Taking a look at the 2014 performances of current Angels' farmhand Angel Rosa and former farmhand A.J. Schugel.
12. Angel Rosa, 21, A+. 3.0 WAR. .268/.320/.393 with 7 HR’s and 19 SB’s
Sort of a righty-swinging, shortstop-playing version of Kody Eaves. Slightly older. Less power and speed too. So I guess there are just two shared traits: obvious athleticism in the field, and a raw bat. Rosa made it this high in the rankings because he managed to ambush California League fastballs to the tune of a .348/.390/.468 slash last August. The previous month, in Burlington, I saw the bat speed to turn around mid-90's heat with above average raw pop for a middle infielder, but I also saw plenty of whiffs against low and away breaking stuff. He has some tools, and he looked at home on baseball field, but Rosa will need to refine his approach. He and Eaves will likely form a potentially explosive double play combo behind what should be a strong Inland Empire pitching staff.
A.J. Schugel (with Arizona), 25, AA. 3.1 RA-9 WAR, 3.7 FIP-based WAR. 3.48 ERA, 19% K-rate, 8% BB-rate.
Two years ago, in the Halos' system, Schugel posted a near-identical 3 WAR. That was also in AA. Before the Halos shipped him off to Arizona as the throw-in with Mark Trumbo in exchange for Tyler Skaggs and Hector Santiago, I had Schugel ranked the twentieth best prospect in the system on the hope that he could develop into what Tropeano is now. Control, a squirrely fastball that might play as average, the makings of a dynamite change-up, and a potentially useful slider. Things just never quite clicked, and he struggled especially in 2013 against same-handers due to the weak slider. Last year might have been something of a breakthrough for him: he regained form against righties, getting them to pound the ball into the ground over half the time on contact. Against lefties, he’s more of a flyball, low BABIP guy. He might still just make it as a reliever, especially if he can miss a few more bats.