Willie Calhoun and the historical 21st century AA LAD affiliate Home Run Leaderboard

Phil Gurnee ♦ July 21, 2016 ♦ 1 Comment

Willie Calhoun slugged his 2oth home run last night so I thought it would be a good time to take a look at all the LAD AA affiliate home run leaders in the 21st century.  It is only July 20th, and Willie looks like a good bet to at least end up the 2nd highest AA home run hitter for a LAD affiliate in the 21st century. He might catch Scott Schebler but I doubt it.  For two reasons, he could simply be moved to AAA or, be traded in a few days.

I’ve included the age just so you can see if these were journeyman minor leaguers or actual prospects.  The top name on this list is Joc Pederson, and Calhoun is just two home runs away from matching Joc with 22 home runs.  You will notice that both Joc and Willie are/were both 21 while playing in AA.  Long time Dodger prospect people will recognize Joel Guzman in 2005. At age 19 Joel made his mark by excelling in AA and entered the 2005 season as one of the top prospects in all of baseball. He even got a nickname JtD on Dodger Thoughts after appearing in the futures game and displaying “light tower power” according to one scout. JtD stood for Joel the Destroyer, but sadly he never lived up to his nickname, though he did destroy many a Dodger prospect hound heart. Particularly my heart since we shared birthdays.  He didn’t set the world on fire in 2005 and basically peaked as a prospect at age 20. The 6’6 SS simply disappeared off the prospect map much like Brandon Wood who was also setting the prospect world on fire in 2005.  Sometimes you should trust crazy K rates in the high minors even if they are 20 years old.

6 March 2006: Joel Guzman, infielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers, prior to a Spring Training game against the Washington Nationals. The Nationals and Dodgers played to a scoreless tie at Holeman Stadium, in Vero Beach Florida. Mandatory Photo Credit: Ed Wolfstein.

Calhoun however,  is far from having a crazy K rate. The big butt 2nd baseman has one of the best K rate to home run power in the minor leagues and while we may never see him putting on a laser show at the Ravine, it is a good bet he’s going to be hitting lasers somewhere.