{ 2008 02 19 }

NFA Top Prospects - #9

Rank Hitters Pitchers
9 Stephen King Adam Carr
10 Ian Desmond John Lannan
11 Derek Norris Garrett Mock
12 Josh Whitesell Brad Peacock
13 Matt Whitney Brad Meyers
14 Garrett Guzman Jhonny Nunez
15 Roger Bernadina Zech Zinicola
16 Kory Casto Marco Estrada
17 Andrew Lefave Adrian Alaniz
18 Leonard Davis Cory VanAllen
19 Dani Arias Martin Beno
20 Bill Rhinehart Hassan Pena
21 Mark Gildea Yader Peralta
22 Aaron Seuss PJ Dean
23 Edgardo Baez Federico Tanco
24 Garrett Bass Jack Spradlin
25 Alejandro Hodge Marcos Frias
Francisco Soriano Juan Jaime
Yeurys Tejeda

Another middle infielder makes the list of hitters at #9. Stephen King was a 2006 third round draft pick out of a Florida high school. He never got a chance to get on the field in 2006 as contract negotiations dragged on through the summer. Scouts believe that the 20-year old middle infielder has an above average bat and the ability to develop power as he matures physically. The Nationals over-assigned him 2007, placing him in Low-A Hagerstown right from square one. Over 35 games, King hit only180/261/258 with 51 strikeouts over 128 at-bats. The struggles seemed to linger after the Nationals demoted him to the GCL (248/315/466) though he managed nine home runs and thirty RBI over 42 games (161 at-bats). Scouts see projectability with King’s bat, in the mold of the offensive middle infielder (like Jeff Kent). Though drafted as a shortstop, King’s career is likely on the other side of the bag as a second baseman. He’ll need to work on his footwork there but he is an intriguing option going forward. It should be take two in Hagerstown in 2008.

Another pick from the 2006 draft, Adam Carr was an 18th round draft pick out of Oklahoma State University. He played most of his college career as apower-hitting first baseman but the Nationals saw a power arm for their bullpen. The 23-year old Carr has a fastball in the mid to high 90s with a developing slider. His 2007 numbers in Potomac were a mixed bag with 65 strikeouts over 49 innings but he also walked 38. Reports have the Nationals not concerned with the wildness as Carr attempts to harness the control of his slider. Carr finished the 2007 in Harrisburg and seems likely to begin his 2008 their as the Senators closer. If he can improve on his control early in the season, it would not surprise me to see him get a shot in the Nationals bullpen in August of this year.

Posted by Brian Oliver on Tuesday, February 19th, 2008, at 8:05 pm, and filed under Players.

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