Don't Believe the Hype - Desmond Jennings, OF, TB

One of the "toolsiest" players around, Desmond Jennings was a 10th round pick by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2006 draft and a former Alabama Crimson Tide football signee. Still raw, his missing virtually the entire 2008 season has derailed a very promising future.

Coming into the season, Jennings had an Average Prospect Ranking (APR) of 32.25 with the possibility of reaching elite prospect status with a good showing in the FSL. His 2007 numbers included a .315/.401/.465 line with 45 stolen bases as a 20 year old in which he also missed some time because of injury.

Due to his recent shoulder surgery after just 85 FSL at bats, he will likely spend at least half of 2009 in the FSL as a 22 year old which changes his prospect status drastically. Young and raw is one thing, but old for your league and raw is an entirely different animal. The year of missed development time could be the difference between Jennings being an impact player and a 4th outfielder type at the major league level.

In comparision, Daryl Jones, another former big time high school football prospect and current St. Louis Cardinals farmhand was just promoted to AA after posting a .326/.406/.476 line with 18 stolen bases in the FSL while celebrating his 21st birthday just over a month ago. By the end of 2008, Jones' development curve will be almost a year and a half ahead of Jennings while being 8 months younger in age. Still, Jones may only crack a couple of top 100 lists entering 2009 and will likely remain behind Jennings based on name recognition alone.

With an injured Jennings not in high demand, the only play is to hold onto him and hope for a dominating and injury free return in 2009. Also keep in mind that in order to get his prospect status back, he will have to be through the high A and achieving success in AA by the end of 2009. Unfortunately, Jennings injury history and raw tools makes this an unlikely scenario.

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