Miguel Montero - C - Arizona Diamondbacks - 22 (AA)

Introduction: Not as if the Diamondbacks needed any more help. Before the
season, Arizona already had one of the best systems in the game. They had
Carlos Quentin and Conor Jackson at the top, with Stephen Drew nearly signed
and waiting in the wings. They had a decent amount of promising pitching,
and the upcoming #1 pick in the June draft. But suddenly, as the year started,
Arizona had two more players that came from nowhere: Miguel Montero and Carlos
Gonzales. While the latter had drawn warm reviews from scouts in the past,
Montero had not. Instead, he had a history of weak hitting that included very
little power. This year, however, Montero took off in the Cal League and found
himself on the prospect radar.

Skillset/Future: There are plenty of Diamondback prospects who have drawn
rave reviews in Lancaster, only to see them fall by the wayside at AA
(Jon Zeringue, for one). Montero has a chance to be that type of player, with
enough ceiling to possibly hit well in the Majors. He can defend at the Major
League level, though it's unlikely he'll ever win a Gold Glove. Montero also
has good contact skills, though they faded when he moved up to AA late in the
season. I don't trust Montero's high-A power spike, and he has never walked
much. I'm definitely more down on him than most, but given solid defense and
good contact skills, he has back-up potential (which counts for something).


Dustin Nippert - SP - Arizona Diamondbacks - 25 (AAA)

Introduction: This is the classic example of why using mid-to-late round
choices on successful college pitchers is such a good philosophy. Nippert
wasn't highly thought of coming out of West Virginia in 2002, but years later,
the 6-7 right-hander is making scouting directors scratch their heads.
Sometimes size does matter. Especially when teamed with Nippert's control,
which was the reason for his success right of the gate. Such good numbers
continued until he needed Tommy John surgery in July of 2004.
Many worried it would impact the right-hander's career. Hardly. Nine months
after going under the knife, Nippert was pitching, and pitching well. His
season finished with performances in the Majors. Chalk up another one for TJ
surgery, ladies and gents.

Skillset/Future: As Dustin has added velocity to a fastball that now touches
97, he has lost the control that was so good in college. But it's hardly a
weakness now, as Nippert's BB/9 was back down to 3.22 this year. Also armed
with a power curve, he has never found it hard to generate a lot of strikeouts,
though his K/9 dipped to an all-new low this season. Part of the blame might
be the Diamondbacks pressure to force Dustin into throwing his change-up more,
which would (as Brandon McCarthy can attest) certainly help his prospect
status. While Nippert does have the nice backdrop as a Major League reliever,
it's hard not to worry about a 25-year-old pitcher with a K/9 below 7.50.