Rising Angels prospect stole attention with rocket RBI in AFL showcase

If you go by prospect rankings, the Angels have no chance of competing any time soon. The key to any organization is to supplement their brand name major leaguers with up-and-coming prospects throughout the course of a long regular season, which is something the Angels have tried and failed to do for the better part of a decade. However, prospect rankings are often misleading to fans. If you solely evaluate minor leaguers by prospect rankings, then the Angels would rarely produce major leaguers. Rankings are fine with the top of classes, but the middle tier of prospects rarely have accurate future value.

An Angels minor leaguer is proving that fans need not always overreact to pundits saying the organization has no talent. Guys come out of nowhere all the time and prove that they can develop faster than anybody thought.

Rising Angels prospect stole attention with rocket RBI in AFL showcase

We here at Halo Hangout have been following and writing about Raudi Rodriguez for some time, but more casual non-Angels fans are starting to see the potential he has. Rodriguez is a 22-year-old 19th round draft pick who MLB.com still does not have ranked as a top-30 Angels prospect. Well, Rodriguez absolutely crushed at Low-A Inland Empire and catapulted his awesome production into being an Arizona Fall League All-Star. Not only was he an All-Star, he won the Fall Stars Game MVP thanks to a rocket single to drive in a run during the showcase.

Rodriguez won several awards during the minor league season, and is showing that he has the potential to be a quasi-five tool player when he inevitably makes the big leagues. The outfielder has a cannon for an arm, is electrifyingly fast (he stole 38 bases in Low-A this year and covers a ton of ground in the outfield) and slashed .281/.372/.470/.842 with 14 home runs, 14 triples, 21 doubles, 83 RBIs and 90 runs scored.

Rodriguez is facing elevated competition in the AFL and is showing he belongs on leaderboards. In 17 games with the Salt River Rafters in the AFL, Rodriguez is slashing .421/.507/.614/1.121 with a 17.6% K% and 14.7% BB%. Not bad for an unranked prospect! The outfielder will undoubtedly break spring training with High-A Tri-City at least, personally I'd predict he becomes the every day right fielder in Double-A Rocket City.