Brewers Top Prospects now?

[Tedaldtada]

I guess I am just assuming, but it's not a totally absurd asumption. He is maybe the worst fielding third baseman in the entire league, majors and minors, so I'm guessing he won't be above average in the outfield. He has a better chance at being an average outfielder or a below average outfielder. So, in my opinion, he will be a below average outfielder just based on what I have seen from him in the field so far.

 

Also, it's not a given that a switch to the outfield will make anyone a better fielder. I was a third baseman when I played and anytime I would shag fly balls or play outfield in practice, I would have trouble judging the ball off the bat. People just assume it is an easier position to play, but I have learned to respect what those guys do out there.

[lexi881]

Thankfully those whose opinions do matter base those opinions on substance rather than assumption. I am sorry that as a third baseman shagging fly balls in the outfield proved difficult for you; however, that does not mean that it will prove difficult for others. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, just as I am to mine, and in my opinion, one should not compare an athlete such as Mat, to yourself, as they are two very different creatures. And I am really curious as to how many times you have actually seen these guys play, seeing as you were not even aware of Alcides' position. As I have said in the past, listening to games on the internet and reading the game log, does not always give you a crystal clear picture of what really went on...bad hops...taking a ball off the chest etc. etc. etc.

[kgbaseball]

What do you guys think of Darren Ford? He might be the fastest guy in the system, but struggles big time with strikeouts. He had a .398 OBP for a lead off man earlier this season with WV, but that's dropped to .315 now with the Manatees. He's got a decent amount of pop (9 HRs this season). If he could just put the ball in play more and let his speed go to work, he'd be a legit MLB prospect. Right now, I'm not sure he is. You can have all the speed in the world, but if you only get on base 31.5% of the time, your role is a future pinch runner/defensive replacement. He's only 21, so he's got plenty of time to figure it out.

[Tedaldtada]

Dear lexi,

I guess I can't tell if you are intentially picking a fight with me, or if this is how you talk to everyone you think is stupid. You know absolutley nothing about me, my baseball skills, or how much time I spend watching minor league baseball. I don't know who you are, but we normally do not talk to each other like that in this forum. We try to have respect for another person's opinion no matter how much one might disagree.

 

Back on the subject, if I had to bet my life on what position Gamel will play the most in the big leagues, I would immediatley choose designated hitter. Who knows though, maybe he will be a gold glover, right?

 

On the position switch from infield to outfield, there is a great example right here on our team. Bill Hall had plenty of trouble making the switch and he was a major league quality infielder moved only to make room for J.J. He still is not above average out there, although he is progressing somewhat.

[colbyjack]

I think it's hard to call Gamel a poor outfielder since we have never seen him play the OF (and I'm guessing most of us have never seen him play 3B). As I stated before, either in this thread or somewhere else, it was speculated that Gamel would eventually move to left field, where it was expected he could more than handle the position. He's a good overall athlete, as again, I don't know why him not being able to play third base (and I'm not saying he can't) immediately means he's a future DH. That's quite a leap.

 

We were talking about the same thing with Braun prior to this year. He's made his share of miscues this year, but I think now that everyone has had a chance to see him play has quieted the whole idea of him moving at all. The same goes for Weeks before that. lexi is right that you can't make assumptions like this based on box scores, although the insane number of errors Gamel has can't simply be chalked up to bad hops and the like.

 

As for Billy Hall in the outfield, it was stated by one of the Brewers coaches (maybe Davey Nelson last year) that it would take Hall a good three years to become accustomed to the position. Remember when the Brewers tried to move Paul Molitor to CF way back when, thinking that his natural athleticism would allow him to easily make the switch? That didn't happen, although the team was committed to keeping him out there before he was lost to injury (allowing Stormin' Gorman to move back to center).

 

The IF and OF are two different monsters, but covering the gaps in CF is a lot more difficult that doing so in LF or RF. All of those years Bill Hall spent learning the nuances of the infield will have to now be somewhat erased.

 

Moving to a corner spot isn't as difficult, although I know it took Corey Hart some time to get used to being out there as opposed to 3B or 1B. Gamel may not be the same kind of athlete Hart is, but few are, and again, I don't see him having any problem making the switch.

 

I've guessed before that the switch would have already happened if it weren't for the OF glut from top to bottom in the Brewers system. There's no need to move him now, although that could change next year at AA.

[lexi881]

Thank you Colby -

It continues to frustrate me when people who rarely or never see these guys play pigeonhole them and group them based on nothing but assumption and then preach their personal opinion as though it were gospel. I know that Mat has a ton of errors on him this season, I am not denying that; however, I have been fortunate enough to see him play tons over the years, especially this year, and have come to find that sometimes the error rulings are a little bogus. And what is really funny is people are really quick to peg him as a DH, but over the past three years he has spent with the Brewers, there has not once been talk from his coaches, agents or scout of him being a DH.

[bork]

Hart had a couple 30+ error seasons at third and has turned into a pretty good outfielder.

[homer]

I think Taylor Green has more than proven himself as a top rung prospect this year. He's top five in SAL in Avg, OBP and #7 in OPS. And he's only 20 years old. I don't know how his defense is at 3B but given Braun's status, I wonder if the Brewers would consider moving him to a corner outfield spot?

 

Is there going to be an end of season Power 50 update?

[Mass Haas]

Power 50 will be updated about a week after all playoff activity is done, so it will be fairly late into September, hopefully.

[NastyTwig]

Quit sleeping on Brantley guys... He's 20, in AA, and an OBP machine. He's our future in the 1 or 2 hole.

[homer]

I think Brantley gets plenty of respect around here. He's #10 prospect right now on the P50.

[pogokat]

i had taylor green at #12 last month...and he may move higher this time around...the brewers wont move him off third sack any time soon

[SoCalBrewfan]

I'd be very curious to hear what outsiders and scouts think of Green...I haven't heard much buzz around him, but he's hit the heck out of the ball in a situation that wouldn't necessarily lead to high expectations (pitcher's league, age 20). I don't know too much about his glove either, except that he seemed to do well at 2b in Helena so presumably has plenty of range for third.

[Team Canada]

I don't know how his defense is at 3B but given Braun's status, I wonder if the Brewers would consider moving him to a corner outfield spot?

 

Or, if it's pretty decent, just move Braun to LF and be done with it.

[pogokat]

i dont think i've heard a word about taylor from any source other than jim, myself, and john blackwell (wvblackwell)...i'd really like to know what more professsional minds think as well

[colbyjack]

The biggest thing I always warn about prospect evaluation is solely looking at a player's stats to determine how good he could become. That said, as SoCal and pogo have pointed out, it would be nice to hear a professional scouting report on Green to determine if his numbers can somewhat justify the excitement one may feel when looking at his impressive numbers.

 

From the videos pogo provided of the Power earlier this year, I really liked Green's bat speed and overall swing. Of course, I'm not a scout, although pogo has continued to make me a believer in his ablities.

 

For what it's worth, here's his scouting profile for his appearances in Perfect Game showcases in high school. He originally committed to Stetson, which is a solid baseball program:

 

http://www.perfectgame.org/players/playerprofile.aspx?ID=30618

 

Green's a left handed hitting middle infielder from Canada with a strong left handed bat. He'll probably end up at second base or third base at the next level but his bat is going to produce enough to carry him there. Green's stroke is short and quick to the ball and he has good present strength in his hands and hips to generate raw bat speed. His first two at bats were against Matt Walker and Eric Cordier, the two top prospects at the Showcase, and he hit the ball hard both times. Green tells us that he ran 6.88 at a Major League Scouting Bureau camp the previous week, so we'll take his 60 time from Cedar Rapids with a grain of salt. He's signed to play college ball at Stetson.

 

And here's his scouting report from the 2005-06 DFE resource thread, which only supports the recent reports we've heard of him this past year:

 

Green's best tool is his bat, as he uses quick, strong hands that allow him to employ a smooth, line-drive swing from the left side of the plate. Right now he has more doubles power than home run power, and he exhibits a strong eye at the plate. Green will slide over to either second or third base at the professional level, as he doesn't have the ideal range to stick at shortstop. He is accustomed to using a wood bat growing up in British Columbia, Canada, where, as noted above, high school players use wood bats.

[Tbadder]

Help me out here (and I'm being genuine): I just can't see LaPorta as a true prospect. He's so damn old. Unless he skyrockets thru the system, he'll be 25 or 26 when he arrives. He'll only have a year or two at peak age, and if he struggles at all at the major league level, he'll potentially lose one of those years. The guy is nearly always hurt and he can't play defense a lick (which is a major problem in the Brewer organization, and something that is truly holding them back). Why is he such a hot prospect? And again, please don't get me wrong. I really hope he is the next Carlos Lee, but I just don't see it. What am I missing.

 

signed

A non-expert

[CportBadger]

Why would he be 25 or 26 when he arrives? He has been mashing the ball in WV, and he is 22. Unless he doesn't look the part at all in Arizona this fall, he will open next season in AA at 23. If he has a good first half, he probably gets bumped up to AAA halfway through the season, and then he's only an injury away from the big leagues. If he doesn't get the call next season and has a good year, he is probably opening the '09 season as a 24 year old rookie LF.

[dadofandrew]

He will be fast tracked, and should be up at 25 at the latest. That said, it really does not matter when you get there, unless you're talking about a HoF'er. I'll gladly take Laporta as a 25-30 y/o.

[davego]

I was thinking the Spring of 2010 for Matt. Maybe the latter 1/2 of '09?

[colbyjack]

I think LaPorta is making a strong case so far this summer to be aggressively pushed next year. I wouldn't be surprised to see him open at AA, and even if he does start the year at A+, I'm guessing it will only be for a month or so. He should be making a case for the big leagues at some point in 2009 when he's 24 years old, and if he tears up AA next year and the team is in need of a bat, I wouldn't be surprised to see him called up sooner.

 

As for his defense, I think its unfair to say that he can't play a lick of defense. I don't think he will ever be a Gold Glover (in LF or 1B should he eventually be moved back to first), but that isn't to say that he won't at least hold his own. And his glove is not going to slow down his progression.

 

One interesting thing to watch between now and next spring is to see how the Brewers handle his placement. I know the team likes Cole Gillespie quite a bit in LF, and he deserves to play at AA Huntsville. Given the OF glut from top to bottom, we may see some movement similar to heading into this past season when we weren't sure how and where guys like Gillespie, Errecart (who moved to 1B), Brantley, Ford, Cain, Fermaint, etc. would all be placed.

[Tbadder]

Okay, thanks guys. My bad. for some reason I thought he was 23 already. And it's true I might have been totally unfair about his defense. I'm only going on what I heard/read when he was first drafted.

[dadofandrew]

Laporta will go wherever, and guys like Gillespie will not factor into that. I'd be happy to let Gillespie play CF or RF, as they are tougher...didn't Cole play RF in college? I mean, it's not like I'm worried about his arm costing H-ville a run once a week.

[colbyjack]

Gillespie could play any of the 3 OF spots even if he is best suited for LF (he did play CF quite a bit last summer at Helena), and I have no doubt that the Brewers will place LaPorta wherever they feel is best first, and then figure out everyone else. My point was just that the organization will once again have another glut of OFs to figure out where and how to place next spring, certainly a good problem to have.

 

LaPorta, Gillespie and Cain left to right in Huntsville next year would be pretty fun to follow should it shake out that way (with Brantley in the mix as well).

[Katuluu]

You really think Gillespie would play center over Cain in that outfield?