[ayaghmour2]

3B Hank Stratton (136th Overall)
Acquired: Via Draft: 5th Round, 78th Overall (1932)
Alma Mater: Chicago HS Wildcats
Last Year Rank: New

A hometown kid, Hank Stratton spent his high school years right here in Chicago. He had a rough senior year, hitting .323/.362/.445 (110 OPS+) with 2 homers and 20 RBI's, but that's more because he regressed back to the mean. As a junior, he slashed .362/.395/.544 (185 OPS+) with 2 homers and 21 RBI's, with the high slugging fueled by 21 doubles. His career .345/.378/.495 (149 OPS+) is much closer to his actual ability, but the lefty swinging Stratton is an extremely talented youngster. He's an excellent defender with great gap power and if he had any ounce of speed, he'd profile as a very similar player to John Kincaid. He won't hit many homers, but he's got a really nice "pure swing" and Cougar fans can look forward to seeing "Jitters" at the North Side Grounds for years to come.

C Cliff Ray (143rd Overall)
Acquired: Via Rule-5 Draft from Baltimore
Drafted: 18th Round, 277th Overall (1927)
Alma Mater: Syracuse HS Stars
Last Year Rank: Not in organization

Taken in the Rule-5 Draft this year from Baltimore, Cliff Ray hit well in AA Erie with a .236/.355/.396 (110 OPS+) batting line as well as 12 homers and 39 RBI's. My scout is a big fan of the almost 24-year-old, giving him a lot of credit for excellent plate discipline and above average bat speed. He's a really smart hitter who will rack up a lot of homers and walks leading to a high OBP and slugging. He's a decent enough defender as well, and he should be a quality big league catcher. He'll have to earn a spot on the bench, but even though Claude Ramsey is a higher ranked prospect, he has option years left while Ray does not.

2B Red Moore (149th Overall)
Acquired: Via Draft: 6th Round, 94th Overall (1932)
Alma Mater: Frankford State Owls
Last Year Rank: New

Moore was our highest drafted prospect to not command a signing bonus, but that's no knock on his talent. With the Owls, Moore hit .351/.403/.517 (134 OPS+) with 14 homers, 20 steals, and 97 RBI's in 625 trips to the plate. Moore is a smooth defender at second and he led Frankford State in batting average this year, hitting .386. He's got good speed and good range and a lot of the things you look for in a second basemen. He's not much of a power hitter, but he profiles as a leadoff hitter who can occasionally go deep and will almost never strikeout. We don't have many middle infield prospects, and Moore has surpassed Homer Ray and Elmer Hutchins as the top 2B prospect in the system. A few of my shortstop prospects may see time at second, but Moore has the advantage right now.

1B Jim Hatfield (170th Overall)
Acquired: Via Draft: 6th Round, 81st Overall (1929)
Alma Mater: Buffalo HS Bison
Last Year Rank: 8th

Hatfield ranked much higher last season, but most of that had to do with all the new talent we added in. Regardless, it was a rough season for him at A Lincoln, but I think he'll be in Mobile to start the year. "The Bandit" hit just .238/.290/.338 (76 OPS+) with 8 homers, 42 RBI's, and 23 steals. The lefties never been much of a power hitter, so the home run numbers aren't at all concerning, but he's generally been an excellent contact hitter. He's got an above average contact tool, and of course, excellent speed. He did have his struggles defensively this season, with a -3.4 zone rating and .966 efficiency, the worst of his professional career. First base is probably our weakest spot in the majors, but with Jim Fisher's consistent hitting ability plus Phil Vaughan on the bench, there are a lot of guys in Hatfield's way. He's still young, just 21, but he'll have to work out his kinks if he wants to secure a big league spot in the future.

3B Tom Spitzer (190th Overall)
Acquired: Via Draft: 7th Round, 97th Overall (1929)
Alma Mater: Houston HS Hurricanes
Last Year Rank: 18th

A natural shortstop, Tom Spitzer almost exclusively played third base this season in Lincoln. He was hurt for part of the year, and just got into 75 games, but he hit a really good .274/.308/.455 (112 OPS+) with 12 homers, 6 steals, and 55 RBI's. He'll be given a chance to make the jump to Mobile this year, and he's really getting close to forcing himself in the big league picture. He's got a strong hit tool, decent speed, and he's developing into a dependable defender at third base. He doesn't quite have the power that most like to see with a corner position, but that's not a real concern to me. John Kincaid is arguably the 2nd best third basemen (behind John Lawson, of course...), and he's hit just 17 homers in six big league seasons. For now, Spitzer is a third basemen who may eventually replace Kincaid, but if he doesn't show enough promise I'll start working him out at second too to increase versatility.

*After the addition of Jorge Serna, we now rank 11th out of 16th in Farm Systems. We were previously the only team without a top 30 prospect. Elmer Field, who I didn't sign, enrolled to St. Patrick's. The catcher ranks in the top 50 college prospects and could be an interesting guy to watch.