Baseball in Fort Wayne

John Conniff has published the top 20 Padres prospects over at MadFriars. There are many former Wizards making the cut. They include:

• Chase Headley (1): “Simply the best player in the system right now; a switch-hitting third baseman with power.”
• Matt Antonelli (3): “Made as big a jump as any Padres prospect last year and should be the team’s starting second baseman/leadoff hitter for years to come, starting in 2009″
• Cedric Hunter (4): “Maybe the best athlete in the system, and, if he develops the way we believe, the numbers will begin to equal the projections.”
• Chad Huffman (5): ” There isn’t anyone in the organization that has his combination of power and patience.”
• Wade LeBlanc (6): “He should begin the year in Portland and could have a shot at the Padres rotation by mid-season. His changeups are truly amazing pitches, but he’s going to need to be able to command his fastball low and inside for him to realize his full potential.”
• Kyle Blanks (7): “He has tremendous potential, but, as he advances up the system, some of his limitations are also coming into play; mainly conditioning and being limited to first.”
• Drew Miller (11): “A very big fastball with control. If he can stay healthy and improve his breaking pitch and changeup, he could challenge Latos as the pitcher with the biggest upside.”
• Nick Hundley (12): “Hundley’s defense is what will carry him to the majors, but he also has some power and knows the strike zone.”
• Josh Geer (15): “He does what the entire Padres’ organization preaches, locates and commands his fastball and changes speeds. He is able to put his sinking two-seam fastball on either side of the plate, to go along with a good slider that batters chase outside the zone and an effective changeup.”
• Cory Luebke (16): “He blew away the competition in the Northwest League and did very well coming in the later part of the season on a bad Fort Wayne team.”
• Rayner Contreras (18): “He has immense potential packed into a growing frame with a sweet swing that packs a wallop.”
• Aaron Breit (19): “Despite having a rough year, Breit’s tools, combined with his end of the year progress, are simply too much to ignore.”
• Cesar Ramos (20): “Ramos showed significant improvement in the second half, mainly due to his ability to cut down on his walks and drastically cut down on the number of home runs.”

Some of those appearing on the list may see time at the Castle in 2008: Mat Latos (2), Yefri Carvajal (8), Kellen Kulbacki (9), Drew Cumberland (10), Mitch Canham (14)

[tags]Fort Wayne Wizards, Ft. Wayne, prospects, Padres, MadFriars[/tags]

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