Baseball America's Hot Sheet Chat - 6/14 - Buxton

[Steve Lein]

J.J. Cooper from BA answered this question on Buxton in his chat today:

 

 

• Rich (CA): What was your take on Byron Buxton after seeing him in person ? Does anyone compare to him at all ?
  

 

J.J. Cooper: My wife Tweeted today that she was wondering if she had something to be concerned about with my newfound love of Buxton. Hopefully she was joking. I expected him to be a very good prospect, but he was better than that. I'd go on and on, but we'll have a lengthy feature on Buxton running in the near future which will pass along a whole lot of info and detail on Buxton.

 

-More high praise, and I'm looking forward to the feature!

 

This question just came up as well, name-dropping another Top Twins prospect:

 

 

• Eric (Boston): In light of performance, call ups and injury status' of other top prospects, is there a case for Xander Bogaerts as the number 1 overall prospect right now? Already the youngest player the the EL he just got promoted. Who's he competing with for next years top spot?
  

 

J.J. Cooper: I'm getting ready to dive into that very question before long for our midseason update. Buxton is in the discussion. Oscar Taveras is still a worthy competitor for the title. And I think Miguel Sano has to be considered as well. But Bogaerts is part of the discussion.

 

-Buxton and the Twins are pretty popular today:

 

 

• Byron Buxton (Cedar Rapids): Do you think I will head to Ft. Myers after the AS game?
  

 

J.J. Cooper: I'd expect so. From what I saw and what scouts who I talked to have seen, there's few challenges left for him in Cedar Rapids.

 

 

• John (Arlington, VA): Buxton or Sano, who has the highest ceiling?
  

 

J.J. Cooper: Buxton. He does more things. Could have nearly Sano's power while doing a lot more of the other things.

 

-Even answered my own question:

 

 

• Steve L. (Minneapolis): Other than Buxton, any Cedar Rapids Kernels leave you with a good impression? Such as Travis Harrison, Adam Walker, or J.O. Berrios?
  

 

J.J. Cooper: I didn't get to see Berrios pitched as I missed him by one day. Walker does some impressive things. He's adjusting to a steady diet of breaking balls and pitchers who pitch him away, away, away, but he has excellent power, runs well and in the short time I was there showed a good glove in right field. His swing seems a little long, so he'll likely always have some strikeouts, but the other tools are enough to probably work around that. Harrison didn't impress. Had scouts scratching their head as far as what was there to go 50th overall in the '11 draft. Melotakis showed a good fastball but needs to work on his secondary stuff (his changeup did show flashes when he beared down against Dan Vogelbach). Jorge Polanco looked solid at shortstop. Pretty insane that when healthy that team has him and Niko Goodrum up the middle.

[symbaton]

Different chat, but Jason Cole's chat yesterday had some fun questions about our favorite prospect: Baseball Prospectus | Events | Chat with Jason Cole

(The first question was mine)

[Steve Lein]

Lots of good stuff in that one too. I like the increasing chatter on Twins having possibly 2 of the top 5 prospects in all of baseball next year.

[nicksaviking]

Lots of good stuff in that one too. I like the increasing chatter on Twins having possibly 2 of the top 5 prospects in all of baseball next year.

 

Ha, I was going to say the opposite. Makes me a little nervous rating Twins prospects so high nationally.

[Turd Furgeson]

In the recent Baseball Prospectus "Fringe Average" podcast, Jason Parks stated that Byron Buxton will be ranked as the #1 prospect in their midseason rankings.

[Red Bull]

Buxton just looks like a future star. Hes tall with a very athletic and strong build, and hes still growing.

[diehardtwinsfan]

Ha, I was going to say the opposite. Makes me a little nervous rating Twins prospects so high nationally.

 

Agreed... a bit. I seem to remember KC a few years ago having Hosmer and Mostakas (or someone else) in the top 5 at one point. It's encouraging to see them there, but no guarantee that these guys will be future all stars.