SB Nation User Blog: nyy601

What do you think of Gordon Beckham?

nyy601 — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:39:13 -0000

Had a couple good seasons as a freshman and sophmore at UGA and then exploded last season. As a junior he hit .411 with 28 homers and lead UGA to the CWS. He jumped up the draft boards and was taken 8th overall. After the draft he went on to post good numbers in his limited time in A ball (ending the season with 31 total homers).

Ranked #1 Prospect in CWS organization by BA, BP, John, and pretty much everyone else.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/b/Gordon-Beckham.shtml

Improved across the board every year in college. BA, SLG, OBP rose every year. As a freshman he had a 27/58 K/BB. Last season he improved that to 54/30.

Now the comminity rankings had him #47 and some individual list had him ranked pretty low.

My only question is what is there not to like about Gordon Beckham? He has amazing potential, a great track record, and has improved drastically over the last 3 years. He has a great chance to stay at SS, and even if he can't, he is the best 2B prospect in the game.

What are your opinions of Beckham?

Poll

What do you think of Beckham

Severely Underrated - top 10 prospect

15 votes

Underrated - top 20 prospect

56 votes

top 30 prospect

64 votes

top 40 prospect

42 votes

Overrated - top 50 prospect

25 votes

Severley Overrated - not a top 50 prospect

14 votes

216 votes | Poll has closed

2009 AL/NL rookie of the year

nyy601 — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:36:01 -0000

Who do you think will be the best rookies in the AL and NL this season?

Likely AL candidates:

Price

Weiters

Snider

LaPorta?

Any other legit candidates? Max Ramirez or Teagarden? Will any of the top pitching prospects (Anderson, Cahill, Feliz) get an early call? Do any 2008 draftees (Smoak, Beckham) get a midseason call and a make a run?

Likely NL candidates:

Maybin

Rasmus

Fowlers

Escobar?

McCutchen

Any other candidates? No likely runaway candidate like Price and Weiters in the AL. Can any 2008 draftees (Alvarez, Posey, Wallace) get a midseason call and make a run?

Predicing the BA top 20

nyy601 — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 06:38:15 -0000

Almost all of the top 10's have been released (except San Diego and Los Angeles, but neither of those teams have any prospects that will sniff the top 20).

Judging by:

the team top 10's http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2009/

and the ask BA were Callis ranked his NL top 10 http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2009/267429.html and AL top 10 http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2008/267360.html

and the BA mideason to 25 http://www.minorleagueball.com/2008/7/11/569816/baseball-america-midseason

What do you think the top BA top 20 will look like?

My Guess:

1. Price

2. Weiters

3. Bumgarner

4. Alvarez

5. Rasmus

6. Brett Anderson

7. Cahill

8. Snider

9. Maybin

10. Feliz

11. Posey

12. Hanson

13. Heyward

14. Tillman

15. Fowler

16. McCutchen

17. Porcello

18. Moustakas

19. Lars Anderson

20. Alderson

Thought that would be easier, but after two it could go many ways. Callis' top 10's goes a bit out of order from the team top 10s. The midseason top 25 is what really made it confusing. Some very big jumps. LaPorta was at 7, but now ranks behind Santana? I don't see Sanatan as a top 20 prospect, so where does that put LaPorta? Callis also has Alvarez as his #3 overall prospect? Does he really deserve to be this high?

Did I miss anybody? Trying to predict that really messed with my head more than I had thought.

Is this the year Alex Gordon breaks out?

nyy601 — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:18:40 -0000

Coming out of college he was a can't miss 3B. He then went on to back that up in the minors, putting up great numbers, and was widely considered the best prospect in baseball.

His first two years have been some what of a disappointment. Not bad for a 23-24 year old in the majors, but not what you would expect from the best prospect in baseball.

While many other prospects have shown flashes of greatness (Longoria, Bruce, Upton), Gordon hasn't yet at the major league level. He did however improve in his second year (average, power, and walks went up). But he has not performed nearly as good as most people thought.

Is this the year Gordon puts it all together?

Poll

What does the future hold for Alex Gordon?

Gordon will still become a star

83 votes

Gordon won't live up to the hype, but will be a very good player

176 votes

Gordon will never be more than an average 3B

37 votes

296 votes | Poll has closed

If Chris Davis was still a prospect....

nyy601 — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:05:57 -0000

Were would he rank on your top 50?

He is not a great defender and his position is still not known. Most say there is no chance he can play at 3B. He could probably stick at 1B, but many think he will end up a DH. Either way, he will never be a great defensive player.

With the bat, he looks like a future star. He showed amazing power in his time in the minors and half a season in the majors. He is almost a guarantee to hit 30+ homers a year and could even push 40 or 50+. The only question mark he has is plate discipline (88/20 SO/BB). Can he cut down on the strikeouts?

Poll

Were would Davis rank on your prospect list?

Top 3

116 votes

Top 5

138 votes

Top 10

207 votes

Top 15

109 votes

Top 20

119 votes

Outside top 20

90 votes

779 votes | Poll has closed

How much are prospects worth?

nyy601 — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 01:15:56 -0000

Ignoring contract status.

How much do you think a prospect is worth? If you were a GM what would it take for you to deal your #1 prospect?

Price and Weiters are obviously the best prospects in baseball. How much would they net in return? Would you not let them go for anything? Would you move them for ARod? How about for a young already proven all star like David Wright?

What would you want for a top 10 prospect like Travis Snider or Jason Heyward? A top 20? A top 50?

What to expect from these former top prospects?

nyy601 — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:01:14 -0000

Some prospects come right out the gate and you know they will be a star (Bruce, Longoria, Lincecum, Upton). However, thats usually not the case for most. How do you guys see the former top prospects panning out:

Phil Hughes...does he regain his stuff he had before the injuries? can he get through an entire year without getting hurt? will he ever live up to his #1 pitching prospect in baseball status?

Clay Buchholz....another guy with injury problems last year. Will he be the pitcher that dominated most of his rookie year or the one that stuggled almost all of last season.

Billy Butler...turns out he may not be the next Manny Ramirez. Does he find a defensive position? Were is his power?

Alex Gordon...hasn't come close to living up to his potential. Evan Longoria turned out to be everything Gordon was supposed to be. Does he start putting it together next year?

Andy LaRoche...is it possible for him to not be hurt?

Jarrod Saltalamachia...can he stay at catcher? Does he stay in Texas?

Daric Barton...were does he play? Is he a career DH or can he make it at 1B? Will the power come? Still think is a future batting champion?

Adam Jones....all the talent in the world, but does he put it all together?

Carlos Gonzalez...will he put up big numbers in Coors?

This years breakout players?

nyy601 — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:36:53 -0000

I haven't really been following the minors and prospects as much this year as I had the last few. Which players have had a huge rise in there stock so far this season? Who are the guys outside the top 100 that have moved up, top 100 guys that made their way into the top 50, or even guys that made an unexpected rise to become one of the elite prospects in the game (top 20 or so)?

Gamel or Alvarez?

nyy601 — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:50:38 -0000

Question explains it self. Who is the best 3B prospect in the game, Gamel or Alvarez? Both can rake, but have questions about there ability to stay at 3b (Gamel much more of a question than Alvarez).

Gamel's bat was always underrated because of his defense, but now no one can ignore the numbers he is putting up.

Alvarez on the other hand has been headed in the opposite direction since his injury. He has gone from being considered a generational hitter to being consider to maybe not even be the best hitter in the draft.

Poll

Best 3B prospect in the minors

Matt Gamel

68 votes

Pedro Alvarez

85 votes

153 votes | Poll has closed

My Yankees shadow draft

nyy601 — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:16:32 -0000

28- Shooter Hunt (I don't mind the Cole pick but I would have gone with Hunt. If he can work on his control he could be very good.)

44- Tim Melville (I really hate the Bliech pick. I honestly can't see him make an impact in the majors. Melville is easily best player on the board. Give him the big signing bonus he wants. Better to waste the money on prospects than guys like Jaret Wright.)

75- Isaac Galloway (Loads of potential, not sure why he dropped so far in the real draft)

106- Alex Meyer (One of the best high school arms in the draft. I guess he dropped this far due to signability?)

140- Sonny Gray (Small, but great stuff)

170- Harold Martinez (Another high school player that has dropped, great potential)

So as you can see I went more with potential over closeness to the majors and signability. I guess the teams know more than I do because I can't see how Galloway, Meyer, Gray, and Martinez fell so much. Must be signability issues?