Who's the #8 prospect?

[Tony-OH]

Pretty sure this is Spoone.

I'll be interested to read the write up on Erbe, whenever he shows up!!!!!

I told you guys there would be one guy you will not like, but I think you will see why once the writeup comes out.

[Hank Scorpio]

I told you guys there would be one guy you will not like, but I think you will see why once the writeup comes out.

Why don't you think I'll like it???

:laughlol:

[Tony-OH]

Why don't you think I'll like it???

:laughlol:

Well, when I meant YOU, I meant most people around here. Look at the clamor for Erbe after every poll. People go, "This SHOULD be Erbe, but I'll go with....."

It reminds me of the people telling me I was nuts about not rating Fiorentino very high even when BA still had Fiorentino at #10.

Fio had put up decent numbers, but my eyes told me his approach would suffer at higher levels and it did.

I think people will see where I'm coming from when I put Erbe on the list, but honestly, it took two scouts to keep giving me other things to think about for me even to put him as high as he is on the list...

Either way, I like this guy (#8) better overall.

[ChaosLex]

I told you guys there would be one guy you will not like, but I think you will see why once the writeup comes out.

My guess is Erbe put a dent in Tony's car.

[LookinUp]

I hope the eventual Erbe write-up also considers the difference between Erbe in the stretch and Erbe operating out of the wind-up. I was under the impression his splits between the two were so drastic that they severly affected his numbers.

[Hank Scorpio]

Well, when I meant YOU, I meant most people around here. Look at the clamor for Erbe after every poll. People go, "This SHOULD be Erbe, but I'll go with....."

It reminds me of the people telling me I was nuts about not rating Fiorentino very high even when BA still had Fiorentino at #10.

Fio had put up decent numbers, but my eyes told me his approach would suffer at higher levels and it did.

I think people will see where I'm coming from when I put Erbe on the list, but honestly, it took two scouts to keep giving me other things to think about for me even to put him as high as he is on the list...

Either way, I like this guy (#8) better overall.

Hahaha yeah, I've seen it.

And I can see both sides of Erbe, honestly. It's never good to surrender 21 ding dongs in 151 A ball innings, but Erbe's K/BB ratio was encouraging, as was his WHIP of 1.13. He didn't throw one solitary wild pitch.

I think most of the posters around here are starving for a guy who won't walk the bases loaded and then finally get the cahones to throw a first pitch fastball only to see it pummeled 500 feet.

Obviously, there's much more to consider here than the tangibles you can pull off of MiLB.com - and that's the value of your list in my eyes. Reimold is a good example of this, because if you look solely at his numbers he appears to be knocking down the door to OPACY. But, as with every player, there are intangibles that you can't quantify. Makeup is just as, if not more important in some cases as quantifiable measurables.

[Ruzious]

Well, when I meant YOU, I meant most people around here. Look at the clamor for Erbe after every poll. People go, "This SHOULD be Erbe, but I'll go with....."

It reminds me of the people telling me I was nuts about not rating Fiorentino very high even when BA still had Fiorentino at #10.

Fio had put up decent numbers, but my eyes told me his approach would suffer at higher levels and it did.

I think people will see where I'm coming from when I put Erbe on the list, but honestly, it took two scouts to keep giving me other things to think about for me even to put him as high as he is on the list...

Either way, I like this guy (#8) better overall.

I was one of the YOUs. You definitely fooled me. I figured it had to be one of the position players you meant that fell out of the top 10. Well played. And you were right on about Fio. Then again, most of the O's prospects were disappointing - with the notable exception of Markakis - who everyone had high hopes for.

[Lucky Jim]

Well, when I meant YOU, I meant most people around here. Look at the clamor for Erbe after every poll. People go, "This SHOULD be Erbe, but I'll go with....."

It reminds me of the people telling me I was nuts about not rating Fiorentino very high even when BA still had Fiorentino at #10.

Fio had put up decent numbers, but my eyes told me his approach would suffer at higher levels and it did.

I think people will see where I'm coming from when I put Erbe on the list, but honestly, it took two scouts to keep giving me other things to think about for me even to put him as high as he is on the list...

Either way, I like this guy (#8) better overall.

Well, to be fair, all any of this is...is opinion. So the "should be" (at least mine) was said with full acknowledgment that it's pretty subjective. Your opinion is definitely more informed than 99.9% of us who post on here. That said, this wouldn't be much of a message board if we didn't all have opinions we stand by.

As for Erbe - I know your write up earlier had him sitting at 90-91, which is problematic if that was the case all season.

That said, and as I noted earlier - outside his HRs, his peripherals are among the best in the system.

I like Spoone a lot, of course (and Britton, too) but Spoone's shoulder injury makes him a high-risk pick here. That said, if he's recovered fully...I can't wait to watch him move through the system.

[Tony-OH]

Please don't get me wrong, I have no problem with your opinions and the discussion of those is exactly what this board is for.

I love the give and take and I understand where people are coming from when they are going mostly off of pure numbers.

In the end, my list is an informed opinion and only time will time whether I was right or wrong.

You guys do a tremendous job of breaking these guys down and a lot of you really put a lot of effort into your selections as well. I think all of us would be silly if we didn't learn something from each other and I know my lists and the way I gather my information has evolved over the years, some of which is due to the give and take we've had over these lists throughout the years.

This is supposed to be fun in a normally boring time of year for Orioles fans. Hopefully in a few years we'll be talking playoffs instead of prospects only.

[Lucky Jim]

Please don't get me wrong, I have no problem with your opinions and the discussion of those is exactly what this board is for.

I love the give and take and I understand where people are coming from when they are going mostly off of pure numbers.

In the end, my list is an informed opinion and only time will time whether I was right or wrong.

You guys do a tremendous job of breaking these guys down and a lot of you really put a lot of effort into your selections as well. I think all of us would be silly if we didn't learn something from each other and I know my lists and the way I gather my information has evolved over the years, some of which is due to the give and take we've had over these lists throughout the years.

This is supposed to be fun in a normally boring time of year for Orioles fans. Hopefully in a few years we'll be talking playoffs instead of prospects only.

Absolutely - in truth, the minor league section of OH is an example of why the internet is such a great learning/information dispensing tool. We're talking about a part of baseball that was downright ignored for decades - except for a word here and there about a "hot young prospect" - because data collection/compilation/sharing was so difficult.

Now, though, with different brains picking over centralized statistics, and first-hand/eyewitness accounts available within days (if not in real time) a lot of us have a chance to contribute to, and improve, a whole community's knowledge about our prospects.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who is more excited about MiL box scores these days than ML. And that's not a slight on the O's - I still watch as many games as I can. But the OH has really made the MiL system a "real" thing to me, and tracking the progress of our prospects has become another one of my geeky esoteric pursuits (like obscure indie rock bands).

So, I guess what I'm saying is...thanks. That there's so much debate and thought that goes into "who is the #8 prospect in the system" is really a testament to how OH has helped stabilized, foster (and even bolster) support for this team in the midst of what's been a bleak run of over a decade.

[orioole28]

I went with Hernandez because of his improvement from '07 to '08 with the exception fo his command. Now if he can put the puzzle together and combine what he did in '07(BB/9: 2.91) to what he did in '08(ERA: 2.66, BAA: 217, and K's: 166) then I see him as a viable starter in the ML. Basically that's the only piece of the puzzle that's missing for Hernandez. Their is no reason to suggest that Hernandez can't harness his command like other suggest that he can't. I believe that his work ethics, which Coach Mike Griffin has mentioned numerous times during the season and his determination will get it done.

[Satyr3206]

But I wanted to vote for Erbe again so my streak could continue.

[eb45]

My next two prospects aren't on the list (Erbe and Bergesen), so I had to make a tough decision. Talent-wise, it's clearly Spoone, but his shoulder scares me more than just a bit, so I went with Hoes, though I almost went with Britton. Hernandez and Henson I don't like as much, but if their walk totals were reversed then I would love them.

[slappy12]

I went with Hernandez because of his improvement from '07 to '08 with the exception fo his command. Now if he can put the puzzle together and combine what he did in '07(BB/9: 2.91) to what he did in '08(ERA: 2.66, BAA: 217, and K's: 166) then I see him as a viable starter in the ML. Basically that's the only piece of the puzzle that's missing for Hernandez. Their is no reason to suggest that Hernandez can't harness his command like other suggest that he can't. I believe that his work ethics, which Coach Mike Griffin has mentioned numerous times during the season and his determination will get it done.

Wow, you stole my thunder!!:laughlol: You must of been reading my posts! If Hernandez can improve as much as he has from '07 to '08 then I see no reason why he can't be a ML starter. One of the big improvements from '07 to '08 was runners in scoring position which could lead him to even a possible set-up/closer role in the future. I've seen him pitch many times and his fastball has some gettyup, while his slider which I believe is his best pitch is outright nasty. His change up will be the pitch that will put him in a starters role. The pitch has potential but he needs confidence to throw in to righties and lefties. He is very deceptive in his delivery where hitters really can't pick up his pitches. He does pitches up in the zone and readers here see that as a concern. He gave up 10HRs during the regular season, 9 were solos, so if you're going to give up HRs then it's best that they're solo shots. Command seems to be only his issue and I believe he can correct it.

[tywright]

Spoone is the best prospect in this group regardless of the injury.

Although this time next year, Hoes has a good shot at being the best in this group.