In the Troy Glaus trade the Blue Jays also received Sergio Santos from the Diamondbacks. Where does he fit into the Blue Jay prospects?
The Diamondbacks selected Santos out of high school with the 27th overall pick of the 2002 draft. Santos progressed quickly through the minor leagues reaching AAA this past season, although not without struggles. However, Santos will be just 23 next year - the same age as many of the college players the Jays drafted in 2005 that will start in Dunedin - so he's still ahead of the curve for his age. He's played shortstop all of his career, but based on his size he's expected to be moved to another position eventually.
Here are Santos' career minor league stats:
Year Team League Age Level AB Avg OBP SLG 2002 Miss. Pio 19 Rk 202 .272 .367 .520 2003 Lancstr Calif 20 A 341 .287 .368 .408 2003 El Paso Tex 20 AA 137 .255 .293 .365 2004 El Paso Tex 21 AA 347 .282 .332 .461 2005 Tucson PCL 22 AAA 490 .239 .288 .367
Prior to this season John Sickels had Santos rated as a B prospect. Santos was Baseball America's #3 prospect after the 2004 season and #10 prospect after the 2005 season.
Here are the summaries of the Blue Jays top 30 prospects, as rated by the minor league crew:
I find it difficult to rank Santos. He was a 1st round choice out of high school, has a good scouting report, and has played at high levels at a relatively young age. However, he did not performed all that well in AAA this season and has had issues with his shoulder. If you rank him high it's based on his potential. If you rank him low it's based on his performance.
So where does Santos rank in the Jays system in your mind? I'd place him in the early teens, with the potential to be in the top 5 by the end of the year.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20051231104407225