Reader Top 30; #5

2009 Reader Top 30

The voting thread for spot #4 confirmed to me my decision to stop participating in the discussions here. Its done wonders for my sanity. Kyle Drabek won a close vote for the #4 spot over Michael Taylor, with 10 different prospects getting votes. Complete breakdown:

Drabek — 52
Taylor — 45
Happ — 15
Brown — 6
Mayberry — 3
D’Arnaud — 2
Mathieson, Collier, Savery, Knapp — 1

Today we round out the top 5.

01. Carlos Carrasco, RHP
02. Lou Marson, C
03. Jason Donald, SS
04. Kyle Drabek, RHP
05.

Brown, Drabek and Taylor make the Hawaii Top 20

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Baseball America has its Top 20 up for Hawaii Winter Baseball, with Brown coming in at #4, Drabek coming in at #5 and Taylor coming in at #9.

Lithe and athletic, Brown flashed all five tools, including a plus arm. Scouts are divided over how much power he’ll have in the long run, which will determine his ultimate ceiling. One called his high-elbow setup at the plate “funky”, and he’s a long-strider, which could lead to timing issues. But his buggy-whip swing produces the bat speed to produce power when married to his excellent pitch recognition.

His stuff remains plus-plus, with a fastball sitting at 93-95 mph and a hammer breaking ball, a hard-breaking power curve with late movement. Drabek also is making progress with a changeup and competed well in Hawaii. Maturity has been an issue, and Drabek took his lone defeat—he gave up a game-winning homer to Marquez Smith in the season’s final game—hard. But managers and scouts said he comported himself as a professional in Hawaii.

….scouts agree he was better than his numbers in Hawaii. He showed off his light-tower power with a homer off an actual light tower at Les Murakami Stadium, controlled the strike zone and made hard contact all fall.

You can read the full blurbs on all three guys here.

Reader Top 30; #4

2009 Reader Top 30

As expected, Jason Donald won the #3 spot handily after falling short on Day 1 and Day 2. The voting should now get quite interesting, with a number of intriguing guys in the 4-10 range. The final breakdown for #3 was

Donald, 63
Taylor, 17
Drabek, 17
Happ, 13
Brown, 2
Savery, 1
D’Arnaud, 1
Knapp, 1

01. Carlos Carrasco, RHP
02. Lou Marson, C
03. Jason Donald, SS
04.

Reader Top 30; #3

2009 Reader Top 30

Lou Marson rolled over the field in round 2, claiming 81 votes. The breakdown was as follows

Marson, 81
Donald, 16
Drabek, 8
Taylor, 3
Happ, 3

So now we move on to #3, which should prove a very interesting vote.

01. Carlos Carrasco, RHP
02. Lou Marson, C
03.

Reader Top 30; #2

2009 Reader Top 30

Lots of participation for #1, I hope that it continues as we move through the Top 30. There were 117 votes cast, and the breakdown was

Carrasco: 52
Marson: 47
Donald: 11
Drabek: 4
Happ: 2
Taylor: 1

So then, Carlos Carrasco is the Readers’ #1 pick. He obviously cannot be selected in future polls. When voting for #2, you can vote for any eligible player, the same process as day one.

01. Carlos Carrasco, RHP
02.

Reader Top 30; #1

2009 Reader Top 30

So I’ve decided that we’ll start the Reader Top 30 this week. I’ll start #1 today, #2 on Wednesday, and then #3 either on Friday or next Monday, and then we’ll do one a day until we’re done. If you’re new to the site and missed last year’s version, you can go here and see how it works. This year, instead of excluding anyone like I did last year, we’ll just use the MLB rookie requiremets. No more than 130AB or 50 IP. I don’t have all of the service days, so ignore that aspect of it. Basically, anyone with less than 130 AB or 50 IP is eligible. At the end of each voting period, I add up the votes and the player with the most votes gets selected for that day. When we start a new round, every player but the players already voted into the Top 30 are again eligible. We do this until we get to #30. At the end of the process, I’ll solicit people’s personal Top 30 lists and put them into a spreadsheet again just like last year.

Ok, have at it. Please only vote once.

Fall League Review

8. Arizona Fall League

The Arizona Fall League came to its conclusion with the play of Jason Donald taking on a new importance in light of the hip injury to Chase Utley. The 24 year old Donald ended the Fall campaign hitting .407, with 5 HR and 17 RBI’s in his 91 at bats. His OBP was .476 and his SLG .747, both outstanding. Additionally, he won the Stenson Award for his hard work, unselfishness and leadership, traits that sound awfully similar to Utley (no I am not comparing them). He played primarily at SS and 3B, but is capable of playing second as well. His fielding, although not spectacular, was steady during the Fall. Jeremy Slayden, 26, did not play well enough in the Fall (in the Phillies minds at least) to earn a spot on the 40 man roster, now subjecting him to the Rule 5 draft. Slayden, as usual, hit .286, with 3 HR and 27 RBI in his 105 at bats. His OBP was low at .322 (he only walked 5 times), however his SLG was .476. His fielding was adequate, however, his projections as a #5 outfielder at best did not change. The soon to be 24 year old Quintin Berry had a good Fall hitting .311 in his 90 at bats, with 1 HR and 9 RBI, hitting high up in the Mesa order. His 6 walks continue to be problematic, along with his baserunning, which took a step backwards this Fall, having been thrown out as much as he stole. Tuffy Goosewich, 25, saw limited action this Fall in place of Lou Marson, while Marson was up with the Phillies. Goosewich hit .280 in his 25 at bats and generally called a good game behind the plate. He projects to open the season in Reading. Marson scalded the ball in his limited time in Mesa, hitting .324 in his .324 in his 34 at bats, collecting 10 RBI’s. Six of his 11 hits were for extra bases. Continue reading Fall League Review →

Thoughts on the Golson/Mayberry trade

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Ok, so I’ve taken some time to digest the trade. My initial reaction? Good trade for the Phillies. Just glancing at the comments of the previous posting, I’m kind of shocked that so many people don’t like the deal. But I have my reasons for liking it, so lets go through them one at a time. Click below for more..

Continue reading Thoughts on the Golson/Mayberry trade →

Greg Golson traded

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Wow.

(Update, 5:52 p.m.): Ordinarily, I’d do a separate entry about this, but I don’t want to distract from the Utley conversation. So, here goes: In a swap of former first-round picks, the Phillies have dealt outfield prospect Greg Golson to the Rangers for outfield prospect John Mayberry. Mayberry, 24, split the 2008 season between double-A Frisco and triple-A Oklahoma and hit a combined .264 with 38 doubles, 20 home runs, 71 RBIs and 10 steals in 135 games. Golson, 23, batted .282 with 13 home runs, 60 RBIs and 23 steals at double-A Reading, but there was a feeling that he wasn’t progressing offensively.

Scott Lauber broke the story, thanks to our own codyrhoads for pointing it out.

Ill have more on this later.

[Update 1] For you Rangers fans who stumble on over looking for Golson info, click here. That should be a start.

Donald wins Darrell Stenson Award

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In the article talking about Chase Utley’s injury, its mentioned that Donald won the AFL’s Darrell Stenson Award, given to the player who displays hard work, leadership, and unselfishness. A nice way to cap off his 2008. He better rest up, because I think he’s going to end up playing a big role in 2009.