cranny --
always appreciate your insights, questions, observations.
(You're one of my heroes b/c you'd attend the Winter
Warm Up and ask questions/take notes about the minor
leaguer prospects!)
About Hamilton, Boggs, and Edwards -- I must admit there's
not much rhyme or reason why they're ranked 32, 33, 27, respectively.
But here's a stab at it:
Hamilton plays first, and because we have the Great One in StL
holding down that position, I'm always a little leery of ranking
the first-base prospects very high. (I didn't even rank Roth, for example,
even tho he did play some OF). I'd like to wait and watch him some more.
On Edwards, perhaps he's best viewed among my
rankings of the outfielders isolated from my Top 40:
Outfielders
1. Colby Rasmus
8. Jon Jay
12. Nick Stavinoha
13. Daryl Jones
20. Cody Haerther
23. Nathan Southard
24. Amaury Marti
27. Jon Edwards
38. Reid Gorecki
40. Sean Danielson
- -- Maybe if Edwards had played more than 48 games
as a pro, I'd have ranked him higher.
Maybe should have anyway,
because I'm certainly not convinced re Marti at #24!
At #23, I like Southard's State College numbers
a little better than Edward's JC ones,
tho Southard is 5 yrs. older.
Boggs: I like him, yes, I do. I guess what sours me
a little on him is his 1.40 WHIP and less than 8 k/9.
He only pitched 145 innings in '06, but that's more than
twice as much as he's ever thrown in a year. So let's
watch & see how he responds in '07. He could be great.
Furnish: I guess you could call him my "sleeper."
First, I'm partial to lefties. Next, he had a WHIP of 1.12
in 75.1 ip with more than 8 k/9 and didn't give
up the long ball very much. He was the Cards' #3 pick
in the '06 draft and they called him the 2nd best lefty. We'll see.
Scherer: Matt Scherer started down around 30 on my initial
list. But I kept coming back to the stats he put up
at Palm Beach this year. I'd look at those and move
him up a notch. Then look at 'em again, and move
him up. Until I stuck him at #11.
What's not to like about his stats? Basically, the organization
took an "ok" starter and turned him into a
really tough reliever. He tossed 84.1 innings with 108 k's.
(k/9 11.53), with a WHIP of 1.13. That's outstanding.
-- I figure he has one real good "out-pitch" and/or
a deceptive delivery that works better if batters only
see him once in a game (like Kiki Calero).
I know . . . you're probably thinking -- those numbers went
to Ar's head and blinded his better judgement!
Let's see how he does in AA in '07.
Who's left? Oh Gonzalez. Well, this twice Rule 5 draftee
who will turn 29 in June put up some good numbers in '06.
I'm looking for him to play 3b -- maybe 2b -- at Memphis
and be a candidate for a call-up should Kennedy or Miles
pull a hammy during the season. Looks like a pro- # 2 hitter,
with a minor league career indicating that he
has some plate discipline. On the basis of that, I moved
him ahead of most of the younger infield prospects.