The most legit list I’ve seen from any national prospect ranker.

The inclusion of Abreu at #10 just seems like an attempt to claim credit for identifying a guy really early without really investing much into it. Abreu showed great power in rookie ball, but his numbers faded out as better guys from the 2008 draft began to show up. And he had atrocious plate discpline. He’s a very interesting guy, but I see almost no rational logic that would put those 9 guys ahead of him and then Abreu at #10.

I’d also add that he’s got Jason Heyward third overall and we passed on Heyward to pick Mills. I’d further recall that there were some (Good Call mcrose) pulling for them to draft Heyward over Mills. I remember thinking it although it doesn’t appear I posted it.

Ain’t I smart in retrospect?

Also, Mat Gamel’s No. 86. I remember reading at least one analys saying we got the third-best player on the Huntsville team in the C.C. trade, but KLaw doesn’t seem to think so.

I scanned this list too quickly, and read “Tyler Flowers Aaron Hicks” as “Taylor Hicks”. Seriously, just lop off my nuts and shoot me in the face….now.

Klaw has repeatedly called Brantley a fourth outfielder, but he always adds “if he doesn’t gain any power”, which is not very helpful in my opinion…

Fwiw, I got this question in a chat yesterday with Callis:

Keith (Chicago): Is Michael Brantley an everyday player?

 Jim Callis: (3:12 PM ET ) Not unless he finds more power. At least not on a contender.

I think it’s fair to say that Brantley has some things to prove to people, including his ability to stay healthy.

There’s concern about his power, but his ability to be selective and make contact against advanced pitching at such a young age tells me that the power is going to come. Not everyone is as confident, I guess.

Jhonny Peralta also was not given any respect as a prospect until he was IL MVP in 2004, despite having had a very good season at age 20 in Double-A two years earlier.

I was thinking the same thing. I don’t follow prospects very closely, but I was surprised to see a third baseman I never heard of before on the list while Brantely wasn’t on it.

Shapiro screwed up the CC trade — FIRE HIM!!!

Hodges because he’s not that great. Valbuena because he is the kind of prospect that gets missed by most people.

Hodges is a good-not-great bat with little if any defensive value.

Most prospect rankings are laced with bias towards highly athletic or toolsy guys. Quality all-around players often are underrated, as are players who have solid but unspectacular performances without the pedigree of a high draft pick.

Hello DeRoMyHero (neat username :-),

There have been some recent reports that Hodges’ defense at 3B is not that good, which would likely necessitate him becoming a 1B in the future, and of course, that’s one of the most crowded positions in the Indians’ organization (Martinez and Garko at the ML level, LaPorta at AAA, Mills at AA, Weglarz was originally a 1B in HS, and it still might be his best position, though most suspect that that position won’t be open for him at the ML level), so that’s another reason why Hodges is often overlooked, besides the fact he’s put up solid, but not great or eye-popping statistics.

Just my 2 cents.