LookinUp

Funny. Read positive to me. Sounds like his OF reads aren't stellar, but has enough mobility and arm to play any outfield position. Great hitter with a .490 OBP this year. Just not much power.

Good comp. Not sure anyone here would be complaining... https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/nimmobr01.shtml

Because they saw him play? My read on the reports is that he needs better feet. A lot can be done, especially for a young guy, to work on your feet. He should be running ladders every day plus a multitude of drills to connect the feet to the rest of the fielding and throwing motion. I think it's achievable, but you have to put in the work.

I'm not sure what you expected. Great hit tool. Advanced command of the strike zone. Able to play all 3 outfield positions, but most likely a CoF. Fine arm. Needs to hit for more power. I basically see him having Markakis value because he'll get to more balls in the OF but with fewer assists. Very similar hitter. I'm very happy to have him.

Hall was impressive this year and I'm not under the impression that his injury carries long term risk. That and Gunnar's up and down year makes me have Hall here. Westburg just doesn't have age or massive upside on his side. You could argue that this rebuild could really hinge on Hall's health. If he turns into what he has the potential to turn into, it becomes a lot easier to fill out a great pitching staff after Rodriguez, Hall and Means at the top.

Damn. I was just about to comp him to Troy Glaus based on the descriptions I've heard. Nice pull.

I'm on the Cowser side, but it's also worth pointing out that Stowers is also supposed to be a very good outfielder. Not saying he can more to CF as easy as Cowser (both better at CoF), but he apparently holds his own well out there.

I suspect he already is by a fair number of people.

Stowers would not be where he'll end up on Tony's list if he were in A or AA. It's because he did what he did in AAA and is ready for the next step. He's produced against better competition. That means his risk is lower, as it relates to experience at least.

I really do like Westburg though. Can't wait for Tony's write-up on him.

Gunnar: Age 20-120 days Westburg: Age 22-251 days

All true. I think it came down to Tony's feeling that you can tell when a guy is a next level guy. Put 10 guys out there and who stands out? The answer to Tony was Mayo over everyone except the #1 prospects in baseball at their respective positions.

One of the things that you probably have to deal with yearly with your write-ups is they're based on the information available at a point in time. People sometimes think you draw conclusions like "Gunnar won't be as good as Mayo." You certainly have you're opinions, but you also don't rule out one player taking a major step while another does not. Henderson has power and athleticism. That's a great combination. I think he has balance issues in his swing and most likely in his fielding too. I made a point like that in the minors forum when he kept hitting those oppo homeruns and got busted on for it. I don't think people realize what that means about a swing. At the same time, I think a lot of that stuff can be improved upon over time. That's what player development is for, and his athleticism means he has a better chance to become more centered at the plate, which should reduce his platoon issues over time somewhat. Not saying he'll transform into Tony Gwynn. Just that he's young, athletic and had good success despite some struggles. Very exciting prospect to me.

I'm predicting Tony has Stowers above Westburg. We'll see.

Yeah. It's an art more than a science, particularly with a guy like Kjerstad who we are really uninformed about.

It's REALLY hard to rank Kjerstad almost anywhere, right? No matter where Tony puts him, there's real "risk" that Kjerstad either greatly overperforms or greatly underperforms. Stowers is on the doorstep of the majors, has power and plays good defense. Risk is k rate. You can justify putting him very high, I'd wager.

It's a snapshot after a single season. No doubt Gunnar could be above Mayo next year just based on Gunnar's performance alone. That kid could be special. He did have an up and down season though, both at the plate and in the field. If he's like some of the kids I know, the offseason can be used to really clean up the game. Not sure that applies as they get older, but there's nothing stopping Gunnar from being our #1 prospect next year. It might not be likely, but it's possible.

65, 65, 60. Awesome. Ceilings of 75, 75, 65. Not sure where Cowser, Henderson and Hall will fall on future grades, but I know their ceilings will be high. That's a nice top of the list. Really interested to see where a couple of the international guys fall too. Next year I'm expecting to see a name (or 2-4) really shoot up the lists like Mayo did this year, and I'm not just thinking about the #1 overall pick.

It's Cowser, IMO, and those are 5 good players on that list. I'm thinking Markakis at the plate. Better range, less arm, in the outfield. Low risk, but pretty high upside player with high probability to start for Baltimore relatively soon and for a long time. He's here because his upside is comparable to the other guys but he has less risk. In fact, I'd wager that Tony's rankings of Henderson, Hall and Stowers will depend on how he views their risk as much as their upside, with Stowers' upside a tick behind the other two and thus probably the last of them to show on the list, IMO.

My man! I got this one "right" insofar as Tony picked him 3rd too. That shouldn't be surprising since a fair amount of my own opinion comes from what Tony posts here. That said, the kid walks, hits for power, and has a cannon for an arm. Seems like a prototypical future 3B assuming he can continue to grow. It'll be real interesting to see the pecking order a year from now when the list is #1 overall pick, Mayo, Henderson, amongst others.

I’m probably going to have Henderson at 5 or 6, but it’s worth noting that he also showed well in a sss in AA. This is a good problem to have.

Adley had a slow start. Really seemed to settle in though. Future captain, if that exists. While I kind of agree. I'd imagine this gets pretty hard as you go down the list. Easier to remove some options by counting from 1 than by trying to figure it out starting at 30. The whole damn thing would pretty much have to be compete before Tony gets to start. That's a lot of up front work.

For me, my vote and comments are about my opinion. I'm not trying to guess Tony's. That said, this is almost a toss-up for me between Mayo and Cowser. Mayo has age and power on his side, so I went with him. The only question I have on Mayo is about small sample size. I think his upside and performance are a match so far. Interestingly to me at least, on upside I still think Henderson (some more positional value, in theory) and Hall are comparable to Mayo. It's just that his performance and lack of injury history give him the nod for now. Cowser seems to have slightly less upside of those guys mostly because he's probably never going to be a power guy, but he has positional value, a wonderful approach at the plate and also no injury history that I'm aware of. So his risk is a bit lower. So now you all know the guys in my top 6, as if any of you cared. The earliest I could see Kjerstad is 8, and that's a massive reach to me right now even though he might be #1 by this time next year with some luck.

I don't remember much in the way of detail before the 90's, but Yanks/Dbacks is always the best to me. Loved the Nats series, and their whole run, too.

24 with the Covid age/level asterisk. he seems to have some potential as a power hitting platoon guy with some everyday upside. If deployed well, he could be a valuable piece on our team. He may fit better in the NL though given their wider use of pinch hitters.