Here’s some collected information on some of the minor league’s better young talent. Our thanks to the people at JDM’s Scoresheet Baseball for compiling the raw data.

Prince Fielder
” … Fielder is a very streaky player … After slugging home runs in bunches during Spring Training’s beginning, few players did less in the late stages to instill confidence from their managers than Fielder. A year, minimum, spent at AAA would build consistency. Or so the Brewers hoped. Consistency, it did not build … On May 16, Prince was hitting just .226 with a .316 slugging … Plenty of people were concerned, and the Fielder-is-overrated chants grew louder and louder. However, as he constantly does, Fielder then threw us for a loop. In his 245 at-bats since May 16, Fielder has collected 80 hits, for an astounding .327 average. Forty-three of those eighty hits were of the extra-base variety, giving him an insane .706 slugging during that time. Throw in a good number of walks, and we can say Fielder ended his season in a .330/.420/.700 fashion. Trade Overbay…now.”

Joel Guzman
” … Guzman’s numbers this season don’t look overwhelming at first blush (.287 AVG/.351 OBP/.475 SLG), but, in point of fact, those are impressive numbers for a 20-year-old shortstop toiling in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League. It’s possible that Guzman’s body type and occasional fielding difficulties will force him to third base, but his bat will play anywhere. He’s shown strong power numbers over the last two seasons, and he figures to be a force one day at the highest level.”

Jeremy Hermida
” … Hermida has always had exceptional baseball skills and on-base abilities, but he’d heretofore been unable to cultivate a power stroke. Well, that’s no longer the case. This season at AA-Carolina, Hermida put up a line of .293 AVG/.457 OBP/.518 SLG. Particularly impressive are the 111 walks and 49 extra-base hits. In light of this breakout power season, Hermida’s now one of the five best prospects in all of baseball. He’ll open the 2006 season as a starter in the Marlin outfield.”

Justin Huber
Named as Kansas City’s Minor League Player of the Year … won the Texas League batting crown, hitting .343 for Wichita with 16 home runs and 74 RBI. The 23-year old converted catcher from Australia also led the league in both on-base percentage (.432) and slugging percentage (.570) …. . named the MVP of the XM Satellite Futures Game on July 10 at Detroit’s Comerica Park, as well as a mid-season and post-season Texas League All-Star … promoted to Omaha on July 28 … made his presence felt quickly, driving in a season-high six runs … wound up hitting .274 with seven homers and 23 RBI in 32 games, before getting called up by Kansas City.” (Omaha Royals)

Chuck James
” … James was a bit under the prospect radar coming into this season, but after his tremendous work in 2005 that’s no longer the case. In 86 innings at AA-Mississippi, James struck out 104, walked only 18 and gave up only four homers. Oh, and his ERA was a league best 2.06 before his promotion to Triple-A. In 2005, James pitched across three minor league levels and dominated at each stop. His stuff doesn’t grade out as being elite-level, but his performance this season most assuredly does. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s in an organization that knows a thing or two about pitching.”

Francisco Liriano
” … The left-hander keeps hearing he is the next Johan Santana, which is fast company to keep. Both are left-handers who throw hard and belong to the Minnesota Twins. That’s about it … The 21-year-old Liriano has had a worthy season. He advanced from Class AA to AAA, where he overpowered the opposition and earned a trip to the majors … He was the starter for the World Team in the All-Star Futures Game in July, quickly moved out of Class AA and hit his stride at Class AAA Rochester (N.Y.). He was 9-2 with a 1.78 ERA. His Class AA manager was Stan Cliburn, who told the St. Paul Pioneer Press: “His stuff is as good as what we saw five years ago from Santana. He has a big, big future ahead of him.” (TSN)

Adam Miller
” … Miller … battled arm problems during most of the spring and spent the summer trying to return to form instead of preparing for a Cleveland debut. In time spent between Short-Season Mahoning Valley (three starts) and High-A Kinston (12 starts), Miller posted a 4.86 ERA in 70.1 innings with 51 strikeouts. With the rest of the fall and next season to get back to 100 percent, Miller will likely start the 2006 campaign at Double-A Akron and make his Jacobs Field debut by the end of the summer.”

Kendry Morales
If you take the numbers Morales did put up in 96 games (22 HR, 71 RBIs at two levels) and project out to a complete 140-game Minor League season, you’d get 32 HR and 104 RBIs. He also hit .315 and was virtually unhittable at two stops once he made adjustments to a new locale. He could make Casey Kotchman and/or Darin Erstad irrelevant soon.”

Wade Townsend
“It is hard to say exactly what happened with Townsend. The time off certainly did not help him. From what I gather, he never fully regained the velocity on his fastball and therefore never fully trusted it. As a result, he was throwing a lot of offspeed stuff that hitters feasted on. This does not mean he is not a prospect, I just couldn’t justify putting him on this list based on what he did in the league. That 5.49 ERA was not getting it done.”

BJ Upton
” … It looks like Upton will have to move off shortstop, so why not promote him in September and give him some time at third base? The Devil Rays can afford to shift Alex Gonzalez from the hot corner to the bench. And Young doesn’t have to play every day, but why not give him some big league at-bats? Giving Huff some playing time at first base and Travis Lee some pine time won’t hurt the team. Tampa Bay just wants to keep Young and Upton from arbitration and free agency as long as possible, but that’s a cynical approach that cheats its fans and those players. And there’s at least a small chance that Young or Upton may still bear a grudge down the road when they get the opportunity to depart. If I were running a team that has accomplished nothing in eight seasons, I’d be trying to celebrate and not alienate the two brightest prospects in the minor leagues.”

Delmon Young
” … Young said … critical remarks he made about the organization for not promoting him to the majors this month were not aimed at the last-place team’s players. “I never meant any disrespect to the Devil Ray players. I have nothing but the highest respect for these guys, and I know how hard they have worked to get there,” said Young … “I am just so frustrated that the team would not give me the opportunity to play with and against the best players in the game, so that I could continue to learn and develop in the major league environment.” … Young said some of his remarks had been “twisted.” “I never said that I would step right in and take anyone’s job. I feel that I earned the right to be called up in September along with a hundred or so other players around the league,” he said.” (Associated Press)

Joel Zumaya
” … Zumaya touches 98 with his heater and backs it up with a hammer breaking ball. Like a lot of young, prep-trained hurlers, his off-speed stuff needs work, but the abilities are there. This season at AA-Erie, Zumaya struggled with his control, but he did fan almost 12 batters per nine innings. He remained dominant after a late-season promotion to Triple-A. All of that as a 20-year-old.”