Top 5 Most Underrated Prospects-Sebastian Valle

With so many players in farm systems across baseball, sometimes players get lost in the shuffle. While some players are sometimes grossly over-rated, there are some that are very highly underrated, and yet, they go-on to have long Major league careers.

In this 5-part series, I will name 5 players that are very highly underrated, and could be that sneaky "player to be named later" of a trade that haunts the organization that traded them away, forever.

5. Sebastian Valle, C, Philadelphia Phillies (AA) 
Valle makes my list at number 5, because he is less underrated than the other players on this list, yet is still underrated. Ranked as the 3rd overall Prospect in the Phillies organization, according to Baseball America, he at-least holds a rank, and honor that some of the prospects on this list are not regarded enough to hold.

Valle is of a dying breed, the Power Hitting Catcher, and Valle certainly has Power. Hitting 16 Home Runs, with 74 RBI, en-route to a second consecutive championship for the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. However,  Valle's power dropped off a bit the following season, in high A-ball.

Valle, who does not hit for much of an average, does have a knack for hitting in the clutch, and has a bit of speed with 11 Triples, in 6 seasons in the Minors.

 Sebastian Valle, while with Class-A Lakewood.

At just 21 years of age, and standing at 6'1 and weighing 205, he is not too big, or too small for a Catcher. He has shown flashes of genius behind the plate, while also having a couple of off-years. In 2010, which was an all around career year for him, he threw out 33% of would-be base-stealers, but was also charged with 12 Past Balls, and 9 errors. In 2011, his power numbers were down, but his defense improved, only committing 2 errors that season.

He certainly could use some more work behind the plate, his ability to handle a pitching staff was shown off in 2010, with the BlueClaws boasting one of the better pitching staffs in the South Atlantic League. Not to mention the fact that he played under long-time Major League Catcher, and now Bench Coach for the Chicago White Sox, Mark Parent, which probably helped him immensely with intricacies of playing Catcher.

Although he is currently blocked by Carlos Ruiz, I could see Valle reaching the majors soon, and although he is only the 3rd best prospect in their organization, according to Baseball America, a legitimate power hitting catcher, does not come around very often. He could prove to be the type of franchise Catcher, that few teams have.

-MJ