Baseball America Southern League Top 20 Prospects
 

From my print edition of Baseball America, October 8-21, 2007:

1. Justin Upton, OF, Mobile(D-Backs)
2. Evan Longoria, 3B, Montogomery(Devil Rays)
3. Wade Davis, RHP, Montogomery(Devil Rays)
4. Johnny Cueto, RHP, Chatanooga(Reds)
5. Brandon Jones, OF, Mississippi(Braves)
6. Reid Brignac, SS, Montogomery(Devil Rays)
7. Tyler Colvin, OF, Tennessee(Cubs)
8. Manny Parra, LHP, Huntsville (Brewers)
9. Gio Ganzalez, LHP, Birmingham(White Sox)
10. Carlos Gonzalez, OF, Mobile(D-Backs)
11. Mark Reynolds, 3B, Mobile(D-Backs)
12. Chin-Lung Hu, SS, Jacksonville(Dodgers)
13. Brent Lillibridge, SS, Mississippi(Braves)
14. Jonathan Meloan, RHP, Jacksonville(Dodgers)
15. Max Scherzer, RHP, Mobile(D-Backs)
16. Jo Jo Reyes, LHP, Mississippi(Braves)
17. Diory Hernandez, SS, Mississippi(Braves)
18. James McDonald, RHP, Jacksonville(Dodgers)
19. Gaby Hernandez, RHP, Caolina(Marlins)
20. Alcides Escobar, SS, Huntsville(Brewers)

Re: Baseball America Southern League Top 20 Prospects
 

Thats about what I expected. Personally, I would put Gio Gonzalez a little higher.... but that list seems alright at first glance. The Lookouts had 2 true prospects on the team this year. Cueto and Jay Bruce. Bruce was there for 3 weeks though, so he didn't qualify.

Re: Baseball America Southern League Top 20 Prospects
 

Again, not enough atbats for Bruce or innings for Maloney and/or Roenicke or else they would have been on the list.

Re: Baseball America Southern League Top 20 Prospects
 

Maybe we need to get a SS from the Braves.

Re: Baseball America Southern League Top 20 Prospects
 

Also just saw that Brignac was lower than I had expected.... I see him a little higher than that.

Re: Baseball America Southern League Top 20 Prospects
 

I bet the Devil Rays are happy looking at this list. Evan Longoria is a terrific young player. Three players in the top 6 is a very good number for them. They always seem to be chugging out prospects. Maybe this time they'll hold on to them.

Re: Baseball America Southern League Top 20 Prospects
 

A few years from now the D-Rays will be stacked

Re: Baseball America Southern League Top 20 Prospects
 

Alan Matthews just said in the Southern League chat that Josh Roenicke would have made the top 20 list had he quailifed and he commented on his 95 mph fastball and his 89 mph power slider. Also he said Pedro Viola got some consideration as well but he also didn't qualify. Wow! Roenicke is a much better prospect than I thought. All of the players in the 12-20 range on this list will be in consideration for the Top 100 list later this year. Do you guys think Roenicke will start next year in the Reds bullpen?

Re: Baseball America Southern League Top 20 Prospects
 

I still don't think it will be enough to win in the AL East though. To win they need to sign a few free agents as well, to compliment the young players.:)

Re: Baseball America Southern League Top 20 Prospects
 

Been hearing that since the dawn of the D-Rays franchise, but it always goes awry. Things could go right down there, but I wouldn't take that for granted. It's also highly possible that Kazmir, Pena, Upton and Crawford will be gone before the kids on the farms are ready to make a major impact. It's real tough to run a team on a $30M payroll.

Re: Baseball America Southern League Top 20 Prospects
 

Another interesting comment by Alan Matthews - He said it won't be long before Kyle Lotzkar is mentioned in the same group as Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto. Interesting. I agree with that. Lotzkar has great, great stuff from what I have seen on his video.

Re: Baseball America Southern League Top 20 Prospects
 

That is very interesting. Hopefully he continues to develop. You can never have enough pitching.

Re: Baseball America Southern League Top 20 Prospects
 

U.S., Dominican, Canada. Gotta be looking beyond our borders. The Reds hired a scout with a long history in Canada, and now the signing of Lotzkar looks like it has the potential to pay off. Hope they continue to be active up there.

Re: Baseball America Southern League Top 20 Prospects
 

Lotzkar was one of 2 High School pitchers taken out of Canada in the first 6 rounds this year. We also took 2 P.R. players in the first couple of rounds as well. Lots of international scouting going on there.

Re: Baseball America Southern League Top 20 Prospects
 

IMO, that won't bode well for Lotzkar's development. I'd prefer to see him kept away from full season ball until 2009. He's still 17 and if he spent a full season a every level, he'd still be getting a cup of coffee at age 22. However, I have every confidence he'll be rushed to calamitous effect.

As for Cueto, I'm curious what others think of his slider. Alan Matthews of BA just said "Bailey's breaker is a nasty pitch that is more consistent at this stage" and "[Cueto] powers through his slider, giving it cutting action without depth, but its tight spin provides deception even when it lacks a defined shape." Now I haven't seen Cueto pitch a lot, but I know this much - no one's hitting his slider and it's consistently finding the zone. I've heard from some that his slider eats hitters alive (partially because Cueto can vary the break on it) and that it's a far better offering that Bailey's notoriously erratic curve. Matthews has never impressed me overly much so I won't harp overly much on why he'd list a short pitcher with a so-so breaking ball #4 on an AA prospects list, but I'd like to hear what others think from what they've seen of Cueto, particularly in regard to his slider.