ROCCO BALDELLI and others....

I personally think that Gordon will be a little less of a hitter than Butler but safer.  What do you guys all think?

Butler's got the higher upside, but he's the riskier player.

I'm not a fan of Rocco's. I see a guy who doesn't hit RHP and didn't show improvement from one year to the next to shore up that weakness.

OPS vs RHP:

2003. .719
      
2004. .709

Rocco's overall #s were dragged up by a .930 OPS vs LHP. But alot of batters can mash vs LHP. Hell, Benji Molina had an OPS > 1.000 against southpaws. But for an OF to play everyday in my lineup he can't be an machine vs RHP. Rocco must improve dramatically or he's an eventual platoon player.

Also, Rocco's batting average is heavily driven up by infield singles. That might be OK for a hitter that hits leadoff or 7-8-9 but Rocco is advertised as supposedly being more than that. He doesn't have the OBP to bat leadoff and RBI men don't have their game built around the infield single.

According to BP, in 2004 Rocco had 99 singles of which 34% were infield singles. That would rank 4th for all players with 30+ singles.

He's coming off knee surgery. Atleast initially that will likely impact his speed. Rocco may take a step back as he must shed the rustiness and cope with not having the same speed he used to beat out so many infield singles in the past.

you really can't go wrong between these two guys, especially if you only consider hitting.

it's amazing to look at what butler's accomplished, and he's only 19. if they can find a place for him to play, then he will probably mash.

gordon is the most polished hitting prospect from the 2005 draft, and i think he's destined to be a star. he does literally everything well, and there are some (including john) who think he'll be a big-time hitter, like .300+ with 30-35 home runs at his peak.

personally i think that any "upside" advantage that butler may have over gordon is very small. is it at all far-fetched to suggest that gordon could be the next mark teixeira? maybe with slightly less raw power, but he's more likely to stick at 3B.

it'll be fun to watch both of these guys at wichita next year.

Gordon will offer power and speed.  He was 35-40 in SB attempts over his last 2 years at Nebraska.  If it's a fantasy question, Gordon will be the more valuable player, at least for the first few years of each player's careers.

Can either play 3b, or will both become 1b/dh types?  If Gordon is as good as Teahen at 3b then it looks like he will be a star.  If Butler is league average defensively at 1b then he will also be a star.  If only KC could get players up the middle to compliment Dejesus.

has the tools to stick at 3B.  Butler, not so much.

butler = right-handed texiera

gordon = left-handed david wright

will bat 3-4 in the kc lineup for years. could  become one of the best hitting combo's in the league by 2008.

John was just talking about old player skills.. does Butler fall into this category?  ... i was all set to say Billy B is a tad better, but if he cant run or field, maybe not? .. if the old player skill theory is correct, is it not even close?

The old-player vs. young-player skills question is used mostly to project how a player will age.  I haven't seen Butler play, so I don't know if he's slow enough to be classified as having old player skills.

The original question was about fantasy, though, and Gordon's track record suggests there's a good chance that he'll steal at least 10-15 bases a year his first few years in the majors.  If the consensus is that Butler has slightly more power potential (which I don't necessarily agree with), then I think that's offset by Gordon's speed, as long as you're playing in a league that rewards SBs.  Butler didn't attempt a SB this year, though he was 5-for-5 in 2004.  My guess is that he won't run much, if at all, in the majors.