Engel Beltre

Beltre's first full year at Double-A Frisco was a disaster, and he hit just .231/.285/.300 in 437 at-bats while carrying a 28:103 BB:K and going deep just once. Maturity problems arose once again, this time he was suspended 25 games for his part in an altercation with some fans during a game. While he's still plenty young, having just turned 22, it's likely that he'll begin the year back at Frisco and we've got a pretty good sampling of his numbers against advanced pitching between this year's full season and last year's second-half trial where he hit just .254/.301/.337 in 181 at-bats. He's had exactly one decent streak in the minors, a .331/.376/.460 line in 263 at-bats at High-A Bakersfield in 2010 (and even that was a repeat season at the same level) and it's pretty clear that the tools aren't going to translate into talent.

Beltre used a solid half-season at High-A Bakersfield (.331/.376/.460) to earn a promotion to Double-A Frisco as a 20-year-old. He struggled in his initial exposure to advanced pitching, hitting just .254/.301/.337 and walking just 10 times in 181 at-bats. The tools remain off the charts, and his showing in the AFL (.245/.333/.377, 6-for-6 in stolen-base attempts) showed some promise as well. His 2010 as a whole was a marked improvement from his disappointing 2009 season (.223/.278/.318 and a poor 17:82 BB:K rate). He's one of Texas' remaining projectable hitting prospects in a system with lots of recent graduates, so 2011 will be an important year for him.

Beltre's horrid 15:105 BB:K ratio in 566 at-bats are hard to overlook. The numbers of hitters able to sustain any sort of success at the upper levels of the minors with a Saberhagen-esqe rate is extremely short, and Beltre's long-term prospects remain cloudy as a result. He's too young to give up on (he'll be 19 next season), but there are considerable problems to address first.

Acquired from Boston as part of the Eric Gagne trade, Beltre hit a composite .243/.329/.433 in 247 at-bats spent primarily in the Rookie League. He flashed good power (nine homers) and speed (11 steals) as a 17-year-old.