Comments on: Niese, Davis On Top 100 Major Leaguers 25 and Under

By: ecp

ecp — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:09:08 +0000

Re Matt Moore, the list consists only of players who have exhausted their rookie eligibility. Moore has not.

By: jessep

jessep — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:53:37 +0000

Hank:

The comparison above made to Marmol is a big time whiff. Marmol was in his 5th year and was 27 years old when he had that season. And frankly he had a rough year ERA wise with an ERA just over 4 but his 98K 54H 74IP is still pretty dang good. His problem has been and always will be his walks.

As for Kimbrel to compare his season at 23 to Marmol’s at 27 is obviously a miss. Kimbrel as you said had probably the best year as a reliever rookie in the history of the sport. 127K, 32BB, 48H in 77IP? Sign me up for that any day of the week.

“The game” catches up to sophomores like Heyward. It’s what they do to adjust. To say Heyward is now no good would be like tossing Murphy aside in 2009 because he wasn’t playing like he did in 2008.

You’re dead on with your analysis of Heyward. Frankly, some folks here see his uniform and not the talent he possesses. A healthy Heyward, is a scary thing for the Mets.

By: Hank

Hank — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 03:49:54 +0000

Thanks for the “salute” Alex. I know you didn’t have love for my “honorable mentions” but based on what I’ve seen and what I’ve read…Jason Heyward was basically “Mets medical-staffed” last year. The kid had a sophomore slump yes, but playing with the number of injuries he had also didn’t help. Personally, there’s no one else in our division who scares me more than Heyward. The Spring Training stories say he’s healthy, loss some bulk to improve agility, and is in the “best shape of his life”.

As for Freeman, he had a better full season debut than Ike…and he was two years younger than Ike; not sure he’s slightly better, but at his age…he’s much much better than Ike was at 21. I love Ike, but he was hitting .256 with no power at brooklyn when he was 21.

And Kimbrel had the best rookie season for a reliever, probably in history. Not sure league caught up to him as much as his manager ridiculously ran him into the ground. His two pitches are elite level. Oh and because he “only” has those two pitches, Atlanta stashed him in the bullpen…and not the rotation. The kid is a stud.

By: trs86

trs86 — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:04:51 +0000

Obviously, I know that bullpen is volatile. However, Carlos walk rate was always a concern.

By: Alex68

Alex68 — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:58:46 +0000

trs86, could be, but remember, we’ve seen closer be dominant as hell one year, then fall flat face first.. remember carlos marmol 2010 season??????? 77 IP 138 K’s league batted .147 against him. remember that?? then in 2011 he was not as effective…

By: trs86

trs86 — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:53:34 +0000

Alex you think the league “caught up with Kimbrel”. So did that suddenly happen just in September? I guess they could not catch up with him in July and August where he did not even give up a single run? Couldn’t it be the kid got tired?

Also if we are going based on guys who have not had a chance for the league to catch up with them couldn’t we say that about a lot of the guys on the list?

By: Alex68

Alex68 — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:48:28 +0000

Hank, the CORE salutes you, although not for your “honorable” mention list.. heyward had a good rookie season, but remember, the league catches up to you, and i think the league caught up with him.. with freeman, imo, he’d be a tad better than ike davis.. but not by much.. kimbrell is a guy who has a fastball and a slider, the league caught up with him towards the end, and we all know how that ended for the braves, once the league caught up, the choke job was completed..

By: Hank

Hank — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:23:11 +0000

Obviously this list is based on one person’s perception and research, so I can’t fault him for that. However, for me personally, I think a top 100 list is too big because it forces too many question marks on to your list. Additionally, on average each team will then have at least 3 guys on your list. It’s like what the All-Star Game has turned into.

If it was me, I’d had ethe top 25 under 25. One it solves the problem I just described above, and two it’s a lot more catchy. Three, it forces you to more clearly identify who the best are, not who we need to fill a list. That said my top ten as of now would be….

1. Cayton Kershaw – accomplishments, stuff, makeup, next Sandy Koufax??
2. Justin Upton – track record, 5-tool reality not potential, was gonna say Barry Bonds, but the kid is much better at this age than Barry was
3. Andrew McCutchen – this is the better Barry Bonds comparable, same team too ha
4. Mike Stanton – best power hitter of this generation, not even close
5. Buster Posey – if he stays at catcher, you’re looking at his generation’s Johnny Bench
6. Michael Pineda – great debut season, but injury concerns persist, as does worry about lack of development in secondary offerings
7. Stephen Strasburg – stay healthy and pitch a whole season, potential never beats production with me
8. Eric Hosmer – not completely convinced power will come, but bat is special
9. Brett Lawrie – might catch Joey Votto as Canada’s best player
10. Matt Moore- the Rays locked him up for a reason; potential alone and I’d have him my #1

Honorable Mention: Jeremy Hellickson, Mat Latos, Jay Bruce, Jason Heyward, Freddy Freeman, Madison Bumgarner, Trevor Cahill, Elvis Andrus, Tommy Hanson, Craig Kimbrel

By: Alex68

Alex68 — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:04:37 +0000

Ike Davis 10x Better than Justin Smoak…

By: trs86

trs86 — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:57:37 +0000

Agreed, I would have a hard time not placing Ike Davis ahead of many names on the list.

By: Joe D

Joe D — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:53:39 +0000

Interesting post Drew, but I’m not sure I can agree with most of it. I find it difficult to believe the Mets don’t have one prospect on the top 50 portion. I know things are not great, but I don’t think they are as bad as people think. These lists are fun to look at but I don’t know if they truly are indicative of how things really are or will be.

By: trs86

trs86 — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:39:41 +0000

Like I said I am not sure it can be both. It is either potential or production in my opinion. Otherwise Desmond Jennings ahead of Jay Bruce? Based on potential maybe… current? How? Jay Bruce already has 100 big league HR.

Matt Moore looks like the real deal but has what two starts to go by? Justin Upton, now that’s a stud.
I think there are only a few that are not debatable and after that it’s a crap shoot in terms of a top 10. Kershaw, Upton, Stanton, Hellickson, to me after that you can start making arguments and need to know the qualifications.

By: I LUV SandY

I LUV SandY — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:38:46 +0000

Soon these two players will be arbitration eligible and making too much money. It will be time for my luv Sandy to dump them before they hurt Uncle freddy’s wallet too much.

By: Alex68

Alex68 — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:23:24 +0000

TRS, think is both, SS did really good when he was pitching before the injury, this list is not accurate as all, i guess is more like who do you think is better at the age of 25 or younger.. if you notice i did my list based on what i have seen.. if i had a 100 list justin smoak will not be on it i’ll tell you that…

By: trs86

trs86 — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:19:04 +0000

Without knowing the qualifications I am not really going to question either his list nor yours. Are we rating it heavy on production, potential, minor league production…

For example Straus is going to be a stud but has not really produced at the MLB level yet due to that injury. Hard to have him ahead of Jeremy Hellickson who had an ERA under 3.00 in a full season in the AL East. So are we basing it on potential or current? Is it a prospects list or a current top players list?

By: tampametsfan

tampametsfan — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:12:02 +0000

Looks like they pulled names out of a hat. The numbers are messed up. Some of these guys are cominng off major injuries or bad seasons but still are at the top of the list. I feel like young players are value skewed because they were drafted well even when they are busts. I mean FMart at 95? That’s ridiculous

By: jessep

jessep — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:11:20 +0000

The site lists them as “top 100 major leaguers” so I am not sure the list is consistent with the title. The title suggests this is a list of guys on MLB rosters and this is how good they are… but the list suggests its how good they CAN be

Off the top of my head, my top 10 would be Upton, Stanton, Kershaw, Posey, McCutch, Hosmer, Strasburg, Castro, Bumgarner, Heyward.

Though Heyward has a lot to prove in year 3 that he had a sophomore slump and that he’s more 2010 not 2011.

By: Alex68

Alex68 — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:33:22 +0000

This list is a disgrace… where’s matt moore?!?!?!? also, justin smoak is a bum…i would
‘ve had freeman and heyward in the low 30′s, and i am surprised kimbrell is not #1 (Roll Eyes)
my list should’ve been like this:

1 Clayton Kershaw P (STUD)
2 Mike Stanton OF (STUD)
3 Stephen Strasburg P
4 Eric Hosmer 1B (FUTURE MVP)
5 Justin Upton OF (GOOD, MEH)
6 Andrew McCutchen (CAN DO IT ALL)
7 Michael Pineda P (YANKEES FUTURE ACE)
8 Buster Posey C (STUD)
9 Matt Moore P (MY MAN CRUSH & FUTURE CY YOUNG)
10 Brett Lawrie 3B (CAN DO IT ALL) Milwaukee will regret Trading him…