Pre-Draft Top 30 PuRPs Discussion

how much major league service time do you have to accumulate before you are no longer eligable?

I don’t think I’ll have any change in 8 of my top 10 from the last poll. Joe Ko and Juan Morillo are out while Casey Weathers (13th in my Feb poll) and Keith Weiser (16th) move in.

Why Weiser? ... because I tend to over rate lefty starters. Decent ones are so few and far between.

That Asheville staff is super-duper nice and I’ll probably move the two studs up very quickly if they continue doing well through the long summer.

Pacific Coast League
Ian Stewart, Colorado Springs
.450 (9-20), 7 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 5 BB, 6 SO, 2 SB, 1.050 SLG
Stewart continued his torrid hitting for a second consecutive week, blasting three more homers and knocking in 12 runs in six games. The third baseman extended his hitting streak to 13 games while driving in at least one run in his last seven contests. That stretch was highlighted by his two-homer, six-RBI performance Thursday night in an 11-5 win at Fresno—which replicated his line from eight days earlier in a 10-1 victory over Round Rock. Stewart now leads the league with 12 long balls and 42 RBIs.

-I’m going to back off my Chacin support a tad and put Stewart back on top of the heap. The power is just to good to ignore, while Chacin’s low rung on the ladder makes him a bit more of a projection.

-Chacin will fall all the way to two… We haven’t had a pitcher like this, Jimenez and Morales included, that can combine power and command to dominate full season ball, as Chacin is doing. He’s efficient and powerful, all the things you want in a potential ace, and a recent BA article suggests he has both grown taller and filled out, possibly to 6’3 190 lbs. He adjusted quickly to Casper, and required no adjustment period to full season ball in a hitter friendly park.

-Fowler lands at third, only because of the success of the two above him. I have concerns about the length of his swing left handed, though it has more of an uppercut, and subsequently, power potential. More raw than his numbers indicate, as he has some holes in the swing and doesn’t take the best routes afield. Still, he’s no Juan Pierre and may just be a Taveras type centerfielder, who makes more than the average amount of outs while not always looking pretty doing it.

-Reynolds to fourth. Still more Garland than Halladay, but this team would kill for a guy that can shoulder Garland’s workload.

-I’m not going to drop Nelson far just yet. He has better bat speed than anyone in Tulsa, but he doesn’t seem to time pitches well. Defensively, it isn’t going to happen at short, and it may not happen in the infield. The tools are stil levident when you watch him, however, so I’ll give him a full year in Tulsa before dropping him, as he may just be a slow starter (see last season).

-Gomez gets a complete mulligan, still very young for Cali and suffering an injury that shouldn’t reoccur. Same goes for Chaz Roe.

-Hynick may drop a tad, but I think he’s still getting acclimated. He’s only had three bad outings in nine starts, it’s just the three were pretty bad, and he hasn’t dominated yet. Unlike some other players in the system, he may be throwing too many strikes. Splitter good, curve not so much.

-Morales, to me, is a tumbler. It’s one thing to go in a bad stretch, but another to have a drop in velocity, stuff, and command, with a different delivery. Not the same player, so when the real Morales returns, so will the high rank.

RISERS:

-Anuery Rodriguez (is getting the performance to match his K and BB rates)

-Brian Rike (close to a five tool outfielder, but flawed)

-Darin Holcomb (clearly has hit tool, but will it transfer? Is third his position?)

-Shane Lindsay (gotta love the K’s, somewhat of a pass for wildness due to inactivity)

-Eric Young (proving he can hit… also was proving he can’t play second…hit tool trumps D)

-Everth Cabrera (Unlike Mitchell, is upholding his hitting both home and away)

-Cory Riordan (Next Hynick makes pitching depth strong, almost expendable)

FALLERS:

-Michael McKenry (Sadly, numbers still buoyed by offensive havens in Cali League)

-Daniel Mayora (Is coming around, but too many other MI’s are having success)

-Lars Davis (better May, but this is not the offensive catcher we thought we drafted)

-Samuel Deduno (service time, TJ, may make him an afterthought)

-Juan Morillo (still like him, but went backwards…fast)

Of all the hitters at Asheville last year, his numbers, especially the home runs, were the most legit. I don’t know what’s happening this year, but the kid can play. Ditto for Mayora, our most consistent hitter last year, though he did get lots of Asheville hits.
Darin Holcomb should be on everyone’s watch list. He can swing it. Rike needs more consistency in his swing.
Chacin is the best pitcher we’ve had here in a long time, period. No one is really touching him in this league. To make him a #2, however, is too generous, too early.
I must admit that Chris Nelson, who I complimented several times last year in comparing him to Gomez, doesn’t seem to have the numbers that I would have anticipated. My bad. On the other hand, while giving Gomez a mulligan seems only fair, I would still start him way down the list from where he is.
I never got to see Hynick in person, but am still puzzled why he’s still struggling in Tulsa. At first, I thought it might be a 30 day adjustment type of thing, but the numbers still don’t make sense. Any in-person observations as to why his performances remain inconsistent?
Finally, Will Harris, our best reliever last year, appears to be even better so far this year at Modesto. The rate at which he keeps striking people out screams for more recognition.