Updating the Prospect List

by gondeee on Nov 16, 2006 2:05 PM EST in Minor League News Comment 15 comments

Since Sickels' list was the last one we'll get until January, I thought I would go ahead and redo my list a bit. I needed to redo it since Matt Wright was not resigned, a loss I think we will come to regret (damn you Dayton Moore). I've left my top-10 alone, and I still stand behind that as a solid top-10. I of course removed Wright from the list, but I also removed Jairo Cuevas and Matt Young. No one is too buzzed about Cuevas, and Young is good, but not as worthy to be called a prospect as some of the younger pitchers. Speaking of younger pitchers, I added Locke, Rasmus, and Evarts. I probably should have had them on there to begin with because of their "projectable" arms, so maybe that was an oversight on my part (and maybe I'm still listing them too low, but I'm sticking to that until they show me more). I also bumped up Van Pope and moved a few other guys around in the bottom tier.

I know a couple of you have tossed around some of your own prospect rankings, and I'd like to challenge each of you to put together your own list of top-25 Braves prospects. If you can only do a top-20 then so be it, I think I'll count the bottom five the same anyway. Once we see several of your lists, we can put together an average top-25 (or top-20) Talking Chop Braves prospects for 2007. So if you're feeling up to it, rank away. Take your time and make a careful list, then post it under this thread and I'll combine them and average them out.

My "updated" list:

1. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
2. Matt Harrison, LHP
3. Eric Campbell, 3B
4. Jo-Jo Reyes, LHP
5. Kala Ka'aihue, 1B
6. Elvis Andrus, SS
7. Joey Devine, RHP
8. Kevin Gunderson, LHP
9. Brandon Jones, OF
10. Yunel Escobar, SS
11. Jamie Richmond, RHP
12. Van Pope, 3B
13. Anthony Lerew, RHP
14. Kristopher Medlen, RHP
15. Beau Jones, LHP
16. Will Startup, LHP
17. Manny Acosta, RHP
18. Martin Prado, IF
19. Thommy Hanson, RHP
20. Jeff Locke, LHP
21. Corey Rasmus, RHP
22. Steve Evarts, LHP
23. J.C. Holt, 2B
24. Carl Loadenthal, OF
25. Brayan Pena, C

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Comments

Beau Jones

...is a LHP...an oversight I'm sure!
I'm going to participate in this....probably 20 is all I can come up with....asap!

by secondbass on Nov 16, 2006 4:22 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I'd prefer...

...he play outfield. Nice catch.

by gondeee on Nov 16, 2006 4:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

My top 25

Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Eric Campbell
Matt Harrison
Elvis Andrus
Yunel Escobar
Van Pope
Joey Devine
Brandon Jones
Scott Thorman
Kala Ka'aihue
Jo-Jo Reyes
Will Startup
Kevin Gunderson
Martin Prado
Jamie Richmond
Dustin Evans
Kris Medlen
Neftali Feliz
Francisley Bueno
Dan Smith
Jeff Locke
Steven Evarts
Zach Schreiber
Cory Rasmus
Brayan Pena

15-24 is a bunch of young arms and I had lot of difficulty ranking them. That is the best I could do right now but a case could be made for each of them to be moved up or down.

by Zbrave on Nov 16, 2006 5:06 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Looks good to me...

I'll see what you all come up with!

I don't think I can rank em... that's tough!

...Miranda

by SJsftb27 on Nov 16, 2006 5:20 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

My top 25

Saltalamacchia (A-)
Matt Harrison (B+)
Eric Campbell (B)
Elvis Andrus (though I'm expecting him to be #2 or #1 after this season)
Brandon Jones
Joey Devine
Yunel Escobar (solid season, spectacular fall, still like KJ better for 2b)
Van Pope (is a complete season ever forthcoming? tools there) (B-)
Jo Jo Reyes (still not sold, but pitched horribly when I saw him so that may be why)
Kala Ka'aihue (not sold on being complete enough, but man the power is ++) (C+)
Anthony Lerew (needs to relearn how to follow through with his body)
Jamie Richmond
Neftali Felix (purely on hype)
Chase Fontaine
Jeff Locke
Steve Evarts
Will Startup (fun to watch, stuff seemed a little straight when i saw him)
James Parr (not a great year, but plenty young) (C)
Martin Prado
Cory Rasmus
Zach Schrieber
JC Holt (AFL superstar)
Tommy Hanson
Jeff Lyman
Bryan Pena (simply low ceiling, will end up better than half these guys)

Just Missed:
Beau Jones (rough year, had much much higher hopes)
Bueno (just don't know enough about)
Dan Smith (again, arms at the end of the list are interchangable)
Medlan (interchangable)
Jairo Cuevas

I really like my 1-9, after that its kind a jumbled mess, I dunno how I left bueno, smith, and medlan off, but then again I'd say the same about anyone I replaced with them- letters are my approximization of Sickels, just put them at where they break to the next grade

by abravesfan on Nov 16, 2006 6:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

My list

Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Matt Harrison, LHP
Eric Campbell, 3B
Jo-Jo Reyes, LHP
Elvis Andrus, SS
Kala Ka'aihue, 1B
Yunel Escobar, SS
Brandon Jones, OF
Anthony Lerew, RHP (i still like his arm and this he has fixed his mechanics)
Jeff Locke, LHP
Jamie Richmond, RHP
Van Pope, 3B
Corey Rasmus, RHP
Joey Devine, RHP
Steve Evarts, LHP
J.C. Holt, 2B
Jamie Romak, OF (gotta get some love)
Neftali Feliz, RHP (i hope he is the stud they say)
Jordan Schafer, OF (lots of late improvement)
Chase Fontaine (solid tools)
Kevin Gunderson, RHP
Jeff Lyman, RHP (i think he should be higher just not sure where)
Grgor Blanco, OF (GOOD OBP and speed and at AAA)
Carl Loadenthal, OF
Brayan Pena, C

.....Matt

by yondaime4 on Nov 16, 2006 7:31 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Great stuff so far

I'm loving the lists guys and gals (Miranda, where's yours?). I especially like the listing of Zach Schrieber - good stuff abravesfan, he has a real shot to be an unheard of star; Romak - yondaime4, I quite honestly thought you would list him much higher :); Zbrave, throwing me some curves with Dustin Evans, Dan Smith, and Schrieber.......all really good stuff you guys.

by gondeee on Nov 16, 2006 9:45 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Romak

I did initially but i think i ended up booting him down a little for fontaine to get in there. I found it hard to adequately rate all of this years draft prospects, but i like locke the most with his cold weather arm and projectible body.

.....Matt

by yondaime4 on Nov 16, 2006 10:55 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Umm....

let me get some time later today... and I'll try and come up with a list

I've been swamped lately!

...Miranda

by SJsftb27 on Nov 17, 2006 9:50 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Fun Idea

Since we are doing prospect lists would anyone else want to do another BA type thing where we list who we think will be in braves lineup 3 years from now (2009)> I enjoy reading that every year in their prospect handbook. Should we do it in this thread or make a new one?

.....Matt

by yondaime4 on Nov 17, 2006 4:04 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Good idea

Let's save that idea for a few weeks (we can all be thining in the mean time). I'll put up that post around Thanksgiving when its a slow news time.

by gondeee on Nov 17, 2006 8:15 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

My list....

Man this wasn't easy! And I did manage 25. I honestly think our farm system is in great shape, especially if half of these pitchers pan out. Most of these guys are in the lower rungs, yes, but so were Francoeur, Davies, McCann, etc. only 3 years ago.
Also, I ranked my top 10 in the order I honestly think we'll see these guys in the majors someday. So if we do Matt's idea, the top 12 are my list to make it within 3 years.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia (of course)
Eric Campbell (hit the longest homeruns I've ever seen in Rome besides Brian Jordan. Ka'aihue could hit big ones, too, but Campbell's consistently wet farther.)
Scott Thorman (already proven, IMO, just needs an everyday job)
Joey Devine (he'll bounce back)
Anthony Lerew (I'm not sure about this one, but he's been up before. We'll see)
Will Startup (My personal favorite in the organization. He's a tough guy and will have a great spring, as well as a good year whether in the minors or Atlanta. I say this stuff like I know what I'm talking about!)
Yunel Escobar (very close to the bigs....)
Dan Smith (big, hard-throwing dude. He'll be a good one)
Matt Harrison, LHP (future starter)
Jo-Jo Reyes, LHP (ditto)
Kala Ka'aihue, 1B (My man! Move Laroche soon, and Kala will make us forget)
Van Pope (I hope. No rhyme intended, but I'm going with it)
Brandon Jones (too many tools to ignore)
Elvis Andrus (everybody's everything, but hasn't proven enough just yet. I believe he will, so he'll move up my list. I'm sure that makes him happy!)
Jamie Romak (another personal favorite. Also a Canadian, and Don Sutton says they reach their full potential later in their careers because they play more hockey up there. I buy that. Romak can hit a ton and he can play right very well. Great arm, too.)
Kevin Gunderson, RHP
Kristopher Medlen, RHP (Pitched for Rome in the playoffs and looked great)
Zach Schreiber (I like seeing his name...he seems like a good one)
Thommy Hanson, RHP
Jamie Richmond, RHP (big year at Danville...can't wait to see him in Rome!)
Jake Stevens (this year is it...make or break)
Jeff Lyman, RHP (good stuff)
Corey Rasmus, RHP (Because many of you are so high on him)
Jordan Schafer, OF (my last sentimental favorite who I actually think has a shot. He's a converted pitcher, so his arm is a cannon. He also caught his glove in his spikes and dropped it, but still caught the ball bare handed. Weel, that and he had a good year last year, and I bet he keeps getting better)
Beau Jones, LHP (the new Jake Stevens...will he rebound from a bad season in Rome and live up to the hype? I think he will...)

I left off Locke, Evarts, and Feliz because I know NOTHING about them. Rasmus got #23, but it could have been any of these guys.
I left off Chase Fontaine and JC Holt because we have a ton of middle infield guys now, so I see them either getting left out in the cold or traded (assuming Campbell/Andrus/Ka'aihue/Pope are our future infield).

Sorry for the long comments, but I felt I had to go ahead and defend myself!

by secondbass on Nov 17, 2006 5:47 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for the opportunity

Eric Campbell
Matt Harrison
Salty
Brandon Jones
Joey Devine
Scott Thorman
Dan Smith
Jo Jo Reyes
Yunel Escobar
Elvis Andrus
Zach Schreiber
Neftali Feliz
Kala Ka'aihue
J.C Holt
Francisley Bueno
Martin Prado
Jaime Richmond
Phil Stockman
Van Pope
Kevin Gunderson
Cory Rasmus
Manny Acosta
Gregor Blanco
Jose Ascaino
Will Startup

Just missed: Beau Jones and several of the young guys in the GCL, Danville, and Rome. I like them, but it's way to early to list MOST of them among my top 25. I like to list guys I think are major leaguers ro trade bait.

I have given up on Lerew, Burrus, Esquivel, and Timmons. I'm a big fan of Wes Timmons and he is perhaps my favorite player in the organization so I hope he has a great spring and finds work somewhere.

Brayan Pena is a major leaguer, but probably wouldn't start for any of the 29 teams...especially not ours. He is valuable though at his salary. He may pull a Fernando Lunar in a few years though.

by themurph on Nov 17, 2006 3:28 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Alright...

Here's my list that I'm still not too positive about. I left out some... a lot of the younger ones I don't know a whole lot about. I know more about the guys that have spent time in Pearl.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Matt Harrison
Eric Campbell
Yunel Escobar
Joey Devine
Scott Thorman
Van Pope
Dan Smith
JoJo Reyes
Kala Ka'aihue
Elvis Andrus
Brandon Jones
Jamie Richmond
Martin Prado
Will Startup
Zach Schreiber
Anthony Lerew
Jeff Locke
Cory Rasmus
Steve Evarts
J.C. Holt
Jamie Romak
Kevin Gunderson
Carl Loadenthal
Gregor Blanco

It's pretty hard to narrow it down. A lot of the latter ones can be switched out with others and interchanged with each other. Another year and I might can sort them out a bit better.

I would love to put Esquivel on that list. ...if he'd just be good/straighten out... if you wanna put it that way! I was really impressed with him and enjoyed watching him play. If he gets to come back next year, I hope he'll have a great year. I believe the potential is definitely there if he'll just do it. I know he's got the fan interaction part down.

...Miranda

by SJsftb27 on Nov 17, 2006 4:47 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Results

If you still plan to submit your top-25, please plan to have it posted here by Sunday night. I'll total all of them up and the post the average results in a new post, and that will be the official Talking Chop top-25.

by gondeee on Nov 18, 2006 10:10 PM EST reply actions 0 recs