Minor League Report: September 3-9, 2012 and Revised Top 13 Prospects List
The Boise Hawks had a collapse comparable to that of the Cubs in 2003 – except without the large quantity of fans and the guy that reaches over to catch the ball – as Vancouver scored seven unearned after a Jeimer Candelario error for a 12-9 victory. The (positive) highlight of the night for Boise was definitely Daniel Vogelbach‘s three-run homer in the first inning that ended with a 4-2 Boise lead.
Now that the Cubs minor league season has officially ended without a championship, and the major league team obviously not qualifying for the post-season, our next best bet is the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League, where Javier Baez and Matthew Szczur will lead a group of Cubs that will team up with the likes of Houston’s Jarred Cosart and Jonathan Singleton, Detroit’s Nick Castellanos, and Yasiel Puig of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
With no more regular minor league coverage, apart from the upcoming affiliation shuffle (only the Tennessee Smokies and probably the AZL and DSL squads are guaranteed to remain in the Cusb organization next year), we hereby present a revised WSD Top 13 Prospects List. The next few weeks will include September Callups and more thoughts on certain prospects, including significant expansion upon the list.
Rank./Pos./Name/(Preseason Rank)/Highest 2012 Level
1. SS Javier Baez (3) Advanced-A Daytona
2. OF Jorge Soler (International Free Agent) A Peoria
3. OF Albert Almora (First-Year Player Draft) Short-season A Boise
4. RHP Arodys Vizcaino (Atlanta Braves) 60-Day Disabled List
5. OF Brett Jackson (1) MLB Chicago
6. 3B Christian Villanueva (Texas Rangers) Advanced-A Daytona
7. OF Matthew Szczur (5) AA Tennessee
8. 3B Josh Vitters (7) MLB Chicago
9. 1B Daniel Vogelbach (8) Short-season A Boise
10. 2B Ronald Torreyes (Unranked) Advanced-A Daytona
11. SS Arismendy Alcantara (Unranked) Advanced-A Daytona
12. RHP Juan Carlos Paniagua (International Free Agent) Rookie Mesa
13. Pierce Johnson (First-Year Player Draft) Short-season A Boise
Narrow misses:
14. 3B Jeimer Candelario (9) Short-season A Boise
15. Dillon Maples (6) Rookie Mesa
16. Paul Blackburn (First-Year Player Draft) Rookie Mesa
17. Junior Lake (12) AA Tennessee