he has had pro ABs and seems to have good power. I will take the devil I know to the devil I don’t.

And it finally gets interesting.

I went with Noonan. Sosa’s another possibility, but his injuries this past year knocked him down a notch below Noonan for me.

Went with Gillaspie. He’s a polished, college player from a solid program, so you’d expect him to move fast. He’s already shown a good eye and good plate discipline as a pro (albeit in a small sample size) meaning he stands out in the Giants organization. And he’s a 3B, probably our single weakest position as a franchise.

Anyway, I think there are lots of reasons to like Cocky McCockerson (thanks Baggs!) but for me I think it’s how close he is to being ready now plus the fact that he really looks like he’ll be able to get on base as a pro, two really, really big factors.

I’m kind of tempted to go with Kieschnick. I don’t know, I really like him. This one is hard. (That’s what she said!)

Noonan is probably the safe pick here, but I’m really just not that high on him.

but I could see Gillaspie or Sosa here as well

although I almost picked fairley or gillaspie
While I think Noonan’s a decent prospect (and I love the name), I can’t bring myself to put him this high, since neither his upside or performance are particularly great. Kieschnick has the upside so I went with him, although I like Fairley’s approach a lot.

i think it’s a tie between noonan, kiesch, and sosa, and personally i’d rather have a pitcher then a hitter, so there ya go

I am in support of Gillespie here, slightly ahead of Ishikawa. yes, I said it

Which brings up the question, what happens in the event of a tie? Or at least a very close vote…

Gotta go with Conor…duh

The odds are lower for him “making it” because he’s so far away, but if Noonan was on another team, would you trade Rodriguez for him?

1. Madbum
2. Alderson
3. Villalona
4. Posey
5. Rafael Rodriguez

Toss up bewtween Gillaspie and Noonan

between Conn, Fresno and SF. He may be best suited as a platoon 1st baseman, and left-handed pitch hitter. He’s “old” at 25 compared to the teens on the list thus far. A pair of converted catchers may steal all of his thunder, but he’s got a decent chance at contributing nice power and OBP next year. He probably has the best power potential out of the remaining choices. Well no. Rafa Rodriguez and Roger Kieschnick and maybe even Fairley could have a bigger potential. But, he’ll hit more dingers in the Majors in 2009 than any of those guys. His note above that he was drafted #637 overall doesn’t do justice to the fact it was a surprise and expensive signing that draft. I’m going away from the 2008 and 2007 draft/signing class and naming Travis Ishikawa my #5.

I went with Gillaspie, primarily because his pre-draft rankings and scouting reports were better than Noonan’s. Neither has really done enough in pro ball to make it clear who’s better.

I honestly don’t know who’s the fifth best prospect.

Though Gillaspie and RafRod were both intriguing too. and this was purely a gut pick too.

I’ve got a few questions on Gillaspie and Kieschnick, so far, as far as how polished they are. Kieschnick’s the tougher question. I don’t have Gillaspie’s ceiling as high as some. Beyond that, the rest of the cast has a lot of questions. A lot of toolsy, and a lack of production for many of them, though Pucetas is the exact opposite.

I’m leaning towards Kiesch for the next pick. In Hawaii, he’s flashing a nice touch of power in a league where it’s tough to get power. That said, he’s also a heck of a lot less tired than those who played (at all) in the pro season.

RafRod and Sosa are two guys I can’t see picking for a good long while. RafRod hasn’t gotten nearly the great press Villalona did, and has not a thing to show for himself. The simple fact he’s 16 and a millionaire doesn’t make him a Top 5 (or probably 10) guy for me. Sosa is another guy who flashes great potential, but he still hasn’t done much at High-A between two attempts there (and has been particularly hittable there), is rather suddenly an injury question, and still has serious issues developing his offspeed pitches. I’m holding to my F-Rod-maybe prediction on him for the time being.

Went with Noonan here, although we’re getting to the point where there’s a lot of close prospects. He just seems to have a little more upside than Gillaspie & it’ll be interesting to see how he does next year.

Interesting to see the popularity of Pucetas, i like him & he’s put up good results, but he seems a little early for me, perhaps more suited to the 10-15 range than the top ten. I’m not sure that he’s distanced himself that much to the other A ball starters (English, Tanner, etc) Other than that, i’d say the other prospects on the poll would fill out my 5-12 spots, with the others afterwards.

Of the testers, the two that i’d go with first would be Barnes & Adrianza. other future testers could be King, Surkamp, Maday, English & Snyder.

Voted Gillaspie.

Noonan’s 1st season was “OK” but it looks like AA could eat him up next year. He’s still a top-10 prospect, just not a top-5…I think.

I’d like to write in Scott Barnes. He’d be my number five, but barring a write in candidate, I’d elect to go with Rodriguez, based purely on power potential and age.

But Scott Barnes is my candidate for the annual two level promotion Giant tradition.

Went with Sosa. I still believe, and if he puts together a good season, he could be sippin’ on a delicious cup of coffee by September.

I place roughly the same value on Gillaspie and TI. Noonan and Kieschinck belong in the “Show Me” category. Show me a little more, then I’ll believe.

where does Rodriguez start the year, by the way?

I can see why people like Noonan and Gillaspie. There is more known about them and they have been hyped as prospects.

However, Noonan only hit .279/.315/.415/.730 with 98 strikeouts in only 499 AB, roughly 20% strikeouts, which is OK but not good, particularly with little power. And that is only in A-ball. I think people remember the “Utley with less power” description but he doesn’t have Utley’s plus power nor does he play defense all that well at 2B yet, and he was selected in the supplemental 1st round, Utley was a top 15 pick if I remember right. Noonan’s going to have to walk and/or hit a heck of a lot more to be a plus player at 2B at this point. But he’s young and can develop. So can Rafael Rodriguez.

Gillaspie, we don’t have much pro experience to digest, but really, the only thing we are sure he can do is hit, that he’s a hitting machine. Maybe he can get on base a lot too, he does get a lot of walks per strikeout, but that’s in college, and nothing I’ve read on him indicates he’s a walk monster, just a hitter like Bill Mueller. And regarding his defense, say, did I mention that he’s a hitting machine? And steals is not a plus feature for him. However, Rafael Rodriguez has drawn both Vlad Guerrero and Andres Gallaraga comparisions, plus has little (OK, no) pro experience to base things on.

For Rodriguez, just one phrase says it all, “5 Tools.” Well, that and $2.55M, the largest bonus ever given a Latin American hitter or a Giants hitter, for that matter, up to that point (Posey signed afterward). He has raw power coming out of his 6’ 5", 198 pound 16 year old body. Above average speed combined with an above average arm makes him the right future right-fielder for AT&T.

However, the Achilles Heal for this Adonis is that while he has a lot going for him, the one thing (big thing) suspect with him is that some scouts are not sold on his hitting mechanics and his overall feel for hitting. That could be the weak link in an otherwise stellar package for a position player.

Still, obviously, the Giants scouts think otherwise and hence the big bonus, even bigger than for Villalona and as noted, the largest given a Latin American position player ever, though that didn’t do much for either Wily Mo Pena or Joel Guzman in the majors, in fact, Guzman was just released by his team, the Rays.

Five Tools, big bonus, good comparisions, these all made me vote for Rafael Rodriguez 5th, though clearly in vain, as the masses have spoken. As unknown as things are for him, things are basically equally unknown for Noonan (so-so results at A-ball) and Gillaspie (just college ball) plus there is no hint of plus stardom for either (both not even first round picks), while Rodriguez clearly has that chance to reach for the heights.

Dizzy won. Nick Kieschnick and Danny Noonan came up short.

Gillaspie’s hype certainly played in my decision, as well as
being able to see him play on TV, and his (limited) Sept callup.
He seems the type of hitter that will do well at PacT&T, and the
wood bat experience in the Cape sealed the coin toss.

Rule of thumb going forward:

to stay on the list of choices, a prospect must get some minimal amount of votes – say, at least 3%. There seem to be a lot of choices – maybe we can streamline it a bit.

If enforced, only Fairley and Crawford would be dropped.

Also, do we want to have a maximum # of possible choices? Say 5? or 7?

with a vengeance!! Vote Rafael Rodruiguez for prosp 6!!

I picked Pucetas, based on the relatively high probability of reaching his ceiling (albeit lower).

With so much cash tied up in Zito, I think Pucetas’s value as a cheap back of the rotation arm until he hits arbitration is very attractive. Having the future availability of Pucetas softens the blow of potentially trading Sanchez, (who has more ’talent’) to address other needs.

Maybe its not the best way to selcet a ranking position, but I’m sticking with it. Probabiltiy in relation to what’s going on with the big-league club scores big for me….

This race is tightening! Conor is only down by 3 votes right now.

I voted Ishikawa, because hey, 2500 ABs last year!

this is a good way to learn more about our prospects.

I take Nick Noonan a little more seriously now.

Gillaspie’s pulled into the lead – by one vote.

It’s Florida 2000 all over again!

Nick Noonan has ties with ACORN. I’m not saying. I’m just saying.

Noonan v. Gillaspie. Let’s see it! I’d put my $ on Gillaspie…

As of this evening, the margin in the Alaska Senate race is only 3 votes, so today’s the day for ties, it appears.