Comments on: Curb your enthusiasm over Niko

By: beau

beau — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 03:29:43 +0000

While throwing across the body is not great for Hooker, he was just a 7th round pick. For the 7th round, he seems good value.

By: Hugo

Hugo — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:18:56 +0000

HL, That can’t be right Cardinals prospects are nowhere near as good as any other minor leaguers. I mean according to Cards Talk posters we don’t have any trade-able talent at AAA at all. Therefore any and all rankings are based on how horrible Cards Prospects are and has nothing to do with how good others are.

/scarcasm off

By: HL is not dirty

HL is not dirty — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 01:08:51 +0000

So Niko was rated so low simply because there were a ton of really good players ahead of him? It has less to do with whether he can be a very good MLB SS but more to do with the other talent in the world?

I can believe that.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:25:14 +0000

Q: willy from pitt asks:
Why did Niko Vasquez rank so low after tearing up the level and getting a promotion to Low A?

A: Matt Eddy: In most years, he’s be a shoo-in for the Top 10. The depth of the league, especially in terms of premium Latin American talent, was the difference. Vasquez can hit, but opinions of his future defensive home and power potential drove him down the list.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:20:15 +0000

If the authors feel it is unethical to keep this comment, I understand. I know reading the chat afterwards is subscriber only, but you do not have to be a subscriber to participate in the chat. Here are several of the questions I asked (as a non-subscriber) …

Brandon from Nashville, TN asks:
5 SS in the Top 20 … which ones stay at SS if they make it to the majors?

A: Matt Eddy: Beckham and Noriega are no-doubters. The rest — Flores, Vasquez, Silverio — are questionable.

Q: Brandon from Nashville, TN asks:
How much of the rankings are based on their performance this year and how much is based on future expectations? 50/50?

A: Matt Eddy: We do factor in performance, but it’s raw ability and profile — both offensive and positional — that carry more weight. Does a player’s swing and approach figure to translate into power? Does he have the athleticism and quickness to handle a middle-of-the-diamond position? These types of players — that is, those with power, speed and/or defensive ability — traditionally fare better as they move up.

By: CardSince85

CardSince85 — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:15:14 +0000

The kid is just out of high school let’s see what his frame looks like next year before the scouts start bashing him…Perfect Game projected power and greater bat speed when he was in their showcase. Speaking from experience my bat speed increased dramatically once I was in college. I also was about Niko size about 6’0 170 and I put on about 15 to 20 pounds by my sophmore season. I think he’s got the glove to play any of the INF pos but I’d like to see him at 2B rather than 3B if they decide to move him from SS, but the bat on this kid is one thing I do not question!

By: BigJawnMize

BigJawnMize — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:06:39 +0000

Lack of Plate discipline? He did draw a fair amount of walks…

After looking at the clips on the Esisneberg post, he swing is a little long, probably leading to the batspeed comments, and he has more movement than I like. The thing is that he is going to take some work, but like I said last year about Kozma, these things are very correctable and should be worked out between him and a tee.

I also think that scouts over equate speed with atheletic ability. So his lack of speed hurts his standing as an athelete. Whatever, the kid raked at his first stop and to do that withour refining his swing he definitely has some baseball skills.

By: CardinalSins

CardinalSins — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:27:22 +0000

I think speed is only an issue if he plays SS. But then again Troy Tulowitki is just a masher and he really doesn’t have a lot of speed. To me, I think he ends up at 2B in a Brandon Phillips type of mold.

The power was pretty impressive for someone his age. Not really sure why scouts are down on him at all.