Brandon Belt Update: According to Keith Law

I thought I would pass this along to those of you who do not pay for ESPN's Insider service.

In his blog, Keith Law was giving some updates on the top prospects that are playing in the Arizona Fall League:

As if Giants fans don't have enough to celebrate, at some point in 2011 they should see the debut of Brandon Belt, a steal in the fifth round whose fortunes changed when the team overhauled his stance and swing last fall. Belt is now much more upright, gets good weight transfer and excellent hip rotation. There's some exaggerated movement as he gets his weight back and his hands loaded, but once he starts moving forward he's fine. I'd like to see how he can handle the hard inside pitch, between that extra movement and the length of his arms (he's 6-foot-5), but when he gets his arms extended he should produce above-average or better power.

Giants prospects named in Baseball America's top 20 list

Brandon Belt is in the running to be named the Best Class A Advanced Hitter and the good news keeps on coming.  Belt was also recognized by Baseball America as one of the Top 20 prospects in the California League.  

Belt continued his banner season with the Richmond Flying Squirrels batting at a .337 clip with nine homers and 40 RBI's in 46 games. BA has also rated Belt the #4 prospect in the Eastern League. He finished the year playing in 13 games with the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies (.229, 4 HR, 10 RBI).

The former San Jose Giant is joined by current San Jose players Francisco Peguero (#11), Ehire Adrianza (#13), and also Eric Surkamp (#19).

Peguero was the fourth-highest outfielder on the top 20 list after a terrific season offensively and defensively. The 22-year old finished the year fourth in the California League in batting average (.329), tied for third in hits (168), tied for second in stolen bases (40) and first in triples (16). Peguero also connected for 19 doubles and 10 home runs.

Baseball America has also named 2009 first-round pick Zack Wheeler and fellow Augusta GreenJackets Chris Dominguez in the top 20 prospects for the South Atlantic League.  Wheeler was named the 12th best prospect while Dominguez was named #20.

Vote for Brandon Belt for Best Hitter

Giants minor leaguer, and current Fresno Grizzlies' star, Brandon Belt is up the award of Best Class A Advanced Hitter.  This is an award that is voted on by the fans and so you can vote for Brandon Belt.

Belt was only in San Jose for 77 games but during that time he hit .383 with 10 home-runs.  He then was promoted to Double A where he hit .337 with 9 home-runs in 46 games.  Belt ended his first minor league season by at Fresno where he hit .229 with four home-runs.

A look at Brandon Belt by ESPN

Now that Buster Posey has been called up, Giants fans have attached themselves to the next top offensive prospect, Brandon Belt.  I thought that with September callups and the fact that most people don’t have insider this would be as good as time of any to relay the info.

Jason Grey of ESPN has broken down Brandon Belt and suggests that he is the next real star first baseman.  So much for Buster Posey moving to first.

Belt has quick hands and good bat speed. A more upright, open stance helps keep him from getting his long levers jammed on the inner half of the plate and lets him get his arms extended more often, and he has incorporated a little more loft in his swing to turn more of his good raw power into game power, yet still allowing his zone to stay in the bat a long time. (Too much of an uppercut stroke makes your bat get out of the zone too quickly for consistent, hard contact.) He’s still mostly a line-drive hitter who squares balls up to the gaps, but he now gets better hip turn and doesn’t cut himself off as much, which gets him more carry on the ball. Belt also references being able to see the ball a bit better, and thus far he has demonstrated an ability to handle the strike zone well, walking almost as many times as he has struck out. He also has solid pitch recognition. Scouting reports say he stays back on offspeed stuff well.

Giants acquire Mike Fontenot

The Giants have acquired Cubs IF Mike Fontenot in exchange for minor leaguer Evan Crawford.
Fontenot, who is currently batting .284 and has 20 RBIs, will not have to travel far because the Cubs are in town playing the Giants.

The Giants are short-handed for infielders with Edgar Renteria hurt and Freddie Sanchez in a serious slump. Fontenot will give the Giants a IF off the bench and could allow Bochy to spell Uribe a bit. This likely will cause Emmanuel Burriss to be sent back down to AAA.

Thursday Giants lineup, Willis signed, DeJesus?

Today’s lineup and some other tidbits so let’s get started on the first day of the rest of the season.

Rowand CF
Sanchez 2B
Huff LF
Posey C
Ishikawa 1B
Uribe SS
Sandoval 3B
Schierholtz RF
Lincecum RHP

According to both San Francisco Chronicle’s Henry Schulman and Mercury News’ Andrew Baggarly the Giants have signed local kid Dontrelle Willis to a AAA contract.

This move is reportedly not related to any trade that may come up anytime soon. It is just to be for depth in the minor leagues.

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Henry Schulman is also stated on his Twitter account that the Royals top player evaluator is at the park tonight.  Looks like Giants may be having conversations with the Royals about David DeJesus.