Prospect Report:
Return to the Valley of the Return

David Cameron

It's been the week of the return in minor league baseball. For various reasons, some of the top prospects in the game have been on the shelf up to this point, but now return to their clubs as conquering heroes hopeful of leading their team to the promised land. Or at least staying healthy this time around.

The San Antonio Missions welcomed back outfielder Chris Snelling on Thursday, and he promptly responded by going two for four with an RBI. The 21-year-old Australian is the organization's premier offensive prospect and nearly took the Mariners' everyday left field job last summer. A torn ACL rounding third base ended his season and caused him to miss the first month of 2003 as well.

When he's been able to stay on the field, Snelling has left little doubt as to his ability to hit. Before the surgery, he profiled as a gold glove defender in left field capable of playing center in a pinch. It remains to be seen how much he's retained due to the injury, but Seattle still views him as their left fielder of the future. He's not likely to hang around the Texas League for too long, as a promotion to AAA Tacoma is expected shortly.

Snelling wasn't the only prominent outfielder to return, however. Tampa Bay's former number-one pick, Josh Hamilton, rejoined the organization after more than a month's leave to deal with personal issues. Rather than speculate on why the organization has decided to keep it quiet, I'll simply congratulate Hamilton and the Devil Rays on realizing that baseball is secondary in importance to real life. There are a number of people in the game who could probably be helped by taking a leave of absence, and Hamilton should be commended for his priorities.

Hamilton will be assigned to AA Orlando and hope to overcome the injury problems that have kept him off the field. When in the lineup last year, he showed the promise that made him the first pick in the draft four years ago. If he can get 400 ABs the rest of the year, he could challenge for a job in Tampa next spring. Whether he was worthy of the hype or not, it'd be a shame to not see him get the opportunity to live up to his potential.

The Angels were glad to see Dallas McPherson return after sitting out April with back problems. The third baseman has been assigned to Rancho Cucamonga in the California League but should receive a promotion to AA before the season is over. McPherson showed intriguing power last year and most people agree his bat is major league caliber. His major league position is up in the air as the Angels have Troy Glaus entrenched at the hot corner for the foreseeable future. With McPherson's strong arm, right field is a possibility, but he'd have to improve his offensive game to be an impact player at that position.

Moving to the hill, Detroit finally gets to see their 2001 first-round pick back in action after missing all of 2002. Kenny Baugh was thought to have a chance to be the first member of his draft class to reach the majors, but a tough college workload may have contributed to the torn labrum that eventually led to surgery. Baugh will try to work his way back up the ladder, starting at high-A Lakeland in the Florida State League. His velocity isn't where it was two years ago and labrum surgery doesn't have the same track record of success as its Tommy John partner, but Baugh remains intriguing.

The Yankees also got good news with Sean Henn's return. The Yankees broke the record for a draft-and-follow signing bonus when they inked Henn before the 2001 draft, but his impressive debut and eye-popping radar readings made everyone gush about his potential. His elbow didn't hold up, however, and he spent the 2002 season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

There's no reason to be any less excited about Henn now than two years ago, and thanks to the wonders of modern science his outlook might even be more optimistic now. The Yankees don't really need any more pitching prospects, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind if Henn emerged as one of the elite southpaw arms in the minors. He's definitely got a shot to do it.

Finally, we have some good news for Tigers fans. No, they didn't cancel the rest of the season, and no, people won't stop ridiculing the worst offensive team baseball has seen in years. However, Rob Henkel did recover from his tendonitis and made his first start of the year this week. Henkel was taken from the Marlins in the Mark Redman trade and immediately became one of the Tigers' best prospects.

The former UCLA southpaw has a big knuckle-curve and knows how to spot his fastball, but his average velocity and questionable mechanics keep people from projecting stardom for him. If he can avoid the injuries that have slowed his career thus far, he should turn into at least as good a pitcher as Mark Redman and likely a bit better. Of course, it's unlikely anyone in Detroit will even notice.

about the author

David Cameron just enjoys saying "labrum." Suggest changing it up with "arthroscopic" from time to time at dac@strikethree.com.

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