Garko vs. Shealy

It's not a bad comparison, college hitters who have had success at each level, but were never really young for the level.  What does that suggest to me?  That they can be productive major league hitters, but probably not superstars.  

Both can take a walk, and project somewhat for average and power, but here are the differences:

1.  Shealy has more raw power for sure.  Garko has a more successful track record for BA.

2.  I think both can be average 1b (at least I hope so, in Garko's case), but Garko also has the ability to catch on occasion.  Big plus.  On the other hand, Shealy is being tried in the OF.  I have no idea how that is going, but Garko won't be in the OF.  (Shealy is slow, but Garko is SLOW).

3.  Shealy had some ML success last year, but he is a year and a half older.

4.  Both will walk, but strikeouts are interesting.  Until last year, Garko has had impressive K/BB ratios, while Shealy has had more typical slugger K numbers.  But Shealy's K's didn't skyrocket during his ML time last year.  Garko puts a few more balls in play.

So to answer you: If Shealy is on the block, I don't think the Indians should give up the talent it would take to get him when they have Garko.

Sure, IF he can play a decent RF, he would be a fine fit, but then the Rockies would probably keep him.

Good question.  For a bit of added complexity, why don't we throw Mulhern into the mix?  (If two Ryans is good, then three is more betterer) I'm going to throw in some park/competition normalized stats, as Col Springs is a pretty hitter friendly park.  

Non-statistically, Mulhern and Garko (11/80 and 1/81, respectively) are more than a year younger than Shealy (8/79), and that's way important.  Defensively, they are all 1B right now.  There's not a big difference between them from what I can tell (assuming Garko will be fine with a bit more seasoning).  Garko has the third string catcher thing going for him, which is nice, but not ultimately important either.  

In thier age 24 seasons, this is what happened.

                  LVL    AB    BB    SO     BA       OBP    SLG    OPS    EQOBP    EQSLG    EQA
Garko         AAA    452    44     92    .303    .384    .498    .882    .354    .457    .277
Mulhern    A/AA    403    47    114    .315    .390    .640    .1030    .331    .514    .282
Shealy         AA     469    61    123    .328    .393    .601    .994    .355    .500    .288

Shealy has had a good season on top of this one, at AAA hitting an unadjusted .328/.393/.601 at 25. Good for him. (Note: his plate discipline dropped off to about 10% of ABs) But Garko and Mulhern have a year on him, so who knows what they would/will do in thier 25th year.

I think consensus scout and analyst has thier rankings like as Garko>Shealy>Mulhern.  Shealy has more power than Garko, but he and Mulhern look pretty even.  Shealy and Garko have the track records, Mulhern does not, which is why he's the last of the three for now. Garko has the age, the track record, and the catcher/athletic(er) thing, which is why he's the best prospect right now.

But to be honest, I can't tell you that I'd trade Mulhern for Shealy.  Mulhern not only had a breakout year, but raked consistently all year, and actually improved his EQA after his promotion to AA.  I'm also guessing that Mulhern will take to the OF better than Shealy, but I can't back that up too much.  

Thanks for killing my last hour at work, btw.

Using the age/level criteria, I'd agree with you that Garko looks better, just based on the fact he was at AAA while at the same age Shealy was only in AA.  I guess I can quit trying to imagine Shealy trade scenarios in my head with a clear conscience.