ESPN Insider on Brandon Belt ...need help again please!!!

Hey gang need help with ESPN insider access again....... This time hot hitting prospect BRANDON BELT.

Anyone who has access, please post.......and please be a September callup!!!!

Dunno if that's going to happen at all now this season. Looks like Sabes pulled off the Guillen trade. KC may be paying through the nose to shed him too.

I don't mind it but it's for less than a year and a possible loss is Nate, but I doubt that. I think they send someone down who still has options left. Maybe one of the Righties in the Pen? Or maybe they offloaded Rowand? lol

~Ceadder

Cash and player to be named later. That does not bode well. Course I've never been a major fan of Player 2Bnamed Later. lol

~Ceadder

ill be right back, just a heads up this one is alot longer than the buster piece.

MINORS: Brandon Belt Profile, New NO. 10



In the first paragraph of a blog entry, I'm supposed to write some type of compelling opening to entice you to read further. Well, after considering several options, I've decided I will simply present you with the 2010 numbers of a certain minor league player:
High Class A: 269 at-bats, .383 AVG/.492 OBP/.628 SLG, 18 steals
Double-A: 132 at-bats, .341 AVG/.403 OBP/.652 SLG, two steals

Enticed yet?

Those are the numbers of San Francisco Giants first-base prospect Brandon Belt, a fifth-round pick in the 2009 draft out of Texas, who has made quite an impact in his first professional season. I hadn't written about him yet because I was hoping to get a chance to see him as a pro after seeing him briefly as an amateur. I missed him on my swings through the Cal League earlier this season and have waited a couple of weeks in case he got moved to Triple-A Fresno. But I've been asked about him quite a bit, so instead of waiting further, I went ahead and talked to a number of scouts who have seen him and then watched a little video of his swing. And let's just say I like what I've seen and heard about him.


John Rivera/Icon SMI
Brandon Belt displayed his power at the University of Texas.
A 6-foot-5, left-handed hitter, Belt originally was drafted as a pitcher by the Boston Red Sox back in the 11th round of the 2006 draft. He didn't sign, though, and went to junior college in San Jacinto, where he started to focus more on hitting (and was drafted as a hitter by the Atlanta Braves in the 11th round in 2007) before moving on to Texas. I'm sure a little of his rapid development can be attributed to simply concentrating on becoming a full-time hitter.

Credit is due to the Giants' minor league coaching and player development staffs, who identified Belt's physical tools but also made some pretty major changes to his swing in order to help him better tap into his natural ability. Belt himself talked about some of the big changes in his stroke in this article.

Basically, they've cut out some of the excess movement in his swing and given him less leg kick, making him a little shorter to the ball than when he was in college. Belt has quick hands and good bat speed. A more upright, open stance helps keep him from getting his long levers jammed on the inner half of the plate and lets him get his arms extended more often, and he has incorporated a little more loft in his swing to turn more of his good raw power into game power, yet still allowing his zone to stay in the bat a long time. (Too much of an uppercut stroke makes your bat get out of the zone too quickly for consistent, hard contact.) He's still mostly a line-drive hitter who squares balls up to the gaps, but he now gets better hip turn and doesn't cut himself off as much, which gets him more carry on the ball. Belt also references being able to see the ball a bit better, and thus far he has demonstrated an ability to handle the strike zone well, walking almost as many times as he has struck out. He also has solid pitch recognition. Scouting reports say he stays back on offspeed stuff well.

Although Belt has 20 steals this year, it won't be a part of his game at the big league level, as he doesn't have above-average speed. He stole a number of bags earlier in the year simply by taking advantage of Class A pitchers not paying attention to him, but his running game has petered out at Double-A. As a defender, Belt is consistent and above-average at first base. The Giants have played him a small amount at the corner outfield spots, but his future is at first base, given his good hands there, as well as his poor routes and jumps in the outfield.

I think it speaks well for Belt's future development that he has been able to adapt to a new way of hitting very quickly and has taken off in such a short time. Many thought Belt's offensive numbers at Class A were driven by the launching pads of the California League, but he hasn't skipped a beat in a tough hitting environment at Double-A Richmond. The reason I didn't include him in my Top 10 for '10 rankings for the balance of the season (below) in recent weeks was not because I wasn't buying his bat, but rather because his playing time in the big leagues is uncertain for the balance of the season. The Giants appear to be targeting just a September call-up for him right now, and with them in the playoff hunt, it's likely he will still see quite a bit of bench/pinch-hitting time when he arrives rather than being thrust into a pressure situation. If Travis Ishikawa or Pat Burrell gets hurt tomorrow, you never know, but I'd say it's unlikely he gets regular playing time on the Giants this season.

Lefty power isn't helped by AT&T Park, but Belt certainly can hit 20-plus homers with a ton of doubles and be a premium middle-of-the-order run producer in the big leagues. Even though he hasn't finished a full pro season yet, he has put his name among the best first-base prospects in the game, and is a must-add if you have the room in keeper and dynasty formats.

Top 10 prospects for the remainder of 2010
The now-standard caveats: There's a certain throwing-darts-against-the-wall nature to doing a list like this, because there's no telling when a player will arrive on the scene. Who gets the summons depends on a variety of factors, such as team needs, injuries and performance. Thus, for the purpose of this list, I try to balance a prospect's upside with who is likely to get an opportunity in the near future, and I look only at players who are still rookie-eligible.

Also note that this list is only for potential value for the final six weeks of this season, not for the long term, so you won't see names such as Mike Trout on it. It spotlights players who might be able to help fantasy teams over the final couple of months, with no regard to 2011 and beyond. Also, to highlight some different names, I'm not including players who were recently called up (such as Domonic Brown) or have already spent time in the big leagues this year and been sent down (Scott Sizemore).

We have a bit of a shakeup this week, with four members of last week's list (Jeremy Hellickson, J.P. Arencibia, Mike Minor, Chris Carter) having been promoted.

1. Desmond Jennings, OF, Tampa Bay Rays: After shoulder and wrist injuries earlier this season, Jennings has had just one hot month this year, but he still has a .356 on-base percentage and has gone 30-for-32 on the basepaths in 90 games. Julio Borbon racked up thefts in a hurry last season, and Jennings could do the same if given the opportunity over the final six weeks. With the stolen-base category being pretty tight in most Roto leagues, or considering Jennings' ability to impact a head-to-head league matchup, Jennings' potential arrival should be monitored closely.

2. Michael Pineda, SP, Seattle Mariners: The Mariners don't want to rush their top pitching prospect, but it seems inevitable that he will get a late-season audition. The right-hander has struck out 137 batters and walked just 30 in 126 innings this year between Double- and Triple-A, with a combined 2.79 ERA, and he actually has bumped his strikeout rate up since being promoted to Triple-A. Make no mistake about it, he has the plus stuff to back up those numbers.

3. Tanner Scheppers, RP, Texas Rangers: Scheppers has thrived since being moved back to the bullpen, where he can concentrate on throwing 99 mph gas and his wicked breaking ball in two-inning stints. He could have some quiet value in AL-only leagues over the final weeks of the season as a multiple-inning reliever with big-time strikeout ability.

4. Aroldis Chapman, RP, Cincinnati Reds: In single-league formats, high-strikeout middle relievers have more value than most owners realize. Like Scheppers in the AL, Chapman can be that guy for NL-only leagues, especially now that he has finally seemed to harness his control problems a bit in the bullpen, walking just three and striking out 19 over his past 10 outings, spanning 12 1/3 innings. Sometimes you'd rather have three or four quality innings of relief work from a player in a given week than take a risk on a mediocre starter.

5. Jordan Lyles, SP, Houston Astros: Could the right-hander make his big league debut before his 20th birthday? It's certainly possible, especially after he fanned nine and walked one over six innings in his Triple-A debut, after some stellar work at Double-A (115-to-35 strikeout-to-walk ratio).

6. Zach Britton, SP, Baltimore Orioles: I profiled Britton extensively a couple weeks ago. He's going to need every bit of his good sink against the tough American League East offenses, but I expect he'll get his feet wet in the big leagues around the end of the month.

7. Brandon Belt, 1B, Giants: Profiled above. The only questions are if we have to wait until September to see him and how much playing time he will get for the balance of the season when he arrives.


Cliff Welch/Icon SMI
The Yankees' acquisition of Lance Berkman doesn't help Jesus Montero's chances of getting big league at-bats this season.
8. Jesus Montero, C, New York Yankees: Montero's catching is not big league-ready, and it might not ever be, which complicates his chances for 2010 playing time. He's back on this list due to the promotions of others but still needs an injury or two (such as one to Lance Berkman) to find big league playing time down the stretch. He has been on fire at Triple-A, hitting .447 with three homers in his past 10 games after posting a 1.072 OPS in July. It's not about the production; it's about finding the playing time.

9. Dustin Ackley, 2B, Seattle Mariners: Ackley struggled mightily at the beginning of the season but has been swinging a hot bat lately, hitting .305 over his past 54 games at Double-A to raise his average nearly 100 points, and he has posted a .372 on-base percentage in his first 21 games at Triple-A. Plus, he has walked more than he has struck out this season. There's not much power or speed yet, but we must remember this is still his first professional season. He could see some regular at-bats down the stretch given Jose Lopez's ineptness this season, and there's a need for middle-infield help in AL-only play.

10. Freddie Freeman, 1B, Braves: I wrote a more extensive profile about Freeman during the 2009 Arizona Fall League. Even before Chipper Jones' season-ending injury, there were some rumblings that Freeman might get a call-up due to Troy Glaus' recent struggles. Even though Glaus hasn't played third base since last year, some might see moving him back to third as a potential option, giving Freeman some time at first along with Eric Hinske. I don't see that, as the team can just slide Martin Prado to third when he returns and keep Omar Infante at second, but still, Freeman has a .305 AVG/.367 OBP/.506 SLG stat line as a 20-year-old at Triple-A. I'm a big fan of him over the long term but do think he'd struggle a bit in the short term at the big league level, as he needs to focus on going after more pitches he can drive rather than ones he can merely make contact with. However, anything is possible with playing time in a small sample, and Glaus still needs to right the ship. I do expect we'll see Freeman in September.