Top 10 Minor League Prospects next year

[CubColtPacer]

Ah, okay. Hopefully Vitters' injury doesn't prove to be a huge problem.

 

And maybe I'm not properly evaluating his numbers, but what Castro has done doesn't look overly impressive. Is he playing at an advanced level for his age?

 

Castro is 7 months younger than Vitters is and spent most of the year a level higher than Vitters playing the hardest position on the field. He was one of the youngest players in Daytona and now is in AA at the age of 19. He also has good tools on both offense and defense. He has significant problems (power, consistency on defense, walks) but for him to show both the tools and be able to hit .300 with so few strikeouts at Daytona at his age is impressive.

[Guest]

Ah, okay. Hopefully Vitters' injury doesn't prove to be a huge problem.

 

And maybe I'm not properly evaluating his numbers, but what Castro has done doesn't look overly impressive. Is he playing at an advanced level for his age?

He played most of the season as the youngest player in the florida state league.

[inari]

Like I said, I don't know much about how to evaluate minor league talent and numbers. Thanks for clearing things up.

[Guest]

Like I said, I don't know much about how to evaluate minor league talent and numbers. Thanks for clearing things up.

 

This is a list of the youngest players in AA (not just the Southern League) as of 4/17/09: http://www.projectprospect.com/article/2009/07/27/50-youngest-doublea-players

 

Starlin Castro is younger than anyone else on that list. Obviously there have been promotions since 4/17 so I'm not sure if he actually is the youngest player in AA today. Just remember, at this time last year, he was playing in rookie ball in the AZL. Given his age and experience going into this season, what he's done is amazing.

[sandbergcubs]

As I've said here a couple times, I'm no minor league expert. So my question is, is Vitters' stock falling? I had never thought of him as anything but the Cubs consensus number one prospect.

 

It's a serious concern w/his hand injury, I don't know if it's falling as right now, I don't see any reason why he wouldn't be the #1 prospect in the system. But the injuries are a concern for someone that young.

 

 

it is his other hand, not the same one as last year

[Mephistopheles]

. If I had to sit down and make a top Cubs prospect, with approximate national rankings and relatively contemprorary major league comps, I'd go:

 

1. Josh Vitters, 3B, 25-35, .300/.350/.480, likely: Rondell White; dream on: Magglio Ordonez and Mike Sweeney

2. Andrew Cashner, RHP, 50-70, power fastball/slider, likely: Kyle Farnsworth; dream on: Brad Lidge

3. Starlin Castro, SS, 80-100, .285/.340/.450, likely: Jimmy Rollins; dream on: Hanley Ramirez (and dream on)

3. Hak-Ju Lee, SS, 130-150, .285/.320/.420, likely: Tsuyoshi Nishioka; dream on: Derek Jeter

4. Jay Jackson, RHP, 130-150, #3 durable guy, likely: Kevin Correia; dream on: Tim Hudson

5. Brett Jackson, OF, 100-120, .270/.320/.480, likely: Torii Hunter; dream on: Mike Cameron

6. Chris Carpenter, RHP, 140-150, #2 brittle guy, likely: Brett Tomko; dream on: AJ Burnett; dream on in dreams: Chris Carpenter

7. Brooks Raley, LHP, 220-250, #3 durable guy, likely: Kenny Rogers; dream on: Mark Mulder and pre-Coors Mike Hampton

8. Kyler Burke, OF, 200-250, .250/.330/.450, likely: Ruben Mateo; dream on: Ellis Valentine or Jesse Barfield

9. DJ LeMaheiu, 2B, 250-300, .275/.340/.440, likely: Jody Davis; dream on: Ryne Sandberg

10. Ryan Flaherty, SS, 250-300, .275/.340/.440, likely: Mike Fontenot; dream on: Stephen Drew

 

Others:

11. Dae-Eun Rhee, RHP

12. Chris Huseby, RHP

13. Chris Archer, RHP

14. Tony Thomas, 2B

15. Austin Kirk, LHP

 

Honestly, some of the Asian products we signed this year are close to 2nd round draft talents (maybe higher, they're just too obscure at the moment), so they are probably ahead of Huseby.

 

As for how BA would rate them:

 

1. Vitters

2. Cashner

3. B. Jackson

4. Castro

5. J. Jackson

6. Carpenter

7. Raley

8. Lee

9. LeMaheiu

10. Flaherty

[Guest]

As for how BA would rate them

 

1. Vitters

2. Cashner

3. B. Jackson

4. Castro

5. J. Jackson

6. Carpenter

7. Raley

8. Lee

9. LeMaheiu

10. Flaherty

 

I think BA will flip flop 3 & 4. And if Carpenter finishes the season healthy, I think you can bump him up too. Callis is in love with Carpenter.

 

And I'm surprised you like Kirk more than Antigua.

[Mephistopheles]

i could go either way. upon further review, due to the fact that kirk was a sooner commit, i might as well knock him down for that.

[Illini Iceman]

. If I had to sit down and make a top Cubs prospect, with approximate national rankings and relatively contemprorary major league comps, I'd go:

 

3. Starlin Castro, SS, 80-100, .285/.340/.450, likely: Jimmy Rollins; dream on: Hanley Ramirez (and dream on)

 

You think that Castro is "likely" to be as good as Jimmy Rollins? Don't know much about him but if that is true then I would think he would be the best prospect in the organization. That projection certainly seems better than your "likely" estimates of Rondell White for Vitters and Kyle Farnsworth for Cashner.

[Mephistopheles]

by "likely" I mean, if the guy isn't a bust this is probably what he'll become. If I took likely completely literally every single one of them would be some AAA player. Every. Single. One. As for Rollins being good or not, I mean the Jimmy Rollins career norms, not his one year peak. I don't know what you're smoking, but Rondell White for about a five year stretch had his OPS sit between 850 and 900.

 

Basically what I am saying is that if Castro makes it, he's going to be a Rollins type player. A .275/.330/.440 type guy with some ups and downs. Obviously that's very good for a shortstop, but there's still a lot of risk in him reaching that. If you want to take likely literally, you'd get

 

Vitters - Randa

Cashner - Capellan

Castro - Cedeno

Lee - Neifi

Jackson - Hirsch

 

and a lot of AAA stuff afterwards.

[Illini Iceman]

by "likely" I mean, if the guy isn't a bust this is probably what he'll become. If I took likely completely literally every single one of them would be some AAA player. Every. Single. One. As for Rollins being good or not, I mean the Jimmy Rollins career norms, not his one year peak. I don't know what you're smoking, but Rondell White for about a five year stretch had his OPS sit between 850 and 900.

 

Basically what I am saying is that if Castro makes it, he's going to be a Rollins type player. A .275/.330/.440 type guy with some ups and downs. Obviously that's very good for a shortstop, but there's still a lot of risk in him reaching that. If you want to take likely literally, you'd get

 

Vitters - Randa

Cashner - Capellan

Castro - Cedeno

Lee - Neifi

Jackson - Hirsch

 

and a lot of AAA stuff afterwards.

 

Understood.

 

Maybe I am not giving White enough respect or giving too much to Rollins, but personally when I hear a Rollins comparison for Castro it strikes me as exciting while the White comparison for Vitters seems to be kind of meh.

 

I also found the Jody Davis / Ryne Sandberg comparisons for LeMaheiu interesting. Maybe you were just getting bored at that point and wanted to do something different but those two seem like very unsimilar players.