Tigers Top 25 Prospects

The Tigers minor league system has been more-or-less depleted the past couple of seasons, partly because of injuries and poor drafting by former GM Randy Smith, and partly because last season the Tigers rushed a number of prospects to the big leagues out of necessity. Overall, the Tigers minor league system is probably in the bottom third of all 30 organizations, but that ranking should improve as Dave Dombrowski, along with Assistant GM Al Avila, work to restock the farm system.

What qualifies as a prospect you might ask? Well, simply put, a prospect is a player that has fewer than 130 At-Bats or fewer than 50 Innings Pitched. While major league standards state that a player is no longer a prospect after spending 45 non-September days on the roster, I don’t feel a prospect tag should be removed solely because a player was called up out of necessity but little more than ride the bench. So, following these restrictions, RHP Fernando Rodney is still a prospect, while RHP Franklyn German is not (despite the fact that Rodney only has about 4 more IP’s than German).

Each day we’ll preview a new Tiger prospect in descending order, starting with the lowest rank and working our way down all the way to the top Tiger prospect of 2004. Included below are player vitals (Name, Position, Height, Weight, Birthday, Bat/Throw)

25.) Troy Pickford SP 6-8/220 8/9/1979 R/R
Prospect Review - Troy Pickford

24.) Matt Wheatland SP 6-5/215 10/18/1981 R/R
Prospect Review - Matt Wheatland

23.) Mike Bumatay RP 6-0/170 10/9/1979 L/L
Prospect Review - Mike Bumatay

22.) Roberto Novoa SP 6-5/200 8/15/1979 R/R
Prospect Review - Roberto Novoa

21.) Ryan Raburn 2B/3B 6-0/185 4/17/1981 R/R
Prospect Review - Ryan Raburn

20.) Nook Logan OF 6-2/180 11/28/1979 S/R
Prospect Review - Nook Logan

19.) Juan Tejada 1B 6-2/195 1/26/1982 R/R
Prospect Review - Juan Tejada

18.) Jay Sborz SP 6-4/210 1/24/1985 R/R
Prospect Review - Jay Sborz

17.) Eric Eckenstahler RP 6-7/220 12/17/1976 L/L
Prospect Review - Eric Eckenstahler

16.) Don Kelly SS 6-4/190 2/15/1980 L/R
Prospect Review - Don Kelly

15.) Scott Moore 3B 6-2/180 11/17/1983 L/R
Prospect Review - Scott Moore

14.) Humberto Sanchez SP 6-6/230 5/28/1983 R/R
Prospect Review - Humberto Sanchez

13.) Chris Shelton C/DH 6-0/225 6/26/1980 R/R
Prospect Review - Chris Shelton

12.) Jon Connolly SP 6-0/205 8/24/1983 R/L
Prospect Review - Jon Connolly

11.) Preston Larrison SP 6-4/235 11/19/1980 R/R
Prospect Review - Preston Larrison

10.) Curtis Granderson OF 6-1/185 3/16/1981 L/R
Prospect Review - Curtis Granderson

9.) Tony Giarratano SS 6-0/180 11/29/1982 S/R
Prospect Review - Tony Giarratano

8.) Kenny Baugh SP 6-4/195 2/5/1979 R/R
Prospect Review - Kenny Baugh

7.) Cody Ross OF 5-11/180 12/23/1980 R/L
Prospect Review - Cody Ross

6.) Rob Henkel SP 6-2/210 8/3/1978 R/L
Prospect Review - Rob Henkel

5.) Kody Kirkland 3B 6-4/205 6/9/1983 R/R
Prospect Review - 3B Kody Kirkland

4.) Fernando Rodney RP 5-11/210 3/18/1977 R/R
Prospect Review - RP Fernando Rodney

3.) Joel Zumaya SP 6-3/210 11/9/1984 R/R
Prospect Review - RHP Joel Zumaya

2.) Brent Clevlen OF 6-2/190 10/27/1983 R/R
Prospect Review - OF Brent Clevlen

1.) Kyle Sleeth SP 6-5/205 12/20/1981 R/R
Prospect Review - RHP Kyle Sleeth