This year we’ll be releasing our top 25 list in conjunction with the people over at Bernie’s Crew, which means the list is going to posted somewhat out of order to match up with what Jim has for his Top 25. An up-to-date list of the Between the Green Pillars Top 25 can be found at the bottom of the page.

Angel Salome / C / 5’7” 200 LBS / 6/8/86

When a guy is referred to as the “pocket” version of a player like Ivan Rodriquez, generously listed at 5’9”, you know he isn’t very big. Angel “Pocket Pudge” Salome has overcome plenty of obstacles to get to the point where he is on the cusp of making the major leagues in some capacity. For him to take that next step, though, there are still some other things he needs to work on to become the Brewers’ everyday catcher. Drafted out of a Manhattan high school in the 5^th round of the 2004 draft, Salome is very generously listed at 5’7”, which presents both advantages and disadvantages for his game.

The Brewers were careful with Salome early on, allowing him to play at both rookie levels. It was at Helena in 2005 that he first opened eyes with his production, posting a 1.142 OPS in 159 AB’s. He was promoted to low A later that year with less than stellar results, so he was sent back to West Virginia for the whole 2006 season and managed a .796 OPS before having his season cut short by a broken ankle. He was promoted to Brevard in 2007 and managed to improve his OPS to .806, despite moving from a hitter’s league to a pitcher’s one, before being suspended for 50 games for use of performance enhancing substances. Salome claimed it was a one-time thing, done to help him recover from the broken ankle in 2006, and so far there has been no sign of further use.

Salome’s suspension carried over into 2008, which caused him to miss the about half of April. Once he was on the field, he had a true breakout season with the bat. Overall, he hit (.360/.415/.559/.973) with 30 2B, 2 3B and 13 HR in 367 AB’s. Besides upping his batting average to a phenomenal .360, he also boosted his walk rate a bit, to 8.3 percent, while only striking out 57 times. He was steady all year, posting a better than .800 OPS and hitting at least two HR in every month. Though he did hit LHP better than RHP, his OPS was still .953 against right handers, so there is little concern on that front. His walk rate is a tad low for a top-flight hitting prospect, but he’s been improving it over time to the point where it’s pretty playable.

This is the paragraph where we talk about defense and position, which means it’s time for the inevitable bring down. Salome has the tools to be an above average catcher. He has a very strong arm, quick enough feet and his size isn’t a detriment. The problem is that he’s still very underdeveloped in his skills as a receiver. He only caught 31 base stealers in 121 attempts, allowed 13 passed balls and made two errors. The Brewers saw with Jason Kendall in 2008 how much a difference a good defensive catcher can make over a bad one, and Salome at this point would be a major liability behind the dish.

If Salome can’t stick as a catcher, there aren’t many options for him. He can’t play another defensive position due to his size, and his bat would hardly be special at DH. The Brewers may have to hold Salome’s bat back a bit while they work on his defense behind the plate in AAA this season. Still, his combination of advanced hitting and good defensive tools make it totally plausible that he can improve enough to play everyday. Most teams hesitate to carry an offense-first catcher as a backup, but Salome could add value that way for a while too if the defense doesn’t enable him to play everyday. There is a very real chance that he could be passed up as the future everyday catcher by Jon Lucroy or Brett Lawrie in the next few years, though even if he does he’ll still have value either as a backup or in a trade. The best-case scenario for 2009 would be that he improves enough behind the plate and continues hitting well enough that the team is forced to push Jason Kendall aside by the end of the season and allow Angel to take over. That isn’t overly likely, but it is possible. Stay tuned.

Between the Green Pillars Top 25 Prospects:

# 25: Evan Frederickson

# 24: Cody Adams

#23: Alex Periard

#22: Brent Brewer

#21: Brad Nelson

#20: RJ Seidel

#19: Tim Dillard

# 18: Seth Lintz

# 17: Efrain Nieves

#16: Erik Komatsu

#14: Omar Aguilar

#13: Cutter Dykstra

#12: Zach Braddock

#11: Caleb Gindl

#10: Jake Odorizzi

#9: Cole Gillespie

#8: Lorenzo Cain

#7: Brett Lawrie

#6: Taylor Green