Where Are They Now: Top Prospects of ‘98, #61-70
February 28, 2008 by Geoff Young
Filed under History
Where were we? Ah yes, Terry Kennedy was being named Minor League Manager of the Year; Jay Gibbons was busy winning the Pioneer League MVP; and 41-year-old Dave Stieb, after a 5-year layoff, was making a comeback and earning “best control” honors in Baseball America’s “best tools” survey.
It must be 1998, the year that neither of the two first baseman playing for the Savannah Sand Gnats ranked among baseball’s top 100 prospects. Perhaps you have heard of Travis Hafner and Carlos Pena?
Meanwhile, back at the list…
- Enrique Wilson, 2B, Cleveland Indians. Originally signed by the Minnesota Twins in 1992, Wilson came to the Indians toward the end of spring training in 1994. As a minor leaguer, his primary offensive attributes were an ability to make contact (he struck out every 12.8 plate appearances) and middling power (.135 ISO). Wilson hit .262/.310/.352 over 368 plate appearances in 1999, his first full big-league season. He hung around a few years as a utility player and got into some World Series games with the New York Yankees in ‘01 and ‘03. Over parts of nine seasons, Wilson hit .244/.288/.350 (64 OPS+). His list of most comparable players is uninspiring; the best match currently active in MLB is St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina.
- Damian Jackson, SS, Cincinnati Reds. Jackson’s chief asset coming up through the minors was his youth. He had an everyday job in Double-A at age 20 and performed reasonably well (.269/.343/.371). Jackson was fast but his swing was way too long for a guy without much power. He didn’t see any big-league action in 2007, but over parts of 11 seasons, he owns a .243/.323/.356 (81 OPS+) line in a shade over 2500 plate appearances. The active player most similar to Jackson is Minnesota Twins shortstop Adam Everett. I have four enduring memories of Jackson from his time in a San Diego Padres uniform:
- In May 2001, Jackson got plunked by A.J. Burnett. He missed several weeks thereafter due to a broken wrist (Burnett, meanwhile, tossed a no-hitter, adding insult to injury).
- In June 2005, he inexplicably knocked two home runs in a game at Petco Park against the Seattle Mariners
- He once hit a broken-bat grand slam in Houston.
- I can’t find documentation for this one, but he almost made the most spectacular catch I’ve ever seen climbing over the center-field fence at Petco Park.
- Corey Lee, LHP, Texas Rangers. Lee made one big-league appearance, in the 11th inning of a game against the New York Yankees on August 24, 1999. He faced six batters, including Tino Martinez, who hit a game-winning three-run homer off of him. Since 1901, 21 big leaguers have allowed one homer in exactly one career inning of work. Many of those — Sean Burroughs, Mark Grace, Bobby Bonilla, Rick Leach, Leon Roberts, Tom Hutton, Alvin Dark, et al. — were position players forced by circumstances to take the mound.
- Lance Berkman, OF, Houston Astros. Another disappointment who — oops, Berkman actually did something. In fact, he’s done quite a bit. The former first-round pick out of Rice has hit .300/.412/.559 in 5127 career plate appearances. Coming into the 2007 season, Berkman has 259 homers to his credit to go along with four All-Star appearances. He is, at the risk of getting overly technical, a beast. Berkman’s list of comps through age 31 would make a nice wing in the Hall of the Very Good: Larry Walker, David Ortiz, Mo Vaughn, Jason Giambi, etc. Heck, one of these guys (Willie McCovey) is in the Hall of Fame, and at least two others (Albert Belle, Fred McGriff) could make a reasonably strong case for themselves.
- Abraham Nunez, SS, Pittsburgh Pirates. See Wilson and Jackson. Signed by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1994, Nunez never hit in the minors (.274/.339/.342 in 1769 PA). Not surprisingly, he’s never hit in the big leagues either (.242/.313/.314 in 2802 PA). Sort of on par with Tom Veryzer and Curtis Wilkerson as a hitter. That’s not good.
- Joe Fontenot, RHP, Florida Marlins.. Fontenot made eight big-league starts, all in 1998 at age 21. He lost seven of them, receiving a no-decision in the other (which Florida also lost). Originally a first-round pick of the San Francisco Giants, Fontenot came to the Marlins in a November 1997 trade that sent Robb Nen to the Bay Area. Fontenot returned to Triple-A in 1999 and made eight starts at Calgary before disappearing. Alas, Fontenot never got a chance to become the new Terry Felton.
- Shawn Chacon, RHP, Colorado Rockies. A third-round pick in 1996, Chacon had a decent season for Asheville (11-7, 3.89 ERA, 8.28 K/9) in the South Atlantic League the following year at age 19. Then he kind of stalled out at High-A before blossoming in 2000 at Carolina (10-10, 3.16, 8.90). Chacon enjoyed marginal success with the big club as a rookie in 2001 and made the National League All-Star team in 2003. The next season, he had one of the most remarkable seasons ever, saving 35 games despite a 7.11 ERA (69 ERA+). Chacon and Todd Worell (35 SV, 73 ERA+) are the only men in big-league history to have recorded 30 or more saves in a season while recording an ERA+ of 80 or lower, demonstrating yet again the silliness of the save statistic. Chacon continues to bounce from team to team. Over parts of seven seasons, he owns a 43-58 record and a 4.98 ERA (96 ERA+), with 36 saves. His list of comparable players through age 29 includes some pitchers who became solid relievers after failing as starters — LaTroy Hawkins, Jose Mesa, and Jim Gott, to name a few.
- Robbie Bell, RHP, Atlanta Braves. Like Chacon, Bell also was selected in the third round — of the ‘95 draft. Bell put up some nice numbers at Danville (7-9, 3.29 ERA, 9.96 K/9) of the Carolina League in 1998. The Braves traded him to Cincinnati after the season, along with Denny Neagle and Michael Tucker, in a deal that brought Bret Boone and Mike Remlinger to Atlanta. In 2000, Bell surfaced with the big club and made 26 starts, showing an alarming case of gopheritis acutis (2.05 HR/9) in the process. When he proved that his malady was no fluke, the Reds shipped him to Texas for Ruben Mateo and Edwin Encarnacion. From there, Bell has made stops in Tampa Bay and Baltimore, but never found a home. Over parts of seven seasons he is 34-37 with a 5.71 ERA (81 ERA+). During his career, Bell has allowed a home run once every 21.7 at-bats, which is roughly as often as Moises Alou hits one.
- Brent Butler, SS, St. Louis Cardinals. Would you believe, another third-round pick? The Cards nabbed Butler with the 68th pick overall in 1996 (not a good draft for St. Louis — only Butler and Braden Looper ever did anything, unless you count Stubby Clapp’s 26 plate appearances in 2001). Butler batted .306/.387/.485 as a 19-year-old in the Midwest League in ‘97, and then it all kind of went downhill from there. Traded to Colorado after the 1999 season, Butler saw action in parts of three seasons with the Rockies. He hit .248/.285/.380 in 597 plate appearances from 2001 to 2003. Since then Butler has been hanging out at Double- and Triple-A in the Braves and Rays systems. He doesn’t really hit anymore, he doesn’t really play shortstop anymore, and he’s 30 years old. Butler needs five more RBI to reach 500 for his career… in the minors.
- Preston Wilson, OF, Florida Marlins. Stepson of Mookie, chaser of breaking balls. The New York Mets took Wilson in the first round of the 1992 draft and traded him to Florida in May 1998 as part of the Mike Piazza deal. Wilson’s career minor-league numbers (.258/.304/.470 in 2395 PA) are fairly pedestrian, but he’s had better success in the big leagues (.264/.329/.468 in 4436 PA). He had a real nice run from 1999 to 2003, batting .269/.337/.491 during that stretch. For a guy who has so much trouble making contact, Wilson has enjoyed a remarkably productive career. He even won a World Series with the Cardinals in 2006.
There it is. Thanks again for joining me in this little sojourn to the past. Next time we’ve got a couple of All-Star outfielders scheduled, along with a bunch of guys who never quite made it. Until then…
Chacon had he’s share of effective moments. and his fluke 05 second half basically saved the Yankees’ butt.
He lost some stuff to injury, and he’s pretty bad at handling themself. (including bar fights.)
Lance Berkman just might make a hall of fame case.
Also, IIRC Abraham Nunez is playing in Taiwan this up comming season… provided that doesnt’ get cut
RW, thanks for the info on Nunez. It’ll be interesting to see if Berkman can maintain that current pace into his mid-30s. A lot of his comps didn’t age well.
A lot of his comps also had injury problems (Vaughan, Salmon, Walker, Belle), which Berkman, thankfully, has not seemed to encounter yet.
Good point, Mack. With the possible exception of Walker, he also seems to be a better all-around athlete than most of his comps.
Yeah, but on the brigher side being a switch hitter that hits for average power AND get on base means that he probably have a bit more to fall back on.