where are they now: ’05 chatham a’s

With an eye on guaging just how much talent is on any given Cape League team, I’ll be picking a team from recent years and looking at where some of its players have ended up. First up: the ’05 Chatham A’s.

The Chatham A’s of 2005 were one of the best teams in recent memory to not win a championship, falling short to Orleans several times in the season, and again in the Eastern Division finals. It was clear then, though, and it’s more clear now that the A’s had some serious talent. Of the 26 players who saw time in an A’s uniform in 2005, 21 are currently playing professional baseball in major-league farm systems. All but one of the players in the typical everyday lineup for the ’05 A’s is on that list. Every starting pitcher, and Chatham’s top three relievers are also on the list. Six players from the team were first-round picks, including Evan Longoria and Andrew Miller, the third and sixth players taken in the ’06 draft.

HITTERS

Evan Longoria
Infield
Long Beach St.
First Round – 3rd overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: Double-A Montgomery (Tampa Bay)

Longoria was the MVP of the Cape League in ’05, leading the league in HR, RBI and slugging percentage. He also hit .299 while shuffling between second base, shortstop and third base. That summer helped establish him as one of the top infielders in the country, and he then put together a big junior year at Long Beach, hitting .353 with 11 home runs. Tampa Bay selected him with the third pick in the ’06 draft, and he hasn’t disappointed. He tore through two levels before a quick promotion to Double A, where he finished last season. He’s there again this year and is hitting .304 with 18 home runs and 61 RBI. Baseball American rated Longoria as the seventh-best prospect in all of baseball in its annual top 100. At 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, he’s considered the Ray’s third baseman of the future.

Chris Coghlan
Infield
Ole Miss
First Round – 36th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: High class-A Jupiter (Florida)

Coghlan arrived late to Chatham for the summer of ’05 after Ole Miss’ run to the super regionals, but he quickly made his presence felt, starting hot and staying hot. He finished as the league’s batting champ with a .346 average. After finishing his junior year at Ole Miss with a .35o batting average and a .437 OBP, Coghlan was selected in the first round of the draft. He has since moved to second base and is having a breakthrough campaign this season. He’s just been called up to Jupiter after hitting .325 with 10 home runs for Greensboro. Baseball America has Coghlan as Florida’s ninth-best prospect.

Alex Presley
Outfield
Ole Miss
8th round – 230th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: Low class-A Hickory (Pittsburgh)

Presley joined his college teammate Coghlan on the Cape and also had a lot of success, finishing with a .341 average, just below Coghlan’s league-leading clip. He hit .336 in his junior season at Ole Miss and was drafted by the Pirates. He hit .260 in short season class-A last year and is now hitting .305 for Hickory in the South Atlantic League.

Baron Frost
Outfield
USC
50th round – 1488th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: Low class-A Auburn (Toronto)

Frost played on the Cape after his junior year and was right there with Coghlan and Presley in the race for the batting title. He finished with a .343 average, and like Presley and Coghlan, earned all-league honors. He wasn’t a high draft pick but he did well in Rooke League ball last season, hitting .320. He’s hitting .254 this year.

Garrett Bussiere
Catcher
California
26th round – 796th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: Rookie League Johnson City (St. Louis)

Bussiere split time with Nick Derba behind the plate for the A’s and hit .221. He struggled with the bat in his junior year at Cal, but still opted to leave after getting drafted. He hit .156 last year for Johnson City. It appears he’s on the disabled list now.

Nick Derba
Catcher
Manhattan
30th round – 922nd overall pick in ’07 draft
Now: Low class-A Batavia (St. Louis)

Derba hit .211 for the 2005 A’s then returned last summer and hit .119. Still, he was drafted by St. Louis and is playing in the New York Penn League. Through 19 games, he’s hitting .267.

Todd Frazier
Infield
Rutgers
First Round – 34th overall pick in ’07 draft
Now: Rookie League Billings (Cincinnati)

Frazier followed in the footsteps of his brother Jeff, who went to Rutgers and played for Chatham. Todd was one of only two freshmen on the ’05 team, but he made his presence felt, hitting .270 with five home runs. He returned to Chatham for a brief stint last summer before heading off to Team USA, where he solidifed his status as a major prospect. The Reds tabbed him as a first-round pick and sent him to the Pioneer League, where he just played his first game yesterday. He went 2-for4.

Adrian Ortiz
Outfield
Pepperdine
5th round – 156th overall pick in ’07 draft
Now: Rookie League Idaho Falls (Kansas City)

The other freshman on the ’05 team, Ortiz joined Frazier as a high draft pick this June. Ortiz hit .271 for Chatham in ’05 and flashed the best pure speed in the league. He returned to Chatham last year and hit .224. His speed has always been his greatest asset and it was enough for the Royals to use an early-round pick on him. In 15 games so far with Idaho Falls in the Pioneer League, he’s hitting .338 with three steals. Interestingly, Ortiz was drafted out of Puerto Rico in 2004, and unless it’s a mis-print on thebaseballcube.com, he was taken with the 156th pick, the same pick that he was selected at this year.

Aaron Reza
Infield
Oklahoma
21st round – 654th overall pick in ’07 draft
Now: Low class-A Greenville Drive (Boston)

Reza hit .260 for Chatham in ’05 and .358 in a short stint last summer. He has played only 10 games so far in the minors between the New York Penn League and the South Atlantic League.

Josh Morris
Infield/Outfield
Georgia
12th round – 370th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: Rookie League Danville (Atlanta)

Morris was the everyday first baseman for the A’s in ’05 and though he hit .220, he flashed big power and his size (6-5, 230) made him a decent prospect. After getting drafted by his hometown Braves, he hit .250 in the low-class A South Atlantic League last year. He struggled there at the start of this year and has sinced dropped down to the rookie level, where he’s hitting .333.

Anthony Smith
Outfield
St. John’s
21st round – 643rd overall pick in ’07 draft
Now: Rookie League Missoula (Arizona)

Smith had to find playing time in a crowded outfield and hit only .149. But he followed that summer with two strong seasons at St. John’s and got picked in June after his senior season. He is tearing up the Pioneer League so far, hitting .419 in 12 games.

PITCHERS

Andrew Miller
North Carolina
First round – 6th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: MLB Detroit Tigers

Miller was highly thought of when he made his first appearance on the Cape in 2004 and didn’t disappoint. A third-round pick out of high school, the 6-foot-6 lefty struck out 48 and had a 2.03 ERA. Back with Chatham in 2005, Miller went 6-0 with a 1.65 ERA. He struck out 66 in 49 innings and was named the league’s top pro prospect. After a strong junior year, Miller was drafted with the sixth pick (he might have been the No. 1 overall pick if a team with a bigger budget than the Royals had been in that spot.) Miller has already made his major league debut in this his first full professional season. In seven starts with the Tigers, Miller is 4-3 with a 3.35 ERA.

Brooks Brown
Georgia
First round – 34th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: Double A Mobile (Arizona)

Brown was a somewhat anonymous member of the bullpen for the A’s, but only because he wasn’t the closer. His numbers were ridiculous — a 1.01 ERA with 32 strikeouts and just three walks in 20 appearances. Scouts certainly took notice, and Brown was a first-round pick in ’06. Playing for High-A Visalia for the first half of this season, Brown went 6-3 with a 2.81 ERA in 14 starts (yes, he’s a starter now). In three starts since moving up to Double-A, Brown is 1-0 with a 1.72 ERA.

Chris Cody
Manhattan
8th round – 232nd overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: High-class A Brevard County (Milwaukee)

With a 303 record and a 4.08 ERA, Cody was the least successful of Chatham’s five starters in ’05. That doesn’t mean much now. The lefthander dominated in the low-class A Midwest League, posting a 1.77 ERA with 92 strikeouts and only 15 walks in 14 starts. He averaged better than a strikeout per inning, and was an all-star. He moved up to the high-A Florida State League before getting traded July 1 from the Tigers’ organization to Milwaukee as part of a deal for reliever Jose Capellan. Cody has stayed in the Florida State League, moving from Lakeland to Brevard County, where he’s 1-1 in two starts.

David Huff
UC-Irvine
First round – 39th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: High-class A Kinston (Cleveland)

Huff wasn’t the most physically-imposing pitcher on the A’s staff but his numbers spoke for themselves. In 2005 — his second summer on the Cape — the lefthander had a 1.46 ERA with 49 strikeouts and only four walks. That season propelled him into top-prospect status. A guy who had been drafted twice before — once in the 31st round and then in the 19th — Huff moved way up draft boards in ’06 and got picked in the first round by the Indians. So far this season, he has a 2.72 ERA in 11 starts, with 46 strikeouts and 15 walks in 59 innings.

Jared Hughes
Long Beach State
4th round – 110th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: Low-class A Hickory (Pittsburgh)

Hughes joined Miller atop Chatham’s rotation and was just as intimidating a presence. At 6-foot-7, the righthander put up great numbers to go with his projectible frame. He finished the summer with a 7-0 record, a 1.62 ERA and 54 strikeouts against 11 walks in 50 innings. Hughes is in the South Atlantic League now and is 7-6 in 17 starts this season with a 4.04 ERA.

Brandon Hynick
Birmingham Southern
8th round – 228th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: High-class A Modesto (Colorado)

Hynick’s numbers weren’t great in ’05 but he was still a fairly high pick in the ’06 draft and he’s put up great numbers as a pro. With a 2.39 ERA and 70 strikeouts against eight walks, Hynick was named the Pioneer League’s pitcher of the year last season. So far this year in High-A, Hynick 10-2 with a 2.48 ERA and 87 strikeouts against 18 walks.

Derrik Lutz
George Washington
19th round – 564th overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: High-class A Sarasota (Cincinnati)

Lutz was the lights-out closer for the A’s in ’05, and he was amazingly dominant. In 19 appearances, he didn’t allow a single run. He struck out 39 in 25 innings and only walked three. The big summer didn’t help his draft status much, so after getting picked by the Reds in ’06, he returned to Chatham in an effort to gain some bargaining power. It worked, as he allowe a run in seven appearances before signing with the Reds. In 34 appearances as a reliever this season, he has a 3.46 ERA with 32 strikeouts.

Steve Richard
Maine/Clemson
8th round – 231st overall pick in ’06 draft
Now: Low-class A Winsconsin (Seattle)

Richard was coming off his sophomore season at Maine when he came to Chatham and put up good numbers, finishing ’05 with a 2.54 ERA in eight starts. He transferred to powerhouse Clemson for his junior year and then was an eighth round pick of the Mariners. He has a 4.14 ERA this season.

Robert Woodard
North Carolina
20th round – 627th overall pick in ’07 draft
Now: Short-season Eugene (San Diego)

Few players in the nation have seen as much time on the Cape as Woodard, who played in Chatham after his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons. He had solid numbers every year, and in ’05, he had a 2.53 ERA and flashed great control (4 walks in 46 innings). Woodard never climbed into hot-prospect status but he put together quite a career at UNC and ended up pitching in two College World Series. With his four-year college career now over, Woodard is just getting his feet wet in pro ball. In four games for Eugene, has struck out eight, walked one and hasn’t allowed an earned run.

Josh Santerre
Manhattan
Free Agent Contract
Now: Rookie Arizona League Royals (Kansas City)

Santerre put up a 1.56 ERA as a reliever for the A’s. After finishing a four-career at Manhattan this spring, Santerre signed a free agent deal with the Royals. In three games in the Arizona League, he has a 4.15 ERA.

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