The AAA Tacoma Rainiers don’t have the prospects of the lower rung West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, High Desert Mavericks or Clinton Lumberkings, but even Seattle’s most boring full season minor league affiliate has had something to offer so far this season.  Tacoma has seen two former top prospects regain some of their shine in 3B Matt Mangini and OF Greg Halman.

One of my first ever blog posts back at the old Bleeding Blue and Teal was about Matt Mangini shortly after he was drafted in 2007.  I don’t remember exactly what I wrote and I’m not about to go dig it up, but I think it heralded Mangini as that left handed power stick the Mariners had been seeking since the departure of Ken Griffey Jr.  Of course, Raul Ibañez was just coming off of a 33 home run season so I’m not quite sure what I was going on about, but I’m pretty sure that’s what I said.  Needless to say, I didn’t know a whole lot about the draft or player development at that point, and I was obviously gobbling up press releases without any objectivity.

Mangini, a supplemental first round pick in 2007, was supposed to be a quick study and become Adrian Beltre’s successor following his departure before the 2010 season.  Mangini didn’t progress as quickly as hoped, however.  He struck out too much, his walk rates fluctuated between well below average and well above average, and the big man’s power failed to develop.  He employed an ugly uppercut swing and earned a reputation for resisting instruction on the road to inconsistency (whether that reputation is deserved is another story).  I and many others had all but given up on Mangini as a prospect, but towards the end of last season something started clicking and his numbers came up a bit, and he was bumped up to Tacoma this year to make room in West Tenn for Alex Liddi.

Due to the generous promotion Mangini was only one year off the pace coming into the year, but no one was penciling him into future lineups. Flash forward to the present day and Mangini is quietly putting together a fine season.  He’s hitting for average (.294) and drawing enough walks to keep himself out of trouble (7.6%, .344 OBP).  Most importantly, he’s tapped into his 6’4/230+ frame and hitting for power like never before.  His 8 home runs have him on pace to shatter his previous career high of 12 and his .265 ISO is over 100 points higher than it’s been at any stop leading up to this point.

Am I ready to put him toe to toe with Dustin Ackley and Jose Lopez for an infield spot next year?  Or with Mike Carp for the first base gig?  No.  But his .294/.344/.559 line this season puts him solidly back into the prospect picture and creates another intriguing option that we weren’t counting on.

Halman’s fall from grace was much steeper.  Heralded as “the best pure athlete in the system” since 2007 or so, Halman put together a monster season in 2008 between High Desert and West Tenn, catapulting him up prospect lists and causing all of us to dream on his tools.  That’s not to say there weren’t warning signs–  the strikeout rate nearing 30% was worrisome– but he was going to improve, right?

2009 wasn’t kind to Halman.  His AA line of .210/.278/.430 showed off the power and not a whole lot else.  He was hopeless for much of the year, overmatched by AA pitching.  Suddenly we’re thinking less Alfonso Soriano, less Bo Jackson and more Charlton Jimerson and Reggie Abercrombie.  Suddenly we’re trying to figure out if his defense is good enough to make him worthwhile as a 4th or 5th outfielder.  Peaks and valleys.

Halman was promoted to Tacoma in 2010.  It was a somewhat curious move as he had just gotten beat down at a lower level and there were no prospects pushing him out of a spot in West Tenn, but it wasn’t wholly unexpected.  Teams like to give struggling players a change of scenery from time to time– new town, new stadium, new coaching staff, new opponents.  But it was going to be a challenge.  Following a year that saw him strikeout 40% of the time in AA, AAA pitching made him easily projectable as the PCL single season strikeout king.

The strikeout record isn’t safe.  He’s striking out 38% of the time.  That’s about 15-20% too high.  And he’s hitting just .234.  What about restoring some shine?

Halman is walking 12.6% of the time this year, well above average and double anything he’s done in the past.    And it appears to be a real improvement as well as he’s facing pitchers that can find the zone and according to reports he isn’t being pitched around.  And the power is still there, of course.   Suddenly, his batting line is much more palatable at .234/.331/.532.

The strikeouts are still a problem.  There is clearly an issue with pitch recognition.  But as long as he’s not chasing pitches out of the zone so frequently and is able to find some way to make a little more contact, the Mariners may have something in Halman.  Perhaps he may have to sacrifice some power in order to hit for contact, but he has so much raw power that that’s a tradeoff that can be made.  Whatever he does going forward, what he has done so far this season is major progress.

A few short years ago these two players represented a major part of the team’s plans.  Both have given those spots to other players after some hard times, but it is awfully nice to see these two getting it back together.  Whether or not they can earn themselves a roster spot with a future Mariners team will remain to be seen, but they’re taking the right steps to make it happen.