The most fascinating fringe Angels prospects

Let me just get this out of the way, I’m blatantly ripping off Carson Cistulli’s “most compelling fringe prospects” idea. It’s a really good idea. We all obsesses over top prospect lists, but it is just so much fun when a guy who barely qualifies as a prospect turns into something special. See Shoemaker, Matt. As such, I think it is important to have a few fringe Angels prospects to follow. Fortunately, the Angels have so few top prospects that those players are easy to find. Honestly, most Angels prospects are fringe Angels prospects.

The following six players are simply the six prospects in the Angels farm system are the most interesting to me but also aren’t going to be seen on any top 10 prospect lists anytime soon. Why I like them differs from player to player, but I will nonetheless be watching each guy closely throughout the year.

Greg Mahle
Look, you all know I love pitchers that throw from funky arm angles and Mahle has himself some funky arm angles. He’s got some talent, too, which is a nice bonus. Too many times I’ve fallen for pitchers who only have the funky arm angle thing going for them and not much else. That won’t be Mahle. In fact, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Mahle breaks into the Angels bullpen late this season or early next season. It also doesn’t hurt that Mahle went to UCSB and I used to live in Santa Barbara.

Sherman Johnson
Johnson is the king of the MWAH Top 30 Prospects honorable mention section. Each year I have him in my top 30, but each year (or at least two of the last three) he has gotten bumped when Scotty and I scrub our respective lists together. Dammit, I love Sherman Johnson though. He plays all over the field which is always a way to my heart, but he isn’t a guy who has been forced into a utility role because he isn’t good enough defensively to play anywhere full-time (ahem, Grant Green). Johnson is actually a very good fielder. He gets not coverage, but I just don’t see how he doesn’t end up as a MLB bench player. He isn’t all glove either, he’s got good speed and he draws a ton of walks. Heck, he even has a little bit of pop in his bat. He just does so much and more people should appreciate him.

Jonah Wesely
Wesely falls under the category of “I dunno, I just like him.” He doesn’t have any particular skill that stands out. He doesn’t have an especially compelling backstory. He’s just a guy I studied up on for the top prospect lists and I think that he’s being overlooked. He was drafted out of high school and was recruited by top programs, but he signed with the Angels anyway. He was actually pretty advanced for a high schooler, which suggests he might have a low ceiling, but I just see a guy who had a solid repertoire and a bulldog persona on the mound. There are a lot of prospects like that, but for some reason he just struck me the right way at the right time.

Mario Martinez
Martinez is an 18-year old Dominican catcher that came to play in the AZL this year and pretty much fell on his face, but, dang it, I’m all about him. Why? Because he’s an 18-year old Dominican catcher that is already playing stateside. Catching prospects take a long time to develop and just having Martinez in the US suggests he’s ahead of the curve. He could totally wash out before ever reaching full season ball, but the Angels have no catcher of the future in their system right now. Martinez is probably as close as it gets.

Mike Fish
He’s an outfielder whose last name is Fish. Do I really need to explain it? I’m worried that his name literally being Fish is a little too on-the-nose for him to turn into the next great Angels outfielder, but I’m going to withhold judgment until he fails or succeeds. History is on his side and I am not one to fight history.

Chad Hinshaw
Hinshaw is kind of a bonus addition to this list because he makes it for a weird reason. It would seem that Hinshaw is a very interesting fringe prospect to other people. When we did the Top 30 prospects this year, Hinshaw made the list and pretty much blew everyone else out of the water in terms of pageviews. It was quite surprising to discover that because he isn’t even one of the cult prospects that other guys were onto (i.e. Bo Way). It appears to be that Hinshaw has a strong local following in his hometown of Bloomington, Illinois. (Hi, Bloomington!) I’ve seen that with prospects before but it usually takes the form of friends and family leaving comments and going to bat for the guy, sometimes at an extreme level (let’s just say I’m not sad to see that Zach Borenstein got dealt). But Hinshaw’s fan club is curiously silent. That’s just so weird and so fascinating.