Baseball America league top prospect lists

[colbyjack]

Baseball America has started their annual league-by-league top prospect lists. The scouting reports are for subscribers only, but the individual league overviews are available for everyone:

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...62458.html

 

Jeffress was named the league's #2 prospect, Brewer #11.

[colbyjack]

Here's a link to the chat on the AZ league (subscribers only):

 

www.baseballamerica.com/o...62462.html

 

Here's one interesting comment from the chat that I'm going to include here that pertains to the Brewers. There were a few other Brewers-related questions, as John Manuel gave some more love for Mark Rogers, and mentioned that Anundsen and Hill just missed making the top 20:

 

Q: JH from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic asks:

How is the Brewers' strategy of focusing on top-dollar Latin American talent and bypassing the academy system working out for them? The top two Dominican talents on their AZL squad, Pascual and Peralta, sure didn't have impressive seasons statistically. Is there any concern that the aggressive assignments along with the culture shock of moving to the states at 17 without speaking the language will stunt these players' development?

 

A: John Manuel:

Those two pitchers definitely struggled this year, but judging how the system of not having a DSL team is working can't be judged on how a pair of 17-year-olds performed in the AZL in their pro debut,j at least it can't be judged from afar. You'd have to know how those players responded to their struggles, and that's something I wasn't able to find out. I do know the lack of a DSL team was a consideration when the Brewers signed these players; they signed them because they thought they were the kind of players who could debut in the U.S., and perhaps they over-estimated that aspect of these two players.

 

And here's the schedule of all of the league top 20s:

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...op20/2006/

 

The Pioneer League is up tomorrow (Friday), so hopefully the H-Crew is well represented. We'll have to wait a week from tomorrow to get to the next league that pertains to the Brewers (the Sally League on the 29th).

[DKM4Boston]

Quote:

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so hopefully the H-Crew is well represented

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Unfortunately Helena was not represented very well.

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...62502.html

 

Cole Gillespie ranked too low (in my opinion) at #11 and Steve Chapman at #18 was the only other Brewers player making the list.

 

As for the chat...Bryan Smith compares Cole Gillespie to Matt Murton and says Gillespie is the "most likely Major Leaguer on the list". He says Errecart didn't make the list because of his lack of athleticism and because he doesn't really fit at any position, but also notes that his power is a plus tool and that he was one of the best hitters in the league this year. (??? I don't see how his defense at first base was so bad that it completely outweighs what he did offensively). He also talked about where Steve Chapman fits in with the other Brewers outfield prospects at the lower levels (currently 'behind in the foot race').

 

www.baseballamerica.com/o...62503.html

[SoCalBrewfan]

He did say that Errecart was in the 21-25 range...that's pretty good praise. Gillespie and Errecart are very polished bats and could move quickly, though of course there's a logjam in the outfield ahead of them. Errecart could be the best 1b prospect in the system, though that's almost by default.

 

Chapman gets flack from some for spending three years in rookie ball, but he's still young (was drafted at 17 IIRC), still younger than the college guys who were assigned to Helena. He only loses a step compared to the very precocious Cain, Brantley, Ford, and Fermaint...the chat indicated that if the Brewers couldn't use him, he'd likely be attractive to other teams.

[colbyjack]

Pioneer League MVP Chris Valaika was rated behind Gillespie, so I don't feel too bad. Plus, BA loves their tools, so I was happy to see Chapman make the list.

 

Also, Sean O'Sullivan seemed to be ranked as high as he was because the Angels think he will soon pitch in the 92-94 range, not because he actually is. That seems to be a pretty huge leap of faith, even if the Angels have been pretty solid developing prospects.

[colbyjack]

Matt Meyers of Baseball America will be chatting about the top South Atlantic League prospects after the league's top 20 list is released at some point tomorrow. Meyers has told me personally that he is a big fan of the West Virginia Power, and more specifically, Angel Salome, so this could be the most well-represented Brewers prospect list of them all.

 

Inman, Salome, Cain, Gamel and Ford? The league was packed with talent, so that may be a little optimisitic.

[DHonks]

and I'm also interested in hearing about Garrison and Brantley, for their successes in A ball at 19

[homer]

Sally League is now posted.

 

www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/262531.html

 

Inman at #7, Cain at #14

[molitor fan]

Wow, no Salome, no Gamel, and no Ford. I know it is a 16 team league, but are the Brewers, as an organization, getting the shaft from BA, or are we wayyyyy over-stating out talent level. It has to be either one or the other.

 

I had no idea Sean West was as good a prospect as Inman.

[SoCalBrewfan]

It's very hard to get guys on this list, with 16 teams, including rich teams like the Mets, Yankees, Phillies, and Red Sox, and the Braves and Marlins who have very strong systems....the SAL is a talent hotbed. In particular, you see a lot of highly-touted Latin signings, and top-notch HS draftees in their first full season; Greensboro (Fla) had 4 first round picks on its pitching staff, Greenville (Bos) has two first rounders on the list as well. Considering the Brewers didn't have a single first or second rounder there, they did pretty well with two of the top fourteen prospects and a couple of guys who have a good case for being in the next 20.

[homer]

In the chat, he mentioned that Salome has a big hole in his swing. He had him around 26- 30.

 

(I can paraphrase pay-per-view stuff, right?)

[JohnBriggs12]

BA's dissing of Inman continues.

 

They listed Volstad just ahead of him. He allowed more than a hit per inning and only fanned 99 in 152 IP while allowing a BA against of .275.

 

Those numbers look awful compared with Will's.

 

I guess they really value height at BA as Volstad is 6-7 and the aforementioned West is 6-8 or they are really talking about top basketball prospects?

[homer]

Actually, in the scouting report they mention Volstad's height as being a possible detriment to his mechanics. Not to mention the fact that Volstad's sinker has more juice than Inman's fastball. At this stage, they are ranking on potential rather than results. Hopefully, Will proves them wrong, but BA has a history of favoring tools over statistics when it comes to these things. And it's not like Volstad is ten spots higher either - it's 6 vs. 7.

[SoCalBrewfan]

In another chat question, Mat Gamel described as the last guy cut. Sounds like four Power in the top 30, if they went that deep.

 

Inman at 7 is hardly a dissing...again this is a tough league with some of the best prospects in the minors. Basically there were four position players 1-4 who are real studs, and then Inman among a group of five pitchers with greatly varying degrees of results vs. tools. He could well have been 5th or 9th or maybe even ahead of Andrus, but he's clearly among a premium group of teenage pitchers in a top-flight prospect league.

[pogokat]

volstad is serious talent guys..i think inman is a better pitcher, but i completely see why the BA guys would like volstad more as a prospect..

[igor67]

That's probably a better way to look at the talent in the league Socal. Doing the math in a 16 team league 30 prospects deep each team should have 2 prospects and we have 4

[NastyTwig]

Quote:

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7. Will Inman, rhp, West Virginia (Brewers)

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Quote:

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20. Josh Outman, lhp, Lakewood (Phillies)

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Inman and Outman? We need these guys to face each other.

[bullox]

I think they might have faced each other this past season.

[colbyjack]

I got my print edition of BA in the mail yesterday, so I have the rest of the league top prospect lists. No more surprises among the lists, as the two most obvious candidates are the only two covered, although those two are represented very well.

[colbyjack]

The Florida State League top prospect list is out, with Yo checking in at the #2 spot (just behind Homer Bailey), Braun at #4, and Mark Rogers riding his talented arm to the 7th spot (link to the league overview, for all readers):

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...62551.html

 

J.J. Cooper will answer questions about the FSL at 2pm CST.

[JoeHova]

sucks that the Brewers could/should have had the top two prospects in the FSL. Of course, it doesn't mean a whole lot until these guys are in the majors, but still.

[colbyjack]

The Southern League is up next, a nice picture of Yo currently on BA's homepage. The link just below is for the league overview and the listing of the league's top 20 prospect. Gallardo was second in both the FSL and the Southern League, just behind Homer Bailey in both of them. Braun is the league's sixth-best prospect.

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...62562.html

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/ygallardo06428309jh.jpg

[biedergb]

It's interesting that 4 of the top 6 prospects in the southern league were mid-season call ups from the FSL. In fact the FSL top #1-3 and the SL top#1-3 are the same (Bailey, Gallardo, Elbert), and the FSL # 4 (Braun) is the #6 in the SL.

 

Is that a testament to the quality of prospects in the FSL, or how few top prospects were in the Southern League? Or just a fluke year that 4 of the top prospects in all the game were in the same 2 leagues?

[Rob]

A little bit of banter about Ryan Braun.

 

www.minorleagueball.com/s...14735/3625