Down On The Farm: Baseball America Prospect Chat

Here are a few excerpts from the Friday afternoon chat at Baseball America.

Efren (norwalk, ca): What's your impression of donavan Tate so far?

Ben Badler: Health issues aside, his problems making contact even in Rookie ball are a significant red flag.

Not a good start for Tate this year, but he is still young.

mikeyt (east hampton): what do you make of Wilmer Flores strong start at St Lucie, he is still hitting around .380. How good of a prospect is he considering questions about his defensive position

Ben Badler: There's only a handful of position prospects I'd take over him in the minors. It's a special bat and the power is starting to come around even faster than I expected. I'd get him to third base as quickly as possible because that's his ideal position, but he's just a natural hitter.

If he moves to third base, he has to be trade bait, no? The Mets won't let David Wright leave, will they?

Mario Lopes (CA): It's nice to see SD farmhand Jaff Decker performing well again, he had me pretty worried to start this year. Do you see Decker to be an all-star type of player, or will he become something more along the lines of Matt Stairs?

Ben Badler: I'm not worried about the bat right now, I think it was just a slow start after missing time with the hamstring injury. He might be an occasional all-star, but I think the bad is good enough for him to be at least an average or better regular corner outfielder. He's more athletic than he looks and he can throw well, but I just don't think he's going to add much if any value in the field.

Decker has hit better lately, but the power is not there yet.

Robert Goldberg (Lyndhurst, NJ): Brandon Belt is having a phenomenal year thus far, and while he's not Mike Trout or Dominic Brown, every day that he hits in AA, he's looking more and more like the real deal. I realize his last week wasn't that stellar (for him), but is he in the conversation for Minor League Player of the Year?

Ben Badler: Yes he is. I really, really like Belt.

Belt is getting alot of press lately, and is hitting .409 at AA Richmond.

Rich (NJ): Jonathan Singleton has certainly cooled off which is expected - do you still think highly of him and do you think he could be traded since other organizations like him as well? Thanks,

Ben Badler: Still one of the best hitting prospects in the minors. If I'm the Phillies, I would have to be getting a premium major leaguer with a favorable contract in return to part with Singleton.

It appears the Phillies have their future first baseman once Ryan Howard's contract runs out.