BA's Midwest League's top 20

[Serge]

Jim Callis: Scouts loved Brett Jackson. Strikeouts weren't as much of a problem for him as they were in college, and he was an athletic center fielder with promising power. He would have ranked no lower than third on the list but fell 10 plate appearances short of qualifying.

 

Wow

[Outshined_One]

I really liked Brett Jackson when I saw him, but really? Really?

 

:no:

[Outshined_One]

Huh, apparently the MWL is expanding to 16 teams next season. A quick Google search has one team in Ohio and the other out in Bowling Green, KY.

[toonsterwu]

And awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay we go.

 

Frank (Chatham IL): What are scouts telling you about Brett Jackson's performance for Peoria this year? Any love for this list?

 

 

Jim Callis: Scouts loved Brett Jackson. Strikeouts weren't as much of a problem for him as they were in college, and he was an athletic center fielder with promising power. He would have ranked no lower than third on the list but fell 10 plate appearances short of qualifying.

 

Jackson over Vitters would be perplexing, to put it mildly.

 

WOW ... Wow ... seriously ... wow ... 3rd?

[davell]

Yeah, I'll be disappointed if Castro isn't in the top 60 honestly. I agree that Lee's chances look alot better now than they did a month ago. He most likely IS going to be listed as our 3rd best prospect by them. I won't be shocked if Cashner doesn't make it and it wouldn't shock me if B Jackson did either. But, the more I think on it, I could see Jay Jackson missing out too, leaving us with a bare minimum of 2 and most likely 3 or 4 tops. I will be disappointed if we don't move as a whole system up to the 15ish area though.

 

 

Edit: This was made before I saw what Callis said about Brett Jackson. I'm guessing he's a lock for the top 100 at this point.

Edited October 1, 2009 by davell

[davell]

And awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay we go.

 

Frank (Chatham IL): What are scouts telling you about Brett Jackson's performance for Peoria this year? Any love for this list?

 

 

Jim Callis: Scouts loved Brett Jackson. Strikeouts weren't as much of a problem for him as they were in college, and he was an athletic center fielder with promising power. He would have ranked no lower than third on the list but fell 10 plate appearances short of qualifying.

 

Jackson over Vitters would be perplexing, to put it mildly.

 

WOW ... Wow ... seriously ... wow ... 3rd?

 

 

OK.......I'll up the WOWS even more. WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW

 

I mean damn......But, BA loves tools and Jackson certainly has them. I guess that's why they are THIS high on him?

[Outshined_One]

Joe LeCates (Easton, MD): How close was the gap between Vitters and Lawrie? As bat-first, glove...well, they can hit - are they almost interchangeable at #3 and 4, or does one hold more significant long-term value?

 

 

Jim Callis: They are pretty interchangeable. Lawrie has more bat speed, but Vitters has a better swing and does it with less effort. If you wanted to give Lawrie the edge because he has better plate discipline, that would be a legitimate argument.

[Serge]

Serge (El Nido): What is Vitters' problem at the plate? Is it more of him swinging at garbage way out of the zone, or is it more of a thing where he's swinging at things just out of the zone and pitchers' strikes? And if it's the latter, does that mean it's more likely that it'll improve with age?

 

Jim Callis: It's not so much that he's swinging and missing at pitches way off the plate. It's that he goes up there to swing, often offering at the first pitch, and makes contact so easily that he gets himself out on pitcher's pitches. It's something he can fix, though he'll probably never draw a ton of walks.

 

What a well crafted, articulate question :)

[illiniguy]

That just seems odd. Most people would be angry if we traded Vitters and got Hicks back. Did the half season only count against Josh here?

[Outshined_One]

Serge (El Nido): What is Vitters' problem at the plate? Is it more of him swinging at garbage way out of the zone, or is it more of a thing where he's swinging at things just out of the zone and pitchers' strikes? And if it's the latter, does that mean it's more likely that it'll improve with age?

 

Jim Callis: It's not so much that he's swinging and missing at pitches way off the plate. It's that he goes up there to swing, often offering at the first pitch, and makes contact so easily that he gets himself out on pitcher's pitches. It's something he can fix, though he'll probably never draw a ton of walks.

 

What a well crafted, articulate question :)

 

He's just repeating what has been said around this website since Vitters came onto the scene with Peoria. :D

[Serge]

That just seems odd. Most people would be angry if we traded Vitters and got Hicks back. Did the half season only count against Josh here?

 

Even though they shouldn't have, I think they let his struggles at Daytona effect the rankings. No way MWL Vitters is a lesser prospect than Gordon or Hicks.

[Outshined_One]

Serge (El Nido): How close was Kyler Burke to making your list? He was a .303/.405/.505 guy and my understanding is he's pretty projectable as well. What kind of ceiling does he have?

 

 

Jim Callis: Burke was much improved compared to his 2008 MWL performance, and he would have been in the 21-30 range had we gone that deep. He's a lefty hitter with some strength in his swing and has a plus arm. He doesn't hit lefthanders, so he's probably a platoon player as he moves up. He's a below-average runner, and though he has good instincts he's not going to stay in center field.

A .291/.359/.402 line isn't hitting left handers? What?

[toonsterwu]

That just seems odd. Most people would be angry if we traded Vitters and got Hicks back. Did the half season only count against Josh here?

 

Even though they shouldn't have, I think they let his struggles at Daytona effect the rankings. No way MWL Vitters is a lesser prospect than Gordon or Hicks.

 

It's the Hicks part that I don't see. To that extent, I could see Jackson ahead of Hicks (or at least, a case for it). Gordon, a lot of people love. I'm not that high on him, but I like him, and if it's an elite shortstop versus an elite 3rd baseman, it's much closer, so comes down to buying Gordon.

[illiniguy]

I don't buy into Gordon. He's a whole year older than Vitters and don't think he's comparable as a prospect. That and he slugged .394. Edited October 1, 2009 by illiniguy

[toonsterwu]

Serge (El Nido): How close was Kyler Burke to making your list? He was a .303/.405/.505 guy and my understanding is he's pretty projectable as well. What kind of ceiling does he have?

 

 

Jim Callis: Burke was much improved compared to his 2008 MWL performance, and he would have been in the 21-30 range had we gone that deep. He's a lefty hitter with some strength in his swing and has a plus arm. He doesn't hit lefthanders, so he's probably a platoon player as he moves up. He's a below-average runner, and though he has good instincts he's not going to stay in center field.

A .291/.359/.402 line isn't hitting left handers? What?

 

Wait ... who is expecting him to stay in CF? He has enough footspeed for a corner role, that's for sure.

 

I feel like they are looking at another player.

[davell]

Serge (El Nido): How close was Kyler Burke to making your list? He was a .303/.405/.505 guy and my understanding is he's pretty projectable as well. What kind of ceiling does he have?

 

 

Jim Callis: Burke was much improved compared to his 2008 MWL performance, and he would have been in the 21-30 range had we gone that deep. He's a lefty hitter with some strength in his swing and has a plus arm. He doesn't hit lefthanders, so he's probably a platoon player as he moves up. He's a below-average runner, and though he has good instincts he's not going to stay in center field.

A .291/.359/.402 line isn't hitting left handers? What?

 

Pretty disappointing to see Callis swing and miss on that. My guess is they looked at it as his 3rd year and did little research on him.

[Outshined_One]

Serge (El Nido): How close was Kyler Burke to making your list? He was a .303/.405/.505 guy and my understanding is he's pretty projectable as well. What kind of ceiling does he have?

 

 

Jim Callis: Burke was much improved compared to his 2008 MWL performance, and he would have been in the 21-30 range had we gone that deep. He's a lefty hitter with some strength in his swing and has a plus arm. He doesn't hit lefthanders, so he's probably a platoon player as he moves up. He's a below-average runner, and though he has good instincts he's not going to stay in center field.

A .291/.359/.402 line isn't hitting left handers? What?

 

Pretty disappointing to see Callis swing and miss on that. My guess is they looked at it as his 3rd year and did little research on him.

 

I mean, I get that Burke has a power dropoff against LHPs, but that's different from saying he can't hit them.

[davell]

Well, the cool thing is we've gotten a good amount of Cubs questions answered so far. It'd be nice to have some comments from Callis on Carpenter and Flaherty, maybe even Huseby or Ridling....... :D

[Guest]

I think it's clear from the last two days that BA will rate, in no particular order here, Starlin Castro, Josh Vitters, Brett Jackson, Andrew Cashner and Hak-Ju Lee as the Cubs top 5 prospects.

[davell]

I think it's clear from the last two days that BA will rate, in no particular order here, Starlin Castro, Josh Vitters, Brett Jackson, Andrew Cashner and Hak-Ju Lee as the Cubs top 5 prospects.

 

The only "upset" I could POSSIBLY see is Jay Jackson making it over Cashner. Very doubtful, but if they are thinking of Cashner as an 8th inning type, I guess I could see it.

[illiniguy]

Man if they are that high on gordon they have to be super high on castro. He had a smiliar year as younger player at a higher level.

[Guest]

I think it's clear from the last two days that BA will rate, in no particular order here, Starlin Castro, Josh Vitters, Brett Jackson, Andrew Cashner and Hak-Ju Lee as the Cubs top 5 prospects.

 

The only "upset" I could POSSIBLY see is Jay Jackson making it over Cashner. Very doubtful, but if they are thinking of Cashner as an 8th inning type, I guess I could see it.

 

In late July or early August, when asked who the Cubs #2 prospect was behind Vitters, Jim Callis responded Andrew Cashner. Also, it seems like most of the BA guys are not as enamored with Jay Jackson as a lot of us are.

[ChiefsVoice]

I really liked Brett Jackson when I saw him, but really? Really?

 

:no:

 

i couldn't agree with you more.

 

and yes 16 teams next season. Lake County Captains (Indians) and Bowling Green Hot Rods (D Rays). Very unbalanced schedule. We will play the other 7 West teams A TON and play each of the 8 East teams THREE TIMES TOTAL. We do not go to Dayton, Bowling Green, Great Lakes or Lansing. The other four dont come to Peoria...

[Guest]

Man if they are that high on gordon they have to be super high on castro. He had a smiliar year as younger player at a higher level.

He doesn't have the top end speed that the tools guys crave, though.

[davell]

I think it's clear from the last two days that BA will rate, in no particular order here, Starlin Castro, Josh Vitters, Brett Jackson, Andrew Cashner and Hak-Ju Lee as the Cubs top 5 prospects.

 

The only "upset" I could POSSIBLY see is Jay Jackson making it over Cashner. Very doubtful, but if they are thinking of Cashner as an 8th inning type, I guess I could see it.

 

In late July or early August, when asked who the Cubs #2 prospect was behind Vitters, Jim Callis responded Andrew Cashner. Also, it seems like most of the BA guys are not as enamored with Jay Jackson as a lot of us are.

 

Yeah, I forgot about that actually. But, I'll be beyond shocked if Cashner is 2 for us at this point.