Top 15 Third Base Prospects

January 3, 2009

All Positions: C / 1B / 2B / SS / 3B / CF / OF / P

Top 15 Third Base Prospects
No. Player Pos. Comments Age Org Lvl
1 Pedro Alvarez 3B High upside hitter w/ power + patience; missed time in '08 (contract disputes/broken hamate) 21.7 PIT NCAA
2 Mike Moustakas 3B Tale of two halves in '08; pre all-star: .228/.285/.386, post all-star: .321/.392/.557; .343 wOBA 20.1 KC A
3 Brett Wallace 3B 08 No. 13 pick had .419 wOBA between A+, AA (234 PA); went .309/.381/.585 in AFL 22.1 STL AA
4 Mat Gamel 3B Anti-Moustakas: saw .400+ wOBA in April-June drop under .300 in July, August; .388 overall 23.3 MIL MLB
5 Dayan Viciedo 3B/RF Cuban defector w/ big power upside and ability to walk; appears unlikely to stick at third base 19.6 CHW INT
6 Josh Vitters 3B Went .324/.361/.494 in SS after Low-A demotion; .378 BABIP vs. 15% LD; 4.7% BB, 16.2% K 19.1 CHC A
7 Matt Dominguez 3B No. 12 pick ('07) put up .368 wOBA in 381 PA at Low-A Greensboro -- an extreme hitter's park 19.1 FLA A
8 Matt Tuiasosopo 3B 3rd rounder ('04) coming off best pro year: .281/.364/.453 (500 AAA PA); 9.4% BB, 20.8% K 22.4 SEA AAA
9 Neftali Soto 3B Had .375 wOBA between R, A ball (302 PA); power, yes (.196 IsoP); patience, no (3.5% BB) 19.6 CIN A
10 Jefry Marte 3B Put up .324/.393/.538 line in 163 GCL PA, but might be hard to match: .381 BABIP vs. 11% LD 17.3 NYM R
11 Michael Almanzar 3B Signed out of Dominican for $1.5 million in '07; early struggles: .303 wOBA, .114 IsoP, 22.0% K 17.9 BOS A
12 Taylor Green 3B Had .356 wOBA in pitcher-friendly Brevard County; patient (12.6% BB); good contact 11.9% K 21.9 MIL A+
13 Eric Campbell 3B 2nd rounder ('04) had .359 wOBA in A+ in '08 after going .315 at same level in '07; .224 IsoP 23.2 ATL A+
14 Billy Rowell 3B Just .308 wOBA in 409 A+ PA; still, too early to write him off -- would be a junior in college 20.1 BAL A+
15 Joshua Bell 3B 4th rounder ('05) went .273/.373/.455 in 219 PA; ton of walks (14.2% BB), ton of K's (25.6%) 21.9 LAD A+
Honorables: John Whittleman (TEX), Austin Gallagher (LAD), Neil Walker (PIT), Conor Gillaspie (SF), Jharmidy De Jesus (SEA), and Allen Craig (STL).
* Our rankings combine a player's ceiling with the odds that he'll reach it and favor recent production
** Ages are as of November 1st, 2008
*** Level is the highest level the player has reached
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Questions about this list can be directed toward Adam Foster at .