Ben Lipson at TopProspectAlert.com sent me an email to let me know that they just posted their list of the Sox top 10 prospects for 2007. Three things about the list that struck me as particularly interesting:
- Eight out of ten of the guys on this list are in AA ball or lower (although Kottaras spent part of the year with San Diego’s AAA club), so it’ll probably be another year at least before they hit the majors (if they ever do). The revolution is coming, but it’s coming VERY slowly.
- Of those 10 guys, two are in the majors right now (Pedroia and Hansen) and one is rumored to be Mirabelli’s replacement (Kottaras) and of those three, only Hansen spent any time (36 innings/14 games) in Pawtucket. Based off of Hansen’s mixed performance in the majors in ’06 he really needs more time in AAA, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he got the invitation to come to Spring Training and started the year in Pawtucket. I agree with DC's thoughts on how Pedroia should spent next year.
- Kottaras strikes out a lot more than he walks (181 strikeouts to 131 walks in about 945 plate appearances over two years) and his performance declined after he went up to AAA in the middle of the season: in AA, he was getting a hit or a walk about 37 percent of the time and striking out 21 percent of the time. After his promotion, the strikeout percentage stayed the same, but the hits/walks percentage dropped to 26 percent. I don’t think he’s ready for the big leagues yet.
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