Taking a look at the 2014 contributions of former Angels' farmhands Brennan Boesch and Jose Rondon.
6. Brennan Boesch, 29, AAA. 4.0 WAR. .332/.381/.636 with 25 HR and 10 SB
In Triple A, Boesch boasted a slightly above-average contact rate and an isolated power mark of .306, a combination that won him the Pacific Coast League batting title. In the majors, Boesch was jumpy, swinging at a team-leading 46% of pitches outside of the zone. Pitchers picked up on the tick, throwing him fewer and fewer strikes. Throughout the inevitable downward spiral that followed, Boesch was oddly toothless against fastballs, hitting just .162/.162 on contact. Weird. But also a pretty good reminder that PCL stats are next to meaningless (though I'm still pulling for you, Rutledge!).
Good luck in Cincinnati, Boesch.
Jose Rondon, 20, A+ (both Angels & San Diego). 3.7 WAR. .315/.363/.404 with 1 HR and 13 SB
Rondon shares plenty of traits with a certain high profile acquisition that Dipoto just added to the system. He's a fringe runner, but scouts like his hands, range, arm and general athleticism enough to project a potential everyday shortstop. He comes with a reputation for both bat control and patience, but only the former has ever shown up consistently in (limited) game experience. Folks have been projecting power for a while now, but there's near zero in-game evidence that it actually exists.
So did the Halos shell out $8+ mil (plus the 100% overage tax) to Roberto Baldoquin to simply become the system's new Jose Rondon, who went to San Diego in the Huston Street deal? That is the first thing that occurred to me when I read Baldoquin's first publicly available scouting reports, which painted a pretty lackluster picture.
Hopefully, Baldoquin renders the comparison ridiculous over the course of 2015. Over at Fangraphs, Kiley McDaniel provides encouraging anecdotes to that end.