PRD's Top 25 Padres Minor League Players (11-15)

The Florida Marlins were in the NL Wild Card hunt until the final season with a $16 million payroll. Padres rookies Adrian Gonzales and Josh Barfield were second and sixth among hitters, respectively in terms of “Value Over Replacement Player” (VORP) and fellow rookies Clay Hensley and Cla Meredith were second and fourth among the pitchers. Virtually every team needs to get meaningful contribution out of its farm in order to do well. Farm players are cheaper, thus allowing the team to spend money in other areas of need.

In addition to the four players mentioned above, the Padres also received contribution from several other Padres rookies. This off-season the Padres will have some $25 million coming off the books. While the Padres will likely be players on the free agent market, they will again need the support of the farm as they look to build on the success of a 88-win repeat-NL West Championship season.

In 2005 the Padres added CEO Sandy Alderson to the helm and he brought in Grady Fuson to run the Padres minor leagues/scouting departments. Since then the Padres have made significant gains in the scouting/development arenas.

Welcome to my top 25. Players will be introduced in reverse order, 5 at a time…

Monday: 21-25
Tuesday: 16-20

Check back if you haven’t already seen those portions of my list.

Thanks for reading.

15. Nicholas Crosta, OF, Bats: R, Throws: R, Birthday: November 17, 1982, 6’2” 215 lbs.

Nic Crosta has a story. In 2001, the Oakland Athletics drafted Nic Crosta in the 39th round out of Highland High School in Seattle, WA (Grady Fuson was the scouting director in Oakland at that time). Then, in 2004, Crosta was coming off a solid junior season at Santa Clara University and was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 17th round (Grady Fuson, again, was the scouting director of the drafting team). Wanting more money, Nic went back to school for his senior season to improve. That senior year was a poor year and Crosta went undrafted. At that point Nic gave up on baseball. Fast-forward to 2006 and Nic Crosta gives Grady Fuson a phone call and asks to play for Fuson’s new team, the Padres. Fuson tells Crosta that he has room in his organization for him, but no money. Crosta jumps at the offer.

Knowing that Crosta would be playing this season as a 23yr old, the Padres aggressively assigned him to Low-A. Nic promptly showed why Grady was so high on him. In 123 AB, Nic hit .382 with 20 extra-base hits… Expectedly, Crosta’s performance suffered after moving to the more advanced High-A, however he shined in “Close & Late” situations hitting .328/.400/.557 in 61 C&L at-bats in Lake Elsinore.

Nic will likely be challenged with a promotion to Double-A next season. Nic BB/SO ratio is a respectable 55/105 (combining both levels) and when we look at his league totals (26/35 in Low-A and 29/71 in High-A) he could stand to control the strike zone better… Keep in mind Crosta hasn’t played competitive baseball in a year so he is already exceeding expectations.

2006 Statistics:

High-A (Lake Elsinore):
.267/.342/.438 – 281 AB, 42 R, 75 H, 22 2B, 4 3B, 6 HR, 44 RBI, 29 BB, 71 SO, 4 SB, 0 CS

Low-A (Fort Wayne):
.382/.490/.667 – 123 AB, 26 R, 47 H, 12 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 30 RBI, 26 BB, 35 SO, 2 SB, 2 CS

14. Aaron Breit, SP, Bats: R, Throws: R, Birthday: April 19, 1984, 6’3” 180 lbs.

Twice drafted by the Padres, in 2004 and again in the 12th round of the 2005 draft (he was signed as a “Draft and Follow” prior to the 2006 draft).

Breit has an 88-92 fastball (Aaron flashed some 94’s in college), a curve, and he shelved his splitter for the organizationally mandated changeup.

Aaron was especially impressive down the stretch. In his last five outings, Breit posted a 1.82 ERA over 24.2 IP, with 23 hits, 4 walks, and 20 strikeouts.

A rare power-arm in the Padres system, Breit is someone to watch in 2007.

2006 Statistics:

Short-Season (Eugene):
2-3, 3.08 ERA, 64.1 IP, 60 H, 31 R, 22 ER, 2 HR, 22 BB, 69 SO, 0.92 GO/AO, .250 BAA

13. Felix Carrasco, 3B, Bats: S, Throws: R, Birthday: February 14, 1987, 6’1” 220 lbs.

The Padres have a few third base options in their system who each excite in different ways: Matt Antonelli, a first round pick with phenomenal athleticism but little power (who will likely end up at 2B), David Freese, an older collegiate player with a power bat but limited range defensively, Chase Headley, another collegian draftee with solid all around tools but is not spectacular…

Then there’s Felix Carrasco. In a San Diego Union Tribune article, Grady Fuson said, “…[Felix Carrasco] might be the biggest steal in Latin America.”

Carrasco’s game lacks a lot of polish but he hasn’t flopped. 2006 was Carrasco’s first real taste of organized baseball.

Not surprisingly, Carrasco faded down the stretch, hitting only .208/.300/.340 in August… The switch-hitter also struggled against left-handed pitching (.233/.327/.326). He’s not a top prospect yet, but he deserves watching and the organization is very high on him.

2006 Statistics:

Rookie (AZL Padres):
.273/.347/.424 – 172 AB, 32 R, 47 H, 12 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 37 RBI, 17 BB, 48 SO, 2 SB, 0 CS

12. Cesar Ramos, SP, Bats: L, Throws: L, Birthday: June 22, 1984, 6’2” 190 lbs.

I happened to be in the Channel 4 booth, when Cesar Ramos was introduced to San Diego fans in June of 2005. He not as tall as he listed…

The 2005 Supplemental 1st round selection, has had an unimpressive career… In 2005, Ramos spun a 6.53 ERA in his 20.2 inning professional debut (Northwest League hitters batted .303 off Ramos). Ramos was then promoted to Low A Fort Wayne and posted a 4.19 ERA in 38.2 IP with a .282 BAA (he combined to allow 69 hits in 59.1 IP while striking out 45 and walking 14.

Despite sub-par numbers, the Padres did not think Ramos needed to go back to Fort Wayne and sent him to Lake Elsinore. Ramos was supposed to be the polished lefty who breezed through the minors. But Ramos has yet to have a stop where he allowed fewer hits than innings pitched, furthermore he’s not striking out hitters. Statistical research shows success highly unlikely with a K/9 rate below 5.5 per 9 innings … Ramos posted a 4.47 K/9 rate in 2006 and has a 4.63 K/9 rate for his 2-season professional career.

Despite poor hit rates and strikeout rates, Ramos is highly regarded by the front office (at least publicly). The Padres suggest that Ramos has had shaky defense behind him and his groundball tendencies are suited more for big league defenses. That’s fine, but Ramos may find success elusive until he starts striking out more than 4.5 hitters per 9 innings.

(This ranking is almost entirely due to continued glowing organizational reports.)

2006 Statistics:

High-A (Lake Elsinore):
7-8, 3.70 ERA, 141.0 IP, 72 R, 58 ER, 9 HR, 44 BB, 70 SO, 1.49 GO/AO, .292 BAA

11. Wade Leblanc, SP, Bats: L, Throws: L, Birthday: August 7, 1984, 6’3” 190 lbs.

Another 2006 draftee (2nd round), Leblanc was Baseball America’s “Freshman of the Year” in 2004 and posted a 2.95 cumulative collegiate ERA. Leblanc is usually described as a back of the rotation starter in part to his lack of velocity (his fast ball usually sits in the mid-80s) but he does have a plus-change.

Wade had the type of season the Padres hoped they would get out of Cesar Ramos in 2005. Leblanc dominated Low A after having a decent showing in the Northwest League.

While we don’t know how many errors were committed behind Leblanc this season, it is encouraging that Wade didn’t allow even a single ‘reached-on-error’ base-runner to score; Leblanc did not allow a single unearned run.

Being a fly-ball pitcher, Leblanc could struggle in Lake Elsinore (or at least on the road). It will be interesting if the Padres promote Wade to the Cal League after only 53.2 professional innings, or bring him back to Fort Wayne before a mid-season promotion…

2006 Statistics:

Low-A (Fort Wayne):
4-1, 2.20 ERA, 32.2 IP, 31 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 1 HR, 10 BB, 27 SO, 0.73 GO/AO, .250 BAA

Short-Season (Eugene):
1-0, 4.29 ERA, 21.0 IP, 19 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 0 HR, 6 BB, 20 SO, 0.85 GO/AO, .250 BAA

Check back tomorrow for numbers 5-10.