Jim Callis chat at espn, Bruce>J. Upton>BJ Upton

[dougdirt]

I heard this second hand, and the chat is now insider stuff since its no longer going on, but I was wondering if anyone with espn insider access could shed some light onto what he said in more detail other than Bruce was better than Justin Upton, who was better than his brother BJ (who is having one heck of a year by the way).

[Mario-Rijo]

Gimme a sec,.....

[New Fever]

Yep that is what he said in the ligthning round

[New Fever]

He also said he really likes Juan Francisco but he is not a Top 100 prospect to him yet.

[dougdirt]

He also said he really likes Juan Francisco but he is not a Top 100 prospect to him yet.

I knew Callis liked him, but I would not have him in a Top 100 either.

[New Fever]

Doug would you put Todd Frazier in a Top 100?

[Mario-Rijo]

DD check your PM Box!

[dougdirt]

Doug would you put Todd Frazier in a Top 100?

Honestly, I am uncertain right now. Off the top of my head, I would rank him in the 90-115 area, but thats without really sitting down and ranking the players. With that said, I would not be surprised at all if he cracked Baseball America or Prospectus or other top 100s. I would put Frazier as the Reds #6 prospect right now being the big 4 and Drew Stubbs (which I may be alone on, but thats ok, I am fine with that decision). Either way though, if he doesn't make the top 100's, he will probably be very close to them if he misses.

[PuffyPig]

I would put Frazier as the Reds #6 prospect right now being the big 4 and Drew Stubbs (which I may be alone on, but thats ok, I am fine with that decision).

Add me to the group that would put Stubbs #5 on the Reds.

I would be amazed if BA doesn't have him slotted that high.

In fact, I think there's a better chance that he would be #4 (ahead of Votto) than at #6.

But I think he will be #5.

[TOBTTReds]

Add me to the group that would put Stubbs #5 on the Reds.

I would be amazed if BA doesn't have him slotted that high.

In fact, I think there's a better chance that he would be #4 (ahead of Votto) than at #6.

But I think he will be #5.

I think BA has given Votto a lot more respect this year compared to the past. They were still scared of his FSL season and were cautious his good years were flukes.

[icehole3]

Where is Waring on the list??

[M2]

It should be fascinating to watch Callis stack up new flavors of the day to the left side of Jay Bruce in future years.

I mean, Bruce and the Uptons all look like they're going to be awesome players. Frankly, over the next decade I don't know that anyone's going to be better than B.J. Upton. Obviously now that he's 23 and in the top 10 in the AL in OB and SLG he's clearly proven himself inferior in the Jim Callis worldview. Callis is infected with the Peter Pan view of the game, the highest crime in his mind is that they grow up.

[dougdirt]

It should be fascinating to watch Callis stack up new flavors of the day to the left side of Jay Bruce in future years.

I mean, Bruce and the Uptons all look like they're going to be awesome players. Frankly, over the next decade I don't know that anyone's going to be better than B.J. Upton. Obviously now that he's 23 and in the top 10 in the AL in OB and SLG he's clearly proven himself inferior in the Jim Callis worldview. Callis is infected with the Peter Pan view of the game, the highest crime in his mind is that they grow up.

Well M2, at least at the time before this year, scouts had almost unanimously stated that Justin was a better prospect than BJ. They had been saying it for years.
So lets just say that people still believe thats true. If Callis thinks Jay Bruce is a better prospect than Justin Upton, which he has also said for the last year, then wouldn't it make sense that he puts them in that order?

Yeah, BJ is going nuts right now and has single handedly saved me in two of my fantasy leagues as I picked him up in the 25th round of two leagues just hoping to get some SB's out of him, but I don't think Callis has a Peter Pan type view.... at least in this example.

[M2]

Well M2, at least at the time before this year, scouts had almost unanimously stated that Justin was a better prospect than BJ. They had been saying it for years.
So lets just say that people still believe thats true. If Callis thinks Jay Bruce is a better prospect than Justin Upton, which he has also said for the last year, then wouldn't it make sense that he puts them in that order?

Yeah, BJ is going nuts right now and has single handedly saved me in two of my fantasy leagues as I picked him up in the 25th round of two leagues just hoping to get some SB's out of him, but I don't think Callis has a Peter Pan type view.... at least in this example.

Callis constantly does stuff like this. It's part of the BA standard operating procedure - they like kids who haven't played long enough to struggle and almost everyone struggles at some point. Once they do struggle then the next untested kid moves to the front of the line. A year ago he'd have probably listed Delmon Young in front of all of them.

As for the Uptons and Bruce, I figure all three will be kicking tail and taking names. Who'll be the best megasuperstar? Why even pretend like you know? Any random order will do.

The thing B.J. has going for him is OB. That .390 mark in the minors is pretty heady stuff. Neither Bruce nor Little Upton has been able to match it.

[dougdirt]

Callis constantly does stuff like this. It's part of the BA standard operating procedure - they like kids who haven't played long enough to struggle and almost everyone struggles at some point. Once they do struggle then the next untested kid moves to the front of the line. A year ago he'd have probably listed Delmon Young in front of all of them.

As for the Uptons and Bruce, I figure all three will be kicking tail and taking names. Who'll be the best megasuperstar? Why even pretend like you know? Any random order will do.

The thing B.J. has going for him is OB. That .390 mark in the minors is pretty heady stuff. Neither Bruce nor Little Upton has been able to match it.

I was more going with just this as an example, becuase he had stated a while ago that he had felt Justin was better than BJ and he stated last year that Jay was better than Justin.... while he does seem to take the shiny new toy thing like a lot of people often do, I don't think that was what was going on with this particular example.