It's no secret that the Halos' farm stinks entering 2013. Trades, lack of first round draft picks, and a hesitancy to spend money in the international market have left the system barren of impact talent outside of the top two or three guys. Depending on who you talk to, even the top guys fall short of blue-chip status.
As a consequence, there isn't consensus about how to rank everyone following Kaleb Cowart and Nick Maronde. The rising AA cohort, including C.J. Cron, Taylor Lindsey, and Randal Grichuk are constants, but few envision them making a significant impact at the MLB level. Then there's a host of power arms who, for various reasons, all project to wind up in the bullpen instead of the rotation, limiting their perceived value.
Back when Sam Miller was with the Register, he would put together an annual compilation synthesizing all of the various prospect rankings. He has bigger fish to fry this offseason, but given the divergent rankings currently out there, I'm eager to read something just like that. And it wasn't out there, so I busted out Excel, and here it is.
30) Wade Hinkle, 22, 1B
RGhan's Ranking: 35+ Other interesting ranking: John Sickels, 20th
Money Quote: John Sickels
Scouts discount him as an organization player with flaws that will be exposed by more advanced pitching. That happens to a lot of players with this profile, but occasionally one of these guys keeps hitting at higher levels. Who knows, it might be Hinkle.
2012 Performance: 2.4 WAR, +26 bat, -6 glove. .338/.443/.586 with 15 HR and 1 SB
Win the Lottery Ceiling: 1.5 WAR DH, but light years and a lot of luck away from that. If he hits 25 HR's in Arkansas, it's time to pay attention.
29) Sherman Johnson, 21, 2b/3b
RGhan's Ranking: 28th Other Interesting Rankings: AngelsWin, 12th
Money Quote: Rghan
His 20% walk rate was tops in the Angels system, and he backed that up with solid defense and base running... I saw easy gap power to the opposite field that didn't look fluky due to a balanced, athletic cut. He looks like a good one, and should be at least a quality organizational player for the Halos.
2012 Performance: 2.1 WAR, +10 bat, +2 glove. .271/.419/.409 w/ 3 HR and 8 SB
Win-the-Lottery-Ceiling: Projects as a possible utility player down the road, though maybe he hits his way into something more.
28) Arjenis Fernandez, 18, rhsp
RGhan's Ranking: 26th Other Interesting Rankings: Monkey With A Halo, 19th
Money Quote: Monkey With A Halo
... don't even bother looking at Fernandez's stats because right now he is all projection. Fernandez was a big Dominican signing for the Angels, something that has been all too rare the last few years but is finally starting to increase in frequency. What the Angels got was a teenager that already works in the low-nineties and still has a plenty of filling out to do within his big frame...
2012 Performance: 77 IP, 4.79 ERA, 68 hits, 46 K/32 BB
Win-the-Lottery-Ceiling: Who knows? He has the beginnings of three quality pitches, so that's a start.
27) Yency Almonte, 18, rhsp
RGhan's Ranking: 24th Other Interesting Rankings: Prospect Nation, 15th
Money Quote: Prospect Nation
Given $250,000 in the 17th round in 2012, Almonte is one of the more projectable arms taken by the Angels. A Florida high school product, Almonte has shown a fastball up to 92 mph and he has the long, loose arm action that makes scouts believe he could sustain that and possibly have more in the tank. His slider and change-up both require work. Almonte is a long shot but has the projectablity to intrigue at this point in time.
2012 Performance: 3 IP, 6.00 ERA, 5 hits, 0 K/1 BB
Win-the-Lottery-Ceiling: Again, who knows? Baseball America reports that he's a current favorite of officials in the system, and there's certainly some upside here, but he's already run into some shoulder trouble and there are no numbers to talk about.
26) Eduar Lopez, 17, rhsp
RGhan's Ranking: 10th Other Interesting Rankings: Baseball America, 23rd
Money Quote: Baseball America Prospect Handbook
Lopez has a compact frame and an 89-91 mph fastball that he can get up to 93 and throw for strikes. He has a mid-70's curveball with quick break and solid depth, and DSL hitters often swung over it or froze up when he threw it. Like most pitchers with his experience level, he's still learning a changeup.
2012 Performance: 53.1 IP, 3.54 ERA, 42 hits, 83 K/ 23 BB
Win-the-Lottery-Ceiling: The strikeout rate and youth stand out in a thin system. He's not hugely projectable, and his injury risk is high, but I like the combo of K's and popups. With tons of development remaining, he could quickly become one of the more exciting prospects in the system. BA reports that we should see him in Arizona come June.