2007 Photo Outtakes: Prospecting
by Ken Arneson
2007-12-10 23:35

Kevin Goldstein at Baseball Prospectus came out today with his list of Top 11 A’s Prospects.  Daric Barton (pictured above) is the A’s sole 5-star prospect on the list.  I’d agree with Goldstein’s high rating:  to me, Barton is the most impressive A’s rookie hitter since Jose Canseco.  Barton doesn’t impress with his power, but with his mature-beyond-his-years approach at the plate.  If Barton has a hole somewhere in his swing, I haven’t seen it.  He has an impeccable eye for the strike zone, and has shown himself capable of turning any pitch in any location into a line drive.  Whatever AL pitchers threw him during his September callup:  high, low, inside, outside, straight, bendy, fast, slow–Barton hit them all.  I am very much looking forward to watching the A’s finally having a player who makes the other team wonder, "How the heck do I get this guy out?"

Beyond Barton, the prospect pipeline is neither hopeless nor inspiring. There is one 4-star prospect, pitcher Trevor Cahill, and seven 3-star players who possess both upside and question marks.  Sure, maybe all these players will turn out to be solid and/or star major leagues, but the most likely scenario is that this mediocre farm system produces mediocre major-league performances, and you end up with a team that finishes around .500 every year for the next four or five years.  Meh, bleh, bleh. 

Comments: 2
1.   WaddellCanseco
2007-12-13 18:05

1.  Wasn't Mark McGwire a better rookie hitter than Jose Canseco? I'm not changing my moniker or anything but...

2.   Ken Arneson
2007-12-18 07:05

2.  McGwire, as a rookie, was a pure first-ball, fastball hitter. I'm pretty sure that well over half of his home runs were on first-pitch fastballs. His swing had one very big strength and lots of holes, and when he first came up, the idiot pitchers kept going to his strength. Notice how his batting average kept dropping each of his first five years? Pitchers got smarter and stopped going to his strength until he finally adjusted.

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