Reader Top 30 #8 – Aaron Altherr

2014 Reader Top 30

Ethan Martin takes the #7 spot and Cameron Perkins joins the ballot.

  1. Maikel Franco
  2. Jesse Biddle
  3. J.P. Crawford
  4. Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez
  5. Carlos Tocci
  6. Roman Quinn
  7. Ethan Martin
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About Matt Winkelman

Matt is originally from Mt. Holly, NJ, but after a 4 year side track to Cleveland for college he now resides in Madison, WI. His work has previously appeared on Phuture Phillies and The Good Phight. You can read his work at Phillies Minor Thoughts

38 thoughts on “Reader Top 30 #8 – Aaron Altherr”

  1. I voted for Cesar Hernandez who I like quite a bit. Yes, he doesn’t have a mind-bending ceiling but he scores high on the proximity rating and I think he’s going to be a neat little player. What I liked about Cesar last year was that he seemed to get better at everything and he filled out quite a bit, adding necessary strength (which has not yet converted to in game power). I don’t think it’s at all out of the question (although perhaps not likely) for him to become a 2-3 WAR second baseman over the next 3 or 4 years. I like to think of him as a watered down version of Placido Polanco at his peak – with a bit more speed than Polanco, similar fielding capabilties (although not quite the arm) but a worse hit and power tool. And, there’s just something about him – I think he’s got a bit of the “it” factor that you often see in players who continue to work hard and improve.

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    1. I understand the Polanco comp, since they’re both weak-hitting middle infielders who don’t have much speed, don’t walk much, and have line drive swings. But Polanco had a truly elite strikeout rate — his career K% was 6.8%! From 2011 – 2013, Hernandez’s MILB K% was 16.2%.

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      1. That’s fair. But I think, over time, Cesar is going to draw a lot more walks than Polanco (plate discipline was pretty good last year) and he’s going to steal more bases. As for Polanco being light-hitting – yeah, compared to Utley- but he was a 27 WAR offensive player. Add his defense (which was excellent) and he has a 41 lifetime bWAR – a damned good player.

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        1. To give that some context, a 41 WAR career has a FMV WAR value of somewhere between $150-200 million, so Polanco was both a very good player and a very good bargain, at least until he got much older.

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    2. catch…Sandberg likes him a lot and that helps. And apparently he will see emergency time in CF, so thats a plus for his versatility.

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  2. I agree with catch on Hernandez’ attributes, but it wasn’t enough to hold off Aaron Altherr. He’s got work to do, but I think his skill set and proximinty are hard to ignore. We all know he is a smallish structure you put up near the edge of your property filled with items you might need to do work around the house or yard.

    That was along way to go for that reference…

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    1. It’s Altherr for me and then Cesar. I have Tocci and Martin after that but the group-think has already chosen them. I’m working on #9 and #10. No one is wowing me as yet.

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  4. I’m going Altherr here as well. I thought if anything he should’ve been a slot or 2 higher. After this it gets tough for me. Do I go guys w/ some upside like Cozens or Green? Maybe I go w/ Gonzalez for his great numbers last year and ignore that he supposedly doesn’t have great stuff.

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  6. Altherr again. Centerfielder with speed and power potential, decent proximity, showed improvement last year. I like Dugan too but Altherr being able to stick in CF is key.

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  9. I’m sticking with Cozens. The Phillies need power going forward and Cozens has the highest potential.

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  10. Now that Martin is off the board, I’m going Altherr. A lot of this is based on the scouting reports recently coming out, and all of the tools. I’d like to see him put it all together and stick in CF. The likelihood of him staying in CF has intrigued me more since his bat wont need to have as much power in center.

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  11. I’m far lower on Altherr than most of you apparently…but I’d be okay with Cozens, Green or Cesar here…I basically flipped a coin and went with Green. If he can stick at 3B, he’s got a good future hopefully. I still like Joseph alot here too.

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  12. I went with Cozens based on upside. Also considered Cesar Hernandez, Altherr and Dugan. Of these names, Cesar has the highest floor so I may vote for him next. Then it’s a tossup between Dugan and Altherr.

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  13. Joining the Altherr chorus. The next cluster of players for me are all guys with one potentially elite tool or a really nice set of tools that are still a matter of projection–Green, Cozens and Sandberg, who was unimpressive in rookie ball but had great scouting reports coming into the draft. But of those, Altherr is the closest to realizing his projection. He’s another guy who, if it comes together at Reading next year, I could see ranking as our consensus #4 prospect by midseason.

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    1. I think it is likely a factor, since it is really the only list out there right now. It also seems to be a very conservative list as well (in that the prospects are safe, but the prospects are well known, and their value is well known)

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      1. Shows the danger of following a published list, if that is the case, since this ranking was done prior to Quinn’s torn Achilles tendon.

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  16. I know he’s healing from an injury, but Andrew Knapp is very highly regarded. Should be getting more votes.

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    1. A college catcher who couldn’t catch last year and likely won’t be able to catch this season either, and without a good enough bat to play 1B or corner OF. His ranking is going to suffer until he demonstrates on the field that he can be a major-league quality defensive catcher. Everything I’ve read on the guy says his defense was expected to need a fair amount of work and improvement. He will have lost a year and a half of defensive development time.

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  17. I have been voting for Altherr. With the exception of Franco, he might be the position player closets to being ready, from what I have read here and on other sites.

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  18. I went with Cozens.
    I liked him better than Martin who I have assumed is a reliever (but still a small chance to be more).
    But I have a cluster of Cozens, Serverino, Cesar, Dugan, Altherr, and Zach Green in the next group.

    I pushed Cozens above similar low level guys because I think he has a slightly better approach, should develop power, and figure he can stick in RF.
    Altherr has too many K’s but defense and speed should keep him around.
    Cesar’s lack of power and being stuck at 2B will require the hit tool to be truly special. If he can steal a bunch of bases that might be enough to make him a starter.
    Serverino reminds me of Pettibone type – better pitcher than thrower. Not sure he makes it and the upside is not so high but I just like these type of guys.
    Dugan moved up from my initial list. I think he can hit and field in RF. He might be a platoon but the approach will be his critical skill.
    Green started off quite high on my initial list since he has actually demonstrated power but reports of slow bat concern me. But I think he’ll be fine at 3B.

    After that I’m going with the other super young LA guys.

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