2004 Alaska League Top Prospects
2004 Alaska League Top Prospects
By Allan Simpson
August 16, 2004
The Alaska League was a pitcher’s league in 2004, with the league’s best pitching prospects leading the Anchorage Bucs and Mat-Su Miners to the league’s two berths in the annual National Baseball Congress World Series, which Alaska teams had won 16 times in 35 years. Mat-Su, which won the Alaska League pennant by a game over the Bucs and Peninsula Oilers, eliminated the Bucs in a loser’s bracket game at the 44-team NBC tournament.
1. Garrett Olson, lhp, Anchorage Bucs (Cal Poly)
Olson enjoyed modest success during the spring at Cal Poly, going 7-5, 5.57 with 92 strikeouts in 84 innings, but really figured it out this summer. He showcased two plus pitches–a moving 89-91 mph fastball that topped out at 93 and a late-breaking 12-to-6 hammer curveball–while going 7-0, 0.88, striking out 53 in 51 innings and walking just eight. He did not give up a home run. Olson also worked 16 scoreless innings at Wichita, while winning both his starts. It was the most dominant pitching performance by an Alaska Leaguer since lefthander Jeff Francis earned Alaska League and NBC MVP honors in 2001, a year before becoming a Rockies first-rounder. The 6-foot-1, 198-pound Olson spent most of the summer refining a changeup and it was an effective third pitch in all but a couple of outings. Olson’s impressive showing has elevated him to a possible third-round pick in the 2005 draft.
2. Jeff Gilmore, rhp, Mat-Su Miners (Stanford)
Stanford’s No. 2 starter during the spring, Gilmore went 10-2, 4.43. But he worked 109 innings and began his summer in a relief role to ease the strain on his arm. He soon returned to starting and showed dirty stuff at times with two pitches that changed planes and baffled hitters: an 86-87 mph cut fastball and a Mike Mussina-like knuckle-curve that drops straight down. He also mixed in a four-seam fastball that registered 90-91. Gilmore commanded all three pitches for strikes. Scouts compared his pitching style and stuff to Kirk Saarloos, the ex-Cal State Fullerton righthander who made a meteoric rise to the big leagues from the 2001 draft.
3. Chris Malone, rhp, Mat-Su Miners (San Joaquin Delta, Calif., JC)
Malone had the best stuff in the league when he was on top of his game. In one two-game stretch, he threw a no-hitter against the Alaska Goldpanners, striking out 18, and followed up with six perfect innings in his next start against Athletes in Action. The key to his success is throwing his curveball for strikes, which he mixes with a fastball in the 88-92 mph range, a splitter and a changeup. Malone went undrafted in June and was set to transfer Tennessee–if he’s not signed out of the NBC World Series. He was being hotly pursued by several clubs.
4. Cameron Blair, 2b, Alaska Goldpanners (Texas Tech)
Blair chose to play in Alaska after being drafted in June by the Cardinals, who selected him in the 18th round after he hit .371-14-81 as a junior at Texas Tech. Only 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds, Blair showed a lot of thunder in his bat and led the league with 10 homers while earning MVP honors. In a July 4 doubleheader, he hit four homers against Mat-Su, which featured the league’s best pitching staff. He generally struggled against good pitching, however, and was especially vulnerable to sliders. More of an athlete than a sound baseball player, Blair was capable of making the spectacular play at times. He showed above-average speed but lacked the arm strength to play shortstop at the next level, though he played a solid shortstop when picked up by rival Mat-Su for the NBC World Series. Scouts described him as David Eckstein with more pop.
5. John Hester, c, Mat-Su Miners (Stanford)
Hester played little behind the plate for Stanford in the spring while serving as an understudy to Donny Lucy, a second-round pick in June. But the 6-foot-4, 215-pound receiver made a strong impression on Alaska League managers–as a runner, receiver and hitter. He runs unusually well for his size (and for a catcher), showed an ability to hit the breaking ball in any count and was a solid defender, though his arm was erratic. Some managers felt like Hester has a higher upside than Lucy because he’s just scratched the surface of his ability.
6. Travis Becktel, of, Anchorage Bucs (San Jose State)
Becktel struggled as a junior at San Jose State, hitting .264-4-27 with aluminum, but was a different player with wood in Alaska–hitting over .300 and leading the league in RBIs. The most impressive part of his game, however, was his arm. He threw out more than a dozen runners from right field with an uncanny spin move that belied slightly above-average arm strength.
7. Steve Morlock, rhp, Peninsula Oilers (UC Santa Barbara)
Overpowering at times with a fastball that peaked at 93 mph and looked faster because of deception in his delivery, Morlock dominated games with just his fastball. He also mixed in a cutter, curveball and changeup and occasionally had command of all four pitches, but he was plagued by inconsistency. He went 6-2, 3.36 with 61 strikeouts in 56 innings, a big improvement over his sophomore season at UCSB, where he went 7-5, 5.02.
8. Kenny Maiques, rhp, Alaska Goldpanners (Long Beach State)
Young and undersized at 6 feet tall, Maiques pitched sparingly as a freshman on an experienced pitching staff at Long Beach State during the spring. He went 0-0, 8.18 in 12 appearances. He was overpowering at times this summer with a fastball that peaked at 95 mph and a hard, biting slider that consistently registered 83-84. But he needs to develop better command and repeat his delivery with his breaking ball. Like his Goldpanners teammate Blair, he was added to the Mat-Su roster for the NBC World Series.
9. Matt Manship, rhp, Mat-Su Miners (Stanford)
Manship, and not Gilmore, was supposed to be the No. 2 starter in the Stanford rotation this spring. But Manship lost his ability to throw his curveball for strikes and lost his place in the rotation. It didn’t return on a consistent basis this summer. His fastball can be electric, at times, ranging from 88-93 mph. If he can regain his ability to throw his curve for strikes and learn to throw a changeup, he could be nearly unhittable.
10. Brandon Roberts, of, Anchorage Bucs (Cal Poly)
Roberts not only won the Alaska League batting title at .363 but also earned the tag of league’s fastest runner, enabling him to lead the league in stolen bases. His speed is more evident on offense than in the field. He can bunt, get down the line in a hurry and run the bases. As a sophomore at Cal Poly, he hit .379-3-44 with 30 stolen bases. But he’s a below average defender with a below-average arm and profiles only as a singles-hitting left fielder.
