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	TODAY: Monday, May 15
	Tigers minor-league report By John Sickels Special to ESPN.com
	System overview When Randy Smith took over the Tigers five years ago, he vowed to rebuild the team and the farm system around athleticism, speed, defense, and pitching. It hasn't worked very well; the major league team has struggled, while the farm system is still rather dry, especially when it comes to pitching. The Tigers have had a devil of a time developing young moundsmen, with talented pitching prospects like Matt Drews and Mike Drumright among the more spectacular failures. Fireballing closer candidate Matt Anderson, the top overall pick in 1997, looked terrible last year, unable to throw strikes with any sort of regularity. Even worse, the Tigers have given away some of their top prospects in ill-advised trades. They may rue the day they traded Francisco Cordero. Despite all the talk about getting more athletes into the system, old-fashioned sluggers like Eric Munson, Rob Fick and Chris Wakeland are still the best bets to succeed in the near future. Long-term, the Tigers still hope that their approach will reap benefits, especially with an improved Latin American scouting program. 1999 Minor League W-L Percentage: .480 (ranked 24th) 1999 amateur draft The Tigers went after power with their first two picks. First-rounder Eric Munson, a "catcher" from USC, was the third overall choice in the draft. No one questions his power, although he is expected to be a first baseman in the majors, a position that isn't that hard to fill most of the time. Munson can hit, but the question is, will he hit like an All-Star, or will he be merely good? He did become the Tigers' top prospect after signing, due to the thinness of their system as well as his own talent. Detroit gave up their second-round pick to sign Dean Palmer as a free agent. The third-rounder was Neil Jenkins, a third baseman from high school in Jupiter, Florida, who has an outstanding bat. He could have been a first-rounder, but questions about diabetes hurt his stock. He looks like a good pickup, and will likely be on the top prospect lists a year from now. The rest of the draft class was undistinguished, with college pitchers Tim Kalita (7th round, Notre Dame), Stephen Bess (16th round, Rice), and Randy Leek (18th round, William and Mary), having the best chance for rapid advancement. Leek and Kalita are lefty soft-tossers, while the right-handed Bess throws 95 mph. Top prospects 1) Eric Munson, 1B: Should play Double-A in 2000, with a chance to reach the majors in September if he does well. 30-homer power from the left side, but it remains to be seen how high his batting average and OBP will be. 2) Javier Cardona, C: Excellent defensive catcher hit .309 with 26 homers and 31 doubles in Double-A. Track record is mixed, so he isn't a sure thing. 3) Rob Fick, C-1B: Missed most of season with shoulder injury, but an excellent hitter when healthy. Tailor-made DH. 4) Victor Santos, RHP: Doesn't have the ceiling of pitchers lower on the list, but very polished. 12-6, 3.49, 146/58 K/BB ratio in Double-A. 5) Chris Wakeland, OF: Limited to 212 at-bats by injury, but hit .321 with 13 homers and 35 walks at Double-A. Good lefty bat, might hit like Rusty Greer. Others of note Nate Cornejo, RHP: High-ceiling young pitcher, throws hard but pitched 175 innings at age 19 last year, a very heavy workload. Fernando Rodney, RHP: Mid-90s fastball, posted 2.40 ERA in rookie ball, but needs to improve his control. Brandon Inge, C: Athletic catcher with a good glove, but mediocre A-ball hitting numbers (.244, 9 homers). Shane Loux, RHP: A lot of scouts like him because he throws hard, but his performance is usually mediocre. 4.05 ERA in Florida State League with poor K/BB numbers. Other names to know: Adam Bernero, RHP; Matt Boone, 3B; Eric Gillespie, OF; Richard Gomez, OF; Mike Maroth, LHP; Matt Miller, LHP; Adam Pettyjohn, LHP; Ramon Santiago, SS; Bobby Sismondo, LHP. John Sickels is the author of the 2000 STATS Minor League Scouting Notebook. You can email your questions to him at JASickels@AOL.com.		ALSO SEE Hot Stove Heaters: Tigers ESPN.com's Hot Stove Heaters