on 06-22-2010 19:13:34
Pineda isn't under the radar... the game does NOT feature the top 50 or so prospects in baseball. Never does.

And I'm not sure you can just sit back and credit the Angels for being so great at evaluating talent. They have had a lot of picks, and Trout fell to them because 3 of the 4 teams ahead of them last June wouldn't spend enough to get Trout signed.

It's rarely just about scouting. I mean, in the same draft -- same round, one spot ahead of Trout -- they took Randal Grichuk for crying out loud. And told other baseball people they REALLY like him.

5. By: Jason A. Churchill on 06-22-2010 19:16:56
Also,

I actually think that barring Moreno spending 125 million on payroll, the Angels will go away for a little bit. Outside Reckling, who isn't a sure thing himself, there isn't a lot of starting pitching in their system, and most of their best prospect are 2-4 years away, such as Trout.

And now I hear they are considering making Ervin Santana their closer if they can trade for a Dan Haren or Roy Oswalt, though I have no idea how they get either without giving up Reckling, Jordan Walden, Conger, et al.

6. By: baseballman on 06-22-2010 19:22:25
Well at least the Ms have some representation in the game. I will be curious to see (havent taken a look at the rosters) if any of the other guys playin from other teams could be in the Ms organization after the Lee trade. JAC anyone we should keep an eye on that could be ours in a trade?

7. By: johnfree on 06-22-2010 19:46:48
Jason or Chris

This is off topic but the M's just signed David Winfree and he is on the Tacoma roster. Any info on him?

Thank you

8. By: rjfrik on 06-22-2010 19:50:27
It will be nice to watch the young kids play. About Trout, I was really hoping he would fall a couple of more spots to us. I would love to see him in the M's system. I think he is going to be a good stick in the future. He actually reminds me of a past Angels player, Tim Salmon.

9. By: Chris Crawford on 06-22-2010 19:51:50
RE: Winfree

Zero patience, zero position, decent power. He's a younger version of Everidge.

10. By: Jason A. Churchill on 06-22-2010 20:08:30
Winfree was a Twins draftee -- free swinger, 60 raw power, 35 on-base skills, 40 hit tool, despite not striking out a ton as a power guy. Just more Brad Nelson like AAA fodder.

11. By: InsidePitch on 06-23-2010 01:27:42
Hola Jason....

Long time. About Trout -- you realize he signed for slot money right? People actually chided the Angels for taking Trout as much as they did for taking RG, I take it you're officially punting on Randall Girchuk, correct? There is a lot to wonder about with RG, hes got a long swing, he misses more than he should, he also torches balls. He's far from a sure thing and his bat will have to write his ticket to the Majors or he'll bust.

I think you're underrating the pitching some unless you mean that most of it is a few years off which I think is fair -- luckily most of the MLB guys are signed for a couple years still. The Ervin Santana talk is complete BS.. A LA sportswriter dreamed up a fantasy scenario where the Angels trade for Haren and make Santana a closer.... the story has no teeth and anyone that has followed the Angels knows Scoscia wouldn't be keen on the idea, to say they are considering doing that is well, a massive reach if not all out fabrication.

You can dismiss the Angels scouting department, many people do, especially when talking up misses like Casey Kotchman et all. But in doing so, people forget that for every hyped guy that came through the system they had a fallback plan. Erick Aybar, Kendry Morales, Mike Napoli, Howie Kendrick -- They were plan B after Brandon Wood, Casey Kotchman, Jeff Mathis, Alberto Callaspo... Of those guys, only Howie got much of any press and really, it's hard to argue that Naps, Aybar, and Morales haven't proven to be solid MLB if not significantly more than that.

Losing Nick Adenhart hurts, T-Rex has been rushed (he should be in AA working on his location), and they may be doing the same with Tyler Chatwood, but they have some guys that have arms and were being fed to the wolves besides T-Rex and show signs of being ML capable. Sean O'Sullivan and Trevor Bell are 22 and 23 and were getting a taste of the majors at 21 and 22 respectively last year and now again this season. You watch them pitch and you see the lack of experience and the stuff they will grow out of, you also see flashes of stuff that gives evidence there may be something to their minor league statlines. Those two should be able to cushion the team until the better guys start coming up.

FTR, I've seen you give the Halos props in the past regarding the players they drafted out of HS that went on to become college monsters, so.... I think maybe you do realize there is more to their ability to spot talent than you're willing to let on to and honestly, you were kidding when you said the Angels have had a lot of picks right? Winning and signing FA's has meant the Angels havent had a lot of picks and that when they have picked it's been late in the rounds anyway. It's only been the last two years where they have been bleeding people that they have had extra picks. Heck in 2008 they didnt have a pick until number 74 when they took Tyler Chatwood out of a SoCal HS... he's currently been promoted to AA

Regardless, the Angels farm system isn't going to win a lot of oohs and ahhs but, it will continue to supply the big league club with more talent than people will realize or be willing to give them credit for. Particularly when compared to other clubs.

Maybe more importantly -- the guys the magazines and media types gushed about have tended to blow up, so being dismissed is likely a good thing.

12. By: Marco on 06-23-2010 05:56:29
"Pineda isn't under the radar... the game does NOT feature the top 50 or so prospects in baseball. Never does."

Do you mean not ALL the top 50 or so prospects, that's right ?

13. By: GFurs on 06-23-2010 19:38:00
Okay - first time posting so don't chew me up too bad.

I'm not opposed to trading with the Rangers. I checked their farm system and saw some intriguing pieces. Does Z have the upper hand? What if Seattle paid the remainder of Lee's salary -- could we get something like this in return? Chris Davis -- 1st Base, Joaquin Arias -- 2nd Base, Michael Kirkman -- Pitcher, Pedro Strop -- Pitcher.

I know it may be wishful thinking, but the Rangers have a real shot this season. They need an Ace like Lee and their farm system is pretty deep.

14. By: GFurs on 06-23-2010 19:40:20
As you can see - I'm new to the sight. I meant to post this in another thread. - Sorry

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