Prospects Report: A big hooray for Ka'aihue

We have overlooked the phenomenon that is Kila Ka'aihue, our Eric Mack says in his weekly look at the potential impact rookies and prospects of Fantasy Baseball.

Sometimes even the scouts and touts make mistakes. We have overlooked the phenomenon that is Kila Ka'aihue.

Our bad. He good.

Not only is the Triple-A masher omitted from Baseball America's bible of prospects, the Prospect Handbook, but our primary database resource -- Elias Sports Bureau -- and consequently the CBSSports.com website, listed his name without the apostrophe, Kila Kaaihue. The dude deserves a little more R.E.S.P.E.C.T. because he can hit the HRs and he has a Killa' (pun intended) K-to-BB ratio.

Minor League stats

Interested in seeing how your favorite prospects are performing in the minor leagues? You can find a player's stats on his page or you can sort stats for Triple-A and Double-A by clicking here.

Maybe we all overlooked him because we couldn't spell, much less pronounce, his name. Apparently it is KAH-AH-E-HOO-AY.

But Ka'aihue was not listed among the Royals' top 30 prospects by BA coming into the season. He was merely listed on the organizational prospect chart at first base under No. 17 Royals prospect Justin Huber, who wound up with the Padres and then the waiver wire this season. It might be interesting to note smash late-blooming shortstop Mike Aviles barely came in at No. 29 at shortstop.

Kila's younger brother, Kala Jr., was at least listed No. 25 among Braves prospects. The sons of former Pirates farmhand Kala Sr. have good baseball bloodlines and monster power potential. The BA listing on Kala Jr. nicknames him "KK" and says he has lived up to frequent Andres Galarraga comparisons. In Double-A for the Braves, Kala Jr. has posted a .261-13-54-57 (.406-.455) staline.

But, if Kala Jr. is Galarraga, is Kila the next Prince Fielder? The 24-year-old Kila's numbers certainly suggest that is a possibility -- Chris Davis-style.

Kila was leading the Texas League with 26 home runs before he was moved to Triple-A Omaha, where he has only furthered his masher status. In 15 Triple-A games, Kila has hit .365 with seven homers, 12 RBI, 17 runs, a .476 OBP and a .769 SLUG. In 339 at-bats between Double- and Triple-A combined, Kila has posted a .322-33-91-81 (.465-.646) statline.

The most impressive part isn't the average, OPS or even the power numbers, it is the strikeout-to-walk ratio. Almost all young sluggers sacrifice contact and pitch selection to hit for power. Not Kila. He has almost a 2-to-1 walk-to-strikeout ratio (91-54).

Clearly, he is ready for a bigger challenge. And that should come in September as the Royals have plenty of opportunity to get a look at him at first base or DH down the stretch.

Owned in less than 1 percent of CBSSports.com's leagues -- perhaps readers are searching for him on our site with his Ka'aihue spelling -- Kila should be owned in all long-term keeper and deeper AL-only leagues if you are counting on a September call-up. That adds up to about a 10 percent hike in the next 10 days.

Jump on the bandwagon and don't make the mistake the scouts and touts made.

Prospects watch

Every Thursday, we break down all the minor leaguers who are owned in at least 1 percent of our Fantasy leagues. This will be your essential guide to unearthing the elite prospects before they hit the big time.

As the minor league season -- and therefore the prospect hunt -- winds down, we present this list with merely a Y (yes) or N (no) of whether these prospects could see time in the majors before the end of the year. This many players won't be called up, and there will be many that will be that are not on this list.

But, the theory behind this list all season has been these are the potential impact guys our users care about enough to own.

CBSSports.com's most-owned minor leaguers

Player

TM

POS

Own%

Sept.?

Player

TM

POS

Own%

Sept.?

Player

TM

POS

Own%

Sept.?

David Price

TB

SP

58

Y

Claudio Vargas

NYM

SP

1

N

Cameron Maybin

FLA

OF

14

Y

Brandon Morrow

SEA

SP

37

Y

Jonathon Niese

NYM

SP

1

Y

Matt LaPorta

CLE

OF

12

Y

Micah Owings

ARI

SP

24

Y

Brett Anderson

OAK

SP

1

Y

John Bowker

SF

OF

7

Y

Dana Eveland

OAK

SP

23

Y

J.A. Happ

PHI

SP

1

Y

Colby Rasmus

STL

OF

7

Y

Max Scherzer

ARI

SP

17

Y

Justin Germano

SD

SP

1

Y

Andrew McCutchen

PIT

OF

5

Y

Ian Kennedy

NYY

SP

17

Y

Jeff Niemann

TB

SP

1

Y

Felix Pie

CHC

OF

4

Y

Dontrelle Willis

DET

SP

15

Y

Jake McGee

TB

SP

1

N

Travis Buck

OAK

OF

4

Y

Homer Bailey

CIN

SP

13

Y

Neftali Feliz

TEX

SP

1

Y

Jonny Gomes

TB

OF

4

Y

Aaron Laffey

CLE

SP

11

Y

Ross Detwiler

WAS

SP

1

Y

Fernando Martinez

NYM

OF

3

Y

Tom Gorzelanny

PIT

SP

11

Y

Clayton Richard

CHW

RP

1

Y

Travis Snider

TOR

OF

3

Y

Rich Hill

CHC

SP

9

N

Jon Meloan

CLE

RP

1

Y

Jerry Owens

CHW

OF

2

Y

Jo-Jo Reyes

ATL

SP

5

Y

Taylor Tankersley

FLA

RP

1

Y

Josh Anderson

ATL

OF

1

Y

Nick Adenhart

ANA

SP

3

Y

Brad Hennessey

SF

RP

1

Y

Brandon Jones

ATL

OF

1

Y

Chuck James

ATL

SP

3

Y

John Parrish

TOR

RP

1

Y

Jordan Schafer

ATL

OF

1

Y

Brian Burres

BAL

SP

3

Y

Josh Fields

CHW

3B

13

Y

Jason Heyward

ATL

OF

1

N

Adam Miller

CLE

SP

3

N

Blake DeWitt

LA

3B

6

Y

Dexter Fowler

COL

OF

1

Y

Franklin Morales

COL

SP

3

Y

Brandon Wood

ANA

3B

5

Y

Tony Gwynn, Jr.

MIL

OF

1

Y

Eric Stults

LA

SP

3

Y

Matthew Gamel

MIL

3B

4

Y

Austin Jackson

NYY

OF

1

N

Trevor Cahill

OAK

SP

3

Y

Dallas McPherson

FLA

3B

2

Y

Brett Gardner

NYY

OF

1

Y

Carlos Carrasco

PHI

SP

3

Y

Josh Vitters

CHC

3B

1

N

Matt Murton

OAK

OF

1

Y

Radhames Liz

BAL

SP

2

Y

Michael Moustakas

KC

3B

1

N

Jose Tabata

PIT

OF

1

N

Jason Hirsh

COL

SP

2

Y

Reid Brignac

TB

SS

2

Y

Daniel Ortmeier

SF

OF

1

Y

Rick Porcello

DET

SP

2

N

Brent Lillibridge

ATL

SS

1

Y

Nate Schierholtz

SF

OF

1

Y

Adam Eaton

PHI

SP

2

Y

Chin-lung Hu

LA

SS

1

Y

Nelson Cruz

TEX

OF

1

Y

Wade Davis

TB

SP

2

Y

Alcides Escobar

MIL

SS

1

Y

Christopher Marrero

WAS

OF

1

N

Jarrod Parker

ARI

SP

1

N

Brendan Ryan

STL

SS

1

Y

Matt Antonelli

SD

2B

2

Y

Chris Tillman

BAL

SP

1

Y

Elvis Andrus

TEX

SS

1

Y

Danny Richar

CIN

2B

1

Y

Hayden Penn

BAL

SP

1

Y

Kendry Morales

ANA

1B

1

Y

Jayson Nix

COL

2B

1

Y

Michael Bowden

BOS

SP

1

Y

Lars Anderson

BOS

1B

1

N

J.R. Towles

HOU

C

8

Y

Daryl Thompson

CIN

SP

1

Y

Ben Broussard

CHC

1B

1

N

Matt Wieters

BAL

C

6

Y

Greg Reynolds

COL

SP

1

Y

Joe Koshansky

COL

1B

1

Y

Ronny Paulino

PIT

C

4

Y

Rick VandenHurk

FLA

SP

1

Y

Shelley Duncan

NYY

1B

1

Y

Max Ramirez

TEX

C

2

Y

Philip Humber

MIN

SP

1

Y

Dan Johnson

TB

1B

1

Y

Taylor Teagarden

TEX

C

1

Y

Rookie watch

Top AL rookies to date

1. 3B Evan Longoria, TB -- He has made enough hay to hang on to the top spot.
2. OF Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS -- He has slowed down considerably but the Red Sox will ride him down the stretch.
3. SP Armando Galarraga, DET -- The pitching-needy Nationals AND Rangers gave up on this guy? Wow!
4. 1B Chris Davis, TEX -- Eleven homers in 156 at-bats is a great rate; he can hit 30 homers in 2009.
5. 2B Alexei Ramirez, CHW -- His breakthrough has meant more than the numbers to the White Sox.

• Honorable mentions: OF David Murphy, TEX; SP Joba Chamberlain, NYY; RP Brad Ziegler, OAK; SP Nick Blackburn, MIN; SP Glen Perkins, MIN; RP Justin Masterson, BOS; OF Ryan Sweeney, OAK; OF Ben Francisco, CLE; OF Matt Joyce, DET; OF Denard Span, MIN.

Top NL rookies to date

1. C Geovany Soto, CHC -- There aren't too many 20-homer catchers, especially not as rookies.
2. SP Jair Jurrjens, ATL -- He would have had a lot better case if the Braves were in the playoff hunt.
3. 1B Joey Votto, CIN -- It will be a hot debate between him and his rookie outfield teammate.
4. OF Jay Bruce, CIN -- He is very streaky and headline capable, but overall numbers are not good enough.
5. SP Jorge Campillo, ATL -- Journeyman gets overlooked, but where would the Braves be without him?

• Honorable mentions: SP Johnny Cueto, CIN; OF Kosuke Fukudome, CHC; 3B Ian Stewart, COL; OF Chase Headley, SD; SP Hiroki Kuroda, LAD; SP John Lannan, WAS; SP Clayton Kershaw, LAD; SP Chris Volstad, FLA; RP Chris Perez, STL; SP Jeff Samardzija, CHC; OF Gregor Blanco, ATL.

Newbie needs

Greg Foley: Can you please add the recently drafted college talent from the June 2008 draft to the CBSSports.com database? I expect Pedro Alvarez and Justin Smoak to be among the most valuable minor leaguers next year, and I would like to add them to my roster before my league's keeper deadline.

Emack: We will go through all the signees after the signing deadline this week, Aug. 15. We won't add them all, but we will add the most highly sought ones. If you have a request for a prospect to be added to our database this week, e-mail us at the address below.

You can e-mail Emack your Fantasy Baseball prospect questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Prospects in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state. Be aware, due to the large volume of submissions received, we cannot guarantee personal responses to all questions.