Top 10 Prospects per Baseball America

>
> Not quite sure why Aardsma slipped so far...
>
Because no one would read their lists if they remained exactly the same. No
readership, no advertisement, no money.
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jburnett9 RemoveThis @mac.com wrote:
> Not quite sure why Aardsma slipped so far...

Why not? He was decent in AAA but he didn't really post eye-popping
numbers, and then in the majors he was clearly not ready. I have no
objection with moving him down the list.

--Paul
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On 16 Feb 2005 17:40:39 -0800, jburnett9.RemoveThis@mac.com wrote:

>Baseball America released their ranking of the Giants' Top 10 prospects
>today. You can't see the whole article without being a subscriber, but
>you can at least view the list, so here it is:
>
>Here's the top 10:
>
>1. Matt Cain, rhp
>2. Merkin Valdez, rhp
>3. Fred Lewis, of
>4. Eddy Martinez-Esteve, of
>5. Nate Schierholtz, of/3b
>6. Alfredo Simon, rhp
>7. Brad Hennessey, rhp
>8. Craig Whitaker, rhp
>9. David Aardsma, rhp
>10. Travis Ishikawa, 1b
>
>I have a PDF of last year's list (one of the Giants' farm teams made it
>available for download on their website), so, for the record, here's
>the list from last year:
>
>1. Merkin Valdez, rhp
>2. Matt Cain, rhp
>3. David Aardsma, rhp
>4. Dan Ortmeier, of
>5. Todd Linden, of
>6. Kevin Correia, rhp
>7. Travis Ishikawa, 1b
>8. Craig Whitaker, rhp
>9. Fred Lewis, of
>10. Brian Buscher, 3b
>
>Not quite sure why Aardsma slipped so far...

Probably because he didn't do very well in the higher levels and in his
stint witht the Giants. And because relievers are only so valuable.

Who is this Martinez-Esteve guy? Never heard of him before, but how come
he and Fred Lewis have passed up Schierholtz?

Greg Lentz
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Martinez-Esteve was the Giants' first draft pick last year. He played
at FSU, and though he's listed here as an outfielder, I believe he
played third base in college. Can't tell you much more than that,
though.
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jburnett9.RemoveThis@mac.com wrote:
>
> Martinez-Esteve was the Giants' first draft pick last year. He played
> at FSU, and though he's listed here as an outfielder, I believe he
> played third base in college. Can't tell you much more than that,
> though.

I tried numerous times to dredge even a little bit about his bio
and came up with nothing. It's as if he's a tightly guarded secret
for some reason.
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jburnett9.TakeThisOut@mac.com wrote:
> Baseball America released their ranking of the Giants' Top 10 prospects
> today. You can't see the whole article without being a subscriber, but
> you can at least view the list, so here it is:

You know what's frustrating about this list? They have a list of "Best
Tools" amd for nearly every single tool, the player is different. If you
look at, say, the Royals' list, the best hitter for average, best power
hitter, and best strike-zone discipline are all the same hitter (Billy
Butler), and the best fastball, curveball, and slider all belong to one
pitcher (Denny Bautista). But in the Giants' system, those skills are
scattered all over the place, which is why we always get the "if only we
could combine X with Y" feeling.

--Paul
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Paul Lujan said:

>You know what's frustrating about this list?
>They have a list of "Best Tools" amd for nearly
>every single tool, the player is different. If you
>look at, say, the Royals' list, the best hitter for
>average, best power hitter, and best
>strike-zone discipline are all the same hitter
>(Billy Butler), and the best fastball, curveball,
>and slider all belong to one pitcher (Denny
>Bautista). But in the Giants' system, those
>skills are scattered all over the place, which is
>why we always get the "if only we could
>combine X with Y" feeling.

But Paul! How many TRUE five-tool players are there, really? Even at the
major league level?

Take Barry, for example. One would generally think of him as a five-tool
player, at least to age 35, when he was still a Gold Glove fielder and
stole a lot of bases. But it has only been in the last few years that he
has suddenly become a high average hitter -- .340, .360, .370 -- numbers
like those. When he was younger, he had some years when he did not even
hit .300. Also, he is much more of a home run hitter now (leaving the
steroid issue out of it) than he was when younger based on homers per
AB, discounting walks.

Or, A-Rod. Another alleged five-tooler. He's another guy who often does
not hit for a real high average. What did he hit last year? Somewhere
around .290?

Or, Junior, back in his healthy days. He's another guy like A-rod and
the young Barry who usually did not hit for a real high average.

I think if you can come up with a guy who has, let's say, three of the
five tools polished to a high gloss, you're doing pretty good.
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Fleur <irishfleurdelis.RemoveThis@webtv.net> wrote:
> Paul Lujan said:
>>You know what's frustrating about this list?
>>They have a list of "Best Tools" amd for nearly
>>every single tool, the player is different. If you
>>look at, say, the Royals' list, the best hitter for
>>average, best power hitter, and best
>>strike-zone discipline are all the same hitter
>>(Billy Butler), and the best fastball, curveball,
>>and slider all belong to one pitcher (Denny
>>Bautista). But in the Giants' system, those
>>skills are scattered all over the place, which is
>>why we always get the "if only we could
>>combine X with Y" feeling.
>
> But Paul! How many TRUE five-tool players are there, really? Even at the
> major league level?

Not a lot. On the other hand, there aren't a lot of one-tool players out
there, either. Take Ryan Howard, for example. He has the most raw power of
anyone in the minors, but it's highly questionable that he'll ever stick
in the majors because he can't do anything else. If your players are only
exhibiting one plus skill in the minors, it doesn't bode well for how
they'll fare in the majors.

--Paul
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Paul Lujan said:

>>But Paul! How many TRUE five-tool players
>>are there, really? Even at the major league
>>level?

>Not a lot. On the other hand, there aren't a lot
>of one-tool players out there, either. Take
>Ryan Howard, for example. He has the most
>raw power of anyone in the minors, but it's
>highly questionable that he'll ever stick in the
>majors because he can't do anything else. If
>your players are only exhibiting one plus skill
>in the minors, it doesn't bode well for how
>they'll fare in the majors.

Can't argue with that. There can't be much of a demand for one-tool
players, even if that one tool is power. What good is power if you can't
make contact? I don't know a thing about Ryan Howard but the way you
describe him, he sounds like the next coming of Dick Stuart.
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