I think it's irrelevant (though perhaps interesting) how our OF compares to Tampa Bay's or Toronto's. What would be more relevant is a comparison to NL foes, with particular focus on the NL West teams. Those are the teams we are directly competing against for playoff spots in the future.
Fowler is projectable. I don't think he has shown enough as a hitter to be a can't miss prospect yet.
Holliday won't be here in 2010.
Stewart may or may not hit well enough to play a corner OF spot, and we don't know how well he will defend if placed there.
Seth Smith may be the most intriguing of the bunch for helping us as early as midseason 2007 if he can back up his fine 2006 with a strong campaign in CO Springs.
The other names you mentioned are either filler or replaceable parts without much upside, except perhaps Nelson.
OF is not a strong point of our farm system. CF is hinging now on Fowler, and he's 2 or 3 years away from possibly being a good young MLB hitter.
C- seems about right. As to whether we may sign a frontline CFer this offseason as Armstrong suggests, I'll believe it when I see it.
|