New Power 50, 8/23

[And That]

It's about that time. It should be up sometime around 7 or 8 or so.

[Brew Man Dan]

Thank you, your not going to drop Yo after his start tonight?

[And That]

Thank you, your not going to drop Yo after his start tonight?

 

The top 3 will be:

 

1. Gallardo

2. Braun

3. Inman

 

I don't think there'll be much debate about those three.

 

The next Power 50 will be sometime in mid-September or early October. After that... sometime in December.

[pogokat]

1. yo

2. braun

3. inman

4. jackson

5. villeneuva

6. salome

7. fermaint

8. gillespie

9. cain

10. dillard

 

just my guesses

[Brew Man Dan]

No Hurricane in your top 10, pogokat?

[pogokat]

no..not as big on hernan as some of the others...he's not as good as the guys ive listed

[plowjockey]

Nor Rogers, nor Jeffress? Actually a pretty cool list pogokat. I feel for Toby at this time with all of us "experts" second guessing his list.

[pogokat]

11.rogers

12. jefress

13. gamel

[And That]

Actually a pretty cool list pogokat. I feel for Toby at this time with all of us "experts" second guessing his list.

 

Hey, my intestinal fortitude has been stong since the beginning. I just respect that I made the statement about the the top 3, and pogo was like "yah, that's it." http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[pogokat]

hey, i was typing!!

 

that's probably the easiest top 3 ever though...at least since you started this, in what, 2000?

 

edit: mike bell's on it this time, right?

[LouisEly]

I think your top six are pretty close, but the rest I have to disagree with you a little Pogo. I'd flip Villanueva and Jackson, but that's splitting hairs. I'd replace Fermaint & Gillespie with Gwynn and Hammond, but I give a lot more weight to AA & AAA performance. Nothing against those guys, but Fermaint has been slumping the last few months, and I don't get excited about college hitters tearing up Rookie ball. Same w/Rogers & Jeffress - I've seen too many guys flame out in AA & AAA, so they have to be VERY impressive for me to put anyone in low-A or rookie ball in my top 10.

 

Next 10 - Rogers, Jeffress, Sarfate, Gillespie, Parra, Fermaint, Irribarren, V-Rot, Jones, Moss (there HAS to be someone better than him to put at #20)

[JohnBriggs12]

Gwynn deserves to be in top 10.

 

Yeah it was a microscopic sample but he sure looked like a guy who knew what to do with a bat when he was up.

 

I also agree with LouisEly that Villanueava has to be above Jackson. He has outperformed him at every level this year and Jackson's "stuff" isn't any more impressive.

[homer]

I'm not so sure about Jackson at #4, but I can agree with the rest of it.

[Brew Man Dan]

Why are we so high on fermaint, has anyone seen his stats lately.

[homer]

I think it's as much about potential as it is about production. If we made a list with just stats, Chris Barnwell might make it and he's no prospect.

[pogokat]

Fermaint is playing a level above where we all thought he'd be this year, and he's holding his own..he's got the potential to be a very good major leaguer

 

edit: Chuck is only a year older than alcides...he's gotta be one of the younger players in the league and he's hitting at a good clip as well as walking...nobody hits for much power there, so its hard to look at that...i willing to bet that he puts up an .800 ops in huntsville next year, which at 21...puts him in line with a guy like corey hart or jj harday on the prospect scale at age 21..

 

he's good

[Postseason2006]

If everybody is hyped about Gillespie, Chris Errecart is having an awesome year at Helena and is a year younger.

[pogokat]

Errecart is very exciting too...but we know a little more about Gillespie at the moment...its kind of a crapshoot with college guys in helena...we wont really know much about either until they play at a higher level..

 

both are exciting prospects though

[filthyfrog]

1. yo

2. braun

3. inman

4. jackson

5. villeneuva

6. salome

7. fermaint

8. gillespie

9. cain

10. dillard

 

Is it just me or does this look like one of the weakest top 10s we've had in years? The top three are worthy, but Jackson has been merely ok in AAA, Villanueva's minor league numbers don't support his major league success this year, and only one other guy on the list has reached AA. And he projects to be a middle reliever/bottom of the rotation guy.

 

I hope Toby's list makes me feel better. I think you have to include at least one of Rogers and Jeffress in the top 10. I'd certainly take either of them over Dillard, for example.

[pogokat]

its a very different type of list than were used to...

 

but i think some of it is perspective...

when weeks, hardy, fielder, etc. were in the minors, the major league team sucked...so moe attention was paid to these guys...

 

we've got a fairly similar amount of talent in the minors now...i mean, those first three guys are A prospects...yovanni is the best pitching prospect since sheets and braun has the best huntsville stats of anyone in recent memory..

 

The rest of the guys may be young, but theyre probably better prospects than guys like Brad Nelson and David Krynzel were---considering that those guys lasted like 4 years on potential or one good season...

 

There may not be many power hitters down there as we'd like, but i don't think the farm system is notably weaker than it was before..

 

frankly, i like having guys that we know hit 90 on the gun than a hendrickson and housman..

 

its just a different list...

[DHonks]

If everybody is hyped about Gillespie, Chris Errecart is having an awesome year at Helena and is a year younger

 

Postseason2006, please look up the stats for the 2004 Helena Brewers, which I believe featured Sollman, Rasheed, Richardson, Festa, et al. You'll probably see some guys with fantastic numbers in their pro debuts, and won't recognize their names since they've done little since. I know that the Pioneer League is kind of a mixed league, as some teams send HS picks and Dominicans, while others send college players.

[molitor fan]

Pogo is right on the money - it is just a different list than we are used to. Having a guy like Jeffress on the periphery of the list says a lot, because even if he is a high school guy several years away - a 102 heater is a very rare commodity.

 

Also, looking at guys that were not on the Power 50 like Thatcher and Bell, and even Callix Crabbe, that in my mind have big league potential in some capacity shows me how incredibly deep our minors really are. This is the deepest prospect list I have seen in the brewerfan/net, power 50 era.

[colbyjack]

We actually know a fair amount of Errecart. He was rated the 4th best prospect in the Cape Cod League last summer after impressing scouts with his ability to hit with a wood bat after not hitting so well his first couple of years at Cal with an aluminum bat. He started off strong this spring, but then tailed off as the college season wore on, which definitely effected his draft status (he entered the year as a possible 2nd or 3rd round pick-he was rated the 34th best college draft eligible prospect entering the season and was a 2nd team preseason All-American while also being named the best pure hitter in the Pac-10 as part of BA's preseason college preview). He was also rated the 22nd best corner OF prospect coming out of HS and 13th best NorCal prospect overall, where he received high marks for his hitting skills. He went undrafted out of HS since he made it pretty clear he was heading to Cal if he wasn't drafted within the first couple of rounds. Here are a few of his recent scouting reports:

 

Baseball America's 2003 draft preview:

Few high school players in the region have improved their stock more than switch-hitting OF Chris Errecart, now regarded as the best hitting prospect in the area. His other tools all play: an above-average arm, and average speed and outfield skills. Errecart has committed to California and may be a sixth- or seventh-rounder, possibly higher.

 

Baseball America's top 30 Cape Cod League prospect list:

After hitting .298 with eight homers during the spring with aluminum, Errecart took to wood and batted .303 with six homers before a sprained ankle ended his season three weeks early. He has a good approach at the plate and moves well enough to play left field.

 

Baseball America's draft preview report:

Often linked with Brennan Boesch, his California teammate and roommate, Errecart entered the spring with a higher profile and was considered one of the top hitters in the 2006 draft class. He hit .303-6-22 in the Cape Cod League last summer, showing plus power with wood from a sound lefthanded swing, and was the league's fourth-ranked prospect. His stock fell steadily throughout the spring, though, as he continued to struggle with consistency in his approach and performance as a college hitter. Errecart had rallied to match his career high with eight home runs, though his struggles with offspeed pitches and plate discipline (he had a career 91-32 strikeout-walk ratio) had doomed him to a third straight season below .300. Errecart's tools other than raw power all grade out below-average, and he's limited to either left field or first base. His strong work ethic and intelligence actually worked against him all spring, and scouts and college coaches thought he was trying too hard. Scouts still expect him to come off the board in the first 10 rounds based on his power potential and performance in the Cape.

 

Brewerfan.net scouting profile:

Errecart and Brennan Boesch has given the Cal Bears quite a lethal power combination in the middle of their lineup the past couple of years. Errecart blossomed on the Cape last summer despite struggling his first two years in college, being named the league?s fourth-best prospect according to Baseball America after finishing tied for second in home runs with six despite missing the last three weeks of the season. Errecart is a rare left-handed throwing, right-handed hitting athlete who has power potential to spare. He crushes mistakes, but does have the propensity to swing and miss a lot, and have never been one to accumulate lofty walk totals. He can play left field, but may be better off at first base. In other words, he has a vast amount of potential, but he needs to harness it to live up to it.

 

Note: This information is subscriber content, but we usually have been somewhat open with small snippets of subscriber information from other sources such as BA.

 

I was pretty excited when the Brewers landed him in the 5th round. As many have already noted, it's hard to know what we have with Errecart or even Gillespie since many a college hitter has enjoyed success in the Pioneer League. Gillespie gets more love in my mind because he has a much broader base of tools & skills, while it's questionable whether Errecart profiles best at 1B or LF, and he didn't hit that well at Cal, at least not as well as what was expected from him.

 

It should be noted that Tony Gwynn Jr. also didn't hit as well as many thought he would in college (San Diego State), but hit pretty well using wood bats on the Cape the summer before he was drafted. For some reason, some guys just seem to hit better with a wood bat. Hopefully Errecart is one of those.

 

As far as the P50 goes, I mentioned a few days ago that you would be hard-pressed to find an organization that has three better guys than Gallardo, Braun and Inman at the top. Couple that talent at the top with the amount of depth and you have a very good farm system (if Rogers and Jeffress don't make the top 10 as pogo predicts, as well as a toolsy guy like Escobar, that only supports the strength at the top and throughout). I look forward to your result this evening Toby.

[And That]

Here's 51-60:

 

51. Mitch Stetter, LHP

52. Ken Holmberg, 2B

53. Callix Crabbe, 2B

54. Steve Chapman, CF

55. Jon Alonso, 1B

56. Julien Cordero, LHP

57. Rafael Lluberes, LHP

58. Amaury Rivas, RHP

59. Sam Narron, LHP

60. Wily Peralta, RHP

 

Edit: I'll also say that the top 10 is comprised of 6 pitchers, 2 infielders and 2 outfielders.

[SoCalBrewfan]

Well, it should be noted that Jeffress and Rogers are high-ceiling pitchers and Escobar is a very young and very promising shortstop...a list like BAs will have those guys way ahead of a guy like Jackson. (Who is too high on pogo's list, IMO.) The Brewers system is intriguing in part because you can come up with a top ten list without those three guys, any of whom has tools enough that he could well turn out to be a major league all-star. There are a lot of types of players in the system, tools players if that's your thing, performance guys if you prefer numbers...the three guys at the top are hard to beat but there's also depth in a lot of different directions, so that it's not hard to imagine three new guys emerging at the top of the list next year in the way that Yo, Braun, and Inman have...