Future Redbirds

erik and I are going to each take some quick hits on each others top 25 prospect list. There wasn’t a huge amount of variance between our lists but there were some interesting differences. Here goes.

1) Most Overrated Prospect - Kenny Maiques

I’m just as enamored with Maiques stuff but Jason Motte posted better numbers two levels higher. There’s the possibility that Maiques could move into the rotation but there’s been no indication that of that actually happening and we have no real idea what those results would be. The gap between the difficulty levels is just too glaring for me to be able to justify ranking Maiques over Motte.

2) Most Underrated Prospect - PJ Walters

17? Really? I hate his velocity (and I’m an admitted velocity whore) but control pitchers with movement on their pitches can succeed. A 5:1 K:BB rate with strong groundball tendencies. FIPs of 2.50 at both Quad Cities and Palm Beach. He may not have upside but Ian Kennedy is still a well regarded prospect despite not having the velocity and PJ Walters has much the same repertoire.

3) 2007 draftee that didn’t make the list that will next year - Nick Derba

I’ll go with Derba here. A solid defensive catcher with an advanced approach at the plate. He has the possibility of being above average with the bat and behind the plate as he already draws good reviews for his handling of the coaching staff.

4) Prospect that will make the biggest jump up erik’s list next year - Jonathan Edwards

One of those young toolsy outfielders the Cardinal’s draft has to get it together right? Edwards projects for plus power with the question being when it will come. He’s a nice upside pick that you hope pans out because if they do you could have an all-star on your hands.

5) Where erik went wrong in construction

If there’s one thing I don’t like about erik’s list (and I’m kind of reaching here) it’s that the 2007 draftees get a little too much credit for what round they were drafted in. I’m looking namely at Kozma here and I’m not particularly a fan of either Ingram or Cruz at the bottom of the list although Cruz got a great review from BA. I struggled with the 2007 draftees given the limited input data we have on them at this point — and came to the conclusion that I’d rather have slightly older toolsy guys than the brand new toolsy guys.