Centerfield Prospects

by Brandon Wilson on Aug 29, 2007 4:04 PM CDT

Today at Baseball Prospectus, Kevin Goldstein ranks the top CF prospects. Not surprisingly, there are no Rangers in teh top 15, but there are a couple of notes. One bad:

That Julio Borbon (Rangers, 35th overall) received a big league deal is another testament to just how good an agent Scott Boras is, and how much some scouts overrate speed at times. No matter how fast Borbon is, he's completely bereft of any secondary skills, drawing just six walks in 40 games this year (and that's college ball), while slugging only three home runs.

and one good (sort of):

Honorable Mention
Brandon Boggs, Rangers: A little bit older than most (turns 25 in January), the former Georgia Tech star has power, defensive chops, and a propensity for strikeouts..

nice to see Boggs get a mention, especially a positive mention about defense... I am guessing Goldstein's comment about Borbon being "bereft" of other skills (besides speed) was something he has heard from a scout (not just based on the numbers), but that is just a guess on my part. Even with that, you have to wonder which scout said it, but in any case it is not a positive comment at all. In fact it was in the paragraph that began with this comment about another Ranger:

Unlike 2005, this year's draft was anything but a good one for athletic up-the-middle players, including center fielders. The top high school hopeful was arguably Michael Main, who is instead pitching (and doing quite well, thank you) for the Rangers.

Not sure if the Rangers need a pitcher or a CF more at this point, hopefully Main's potential will be maximized as a pitcher.

0 recs | Comment 17 comments

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Rangers

need help everywhere other than SS/2nd. With Kinsler's improvement in the field, I guess chances of moving him to center if Duran continues to perform have decreased.

by kumar75150 on Aug 29, 2007 5:21 PM CDT 0 recs

SS

We need help at shortstop as well, at least defensively. Young is a nice hitter, but his defense is lacking. There really isn't a position on the field where we are strong defensively, which is really sad.

by uthornfan on Aug 29, 2007 8:22 PM CDT up 0 recs

hmm

i wonder if eventually we move mike young to 3b, kinsler to ss, duran to 2b or duran to ss kinsler to 2b

by knockoutking24 on Aug 30, 2007 6:32 PM CDT up 0 recs

So Borbon blows

No argument here...

I will not get my comeuppance!

by Brian Thomas on Aug 29, 2007 7:11 PM CDT 0 recs

2 weeks folks

he's only been playing for 2 weeks.

by FirebatM3 on Aug 29, 2007 8:02 PM CDT up 0 recs

That's a fair statement

But I'm saying he blowed, blows, and always will blow.

I just hate slap hitting, no-walking, noodle-armed speedsters. They're fine around round 5 or later, not any earlier. Speed is such a ridiculously overrated tool, even for a CF.

I will not get my comeuppance!

by Brian Thomas on Aug 29, 2007 8:13 PM CDT up 0 recs

Agreed

It's hard to see how a guy like that goes that high, much less gets a big league deal.

by badradiorules on Aug 29, 2007 11:35 PM CDT up 0 recs

what about?

his entire college career?

by Brian Hayes on Aug 30, 2007 9:33 AM CDT up 0 recs

upside on Borbon...

so are we all just throwing in the towel on this kid, saying "F it, he's as good as he'll ever be, and that's not good enough!" or can we just give him a chance, maybe 2 or 3 years to develop and then reevaluate? I mean there is a difference in age and experience between Borbon and players like Andrus, Beltre, etc. but I still argue for patience...and the fact that A) we already took 2 high school, high-ceiling arms and B) we really really REALLY need help in CF and C) he was by far the best CF prospect available, and was ranked much higher than we picked him.

"No, Donny, these men are nihilists, there's nothing to be afraid of."

by Walter Sobchak on Aug 30, 2007 11:43 AM CDT 0 recs

I don't like him

And have said all along that I'm not sure a player who hopefully can turn into Juan Pierre is going to help

I keep hearing people say he was the best CF available and that may be true but it doesn't mean he's any good and personally I would have taken Corey Brown's high k, high walk, high power over Borbons low k, low walk, low power. But time will tell.

by bushe on Aug 30, 2007 1:49 PM CDT up 0 recs

A lot of folks threw in the towel on him

when he was drafted. I'm sure we would all like to be proven wrong, however, I have never been a fan of the one dimensional player whose only dimension was speed.

by DJCahill on Aug 30, 2007 2:01 PM CDT up 0 recs

Even at that point

You don't draft on organizational need. You draft the best player available. If it was another pitcher, take another pitcher. You develop guys as trade chips as much as you draft for your organization.

by badradiorules on Aug 31, 2007 12:32 AM CDT up 0 recs

I don't understand...

if all the experts had him ranked pretty high (top 17 right?) and he "fell" to us because teams were drafting pitching or high school prospects instead of college hitters (especially one that was injured for half the year), how did we NOT draft the best player available??? I take expert opinions over the majority's opinion on this blog...sorry.

"No, Donny, these men are nihilists, there's nothing to be afraid of."

by Walter Sobchak on Sep 1, 2007 5:13 PM CDT up 0 recs

Obviously

Different organizations have different opinions on players. BA may have ranked him at 17, but they weren't exactly dead on this year.

I have a buddy that is a scout for an NL team and I got to see basically their draft board and Borbon wasn't on it. They use stats pretty heavily and they had him valued at about $75,000 and they knew someone would take him before he fell to a round with that slot money.

He's the old school scout's type player. He's extremely athletic and squares the ball up. However, he rarely had xbh and didn't draw any walks.

Teams that find a balance between stats and old school stats would not have had him that high.

I take people on the inside's opinion over the so-called experts'....sorry.

by badradiorules on Sep 2, 2007 7:41 PM CDT up 0 recs

once again

or to state it clearly for the first time...

I am not saying he's the man, or he was an amazing pick, but rather that we should give him some time. I understand a lot of people on here want the credit that will be given when he's flopped in 3 years or so, but to write him off when he hasn't even had a full year in our minor league system is pretty ridiculous. Unless he is a complete failure of an athlete that doesn't hit or field well. Which I think I understand is not the case...

"No, Donny, these men are nihilists, there's nothing to be afraid of."

by Walter Sobchak on Sep 4, 2007 2:41 PM CDT up 0 recs