Touring the Minors: The Triple-A All-Star Game

Readers of this column often raise questions about our use of the term
"prospect." There appears to be some confusion as to how a player
may project to make the majors and yet not be regarded as a prospect. Last
week’s Triple-A All-Star Game in Indianapolis game offered some
illustrations that might clarify the distinction.

There is no consensus definition of what makes a prospect, but factors
generally taken into account are the player’s age relative to his league,
his pedigree (where he was drafted and at what age), his time spent at a
particular minor-league level (players who have breakout seasons when
repeating a league are to be regarded with skepticism), tools (physical
gifts such as foot speed, arm strength, and power), and skills (such as
strike-zone judgment for hitters, and command and makeup for pitchers).

An extreme example of a non-prospect Triple-A All Star would be a
30-year-old second baseman drafted from college, now having a breakout
season in his third year in the International League, with a decent batting
average and a few steals, but a poor strikeout-to-walk ratio and a poor
stolen-base percentage. An extreme example of a Triple-A All Star prospect
would be a tall, fast, strong, 21-year-old outfielder who was drafted in the
second round, and who has moved through three levels in two years,
dominating each. With minor modifications, the first profile could be
P.J. Forbes, and the second could be Adam Dunn. When scouting
for prospects, we’re looking for young players who have the physical gifts
and mental toughness to excel–not merely survive–at the major league
level.

The rosters for the International League and Pacific Coast League squads
were dominated by players who are not considered prospects, as the term is
used by performance analysts. In fact, 14 of the 25 players on the IL’s
roster didn’t rate profiles in Baseball Prospectus 2001. While the
game did feature some blue chippers, most of its stars will spend the
remainder of their careers getting the occasional whiff of major-league
coffee, but mostly just being tossed around as PTBNLs. In that sense, the
game served as the Quadruple-A All Star game as well.

Observations from this year’s Triple-A All-Star festival, regarding
prospects, non-prospects, and sundries:

• The game was hosted by the Indianapolis Indians, the Brewers’ Triple-A
  affiliate and reigning Triple-A champions. Victory Field is a gorgeous park,
  with a broad and colorful sunset view of the modest Indianapolis skyline.
  The park favors pitchers slightly, but its dimensions suggest it should kill
  offense, especially right-handed batters. The wall in left-center is 418
  feet away. The park’s concourses are wider than any I’ve seen and the staff
  is courteous and knowledgeable. It’s a more enjoyable place to watch a
  ballgame than Miller Park.

• As I noted in the profile of the Phillies’ organization,
  Brandon Duckworth (Reading) wasn’t drafted after his senior year of college, so
  he hasn’t been highly regarded until recently. He has had to prove himself
  at every level, and this year he started the All-Star Game for the
  International League. Duckworth has maintained his excellent ratios from
  last season, with a K/BB ratio of nearly 5-to-1 and more strikeouts than
  innings pitched. Those reflect his skills. His tools are a low-90s fastball
  and a curve that was rated the best in the Eastern League last season.

  In this game he pitched only two innings but tied a Triple-A All-Star record
  by striking out five batters. In the first inning, he used that 12-to-6
  curve to get Keith Ginter (New Orleans) on a called third strike that
  caused giggles in the press box. Duckworth will be in Philadelphia very soon
  and will have a better career than recent call-ups Nelson Figueroa
  and Dave Coggin.

• Jack Cust (Tucson) lost the home-run contest to Chris
  Latham (Syracuse). Cust made our Top 40 Prospects list this year, while
  Latham didn’t make it into the book.

  Latham is slugging .582 this year, but beware: last year at Colorado
  Springs, an extreme hitters’ park, Latham slugged .393. He’s a journeyman
  minor leaguer, repeating Triple-A at 28. He has decent strike-zone judgment,
  draws walks, and steal bases. Those skills should translate well to any
  league. His recent call-up by the Blue Jays should last a while, but he’s a
  late bloomer with a short career as a fifth outfielder ahead of him.

  On the other hand, Cust is 22 and in his first season at Triple-A. Watching
  the two in batting practice and in the contest, the difference is clear.
  Latham hits with some power, but the ball explodes off Cust’s bat. He lined
  pitch after pitch out of the park and into the traffic on West Street. Cust
  has excellent plate patience. The knocks on Cust are that he doesn’t hustle
  and can’t field, but the coaches and media at the All-Star Game who have
  seen him play say that he is a very hard worker and that he is putting in
  extra time trying to bring his defense up to major-league standards. He went
  2-for-2 with a walk, including a double he legged out on pure hustle,
  belying his reputation. When he gets to the majors he will get on base and
  hit for immense power. Comparisons to Jim Thome aren’t hyperbole.
  Latham will get to the majors a little sooner, but Cust will last much
  longer and have an All-Star career. In short, Cust is a prospect and Latham
  isn’t.

• Ginter, the PCL’s starting second baseman, is slugging .468 with 10 home
  runs and 22 doubles. Last year, he slugged .580 with 26 home runs and 30
  doubles, running away with the Texas League MVP award. Even adjusting for
  league and park factors, that’s a lot of power for a guy with his build. He’
  s listed at 5’10", 190 pounds but he looks smaller than that in person.
  This year, he’s having some trouble with the strike zone. He has struck out
  97 times in 301 at-bats, with only 34 walks drawn. His OBP is .368, down
  from the .457 he posted in 2000. It’s his first time through Triple-A and
  with Craig Biggio having a solid season, Ginter has time to develop.
  He’s just 25, with solid skills and a decent glove, and he is reputed to
  have a solid work ethic.

  The IL’s second baseman is P.J. Forbes, who isn’t in our book. He’s not on
  the lists compiled by John Sickels or Baseball America. He’s a
  30-year-old journeyman having the season of his life. An alum of the
  talented Wichita State teams of the late 1980s, Forbes was the oldest player
  in this All-Star Game. He has a .295 batting average, but nothing else
  star-like in his numbers. He’s a starting All-Star, which is a nice personal
  achievement, but he’s not a prospect.

• Explaining how music sounds is difficult, so we use analogies. We might
  say, "The band sounds like Neil Young and Crazy Horse produced by Brian
  Wilson." Similarly, analogies help convey the impressions minor
  leaguers make upon observers. Sometimes the analogies get out of hand, with
  a Rolling Stone-esque puerility that obfuscates the truth as it
  embarrasses the observer.

  During the ESPN2 broadcast, the announcers compared Tacoma designated hitter
  Juan Thomas to Frank Thomas. Juan Thomas is in fact large, but
  he’s wide through the hips and fat, whereas Frank Thomas still has the body
  of an NFL tight end. Like Frank Thomas, Juan Thomas hits for power. His
  420-foot home run in the All-Star Game is what set the announcers off. But
  he has 101 strikeouts in 336 at-bats, with only 20 walks. Frank Thomas has a
  batting eye that is among the best in history. Juan Thomas is a 29-year-old
  journeyman DH who has spent time in the independent leagues, repeating
  Triple-A. Frank Thomas might be a Hall of Famer. Juan Thomas, father of
  five, is a wonderful story for the features section of the Tacoma News
  Tribune, but he’s no Frank Thomas. The difference between Juan Thomas and
  Frank Thomas is the difference between Crash Davis and Mike Piazza.

• Adam Dunn (Louisville) was the story of the game. A year ago he was in A
  ball. This year, he has already conquered Double-A and Triple-A. The
  All-Star Game was a farewell party for him, as he’ll be starting for the
  Reds just as soon as they trade Dmitri Young or Alex Ochoa.
  Dunn is 6’6", 230 pounds, with a quarterback’s poise and air of
  celebrity. More than any other player in the All-Star Game, he has the
  presence of a star. In the game, he hit two home runs, one reaching Cust’s
  province on West Street, for a combined distance of approximately 900 feet.
  The two homers tied Ryan Klesko‘s Triple-A All-Star Game record, and
  IL manager Bill Evans left Dunn in the entire game to give him a chance to
  hit a third. Dunn is the next Sure Thing.

• The Warm Fuzzy of the evening was provided by Calgary closer Johnny
  Ruffin. Ruffin, who was one of the NL’s best relievers in 1994, has
  spent the last 15 of his 31 years bouncing around pro baseball, playing in
  America, Japan, and Mexico. In the game, he worked two perfect innings,
  racking up five strikeouts, all swinging, including one against Dunn. The
  performance was so impressive and unexpected that several members of the
  press retrieved their Player of the Game ballots to remove Duckworth’s name
  in favor of Ruffin’s. He has two high-80s sliders and a mid-90s fastball, so
  gifts have never been a problem. His problem has always been command. This
  year, as a result of changing his arm slot, Ruffin has 44 strikeouts in 30
  innings, with only nine walks. He now has command. PCL manager Tony Pena
  spoke truly when he said that Ruffin uses the sliders in combinations that
  "make guys look real fonny."

• This might be coincidence, but during batting practice there was a
  marked difference between the way the balls left the bats of Cust, Sean
  Burroughs (Portland), Eric Byrnes (Sacramento), and Nick
  Johnson (Columbus), and how it looked coming off the bats of power
  hitters like Ramon Castro (Calgary) and Juan Thomas. Cust’s
  group drilled series upon series of line-drive homers, seat-smashing fouls,
  and long, low rockets into the gaps. Castro and Thomas had more and longer
  batting practice homers, but they puffed plenty of duds too.

• Juan Uribe (Colorado Springs) is expected to push Neifi Perez
  off of shortstop, or out of the Rockies’ organization altogether. His
  fielding is Gold Glove caliber, and though his strike-zone judgment needs
  work. it was a pleasant surprise to see him hitting hard like the guys in
  Cust’s company. Uribe was a bit too low in the minors to make our Top 40
  list, but he is quietly ascending to top prospect status.

• When the festivities began at the skills competition Tuesday, Ruben
  Quevedo (Iowa) was rumored to be part of the Cubs’ deal for Fred
  McGriff. It was surprise haul for the Devil Rays, an organization that
  typically eschews skills for tools and that would be expected to shy away
  from a short, fat pitcher. The price seemed steep, given Quevedo’s
  development this season: 121 2/3 innings, 102 hits, 130 strikeouts, 41
  walks, 10 home runs. By game time, Quevedo was out of the deal, replaced by
  Jason Smith and Manny Aybar, much more in keeping with Tampa
  Bay’s modus operandi.

  Before the game, Quevedo signed autographs with his shirt tail untucked and
  while experiencing a pitiable case of bedhead. He had the appearance of a
  freed hostage flaunting his untidiness like a war wound. During the game,
  Quevedo pitched three innings, changing speeds and working both sides of
  plate expertly. He gave up a bomb to Dunn, but otherwise pitched efficiently
  and well. He’s a good example of a non-prospect who should have a nice
  career as a steady fourth or fifth starter. In contrast, the IL used Mark
  Johnson (Toledo),
  whom I wrote about in the Tigers’ profile.
  Johnson will get major-league work as a fifth starter, but not for long. He’s a good
  example of what "Quadruple-A player" means.

• While we don’t give much attention to minor-league relievers, three
  relievers from the All-Star Game are worth noting. None of them made the
  book, but each has an excellent shot at making the majors this season.
  Oscar Henriquez (Norfolk) could enable the Mets to move Armando
  Benitez. A Chubby Checker lookalike, Henriquez has 43 strikeouts in 37
  1/3 innings, with only one home run allowed. He has trouble with control,
  having walked 19 batters already, but his strikeout-to-walk ratio is still
  better than 2 to 1. Buffalo’s Roy Smith carried a 1.07 ERA into the
  All-Star break, with 45 strikeouts and 15 walks in 33 2/3 innings. He’s a
  side-armer with a release point that’s very hard for both lefties and
  righties to pick up. He’s an excellent candidate to spend the next few years
  in a set-up role. Jim Mann (New Orleans) should make it to Houston
  before September, giving Larry Dierker an alternative to overusing Billy
  Wagner. Mann has a 1.49 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings, with
  only ten walks and four home runs. He’s big, and has nasty billygoat chin
  hair and a fiery attitude. At the post-game party, he was yelling
  good-naturedly at Tony Pena, his manager at New Orleans, to "Pitch me
  every day, mother[lover]…pitch me every day!"

• Lastly, there was a Calvin Pickering (Rochester) sighting. He was
  spotted being thrown out on a grounder to deep short that Bill Veeck might
  have beaten out. Someone said Pickering has lost a lot of weight, but even
  if that’s true he still has Tommy Lasorda’s physique and locomotive gait.

Keith J. Scherer is an attorney practicing in Chicago, where he lives with his wife and son. You can contact him at KJSbaseball@aol.com.