Onward ho! with the Top 25, this time I’ll go first for the AM post and AZ will have his later in the afternoon.
20. Tyler Norrick. In my opinion Norrick is overlooked for a number of reasons. He’s left-handed. He throws hard (92-94), and he has a sharp slider. Yes, he is an older prospect relative to his league, but I don’t look at that as a big negative for a pitcher. His FIP of 4.02 was a .08 higher then his rotation mate, Adam Ottavino. I’d like to see him cut down the walks.
19. Brad Furnish. I’m going lefties back to back. Like Norrick, Furnish throws hard and he’s got a very nice curveball. I’ve seen him with my own two eyes and came away impressed. I’m willing to give him a mulligan re: his poor performance at Palm Beach due to the fact that it turned out he had to have some bone spurs removed from his elbow. It’ll be interesting to see what level he starts out next season.
18. Jose Martinez. From the reports I’ve read of him, you get the impression he will be nothing more then a utility infielder. I tend to think he has Placido Polanco like upside, with power, or at least I can dream. What he did in AA as a 21 year old deserves a little more attention then what he’s got. He could take a walk and I’ve heard he ain’t the fastest man alive, but I still really like him.
17. P.J. Walters. He’s been the subject of great debate here at FR because of the whole low-velo thing. There are a few pitchers that survive on that type of slow of a fastball, one being Greg Maddux who can do it because he’s Greg Maddux, the others are the Josh Foggs, Brian Lawrences and Yusmeiro Petits of the world. (I could throw Livan Hernandez and Paul Byrd in there as well, two of the better known pitchers of Walter’s ilk.) He has great control (4.45 K/BB), a trick pitch in the screwball-change, and he knows how to mix it up. Either he’ll top out in AAA, or he’ll end up in the back of the rotation.
16. Joe Mather. The case for: .304 ISO over half a season in AA, while walking more then striking out. The case against: It took him forever to get there, scouts say he has too level of a swing, and he came back to earth in AAA. Color me skeptical of Mather, but it’s hard to ignore what he did in Springfield.
Filed under: Top 25
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
From the presentation, it sounds like 19-20 are better prospects than 16-18. Surely Norrick and Furnish have more upside than Walters - Walters has had success, but he sounds like a long shot.
I was excited to see we had a 21 yr old SS in AA that was putting up numbers. I hope Martinez out-foxes the experts.
I am shocked and disappointed that Martinez is not listed higher than 18. I defintely would have him ranked higher than Joe Mather. The chances of Joe Mather materializing to more than a pinch-hitter are pretty slim. Even if Martinez materializes to the low end of his potential, utility infielder, his value would be higher than a pinch-hitter. I really see Martinez as a solid SS option with the ability be an above average 2B. His defense is considerably higher than Mather in my opinion, his offense that he has shown in comparison to Mather at the same age is better, and his positional value is higher. I would even argue that if you switched Martinez’s performance with Greene that I bet everyone would put Greene in the Top 8, so why do we discount Martinez when he has clearly performed at an above average level at the age of 21 in AA? If the comparison is Placido Polanco how does he rank so low, isn’t Polanco recognized as a top 2 or 3 2B in all of baseball! Heck if the Cards were to try and swing a trade for Polanco my bet is that it would cost us Anderson and a pitcher like Furnish. If it is believed that he has the talent to compare to Polanco I really believe that he should be ranked significantly higher. Maybe I’m biased because I like him a lot. The only way you can make this up to me Eric is to put Henley in the top 25 somewhere!
I agree in putting Walters ahead of Norrick. However, as discussed at length on this site his upside is limited. I can see an argument for Furnish being ranked higher than Walters based on potential, but I am alright with ranking Walters ahead for now.
Not really in arguments except for Martinez. I just don’t see how he can’t be in the top 15 at least.
I don’t think Mather is just a pinch hitter, I’m iffy on him but I took him over Martinez because of his overall hitting ability. Martinez was very good in Springfield, but was rather middling for the QC in 06 and for PB earlier this year. The Polanco comp is what he becomes to me on the very highest side. Actually, Polanco didn’t even look like a very special prospect coming up. The comp is because he’s an extreme contact hitter who walks very little and is a sure fielder at in the IF, though Polanco is probably a lot better defensively. i think he could be regular if he keeps this up, but everywhere i turn around he’s billed as a UTIL if.
Greene doesn’t even make my 25. sorry for the spoiler.