Baseball America top prospect lists

[Blazer25]

CJ,

 

Another little local flavor on the TB list.

 

Former Midwest Blazer and Waukesha North HS star Chris Nowak checked in as the Rays prospect with the best plate discipline.

 

I know he set all kinds of offensive records at D2 (now D1) South Carolina- Upstate.

 

He actually out hit #3 prospect Reid Brignac when they were together in W. Michigan (A ball).

 

Congrats to Chris!

[miwokE]

Longoria was drafted in June, started in the short season league and jumped to AA Montgomery, via Hi-A Visalia, in enough time to collect 105 AB! That's a remarkably accellerated progression! It's not that he didn't show he deserved it, but could there be something else behind the Rays push?

[Blazer25]

Quote:

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Longoria was drafted in June, started in the short season league and jumped to AA Montgomery, via Hi-A Visalia, in enough time to collect 105 AB! That's a remarkably accellerated progression!

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It's not unheard of for advanced college bats to make that jump.

 

The Brewers did a similar early push with Weeks, the Nats did the same with Zimmerman, and the Royals sent Gordon right to AA.

 

The fact that Braun has taken a slower route shows you that despite his success with the bat, his defense may be holding him back.

[colbyjack]

Braun has followed almost the exact same progression as Weeks did. He just had some time at Helena and high-A mixed in, but he still is poised to start AAA in his only his second full season. While Longoria & Zimmerman moved faster, thanks to more refined bats and defensive skills overall, they don't move up much faster than Braun does.

 

In other words, I really don't think his defense has held him back one bit, at least not up to this point (it didn't hold Weeks back either, who had similar concerns at 2B).

 

And Blazer, when you get a chance check your email. Thanks.

[WestCoastBrewer]

Colbyjack,

If we had drafted Zimmerman he would be in the same place Braun is in my opinion based on the Brewers organization profile on promoting players.

 

Wonder what your thoughts are on this?

[colbyjack]

That's certainly possible WestCoast. It's hard to say, as I felt Zimmerman was MLB ready when he was drafted. His line drive approach, keen batting eye and Gold Glove caliber defense were evident during his junior year at Virginia. I'm not sure if being drafted by the Brewers would have changed his progression at all. If Zimmerman were a Brewer, even if he started the '06 season in the minors, he probably would have been called up when Koskie went down as opposed to trading for David Bell. Actually, the Brewers may have never traded for Koskie had they had Zimmerman in their system.

 

Braun has more to work on, but he's a completely different kind of hitter and overall player than Zimmerman is. I have always viewed Braun as more of a true slugger and overall run producer, and others seem to view him the same way. While Zimmerman has hit for more power than I expected this early in his career, I think he's always going to have a lot more doubles than dingers. Braun's defense will probably never win him any accolades like Zimmerman's will, but Braun's bat could/should more than make up for that.

 

And that's why I have always tried to avoid comparing the two. They're two completely different players, and just because they were both third baseman drafted out of college one spot away from one another doesn't mean anything.

[Blazer25]

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In other words, I really don't think his defense has held him back one bit, at least not up to this point (it didn't hold Weeks back either, who had similar concerns at 2B).

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CJ

 

I'm not saying it held Braun back a bunch but I do think you can't discount the defense as slowing him down. Weeks was sent up to sink or swim partly because of where the Brewers were as an organization...they're not there anymore so I think the Weeks/ Braun comparison is a bad one.

 

I think the Gordon/ Tulo/ Longoria comparison is a good one for Braun, and I think you'll see although it's slight, Braun's defense has made him move slower then these guys have respectively.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quote:

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And Blazer, when you get a chance check your email. Thanks.

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Checked and replied...sorry for the delay.

[colbyjack]

The White Sox are up today, with BA shifting to the AL Central. BA hasn't updated the list of the ChiSox top 10 (its still listed as the D-Rays top 10), but under the subscirber section Ryan Sweeney, Josh Fields and Lance Broadway take the top 3 spots. Not the sexiest of top three's, but each one is a solid prospect, and all three are pretty close to contributing at the big league level.

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...62878.html

[colbyjack]

The Tigers are up today:

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...62899.html

 

Maybin and Miller give the Tigers one of the best 1-2 prospects in all of baseball, but the talent falls off significantly after that.

 

I think I forgot to add the Indians last week, who are highlighted once again by RHP Adam Miller and have a nice blend of overall talent:

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...62889.html

[homer]

Maybin was the player I wanted the Brewers to take in that '05 draft - although I'm not all that upset with who they ended up taking .

[Blazer25]

I wanted Maybin as well. I think he will end up being a superstar.

 

Ryan Braun I think will end up being very good...however he will be ready sooner than Maybin.

 

I guess that's a good sign for the Brewers to be drafting for more immediate returns.

[saget]

Wow I really like that layout on BA. A lot of cool info.

 

I wonder who'll be on our 2010 lineup.

[sbrylski]

I wonder who'll be on our 2010 lineup.

 

My guess...

 

C - Salome

1B - Fielder

2B - Weeks

SS - Hardy

3B - Braun

LF - Gillespie

CF - Fermaint

RF - Hart

 

SP - Sheets

SP - Gallardo

SP - Inman

SP - Bush

SP - Villanueva

 

(Lots of pitchers to choose from though, and how do they project who gets resigned? Just guess?)

[colbyjack]

BA doesn't get too fancy with their projected future lineups. If someone is currently signed through that year, they automatically make the list. If not, the next top prospect takes their place, although they did have Richie Sexson in LF and Prince Fielder at 1B in one of their projections, which quite simply was just never going to happen.

 

In other words, Billy Hall wouldn't be removed from their projected lineup just because he might be gone by 2010.

 

Anyway, the Royals list it out today. It's hard to match their top-three of Alex Gordon (arguably the top prospect in all of baseball), Luke Hochevar and Billy Butler. Their overall top 10 is strong, with Southern Door, WI native Erik Cordier checking in at #6. Congrats Erik!

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...62906.html

[RyDogg66]

Looking forward for the Royals being able to compete again, but not before the Brewers do.

[monkeyman343434]

Their overall top 10 is strong, with Southern Door, WI native Erik Cordier checking in at #6. Congrats Erik!

I got a hit off of him our senior year!! Glad to see BA thinks highly of him as he always seemed like an awesome guy on the basketball court and on the baseball field.... his dad on the other hand was crazy, along with their baseball coach. Does anyone know what's up with the injury that sidelined him at the end of this past year?

[Blazer25]

Just a little elbow tendonitis from what I was told.

 

Should be back rolling in spring..

[colbyjack]

The Twins are up today:

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...62912.html

 

Matt Garza is #1, followed by LHP Perkins and RHP Slowey. That's a lot of pitching talent on the cusp of contributing at the MLB level.

 

Interesting to note that #10 prospect JD Durbin is out of options. The Twins need pitching help at the big league level, so there's a pretty good chance Durbin sticks, but in the event he disappoints in spring training he could be an intriguing option to keep an eye on.

[colbyjack]

The Angels are up today:

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...62953.html

 

Brandon Wood repeats as their #1 prospect, Nick Adenhart is #2, and Erick Aybar, who was rumored to be part of a trade proposal for Carlos Lee last July, is #3. The Angels system is still good, but not nearly as deep as it was a year ago.

[colbyjack]

The A's are up today:

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...62970.html

 

The A's have done an extremely good job procuring talent, and while Travis Buck is a fine prospect, their system isn't as good as it was just a few short years ago if Buck is their #1 guy.

[Mass Haas]

Mariners:

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...62986.html

[Rightomac13]

Oak Creek, WI native Tony Butler comes in at #4 on the Mariners list.

 

I'm still bitter over that.

[colbyjack]

In the most recent Baseball America, they report that Erik Cordier had Tommy John surgery in September, and likely will miss all of 2007.

 

Bummer for Cordier. Here's to a healthy and successful recovery.

[colbyjack]

Here's the list for the Rangers, which was up two days ago:

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...62987.html

 

John Danks at the top, and overall the Rangers are pitching heavy. Not too many impact bats on the way up, and a few of the top pitchers hit a few bumps in the road last year. Danks is a good prospect, but I'm not fond of their depth.

[deeswan]

Amazing to look at the Rangers info and see that former Brewer closer Dan Kolb was their top rated prospect in BA in 1997.