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Bruce, Maybin, McCutchen and Upton

These 4 are always grouped together and argued about after their first full season in 2006. With minorleaguesplits.com branching out into defensive stats, I thought this would be a good thing to look at.
All of these numbers are for the "plays above average per 150 games".

Jay Bruce is at +42 in CF

Cameron Maybin is at +21 in CF

Andrew McCutchen is at +1 in CF (Sally League numbers only)

Justin Upton is at +47 in CF

So, at least according to this Justin Upton and Jay Bruce are the very very good defensive centerfielders. Cameron Maybin is well above average, but not as good as Upton or Bruce. While Andrew McCutchen falls in at right about average.

Just a little food for thought to go with all of the arguements that everyone has had on here with these guys all included but we never really had any type of defensive numbers to go on, it was just all about what someone read on a scouting report somewhere.

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Your preference overall?
If you were building a team, what would your order of selection be amongst the four? Thanks.

by CouncilmanJim on Nov 26, 2006 6:10 PM EST   0 recs

imo
Maybin
Upton
McCutchen
Bruce
70% of the earth's surface is covered by water. The rest is covered by Endy Chavez.

by Metty5 on Nov 26, 2006 6:13 PM EST to parent up   0 recs

Bruce 4th on that list?
I have to ask what puts him so low on the list compared to the other guys.
Personally I think he has the best bat of them all, and at least according to this, he is great defensively....so just wondering what the reasoning was.
I go
Jay Bruce
Justin Upton
Cameron Maybin
Andrew McCutchen

I go Jay Bruce first becuase I think he has the best bat (before he had his shoulder injury, he was hitting .310/.380/.547 then tailed off the last 3 weeks of the season after the injury). He also plays very good defense.

I like Justin Upton slightly over Maybin. I think he is more advanced as a hitter. He has a little more pop in his bat and plays very good defense at a position he has never really played before.

Maybin is a good hitter, but I dont think he can sustain his .415 BABIP he had last season, becuase truthfully, its absolutely insanely lucky. He plays good defense, and he is very fast.

McCutchen finishes 4th on my list, but thats not really a bad thing, I see him being a very good player. His defense, especially compared to these guys seems to be a major drop off. He has some power in his bat, but he is a little undersized right now but obviously has the time to grow some.

Anyways, thats my list and reasonings.

www.redsminorleagues.com

by dougdirt on Nov 26, 2006 7:45 PM EST to parent up   0 recs

Mine
McCutchen
Bruce
Upton
Maybin

Maybin had too many K's and too few XBH's for a kid who's 6'3" 200 pounds.  I think the XBH's will come, but I'm not impressed.  385 AB's and 116 K's, that needs some serious work.

Upton had a pretty good walk rate, and didn't strikeout too much.  He may have the most upside, but he also had the worst season of all four guys we're talking about here.  If he puts it all together, he's the best of the bunch, I'm just not sold it happening.

Bruce had a pretty good season, and the 42 2B's is a great sign for future HR totals.  He's a kid I see ending up in RF though, keeping his value down just a bit.  I think he'll hit for the most power of the group, and I also think he's the most likely to reach his ceiling.  I can see him being like Jim Edmonds, but a notch or two below defensively.

McCutchen is a guy I'm really excited about.  I think he could be in the bigs by mid-2008.  He's a true leadoff hitter, with good on base skills, a decent amount of pop, and speed.  It's possible he could add 20 pounds and maybe an inch or two and be more comparable physically to the others in the discussion.  I think he could be the player Milton Bradley looked to be in 2003.  A potential 20-20 guy at least, with a possible 900 OPS would be ok from a leadoff hitter, especially one playing above average defense in CF.  The way he seemed to step his game up in the brief time in AA is a very good sign in my eyes.

I don't think you could go wrong with any of these players.  I'm sure alot of other teams wish they had talents like these in their system.

Just my two cents.

I don't get enjoyment out of reading baseball books. I'd rather watch a sci-fi movie on TV. -Joe Morgan, Emmy winning BASEBALL analyst

by gatling on Nov 26, 2006 7:44 PM EST to parent up   0 recs

Upton
And I don't think it's even close. Everyone seems to be getting worked up about low-A numbers which really don't matter in the larger picture. Upton was/is considered an A-Rod or Griffey type of talent.

I think Upton will pick it up this year, but it might not be until the year after that people start to see how special this kid will be.

Remember he was learning a new position as well.

Arthur: "Look, you stupid bastard, you've got no arms left!" Black Knight: "Yes I have." Arthur: "Look!" Black Knight: "It's just a flesh wound!"

by pedrophile on Nov 26, 2006 8:25 PM EST to parent up   0 recs

upton
Despite his FIRST season not being as impressive as these other OFs, I still go with Upton for a several reasons.

The first is that he has the tools.  I am no scout, but when I hear numerous scouts repeatedly telling me that he has the tools that remind them of Ken Griffey Jr. I know he is a special kid.  I havent been able to ever see him in person, but watching him rake during last spring training, he looked like a big strong man.  He actually kind of looked like Gary Sheffield in his prime.  

Second, remember that the kid was only 18 all of last year. He was a year younger than those 4 other OFs.  He should have been in high school going to prom, hanging with his friends, instead he was playing professional ball. In comparison, last year Jay Bruce, McCutchen, and Maybin were all 19 years old.  Also, by all accounts, and this may be a reflection of his character, but he wasnt trying at all in low A, because he was bored with the competition.  While it would have certainly been better for him to have "tried", I think you cant hold it too far against him since he was still so young. If he continues to display this behavior though, this will be a negative sign for the future.

He didnt have the awesome years that for example Bruce had, but he has the tools, he actually performed fine, and I look for the Dbacks to move him up to high A ball for sure.  I have a feeling that we may see him at AA before the end of the year.  I believe in his bat, and I am glad that the Dbacks moved him to CF in order to speed up the process of him reaching the majors and to allow him to concentrate on hitting.

Giants '08

by z4 landshark on Nov 26, 2006 8:23 PM EST   0 recs

good post...
...glad to see not everyone is so 'what have you done for me lately'....Last year BA was saying that Justin could have been #1...He was their #2 prospect without having played at all...do people have such short memories? How in the hell does Billy Butler pass him up on our list? horrible in my opinion, but hey, that's what i get for moving to a different country when the minorleagueball top 100 is going on, right?

I go:
Upton
Maybin (another physical specimen)

Bruce
Cutch

I separate them because Maybin and Upton are supposed to be on another level...as far as tools for a teenager are concerned....I love Bruce and Cutch, and it should be seen as no slight against them that they had to be drafted with Upton and Maybin...hey, some guys were picked in the same draft as Michael Jordan too...

by daveh33 on Nov 27, 2006 5:31 AM EST to parent up   0 recs

Lack of effort
is really my biggest issue with Upton at this point.  Guys usually try or they don't.  It's not like his brother, where he was stuck at the same level for the third consecutive year.  The fact that he didn't try hard his first year as a professional shows me that he lacks the internal drive to work to reach his potential.

by Brickhaus on Nov 27, 2006 11:05 AM EST to parent up   0 recs

i see your point...
...but after only one half-assed low-A ball season? Guys go through un-motivated funks all the time...Justin Morneau just said that he had to be benched this year before he woke up...it seems like it worked...Ken Griffey Jr. v 2.0 is too much to ignore when all the kid needs is a good coach or something else to light a fire in him...

by daveh33 on Nov 27, 2006 2:03 PM EST to parent up   0 recs

Upton
Upton is my #1 outfield prospect...I'd take him before any others.

My order:
Upton
Bruce
McCutchen
Maybin

by limozeen on Nov 26, 2006 9:55 PM EST   0 recs

Can't wait till Maybin
proves the "critics" wrong. Sigh

by Bondomania on Nov 27, 2006 10:29 PM EST   0 recs

Why so bitter?
So he's not as flawless as once thought. This is a prospect that K'd well over 100 times in less than 400 ABs. He had a ridiculous BABIP, and his stats scream "slap hitter" this year.

I've seen your other posts where you're mad at the idea that his season wasn't all that amazing, and that he's overrated right now.

But you can't really deny facts can you?

by SenorGato88 on Nov 29, 2006 9:59 AM EST to parent up   0 recs

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