Top 20 Prospects: #20 Anthony Alford OF

Going a bit out of order to fix the list because of the Mets trade. Today we'll be doing our new number 20, with tomorrow being number 19. Then, on Sunday, our number 1 prospect will be revealed(I wonder who that could be). Enjoy.

#20 Anthony Alford OF

Born: July 20, 1994 in Columbia, Mississippi, US (Age 18)

Acquired via: 3^rd round 2012 MLB June Amateur Draft from Petal HS (Petal, MS).


Bats: Right. Throws: Right 
Height: 6' 1", Weight: 193 lb.

Baseball America Ranking: Not Listed. Voted Best Athlete

Baseball Prospectus Ranking: Not Listed

Fangraphs Ranking: Not Listed

MLB.com Rank: #10

Minor League Ball Rank: 1^st “other”. Likely on list if updated for trade

2012 Stats and Analysis:

Team/Level	G	PA	H	HR	BB%	K%	BABIP	AVG	OBP	SLG	SB
Blue Jays (GCL)	5	20	3	1	10.0%	20.0%	.154	.167	.250	.333	4

You can’t take anything away from his stats this past season because he barely played, but if you want to see how fast he is, he had 4 stolen bases in the 5 times he got on base. Anyways…. #SmallSampleSize

Scouting Report

Of course I couldn't find a picture of him playing baseball...
His mugshot is good enough.

Anthony Alford’s best tool is his speed, which projects to be a 70 grade.  I guess you can say it comes in handy when running away from the cops (I had too, sorry). The two-sport star was expelled from Southern Miss recently for an on-campus event, which led to him being arrested, and getting his scholarship revoked. He has since transferred to Ole Miss, but I’m pretty sure he isn’t allowed to play football for a year with them. That being said, if he doesn’t commit to one sport full time, there is no way he is going anywhere. His arm is a plus (He played QB at Southern Miss), and he has good range in the outfield thanks to his speed. At the plate, he projects to be above average power wise, but his hit tool is suspect. BA gave him the best athlete in the Blue Jays system award for a reason though, and that’s because he does have the ability to be a 5-tool guy.  The key for Alford will be to get as many AB’s in each summer before he has to go off to college to play football, and hopefully he’ll decide that baseball is the best thing he can do very soon.

2013? ETA? Projection?

Because Alford only has April, May, and June off, I can see him going to extended ST for a few weeks in April, and then being moved up to Lansing so he can play some games. He’d likely spend his whole 2013 season their, and then in mid-July, go off to Ole Miss to play football. This whole two-sport athlete thing is really hampering his development, and he needs to make up his mind sooner rather than later. Depending on what he does, I don’t see him being in the big leagues before 2016 at the earliest, although maybe a September call-up in 2015 makes sense. He is only 18 so he is very hard to project, but right now, he has the raw tools to become a 5 tool player, now he just needs to stop playing football, and work on becoming that dynamic outfielder that everybody says he could be.

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