Top 5 Catching Prospects

by Project Prospect
October 20, 2006
Building upon our Organizational Top 3s, which you can see by visiting our Rankings Archives, we will now unveil top prospect lists by position. This series will run every Friday for the next seven weeks, covering our Top 5 catchers (today), first basemen (10/27), second basemen (11/3), shortstops (11/10), third basemen (11/17), and then Top 10 outfielders (11/24) and finally starting pitchers (12/1).

A player must have rookie status entering the 2007 season in order to qualify for our lists. We rank players based on their potential and the likelihood they will reach that potential.


1. Jeff Clement, SEA: One of the top collegiate catching prospects in recent history, Clement, 23, headlines this list – despite his injury-filled (elbow and knee) professional debut – because he has potential to be a perennial All-Star.

Taken 3rd overall in the 2005 draft, Clement has managed just 428 at-bats since signing with the Mariners in late-July of 2005. And his .278/.350/.418 career minor league line doesn’t begin to resemble the potential he displayed in college.

Still, if the 6-foot-1, 210-pound left-handed hitter enters camp healthy in 2007, he could be in a major league uniform by midseason. Currently one of the most prominent players competing in the rebirth of the Hawaii Winter Baseball League, Clement will likely begin 2007 in Triple-A Tacoma.

 

2. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, ATL : The one person in the Braves organization who probably wasn’t thrilled about Brian McCann’s meteoric ascension to stardom, Saltalamacchia, 21, seems unlikely to unseat his major league counterpart anytime soon, but he’s still making a name for himself.

A 2003 first round draft pick, Saltalamacchia really arrived on the scene when he dominated High-A Myrtle Beach in 2005 with a .314/.394/.519 line. Despite less-enamoring .230/.353/.380 vitals at Double-A Mississippi in 2006, he still managed to improve his walk to strikeout ratio (0.58 in 2005; 0.77 in 2006). And some critics point to a wrist problem that sidelined the 6-foot-4, 195-pound switch-hitter in early-July as cause for his decline in numbers.

The Florida native seems to hit effectively from both sides of the plate, though his frame might be too big to handle the everyday grind of catching at the major league level. Saltalamacchia should be ready for the majors by 2008. As far as what uniform he’ll be donning, our best guess is that it won’t be red and blue.

 
3. Neil Walker, PIT : Another high potential catcher who has been hampered by injuries, Walker, 21, tried to play through a viral infection late in the season. The 2004 first round draft pick still managed a combined .271/.329/.403 vital line between High-A Lynchburg and Double-A Altoona.

A participant in the 2006 Futures Game, Walker (6’2”, 215-pounds) has rich baseball bloodlines and is in position to make as big of a mark on the game as any member of his family – perhaps as an All-Star someday. He hits from both sides of the plate, runs well – for a catcher – and limits would be base stealers effectively.

Walker is currently getting in hacks as a member of the Grand Canyon Rafters in the Arizona Fall League. He’ll likely pick up where he left off in Double-A Altoona entering the 2007 season.

 
4. Chris Iannetta, COL
: Iannetta, 23, was stellar last season, shredding through Double-A Tulsa (.321/.418/.622) and then Triple-A Colorado Springs (.351/.447/.510). The 4th round draft pick out of North Carolina vaulted his way to a late-season call-up and claimed the ever-changing title of “Catcher of the Future” in Colorado.

Perhaps the guy who Colorado has long been looking for, we see Iannetta (5’11”, 195-pounds) as a catcher who will put up slightly better numbers than Johnny Estrada and prove to be more durable. Although Iannetta may never encounter a season where he is able to represent the National League in the All-Star game, we think he’ll go on to have a solid major league career. Look for him on the Rockies’ opening day lineup card.

 
5. Miguel Montero, ARI: Signed out of Venezuela in 2001, Montero, 24, graduated Double-A and Triple-A in 2006 after accumulating 1,637 total minor league at-bats over the course of five season. He then joined the Diamondbacks as a September call-up.

 

While he’ll probably begin 2007 in Triple-A Tucson, the 5-foot-11, 195-pound lefthanded hitter doesn’t have much to prove after his .321/.396/.515 (134 at-bats) stint last season. Montero is polished both defensively and offensively, making him a good bet to assume a major league catching job sometime in 2007.