Prospect Insider - Most Improved Player

Most Improved Player

By Jason A. Churchill

By 11-16-2008

Deciding between three prospects that all showed significant progress - two whom maintained strong success after moving up a level during the year, and one who transformed himself into a legitimate hitter in the Pacific Coast League almost immediately after becoming the full-time starter at his position - was the most difficult decision among the award categories.

Luis Valbuena bounced back from a horrific 2007 season at West Tennessee where he hit .239 with a .689 OPS to hit .304/.381/.483 in the Southern League, and .302/.383/.373 in Triple-A Tacoma.

Valbuena also improved defensively, where his work around the second base bag was already average - now it's above average and more consistent. He's much more confident in everything he does, both at the plate and in the field.

Rob Johnson started the year as the same nothing-bat he'd been the previous two seasons in Tacoma, but soon after being handed the regular catching gig with Jeff Clement's second promotion to the big leagues, Johnson was a different hitter.

The former University of Houston product hit .363/.401/.489 after the all-star break, including .392 with four home runs in July, raising his over numbers to respectability.

But his .305/.363/.441 for the 2008 campaign has some scouts wondering if he's just a bit of a late bloomer, rather than a surefire backup at best.

The winner has to be Greg Halman, though, already the Defensive Player of the Year. The 21-year-old was simply tremendous, considering the challenges he faced during the first half of last season and heading into somewhat of a make-or-break season in 2008.

Halman took full advantage of the California League, slugging .572 with 19 long balls before his promotion to Double-A West Tennessee in mid-June.

The right-handed hitting Halman did more than just get by in the Southern League, and actually posted slightly better contact and walk rates with the Diamond Jaxx than he did with the Mavericks.

"He's got a ton of raw ability," said the East Coast Coordinator of an American League club. "It looks like this is really the first lengthy evidence that he can produce with those tools, but he's exciting because there is so much natural speed and strength there."

Halman was an easy out in the Midwest League last season, and the difference between Halman then and Halman now, as he wraps up his stint in the Arizona Fall League, is confidence.

"Once a young player starts to taste success, they can really take off, and he is doing that. While he still has areas of major concern, he's come a long ways."

It's hard to believe that he's the same kid that hit .182/.234/.273 with 77 strikeouts and just eight walks in 52 games with Class A Wisconsin to start the 2007 season.

Photo of Greg Halman by Mike Andruski

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Comments
The following 11 comment(s) for this article are shown below:

1. By: Slack on 11-16-2008 21:54:41
The fact that there were a lot of choices for most improved player of the year is a good sign. How much does Halman strike out, by the way?

2. By: bedir on 11-16-2008 22:12:16
Is there any reason I shouldn't think that Halman will be an ideal 4th/platoon Outfielder for his career?

3. By: Jason A. Churchill on 11-16-2008 23:07:30
Yes. He's 21 and has years to get rid of the strikeout bug -- and is a plus runner and plus defender in the making.

4. By: bedir on 11-16-2008 23:21:56
plus running and defending are great supplementary skills, but haven't you been preaching to me for years now that the most important skill for a position player is power, and next most is zone judgement?

5. By: Jason A. Churchill on 11-16-2008 23:48:15
Plus defense in center is not a supplementary skill, for one. Secondly, the one obvious tool Halman has is power.

The only thing that keeps Halman out of a lineup everyday, other than off-field issues that he has never displayed as a pro, is if he doesn't improve his contact rates much at all.

But like I said, he's 21, has years to continue his pitch reco and strikezone judgment...

You asked for evidence, not proof - since there is none - so there it is.

6. By: Pumpkin on 11-17-2008 01:07:50
I just hope Halman can indeed improve his pitch recognition. Jason, any speculation as to why Halman tore up AFL for the first week, and then after that has been doing poorly Is it just a streak type thing, or have the pitchers realized he can't hit a breaking ball and that's all that they throw him now. Speaking of CF, when I was looking the top 100 or so talent in this draft, it seemed as though there were a lot of CFers. AS long as no one in management screws up what we have going for us so far with Fields not signing and Ibanez's arbitration, we will have a ton of high picks next draft.

7. By: jonbbt on 11-17-2008 09:26:42
^A lot of high school and college CF aren't going to be pro CF.

8. By: Jason A. Churchill on 11-17-2008 14:39:22
90 percent of drafted HS center fielders end up somewhere else on the diamond. 95 percent of SS's have to play somewhere else.

Halman is just streaky, that happens a lot with players of his skill set. And in the AFL, the caliber of pitcher on the mound isn't so great, either, with few exceptions.

9. By: 01v-dubs on 11-17-2008 16:19:28
I wouldn't worry about AFL stats. It seems whenever there brought up to experts like Law and the guys at BA they say to never pay attention to it. I went to a couple of AFL games and Halman was a lot of fun to watch. He put on a show in batting practice. He also was very nice to my younger brother when he asked for an autograph. I think one thing to note about Halman is he's fared well against some of the top pitching prospects in the game, he's hit home runs against Price, and Matusz. Jason do you thin Alex Rios is a good comp for what Halman could be in the pros? I personally think Halman should develop more power then Rios though.

10. By: Pumpkin on 11-17-2008 18:32:32
Oh I totally know that most drafted CFers end up playing somewhere other than CF. What I was trying to say is that a draft uch as this that seems to be heavy in CFers is more likely to produce major league center fielders than a draft that is heavy at 1B such as last year.

11. By: stickball on 11-18-2008 19:02:58
Jason, is it true that the rosters need to be set for the Rule V draft by the day after tomorrow? Who do you think is a good bubble player to protect from the draft?

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