Mephistopheles

The point is that right now, at best, Castro projects to be what Cedeno was in AAA three years later.

O_O's busy making love to a burrito. mmmmmmmmmmmmm

So now we're rewarding minor league hitters who try to end their at-bats within three pitches. Excellent!

and Cedeno's AAA performance later his in his career beats this ten-fold. No one's saying Cedeno was the same at age 19. Cedeno was a better prospect when he was hitting .350+ in AAA than Castro is now.

There are a lot more similarities than you would like to admit. Both guys are early count hitters with good contact skills, minimal walks and strikeouts and quality defense. Just because Castro is in AA and succeeding it doesn't change the fact that he can do nothing but hit for an empty batting average and even if he learns to hit for power, he won't be all that good until he looses his aggression. Ronny Cedeno was the same way. Guess what. He never lost it. Felix Pie was the same way. Guess what. He never lost it. Corey Patterson was the same way. Guess what. He never lost it. Just because Cedeno wasn't in AA succeeding like Castro is, it doesn't make the claim invalid. They're VERY similar tool wise and projection wise.

Having a 38/24 K/BB in 45.3 IP is not astonishing. While he has had some very nice outings with Tennessee, he's also had his share of clunkers and hasn't had a dominating start since August 3rd. I'm beginning to wonder if this is just a bump in the road or if this is indicative of something else. not making the same mistake twice with you....

oddly enough there are two relevant yuki saito's in japanese baseball

Saito is the Koshien deity.

heh. all i did was read outshined ones paraphrase. as usual, o_o and his receding hairline screw things up.

Yuki Saito should be coming out next year and will probably sign with a MLB team.

There's also a very good chance that this IS BP doing their research. The comment about his defense is pretty specific and almost certainly came from (at least) one scout, and probably multiple. That being said it's way too early for us to tell whether he will be at 2b or SS in three years, even if his range is suspect to the left.

Talent and 2010 performance aside, Washington may be looking for a nice signable player after the last two drafts. Don't be shocked if Jameson isn't drafted in the first round.

being the resident draft expert, i thought i should chime in. 1. What do you think of the Draft? - It's August 2009. It's less than three months after the draft. This would be like asking how Obama has done as President on January 24th. We're all entitled to our opinions but the simple fact of the matter is that there's very little difference between prospects we would have picked and who the Cubs picked. This is true when we have a top 10 pick and it's even more true when we have the 31st pick. So to answer your question, what do I think about the 09 draft? I think that it's too early to say what I (or anyone) thinks about the draft. You can of course go off by early successes of the draft, but they don't matter in the great scheme of things either. What's Matt Sulentic up to these days. Ask me again in 2011. You need 18 months minimum to get any indication on how good a draft this one is and to make any kind of accurate or concrete assessment of the draft you need 30 months. This is everyone, even the so-called "experts" who grade drafts the night after, the month after and anyone at BA. 2. Name our Top 5 or Top 10 players signed - This is a question that can be asked now. It's pretty obvious and you shouldn't have to ask about the top five or so. And then guys 5-10 are so even it doesn't matter. It's a waste of time. 3. Who holds the key to our Draft? - This is an easy answer. The one who makes it. Every draft has one maybe two guys who develop into a consistent major league player. So the key is simply the guy who makes it. /rant

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.

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.

. 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

The important thing to remember here is that next May Brooks Raley won't be starting in Austin against the Longhorns.

die bitch

hes got plus power. among the most raw power in the college circuit.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/?p=1261 let's throw the rest of the season. it's not like we're going anywhere...

iave seen taillon alot as well as the four longhorns

Signing Raley might cost the same amount as signing Cashner. Raley probably won't sign for less than seven figures.

As a pure hitter, Robert Stock had arguably the most raw power of any hitter in the draft. Period. As a defensive catcher, he along with Austin Maddox showed the most catch and throw ability. At USC both of those tools tended to play most of the time. He also did show an advanced approach to hitting. He didn't have poor plate discipline, took his walks. Hitting for average was the only thing he struggled with. He still needs to work on that, but as he matures and learns to use more of the field as a hitter that should come along without expense of power. His age to peer level cannot be understated. It's no surprise he struggled, statistically. The Cardinals will probably hit it big on him.

robert stock is basically the age equivalent of a college freshman. the boy enrolled at USC when he was 16. it should come as no surprise that he struggled his entire career as a catcher, and not a pitcher even though his tools are much better off the mound than on it. even if he's a bust as a catcher in three years, which is not likely IMO, he's only then going to be the age of an older collegiate junior.

actually i probably would have taken raley as an outfielder, i dunno. i would have taken him, dont know what for ;)