Angel Villalona: Giants Prospect Is Expected to Report to Spring Training

After a two-plus year hiatus, Angel Villalona, a first baseman in the San Francisco Giants organization, is expected to report to Scottsdale, Arizona for spring training at the Giants' facility.

Villalona,16 years old at the time, was signed by the Giants for a $2.1 million signing bonus in August of 2006.

Villalona was originally signed as a third baseman but was quickly moved to first base, where he played during his previous stints in the organization.

The first baseman was a highly-touted prospect, garnering top 100 status by Baseball America pre-2008 and pre-2009.

He started his minor league career in 2007, compiling a slash line (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) of .278/.338/.434 with five home runs in 237 plate appearances across two levels.

By 2008 Villalona was ready for a full season league. He spent the whole season playing for the Giants' Single-A South Atlantic League affiliate, the Augusta Green Jackets. During that season, at only 17 years old, Villalona showed why he was ranked so high by Baseball America and why he received such a hefty signing bonus from the Giants.

In his 500 plate appearances in 2008, Villalona hit .263/.312/.435 and smashed 17 home runs. While still raw, as indicated by his 118-to-18 strikeout-to-walk ratio, Villalona showed his future potential. Things were looking increasingly bright for the young prospect.

2009 brought a promotion to the High-A California League and the San Jose Giants. Still only 18 years old and much younger than most of his competition, Villalona did a solid job of adjusting to the faster paced California league.

He hit .267/.306/.397 with nine home runs in 310 plate appearances for San Jose. But late in the season, Villalona strained his quadriceps and was allowed to go home to his native Dominican Republic while he recovered.

While home in the Dominican Republic, he got into some trouble as explained by Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News.

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Villalona, 21, has not stepped foot in the U.S. since September, 2009, when he was arrested and charged in the barroom shooting that left 25-year-old Mario Felix de Jesus Velete dead in La Romana. At the time, Villalona was on family leave from Single-A San Jose while rehabbing a quadriceps strain. After nearly two years of incarceration or house arrest, all charges against the slugging prospect were dropped. According to reports in the Dominican, Villalona also settled with the victim’s family to prevent a civil suit.

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Following the shooting and subsequent hearings, it looked as if Villalona would never play for a major league affiliated team again. But now, two-plus years removed from the shooting, Villalona has been approved for a work visa by the U.S. Immigration Service.

Villalona, who has been working out at the Giants' facility in the Dominican Republic, is expected to arrive in Scottsdale in time for spring training with the Giants.

Now two years removed from last playing in the California League, it's unknown whether or not Villalona will ever recover from the time off or whether he will tap into his once huge potential.

According to Baggarly, "he still has plenty of the bat speed that made him a standout talent as a teenager." But whether or not that's enough remains to be seen.

Villalona is expected to eventually rejoin the San Jose Giants once he gets his feet back under him. And while he supposedly still has his skill set intact, he'll need to put it all together, especially considering that at 21, he's no longer much younger than his California League competition.

But you can bet that the Giants will give him every opportunity to figure it out because they've invested a lot of money in Villalona, they opened up a 40-man roster spot for him and, while less pathetic than in the past, the Giants still lack young power-hitting prospects.

Villalona's got his second chance. Now it's up to him to capitalize on it.