2006 Post-Season Top 30 Prospects- #20-#11

Tuesday, September 26 2006 @ 07:15 AM EDT

Yesterday, we looked at prospects #30-#21. We move on today to players who are more familiar.

That Roberts ranked this low shows the discrepancy between members of the minor league crew in their opinion of prospects and what factors they place the most emphasis on when composing their lists. He had one of the highest standard deviation scores of any prospect in the system and in two lists of the six lists submitted he ranked in the top 12; in two others he was left completely off the ballot.

Prior to 2006 Roberts had never posted a sub-.800 OPS, aside from a half-season in Dunedin and this year he came very close with a .784 OPS in Syracuse. Those aren’t earth-shattering numbers, but they’re fine numbers for a middle infielder. Unfortunately, Roberts only has struggled at times defensively at 2B or 3B and doesn’t project as a shortstop. What was worrying about his season this year is that prior to 2006 Roberts walked in about 14.5% of his minor league trips to the plate. This year Roberts only walked in 7.9% of his plate appearances. Prior to this year Roberts’s eye was pretty consistent, so this might be a one-year fluke.

In any case, Roberts is in limbo this offseason. He’s demonstrated that he deserves a shot to make an MLB roster, but he’s at a disadvantage because he can’t play short. That isn’t a huge problem with Hill able to play the position, but Hill’s much better at second. Roberts projects as a reserve, but in the end his status for 2007 will depend a lot on (a) who the Jays bring in to challenge Adams for a starting job and (b) whether the team wants MacDonald to return as a backup infielder. He’ll be in the mix next year, but many of the circumstances will be beyond his control. (T)

Vermilyea throws a sinker, a slider and a change, and is tough on right-handed hitters. He possesses the Chien Ming Wang profile. Good control, strikes out between 4 and 5 batters per 9 innings and induces ground ball after ground ball. How many ground balls? 64% of balls in play this year. With a good infield defence and a catcher who controls the running game behind him, Vermilyea would probably succeed in a middle relief role. He would be more sensitive than many pitchers to changes in the environment, although he is not particularly vulnerable to the home run.(MG)

Ismael Ramirez started nineteen games in AA and held opponents to a .218 batting average. Ramirez gave up 85 hits in 108 innings on his way to a 2.08 ERA. It was Ramirez' second go-round at AA and had he not been injured he could have been in AAA by mid-season. Izzy was finally promoted to AAA for his last three starts and batters hit .242 off him. The issues facing Ramirez' prospect status are his injury record and his lower strikeout rate. Ramirez has missed time due to elbow problems in the last two seasons and his delivery has been described as stressful by some observers. In 2005 Izzy's K rate was 7.47, in 2006 it dropped to 6.23, a little lower than we would like. Ramirez throws a 91-92 mph fastball, a slider and a change-up. Ramirez has a tendency to come out of his delivery and drop his arm, thereby flattening his pitches. In some games he cruises through several innings before losing his delivery and getting hit. Ramirez will start 2006 at AAA and if he pitches well will get a chance to face major league hitters before the end of 2007. (G)

12. Kyle Yates, RHP
Born January 8, 1983. Selected in the 13th round of the 2004 amateur draft.

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