Top Prospect Fan Poll - Results on homepage

[Neugebauer]

I think the list is pretty decent also.

[And That]

Here's my top 20: (You might be able to see why I'm in general agreement with Sickles)

 

 

1. Matt LaPorta

2. Manny Parra

3. Mat Gamel

4. Cole Gillespie

5. Darren Ford

6. Taylor Green

7. Jon Lucroy

8. Caleb Gindl

9. Angel Salome

10. Jeremy Jeffress

11. Lo Cain

12. Alcides Escobar

13. Brent Brewer

14. Luis Pena

15. Rob Bryson

16. Lou Palmisano

17. Hernan Iribarren

18. Mike Brantley

19. Mike Bell

20. Rafael Lluberes

[himeji jo]

to those who agree with Sickels's list:

 

why so down on Jeffress and Salome? Is it the drug use and suspensions alone that drops them both from the top five (Jeffress from the top three)?

 

Does it surprise anyone else to see Scarpetta on the list before throwing a single pitch as a pro? I guess I'll be paying closer attention to him, now.

[And That]

why so down on Jeffress and Salome? Is it the drug use and suspensions alone that drops them both from the top five (Jeffress from the top three)?

Jeffress for the official drug suspension from Minor League Baseball, for testing positive for the club on at least one occasion and for being a high school pitcher drafted in the first round by the Brewers. He's also going to miss a lot of game experience at the beginning of the season due to the suspension. I guess he won't get hurt that way?

 

Salome for the drug suspension, and then disappearing from view during the offseason. Wasn't on the list of names for instructionals and didn't participate in the winter league he was drafted in. I need more information on him before moving him back up my personal list. If he shows up healthy and ready to go in spring, he could easily surpass Lucroy. Until that happens...

[Neugebauer]

I am not as down on Jeffress because weed obviously isn't a performance enhancing drug. But, he was already suspended and tested positive again. So he is not the brightest guy. For what its worth, Sickels doesn't hand out many A or B+ type grades. So a B is pretty damn good.

 

Salome's situation is pretty simple. Either he performs drug free or he doesn't.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[YostInfection]

My apologies on starting that new thread...as I briefly mentioned in that post, I generally agree with John's lists. What I like about this Brewers list is the combination of age/experience of highly-rated prospects (Lucroy/Gamel and obviously LaPorta), and the tools/projectability of the younger guys (Jeffress, Gindl).

 

I know he's not going out on a limb by any means, but other sites really overrate (IMHO) tools and don't value statistics. I like the way Sickels mixes it up, so to speak.

[colbyjack]

I have only received one more vote in the last 3-4 days, pushing the total up to 38, and I want to get to at least 50 before I run with this story (I had 53 a year ago and ideally I would like more than that). Please be sure to email or PM your list to me by 8:00am on Wednesday morning, January 9th. That gives everyone an additional week and a weekend to put your lists together.

 

Thanks!

[mothershipconnection]

With Salome and Jeffress, it isn't the substances alone that decrease their value - it's the time they'll miss due to suspension. I'm just not real fond of young guys who need a lot of work missing a significant amount of time, because you don't know how they'll come back. Maybe they return without skipping a beat, maybe they come back rusty and essentially waste an entire season of progress. Worse yet, maybe they come back pushing too hard to catch up and end up injured (especially in the case of young fireballers).

[gregmag]

I think most people are seriously undervaluing Brent Brewer. Everybody keeps repeating the mantra that he's all tools and no performance, which I don't think is accurate, at least not to the extent most folks appear to believe.

 

Last year, as a 19 year-old shortstop, Brewer did some very encouraging things. One stat sums his accomplishments up reasonably well: secondary average, .295. For those who don't know this arcana, SEC measures a player's offensive contributions beyond batting average (extra-bases on hits, SB minus CS, walks). What I like about the stat as a predictive tool is that it can highlight the breadth of a player's skills while also emphasizing attributes that might fly below the radar.

 

Brewer has decent power for his age -- that also shows up as a .139 ISO. He stole 42 bases in 49 attempts. He drew 46 walks against 518 ABs. None of those numbers reflects a raw talent who hasn't shown anything yet. Only the baserunning is star-quality, but those other numbers are quite good for a 19 year-old in A ball. The big numbers that cut the other way are Brewer's strikeouts -- 170 -- and his BA, .251, which isn't awful but won't carry him. Whether you think he can become a star depends on whether you think he can cut down the strikeouts and push up the BA.

 

Anybody with Brewer's profile is a risky prospect, but I'm betting he makes it. Bill Hall was a year older than Brewer when he played ss in A ball (2000); he put up a SEC of .145. J.J. Hardy at 19 (2002) was ahead of Brewer, at A+, but he got to hit on the moon (High Desert); he put up a SEC of .191. Hall was a high-strikeout guy and hit .262, Hardy wasn't and hit .293, but my point is that Brewer can do more things offensively than either of them could at around the same stage in their careers.

 

I have Brewer ranked second in the system, right ahead of LaPorta (I'm not convinced LaPorta is more than a Pete Incaviglia-type one-dimensional slugger, though it's certainly too early to conclude he is that). I agree with the premise that you can't rate guys too high based on tools alone, but I think Brewer has already started to turn his tools into performance, and I'm a huge age-for-level guy. We'll see.

 

Greg.

[lovehate]

Nicely done Greg, Brewer is #3 on my list.

 

I still have Laporta #2 b/c I feel like he will hit at least 100 major league HRs, and Brewer is still so far away.

 

Hopefully at the end of 2008, it will be Laporta 1, Brewer 2

[colbyjack]

Nice post Greg, and a good answer to those that have said Brewer hasn't done anything yet.

 

I've said before that Brewer's pure, physical, athletic talents are unrivaled in the system. That alone could make him a superstar down the road. He clearly has some things to work on, and to add to Greg's comments, Brewer did start the 2007 season, his first full professional season, a level higher than where most expected, and hit in the .280 range for the first half of the season before slumping over the second half. While he slumped at the plate we heard reports that his defense improved, and he maintained his plate discipline while being a perfect 20-20 in stolen base attempts after the Sally League All Star break.

 

He's one of a select group of players that includes players like Zach Braddock and Taylor Green that I'm especially excited to watch during the 2008 season to see if they're legit.

[himeji jo]

I agree with you on the age for level metric. I am also a supporter of Brewer's, though not top three, but I would say the errors may cut the other way as well. His 53 errors and Gamel's 55 create major question marks in terms of prospect status (of course, regardless of their positions they are top prospects, but there is a difference in my mind). If they could stay in the infield and perform as they are projected to then they are top of the list. But Braun's full year in the minors, 2006, produced 34 total errors and he is likely, or without question (to some), moving to the outfield.

[DrWood]

brewer is probably ahead of Hall, defensively (hall made 38 errors in 65 games as a 19 year old). He's striking out more than Billy did, too, though.

[wvpowerblkwel]

I watched Brewer all year, yes he has the tools, yes he has the speed, and with him and Ford running laps against some of the low A pitchers, it was hilarious! His defense was nothing short of horrid. His effort in the field wasn't much better, in that as the season went on, it just didn't show much improvement at all. And offensively, 170 strikeouts... He was extremely low in my list, but my list I guess was based mostly on what I have seen pass through here in the last three years. Perhaps I need to change my perspective some in the grand scheme of what this poll was for, but I think some slanted first hand input on the young guys passing through is needed to give the poll a little different perspective. I still think Brent certainly has the skills, the tools, but as of date of the call for rankings, he just isn't that promising based on what I have seen. Maybe next year we include a definition of "Prospect" to be used in consideration of rankings?!

[pogokat]

i think the varying definitions of prospectdom make this stuff more fun...otherwise, it could be pretty formulaic...

[colbyjack]

Bump. I have 48 submissions, and really, really want two more just to get to 50 (the Power 50, ya know?).

 

Try to get yours in by 8am tomorrow.

[sbrylski]

When are the results going to be released?

[colbyjack]

With the weekend approaching I'm thinking early next week. I'm still at 48, but I have one person who thinks they can get me a submission tonight. So, ideally I'd like to get one more to make it an even 50 submissions. In fact I think I'll cut it off at that if that is any incentive to anyone trying to get one in ahead of anyone else.

 

 

 

In the meantime, take a stab at how you think the top 3 prospects will line up. There's a nifty picture of Matt LaPorta from the Cape Cod League a couple of years ago on the line for whoever guesses the top 3 correctly.

 

 

 

And there's a tight race right now for #20. The last two submissions could be very decisive as to who gets in and who doesn't.

[DrWood]

you could make the list longer than 20, even though you solicited 20 man lists from us. I'm guessing way over 50 players got votes. I know my 20th guy, Omar Aguilar, was someone I picked as a lark. I have a thing for heavyset hispanics, though generally females. Anyone else list him?

 

 

 

how about a top 30? 50?

 

 

 

since a picture of laporta is in play, I would guess that he was the #1.

 

If so, 1. Laporta, 2. Parra, 3. Jeffress.

[StearnsFTW]

you could make the list longer than 20, even though you solicited 20 man lists from us. I'm guessing way over 50 players got votes. I know my 20th guy, Omar Aguilar, was someone I picked as a lark. I have a thing for heavyset hispanics, though generally females. Anyone else list him?

 

 

 

how about a top 30? 50?

 

 

 

since a picture of laporta is in play, I would guess that he was the #1.

 

If so, 1. Laporta, 2. Parra, 3. Jeffress.

 

 

 

Now that's funny.

 

I'd guess.........Parra, LaPorta, Gamel.

 

[colbyjack]

I'm not going longer than 20, but I do list all of the point values for all of the players that received point totals. Last year 47 players received votes.

 

 

 

I'm also not going to say how many players received votes, as that would spoil the fun of the fan poll. I will say that Omar Aguilar did receive other votes, and that some people are much higher on him that you are. Almost everyone seemed to try and sneak that one guy that they think they like more than anyone else into their list.

[twobrewers]

I am thinking the top 3 might not be as set in stone as everyone imagined. (Escobar could very well sneak in there)

 

But I have to go with LaPorta, Parra, Gamel

[colbyjack]

Alright, I have 50 submissions, and I think I have extended the deadline enough times to say this sucker is closed. Thanks to everyone that has contributed.

[TooLiveBrew]

Top 3 guess: LaPorta, Parra, Gamel

 

(sorry twobrew)

[ILuvDaBush]

1. Matt LaPorta

 

2. Mat Gamel

 

3. Manny Parra

 

4. Big bag of M&M's

 

5. The new EMINEM CD.