In hearing Travis D’Arnaud may be involved in the Roy Halladay/Cliff Lee swap, it brought me back to the Lakewood series here in Savannah where D’Arnaud looked like a star in the making. With power to all fields, excellent athleticism behind the plate, and impressive game management skills, he ranked as the best “Sally” positional prospect I saw during the 2009 season.

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Physique and Athleticism: Listed at 6’2″, 195 lbs., D’Arnaud has a strong lower half with evenly proportioned upper body. His wide shoulders and size through the quadriceps lead me to believe he should be able to add another 15-20 pounds of muscle without losing too much athleticism.

For a catcher, D’Arnaud’s is an impressive athlete. Not only does he move well enough behind the plate for him to remain at the position, but his fluid load and swing project for more power as he matures. He was the most athletic catcher I have seen come through the “Sally” since Jackson Williams of the San Francisco Giants.

Offense: When able to extend his hands, D’Arnaud shows considerable power to all fields as exemplified by his 52 extra base hits in spite of a BABIP of only .279. After lofting a double off of the right-field wall and then driving a fly ball 395 feed to center field off of his front foot, I tweeted I hadn’t seen such easy power in the “Sally” since watching A’s prospect Chris Carter in 2007 when he was still property of the White Sox. . Also impressive was his ability to work deep counts as exemplified by a double-digit pitch walk where he fouled off what seemed to be at least a half dozen pitches.

His lone weakness was exploited by Mets prospect Kyle Allen as who worked him inside with a number of hard fastballs which D’Arnaud was unable to turn and lift. As he adds strength, and continues to work on driving the bat head to inside pitches, I expect to see a number of his doubles become home runs.

Defense: Quick and agile behind the plate, I saw no visible holes in his all-around defensive game. With the Sand Gnats boasting little in terms of speed, D’Arnaud’s arm went relatively untested. Where the young catcher excelled was in his ability to handle his pitching staff. D’Arnaud’s body language and actions demanded respect and he received it from his staff. He was an integral part of Matthew Way dominating for eight scoreless innings and used stellar game management skills to help Heitor Correa fight through five innings of one run baseball. As a former catcher viewing from the stands, I always find myself finding moments where the game is mismanaged behind the plate. With D’Arnaud, this did not happen.

Speed: D’Arnaud is not going to win games with his legs, but he will not cost a team many runs early on in his career either. With the wear and tear of the position seriously cutting into a catchers speed over time, D’Arnaud is at least able to boast average speed at present and could even approach double-digit steals before his speed inevitably diminishes.

At his peak, I would not be surprised to see D’Arnaud surface as a .270-.285 hitter with 18-25 home run power while contributing above average defense and plus game management skills. Among the current catching crop, this would place him in the same company as Geovany Soto, and Miguel Montero who profile as above average regulars, if not occasional all-star calibur players. Select company indeed, but D’Arnaud has the tools and projection to reach those heights. Prospect analysts who regard him as little more than a throw in are seriously undercutting his ability. The Blue Jays gained an excellent prospect.

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As a second round pick in the 2008 draft, Phillies prospect Anthony Gose was considered an extremely risky proposition on draft day. As both a pitcher and offensive player, he boasted a low-90′s fastball from the left side and arguably the best wheels in the entire draft. Even with the tools, the uber-raw Gose was drafted as a major project with a long road to Philadelphia. In a draft which saw the Phillies select fellow tool sheds in Zach Collier and Anthony Hewitt prior to Gose, Gose has clearly taken the lead in prospect status among the three and is now top five in the system. With a .259/.323/.353 triple slash line and 76 stolen bases in 96 attempts, the young outfielder has yet to scratch the surface of what he can be.

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Physique and Athleticism: A thoroughbred, Gose combines explosive speed with fluid movement. Muscle definition through the shoulders, hips, and forearms indicate the ability to add size while lean calves and a slim torso point to his being able to maintain his athleticism as he continues to mature. Physically, I could argue his having the most physical projection of any position player I saw in the “Sally” this season.

Offense: While his overall line left a bit to be desired, his age, combined with physical projection and unrefined hitting mechanics make Gose a high risk, high reward project. However, he already does a few things well. In game action, he tended to play to his strengths by working deep counts and keeping the ball on the ground. In striking out more than three times for every walk, he lacks true feel for the strike zone, but this should improve considering his propensity to at least see a number of pitches.

From a mechanics standpoint, Gose has considerable room for improvement. His hands are quick, but he leads with his front elbow just enough to cause a bit of drag in the back of his swing. This leaves him susceptible to fastballs just below the letters and higher. Once he learns to keep his front elbow tight, some of his foul balls straight back should turn into hard line drives. This mechanical adjustment, along with increased strength should give him the power ceiling of a Carl Crawford.

Defense: In watching Gose in centerfield, I could not help but think of “The Bad News Bears” and “Kelly” catching everything from foul pole to foul pole. In making spectacular sliding catches in both outfield gaps, he showed gold glove caliber range. As impressive as those catches were, however, his routes can definitely improve, as well as his overall body control. He was borderline reckless in the outfield and could leave himself open to serious injury. In seeing him twice, he was not in a situation where he needed to show off his arm strength.

Speed: With 76 stolen bases, it’s quite obvious Gose has some serious wheels as exhibited by his almost beating out a hard one-hopper to second base. However, he does not have the best first step and was pretty raw on the base paths. In game action, he was picked off twice and struggled with his jumps. It’s actually scary to think about the stolen base numbers Gose could put up should his overall base running ability improve from average to plus. Triple digits is not out of the question.

Anthony Gose makes a great first impression in person even though his offensive metrics were not impressive. In terms of prospect status, his physical projection more than makes up for his being little more than an embryo in terms of baseball development. With continued growth, Gose should be a top 100 talent by 2011 and in the conversation for MILB’s most exciting player. I normally shy away from projections, but I certainly would not be surprised if Gose becomes Carl Crawford lite and runs rampant over the National League East for years to come.