The guy can hit, and it’s a shame that he hasn’t gotten a real chance in the last couple of years. His MLB statlines don’t look pretty at first glance, but they prove that he can hold his own in the bigs. In my mind he should have been Seattle’s DH in the second half last season.

He won the MVP in his winter league this year with 50 RBI’s and 17 HR’s in only 195 AB’s.

Jon, what is the deal with him?

Aumont could appear around the same time, but he’s a completely different case than Triunfel. Aumont already has amazing stuff, he just needs to work on building up his arm strength and getting his messy mechanics in sync, and who knows how long that will take. I think I’ll be able to guess a bit better once I see him throw in Spring Training, but 2010/2011 is a pretty safe bet.

RE: Almonte – I originally had him around 22 on the list, but he needs to prove himself in 2009. I’m not saying he needs a breakout season, because that would be ridiculous at age 20. He just needs to continue working on his swing mechanics and possibly cut down on the strikeouts. He has plate discipline, so it’s not as if he’s swinging at a lot of bad pitches. He just makes poor contact.

If he shows some improvement he could start jumping up the list, because the tools are there and he could be an exciting player one day, but 186 Ks in just 492 PAs is a terrifying tally. Some think that he should drop the switch-hitter tag and only hit from the right side. He’s hitting more home runs from the left side, but more consistent line drives as a righty.

RE Wilson: Giving up switch hitting seems to have helped him find some consistency. Hopefully he can perform in Tacoma.

RE HD Rotation: That rotation would be possibly the best in minor league baseball, representing all five of our top pitching prospects. Unfortunately, I don’t think they’ll all start in High Desert right away, but we’ll see.

It also looks like the High Desert Mavericks will have a starting rotation of Aumont, Ramirez, Pineda, Adcock and Cleto unless Cleto is moved to the bullpen, but either way it’s an exciting group of young pitching prospects.

I also really like Almonte. I know he hasn’t shown much, but I think he can. We will learn a lot about him this year.

Many top prospects start out their pro careers as shortstops, but as their bodies mature they grow out of the position. Several of the names on this list are examples of this, including Matt Tuiasosopo, Jharmidy DeJesus and Mario Martinez.

I’ve only been able to watch Tui and DeJesus myself, but all three are said to be struggling defensively and it would be safe to say that it’s the transition they’re struggling with. All three are tremendous athletes and none of them seem to lack the physical ability to be a great defensive third baseman. It’s just a new experience for them, and it will take time.

This isn’t the same as taking Jeff Clement and sticking him in center field. There is nothing Jeff can do to become a good defensive CFer, because he just isn’t athletic enough and doesn’t have the body type. For these three 3B, there is nothing physical getting in their way.

Just like these prospects have to learn to hit like major leaguers, they also have to learn to field like major leaguers. Few guys in rookie ball are going to pick it like Beltre.. just like hitting the ball the other way, defense is a learned skill.

Errors aren’t typically a great stat to use, but they’re all we’ve got in this case. Martinez made 16 errors at 3B in just 62 games… not good. Just sounds like he’s adjusting to all the new plays he has to make as a 3B that he didn’t have to make as a SS, and I wouldn’t worry about it. Kid looks like a great athlete in the photos I’ve seen.

Hope that helps. Welcome to the site.