New Power 50, 8/7, Farm Hops on homepage

[Mass Haas]

To whet your appetite for later tonight, the following players would appear on the "Others Receiving Votes" section if this were an NCAA poll in your local newspaper:

 

In alphabetical order, these players just missed the P50 for July, in the combined tally of the three Brewerfan staff P50 voting members --

 

Omar Aguilar

Michael Bell

Chuckie Caufield

Jose Garcia

Andrew Lefave

Derek Miller

Mike Ramlow

Kevin Roberts

Chad Robinson

Josh Wahpepah

 

I'm sure we'll take some heat for the Lefave and Caufield placements, given their numbers -- if only they were crushing anywhere but West Virginia still, but their efforts have been duly noted and appreciated.

 

I'll be taking one more crack at the comments this month as we give Patrick a chance to work off post-draft overload and let Brad (pogokat) take care of his beautiful new daughter (pogokitten). Colby's promised his specific insights next time around...

[pogokat]

hey, you can't hold the Lefave thing against me...

[TheCrew07]

Lefave and Caufield supporters will go crazy... http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Mass Haas]

She's up, have at it -- we can take it.

 

www.brewerfan.net/ViewPower50.do

[wibadgers23]

Salome at #3 and LaPorta at #5. The only positions that aren't occupied by young guys in Milwaukee are left field and catcher. Could these two guys fill those spots within the next couple years? Let's hope so.

[splitterpfj]

BOOOOO! BOOOOO! Do you guys even watch baseball?

 

Ok, I've got it out of my system...actually, a very good list. There are still many players here with a very real shot at the big club, this is so much more fun than the late 90s.

[TheCrew07]

Good stuff fellas.

 

As usual I don't have any strong feelings about players I'd have ranked elsewhere.

[foamboy1]

Inman has me a bit spooked right now, but he seems to be improving/settling in a bit.

 

I might have had Gamel and Ford listed above Cain and Gillespie.

 

Cain is one of my favorite guys to follow...but he's been quite disappointing this year. After a horrid start, he's coming around but seems to really lack punch. On the other hand, Ford has surprising punch.

 

I'm hopeful for all those guys though.

 

As always, great work by the team....thanks for sharing.

 

What is the reasonable expectation for LaPorta at this point? Finish next season in AA? That is kind of what I'm looking for.

[molitor fan]

Thanks for the hard work. My musing is on Omar Aguilar, who has somewhat mediocre numbers, but has been clocked according to a few reports at throwing 100 miles an hour. Is it realistic to leave a guy with that kind of heat off of a top 50 prospect list. His numbers are not awful, and think his heat alone would garner prospect status.

[foamboy1]

No kidding? Aguilar has that kind of arm?

[endaround]

If LaPorta doesn't spend most of next season in AA or above it will be a disappointment. He's going to 23 next January which means 24 in 2009 and he should be in Milwaukee by then for at least part of the season. Which means he should be pushed to AA as soon as possible.

[Mass Haas]

No kidding? Aguilar has that kind of arm?

 

High 90's yes, both pre- and post-Tommy John.

 

Nice article here:

 

www.mercedsunstar.com/lif...4778c.html

 

For what it's worth, he got a P50 vote from me.

[BillScottCanRake]

Thanks for the hard work, everyone. Lots of good reading in there.

[Boy Jeenius]

Dang, you guys do a good job. Nice to see Crabbe back on the list, but I just don't know where he'd fit in in the show. I sure hope I'm wrong. Nelson, Sarfate and Moss either. That sure stinks, but it's starting to look like it's becoming a reality. A couple of comments: 1) Gindl starting out much stronger than Gillespie did last year at this time in the same league, and he's 5 years younger. Either he should be higher or Gillespie lower. 2) Too high for Anundsen(for now). Even though we are all excited about his potential, there's guys there, the same age, with 10 or more IP that have a better ERA including Bryson, Tyson and Garcia. Add the 20 year olds like Pasma who are throwing great, the college guys just coming in like Bramhall, Merklinger and Etheridge, not to mention that the last 2 Roque Mercedes starts were great, and Anundsen's status could slip away quickly.

[gregmag]

Awesome work as always by the three-headed beast. Thanks, guys.

 

My contrarian thought is that I like 19-25 better than 14-18. That part of the list seems unusually soft. Dillard at this point tops out as a middle reliever and could end up seeing very little of the big leagues. Iribarren, as you point out, is stalled in AA at 23. Hinton, right now, is an A+ middle reliever with big, unexplained problems. Rogers could be toast. Jackson hasn't done much well for a while, although he still could be a starting pitcher in the bigs.

 

It really does seem like ranking these guys is becoming more difficult, because, first, we don't have a big group of advanced guys knocking on the door and, second, the depth at the lower levels is so impressive.

 

Greg.

[brettac1]

Yeah, I think once you get past 10 or so, people kind of part - some would rank the guy who is a sure thing to get to the bigs higher, and then others would go with the high-ceiling guy who hasn't played enough to turn you off to his game yet.

 

I'm with you on liking 19-25 better, though.

[tyguy20204]

1. I'd argue that Gamel should be ahead of Gillespie, which isn't a slight against Gillespie but more of an affirmation of Gamel's prospect status. Gamel's outperforming Gillespie and is a full two years(!) younger. The dude is putting up an .846 OPS at BC. Strikeouts aren't a problem, and he walks, indicating good plate discipline.

 

Keep in mind that Braun put up an OPS of .784 at BC. Now, I'm not saying Gamel is going to hit like Braun, it's just an interesting comparison.

 

2. Now, ranking Joe Thatcher as the #11 prospect. I like the guy, but he's 25 and at best projects as a quality LOOGY. No way should he be #11.

 

3. Dillard, Hurricane, and Hinton are all way too high. I guess I'm not sure why Hinton was (and still is) so highly ranked. Yes, he's put up good numbers, and I think colby has attested to his good stuff, but still, he's a reliever that is just now in AA. Never mind the fact that he's getting shelled.

 

4. Lucroy should be way higher based on the front office's raves and the third round pick used to select him.

 

5. Seidel should be higher based on the reports of his stuff.

6. Finally, the big question. How is Crabbe rated so low in comparison to Hurricane? He doesn't have a cool nickname? Crabbe is outperforming Hurricane in every facet of the game and is only 1 1/2 year older. And he's playing at a level higher than Hurricane.1

 

I love the P50, and appreciate all the hard work you guys put into it,.

[dadofandrew]

Considering I said a while back I'd probably have Zach Jackson ahead of Wil Inman, I've already embarrassed myself enough without commenting on the latest P50.

[JX304]

No Chuckie makes me sad http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif

[colbyjack]

2) Too high for Anundsen(for now)

 

Sorry for being so late to the conversation, but I remembered reading this a week or two ago and wanted to get back to it. I'm not going to get into the other comments, but this one stood out to me.

 

Anundsen deserves some love, and it's not like he's ranked all that high. Just take a look at his numbers, not only this year, but his composite numbers over the first 64+ innings in his pro career. He's a ground ball machine, he throws strikes, doesn't allow the long ball, and has good size to go along with solid stuff.

 

I typically don't like doing this, but take out his first start of the year and here's his line since (over 5 starts)

 

3-1, 2.33, 27 IP, 22 H, 25 K, 4 BB

 

I know there are pitchers at a similar age with as good or better numbers and possibly better stuff, but personally I feel Anundsen is one of the more intriguing sleepers in the lower levels of the system worth getting excited about. How many prep pitchers have we seen only walk 14 batters through their first 60+ pro innings outside of Will Inman? I'm sure people will toss a few names out there, but I've been very impressed with Anundsen so far, and I hope some of our H-Crew readers will chime in and let us know what he's been throwing this year.

[Boy Jeenius]

Yeah, at the time I wrote that, he had just had a decent start(after a couple real brutal ones). As you can see with my (for now), I was hoping he'd come around, he looks like a keeper.

 

The point I was trying to make in that post was that a couple of new guys like Pasma and Garcia (and now Hand) may shoot by him if he didn't start to get straightened out.

[bretsky07]

The next Power 50 should be interesting. How does Salome's suspension affect his standing with us? Who jumps into the top spot (likely Parra)? And where, oh where has Will Inman (and Garrison and Thatcher) gone?!

 

At least this might finally give the older guys in WV a few spots in the 50.

[pogokat]

Kablamo!

[DrWood]

two questions:

how is Brantley not the highest ranked OF, outside of LaPorta? He's 20 at AA, and his average is rising, and has never had OBP under .400 for a season yet. He should get a callup next year, if he stays on this course. Offensively, he's what everyone wanted Gwynn to be.

 

how is katin ranked noticeably higher than brad nelson? They are the same age, have about the same number of HR and average is close. nelson is in AAA, and katin is striking out an ungodly amount. They are close to being the same guy to me. Only thing is Nelson needs to be put on the 40 man in the offseason.

[pogokat]

Brantley has no power, doesn't play great defense, and doesn't run exceptionally fast....he's great at walking...which, while awesome, i not necessarily a trait he will be able to carrry over to the majors for the same reasons TGJ cannot...

 

Brantley is a better hitter than TGJ, but his defense isn't even close...i like Brantley More at the moment, but not a lot more...I still favor darren ford and lorenzo cain...

 

Katin has only been in the system 2 years and has moved quickly...brad nelson has been here 6 and has stagnated entirely...katin is also under the control of the brewers for another 4 years...considering this is his first time through AA, he's done pretty well..