His senior year at OSU was a tour de force: A .329 average/.537 slugging percentage and a walk to strike ratio of 1.4. He had 19 doubles, 7 triples and 4 dingers as well as 42 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. All the markings of a great contact player.
He went to Colorado in the 8th round of the 2002 Draft. Rather than put him in Rookie ball, the Rockies shipped him to Low-A Tri-City in the Northwest League (NWL). The jump might not have been the right move for him, as he struggled (.235AVG/.328SLG) a bit at that level.
In 2003 he was promoted to the High-A Visalia Oaks in the California League barely long enough to make it worth taking the bus ride down 101 to get there. He was in just at-bats and one game before being reassigned to the Asheville Tourists in the Class A South Atlantic League (SAL). It was a much better year for Jeff there, batting .284 with a .527 slugging percentage. He made great all-around contact with the ball, 23 doubles, 4 triples, and a whopping 29 home runs. This is where the big bat theory started to evolve. He also 28 bases that year, a personal record that is a natch for a player of Salazar's power and speed against the D of most of the pitching in the SAL. This was Jeff's breakout year that put him on the run.
Salazar made his return to Visalia in 2004, where he positively tore up the High-A California League. For the Oaks in 314 trips to the plate he delivered a .586 slugging percentage and a .347 average. While his overall totals dropped from the 2003 high, he still delivered a consistent mix of doubles (18), triples (9) and home runs (13), and stole 17 times.
He was promoted to Class-AA Tulsa in the Texas League. He struggled again, his average dropping to .223 and his slugging percentage dipping to just .312. His 13 doubles show that his was still making good contact with the ball, but the better pitching was able to completely silence his big bat with only 1 dinger.
Assigned to Tulsa in 2005, he started to adjust. He went from April to the top of July with a .278 average and a .410 slugging percentage. His distribution of hits returned to normal: Doubles 13, triples 2, home runs 6. He had 35 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.
He was promoted to the Sky Sox on July 5, 2005 where warning bells went off. Jeff's average stands at .243 and his slugging percentage is .375. His hitting production is a little low, but not significantly off. That can easily be attributed to adjusting to the level of competition at the Three-A. His base stealing, one of his most consistent areas of work, is way off pace. He currently has but a deuce in SBs.
Since we know that Bill Geivett, the AGM/VP in charge of the farm system, is a really smart guy, and Salazar's record reads like a kiddy roller coaster, we're left with the assumption that he needs a little prodding and responds, albeit a bit less quickly than many other prospects, to the challenge.
We still have bright hopes for Salazar. We think that he can be a great tactical player for the Rockies on a daily basis. We are downgrading our assessment of him slightly, though to reflect his modest movement through the farm system. Our score sheets had him arriving in the majors late 2005, early in 2006. At this point, our sources give us the sense that he may be in Triple-A through next season, making it more likely that he'd be ready in 2007.
The problem is that the Rockies have had to move on outfielders that can help them more immediately. If he can't pick up the pace, he stands the real danger of becoming parked in the AAA if Colorado decides to keep him. He may also be trade bait as he might just hit free agency before he can be of any use to the major league club.
