This year has been an amazing season for prospects.  Here at the Sombrero, we’ve celebrated the MLB debuts of many of baseball’s future stars:

• June 10: Mike Moustakas Day
• June 17: Dustin Ackley Day
• July 8: Mike Trout Day
• July 22: Jason Kipnis Day
• August 5: Brett Lawrie Day

Sunday brought the news that the Tampa Bay Rays, who are now just 3.5 games back in the Wild Card after a weekend sweep of the Red Sox, have finally called up their top prospect, LHP Matt Moore.  Not only is Moore the best pitching prospect in their loaded system, he’s the consensus (including all of us here at the Sombrero) top pitching prospect in baseball.  And with good reason.

The left-hander enjoyed a breakout season in 2010 for High-A Charlotte in the Florida State League.  There he posted a 6-11 record with a 3.36 ERA over 144 2/3 innings.  He allowed 109 hits and walked just 61 hitters while fanning 208, as he became the first pitcher since Francisco Liriano in 2005 to record a 200-strikeout season.

This season, the 22-year-old went 12-3 with a 1.92 ERA and 210 strikeouts across two levels.  Ranked as The Golden Sombrero’s No. 31 prospect headed into the season, Moore dominated for Double-A Montgomery, posting an 8-3 record with a 2.20 ERA and 131/28 K/BB ratio over 102 1/3 innings.  Shortly before he was promoted to Triple-A Durham, Moore fired a no-hitter with 11 strikeouts against Mobile on June 16.

After the promotion to Triple-A, Moore absolutely dominated, posting a 4-0 record, 1.37 ERA, 0.968 WHIP, and 79/18 K/BB over 52 2/3 innings.  He finished the regular season with a ridiculous 210/46 K/BB, as he became the first pitcher in nearly two decades to record back-to-back 200+-strikeout seasons in the Minors.

Moore’s insane talent will now be on full display for baseball fans as the southpaw will be called up before Monday’s game against Baltimore.  While he will likely work out of the Rays’ bullpen, especially with Kyle Farnsworth experiencing elbow discomfort, Moore should receive at least one start when the Rays play a double-dip against the Yankees on September 21.

It’s one thing to keep a player in the Minors if you’re out of the playoff race so that his arbitration clock doesn’t start too early.  But when every game matters and your harboring a pitcher with video-game stuff in Triple-A, all concerns are thrown out the window.  With the promotion, he instantly becomes the Ray’s third-best starter and their best reliever.

This September call-up carries extra significance for our staff, as Dee and Griff are both New Mexico HS alums like Moore and have been tracking his progress since he was drafted in 2007.  We are all pumped to watch him continue his ascent to greatness as begins what will surely be an outstanding MLB career.  Happy Matt Moore day, Sombrero Nation.

Gerrit Cole: This is a tougher call than one might expect, as Jameson Taillon is also a power righty in Pittsburgh’s system that arguably had the finest pitch of his draft class too.  Cole’s fastball is bigger and he is more polished than Taillon and probably closer to the Show.

Danny Hultzen: Hultzen is not really competing against anyone here and was the most polished guy in the ’11 class with excellent command and secondary stuff to go with a plus fastball from the left side.

Trevor Bauer: This is another tough one to call because he probably does not have the limitless projection that Archie Bradley possesses.  Nevertheless, he will arrive very quickly and will succeed from the second he shows up.  He has the unshakable poise that will allow him to immediately adapt to the Major League environment.

Dylan Bundy: Manny Machado is awesome and quite clearly the top infield prospect today, but Bundy would have been my first overall selection if I was Pittsburgh.  I personally believe that no other high school pitcher in history has been on the same level as Dylan Bundy.

Bubba Starling: Starling might take a little while to get there, but his tools are without rival in the Royals’ system and quite possibly the Minors today.  He needs time and patience from the organization because he is not remotely close to a finished product.  KC must remember that this is a good thing.

Francisco Lindor: The Tribe dismantled their system to get Ubaldo, so this is a no-brainer.  Nevertheless, Lindor has tremendous upside and tools.  I was not as high on him as many, but I think I am a little slow to accept the fact that the SS landscape is far from what it once was.  The way prospects are evaluated must adapt with the Major League landscape, and I personally have a difficult time assessing premium positions like SS.

George Springer: He has tools to drool over but lacks zone judgment and has his share of mechanical flaws.  I think he will take longer than other guys who were available, but this was far from the typical botched Houston pick.

Taylor Jungmann: Milwaukee made the smart pick here by going with the polished big-conference collegiate superstar.  Jungmann is already close and should arrive quickly.  After blowing the system up over the winter, this was the kind of draft they needed in Milwaukee as they collected two high profile collegiate aces in Jungmann and Jed Bradley.

Matt Barnes: Oh what it must be like to be the Red Sox during a draft like this.  With unlimited funds they were able to take 3 guys I had in the top 20 in Barnes, Blake Swihart, and Jackie Bradley Jr., and Henry Owens who I had immediately outside of it.  Their top guy prior to this week was Will Middlebrooks, and I just don’t see the same kind of upside in him that I do in Barnes.  Barnes certainly needs to improve his secondary stuff as well as command of all of his pitches, but he can work at 95 mph for 70 pitches and is very comfortable throwing in the cold New England air.  Oh, and I see him as a starter.  Duh.

Other teams that totally killed the draft were Washington and Tampa who have the Minor Leagues’ best hitting and pitching prospects respectively.  It should be noted that no one drafted this year would land in front of Bryce Harper or Matt Moore in any ranking of mine.

What is it about Fridays and MLB Debuts? On June 10 we celebrated Mike Moustakas Day here at the Sombrero, and just one week later we celebrated Dustin Ackley Day.  Today we are thrilled to celebrate another prospect debut: Mike Trout.

Ranked as The Golden Sombrero’s No. 2 Prospect headed into the 2011 season, Trout has done everything (and more) at Double-A to deserve the call to the Big Leagues.  At the time of his promotion, the 19-year-old outfielder was slashing .324/.415/.534 with 12 doubles, 11 triples, nine home runs, 27 RBI and 28 stolen bases.

However, like most Trout enthusiasts (namely MTD over at Off-Base Percentage), none of us sincerely expected his arrival until this time next season – maybe a bit earlier.  But after a hamstring injury to fellow speedster Peter Bourjos during last night’s game, the door officially opened for Trout.

So, to usher in the Mike Trout Era, here are several videos of the phenom in action from the last two years.  I’m now more excited about his debut than seeing Jeter collect his 3,000^th hit (to an extent). Regardless, this is a great day to be a baseball fan.

And cue the celebratory tunes:

With a third of the MLB season in the books, and some of the baseball’s best prospects now suiting up for their respective big league squads, it’s time to reflect on the performances of our Top 50 Prospects.  Today we look take an expanded look at 9-1, which includes: Brandon Belt, Jarrod Parker, Jesus Montero, Eric Hosmer, Domonic Brown, Jeremy Hellickson, Dustin Ackley, Mike Trout and, of course, Bryce Harper.

9. Brandon Belt, 1B, San Francisco Giants

Triple-A: .337/.470/.525, 7 2B, 4 HR, 21 RBI, 27 BB, 31 K

MLB: .211/.328/.281, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 SB, 9 BB, 15 K

8. Jarrod Parker, RHP, Arizona Diamondbacks

Double-A: 5-5, 4.95 ERA, 56.1 IP, 27 BB, 52 K, 1.385 WHIP, 0.2 HR/9

7. Jesus Montero, C, New York Yankees

Triple-A: .292/.338/.421, 10 2B, 3B, 5 HR, 25 RBI, 13 BB, 50 K

6. Eric Hosmer, 1B, Kansas City Royals

Triple-A: .439/.525/.582, 5 2B, 3 HR, 15 RBI, 3 SB, 19 BB, 16 K

MLB: .288/.341/.442, 7 2B, 3B, 5 HR, 22 RBI, 2 SB, 12 BB, 29 K

5. Domonic Brown, OF, Philadelphia Phillies

High-A: .368/.429/.737, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 3 K

Triple-A: .341/.431/.537, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 7 BB, 9 K

MLB: .228/.311/.443, 5 2B, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 2 SB, 10 BB, 11 K

4. Jeremy Hellickson, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays

MLB: 7-5, 3.09 ERA, 84.1 IP, 33 BB, 54 K, 1.138 WHIP

3. Dustin Ackley, 2B, Seattle Mariners

Triple-A: .303/.421/.487, 17 2B, 3 3B, 9 HR, 35 RBI, 7 SB, 55 BB, 38 K

*Set to make MLB debut on Friday night against the Phillies

2. Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels

Double-A: .329/.431/.559, 9 2B, 8 3B, 8 HR, 22 RBI, 23 SB, 33 BB, 44 K

1. Bryce Harper, OF, Washington Nationals

Class-A: .326/.421/.585, 14 2B, 3B, 14 HR, 45 RBI, 12 SB, 35 BB, 55 K

With a quarter of the MLB season in the books, and some of the baseball’s best prospects now suiting up for their respective big league squads, it’s time to reflect on the performances of our Top 50 Prospects.  Today we look at 29-25, which includes: Brett Lawrie, Martin Perez, Devin Mesoraco, Jason Kipnis and Zach Britton.

29. Brett Lawrie, 2B/3B, Toronto Blue Jays

Triple-A: .342/.401/.638, 16 2B, 3 3B, 12 HR, 39 RBI, 16 BB, 39 K, 10-for-11 SB

28. Martin Perez, LHP, Texas Rangers

Double-A: 1-0, CG, SHO, 2.31 ERA, 46.2 IP, 23 BB, 48 K, 1.286 WHIP, 0.2 HR/9

27. Devin Mesoraco, C, Cincinnati Reds

Triple-A: .288/.371/.473, 12 2B, 5 HR, 22 RBI, 18 BB, 32 K

26. Jason Kipnis, 2B, Cleveland Indians

Triple-A: .292/.368/.497, 10 2B, 4 3B, 5 HR, 29 RBI, 20 BB, 31 K, 8-for-8 SB

25. Zach Britton, LHP, Baltimore Orioles

MLB: 5-2, 2.35 ERA, 65 IP, 21 BB, 35 K, 1.123 WHIP