Life On The Farm: Los Angeles Angels (# 25)

Yep, it's a twofer to make up for yesterday where a rash of things to do caused me a lack of time to do this.

Graduated To Majors: Chris Pettit (OF, # 17), Terry Evans (OF, UR), Bobby Wilson (C, # 13), Nick Adenhart (SP, # 1), Sean O'Sullivan (SP, # 5), Anthony Ortega (SP, # 9), Kevin Jepsen (RP, # 6), Rafael Rodriguez (RP, # 15), Daniel Davidson (RP, UR)

The Rest of The Top 10 (with quick commentary)
Hitters: BA-OBP-SLG, AB, HR-RBI, BB-K, SB-CS
Pitchers: G-GS, W-L, ERA, IP-H-HR-BB-K

2 - Jordan Walden: SP
AA: 13-13, 1-5, 5.25, 60-72-4-29-57
Quick Take: Went on the DL with elbow inflammation to end what was a slightly disappointing season.

3 - Peter Bourjos: CF
AA: .281-.354-.423, 437, 6-51, 49-77, 32-12
Quick Take: The speedster continues on a path to Anaheim. Some have called him the fasteste runner in all the minor leagues.

4 - Trevor Reckling: SP
Hi A: 3-3, 1-2, 0.95, 19-9-2-3-16
AA: 23-23, 8-7, 2.93, 135.1-118-4-75-106
Quick Take: High # of walks is disconcerting, but the strikeout numbers appear to be there for the Futures Game alum.

7 - Hank Conger: C
AA: .295-.369-.424, 458, 11-68, 55-68, 4-2
Quick Take: Has put up the same line at essentially each of the full season leagues with one big difference this season, he went from 14 walks to 55.

8 - Mark Trumbo: 1B
AA: .291-.333-.452, 533, 15-88, 37-100, 6-3
Quick Take: Good numbers, but can he start controlling the strike zone a little better?

10 - Mason Tobin: SP
Hi A: 3-0, 0-0, 0.00, 2.2-2-0-2-2
Quick Take: Went down to a shoulder problem in 2008 and made 3 appearance before going down again with shoulder soreness.

AAA: Salt Lake Bees (PCL)
Breakout Hitter: Chris Pettit (# 17): .323-.385-.485, 371, 8-59, 31-62, 18-2
Disappointing Hitter: Matt Brown (# 25): .245-.333-.415, 388, 13-69, 45-92, 5-5
Breakout Pitcher: Rafael Rodriguez (# 15): 22-0, 1-0, 1.85, 34-27-3-10-23
Disappointing Pitcher: Anthony Ortega (# 9): 4-4, 2-1, 9.64, 18.2-30-5-6-5
Quick Take: Pettit and Rodriguez earned their 1st big league promotions. Brown struggled in many facets of the game. Ortega went from the bigs to AAA to somewhere currently unknown.

AA: Arkansas Travelers (TL)
Breakout Hitter: Mark Trumbo (# 8): Line above.
Disappointing Hitter: Hainley Statia (# 30): .243-.308-.317-375, 1-43, 34-34, 13-3
Breakout Pitcher: Trevor Reckling (# 4): Line above.
Disappointing Pitcher: Jordan Walden (# 2): Line above.
Quick Take: Trumbo and Reckling justified their high rankings. Statia has continued to struggle with the bat. Walden will hope everything turns up okay on his arm.

Hi A: Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (CL)
Breakout Hitter: Matt Sweeney (# 18): 299-.379-.517, 211, 9-44, 26-37, 2-0
Disappointing Hitter: Clay Fuller (# 16): .232-.341-.350, 452, 9-48, 71-127, 30-8
Breakout Pitcher: Alex Torres (# 24): 21-19, 10-3, 2.74, 121.1-93-4-63-124
Disappointing Pitcher: Robert Fish (# 20): 16-13, 1-6, 6.39, 69-94-12-28-54
Quick Take: Think the Rays scouted this team? Both Sweeney and Torres will take their act to Tampa as part of the return for Scott Kazmir. Fuller had an all around bad season except for the 71 walks and 30 steals. Fish really battled and didn't win much.

Lo A: Cedar Rapids Kernels (ML)
Breakout Hitter: Alexia Amarista (UR): .319-.390-.468, 477, 4-49, 50-61, 38-20
Disappointing Hitter: Anel De Los Santos (UR): .212-.243-.297, 273, 5-31, 8-95, 5-0
Breakout Pitcher: Ryan Chaffee (# 21): 23-23, 8-8, 4.33, 116.1-84-6-65-121
Disappointing Pitcher: Manuarys Correa (# 19): 28-28, 8-10, 4.47, 163-176-16-43-69
Quick Take: Amarista is still raw, but showed what could be a very tantalizing final package. De Los Santos had 8 walks all season against 95 strikeouts, typically an issue. Chaffee narrowly outpitched fellow prospects Chatwood (# 11) and Smith (# 12) for this honor. Correa put up disappointing HR and K numbers.

TK's Early 2010 Top 10 Prospects:
1) Trevor Reckling: LHP
Lefty looks to continue his meteoric rise. Only question is can he find some command?
2) Hank Conger: C
Beginning to look like a force to be reckoned with offensively.
3) Peter Bourjos: CF
Speedster looks to try and be ready if/when the Angels need another OF.
4) Randal Grichuk: CF
1st of their 1st rounders hit .321-.350-.549 in 237 at bats at rookie ball. At the age of 18.
5) Mike Trout: CF
The other one wasn't outdone, hitting .360-.418-.506 in 164 at bats at rookie ball. At the age of 18. And he got a brief taste of Low A.
6) Jordan Walden: SP
If he can recover from his arm, he can put last season behind him very quickly.
7) Mark Trumbo: 1B
Blocked by Kendry Morales, he aims to force the Angels to make room for him.
8) Tyler Chatwood: RHP
Solid strikeout numbers in his first taste of full-season ball.
9) Ryan Chaffee: RHP
Another solid season from a young arm looking to continue it in his 2nd season of full-season ball.
10) Garrett Richards: RHP
21 year old supplemental 1st rounder dominated rookie ball (8 starts, 3-1, 1.53. 4 walks against 30 strikeouts in 35.1 innings)

Dropped From Top 10: Tobin (# 10)

Final Overview: Following the devastating loss of Nick Adenhart, the Angels were forced to tap their reserves much quicker then they had wanted. What was a weak farm system at the beginning of the season is beginning to look like it's ready to churn out another group of strong pitchers, led by Reckling. The center field position also appears to look pretty good down the road. I think this is a middle of the pack farm system, even without Sweeney and Torres.