Heelo ScottAZ,

There were solid reasons to keep Barton in AA to start 2007 - one reason was the one I mentioned above; it was a SSS, though the numbers were certainly very solid.

The other main reason was because of who was ahead of him at AAA Buffalo - while OF Jason Cooper and OF Jonathan Van Every could have been DFAed (and Van Every just signed with Boston within the last 7-10 days,) OF Brad Snyder, OF Shin-Soo Choo, and even OF Ben Francisco were all at AAA Buffalo for a good portion of the 2007 season, and while Snyder's track record of success at AA was arguably worse than Barton's, his track record was longer and the Indians needed to find out if Snyder could truly turn into the power threat many thought he could be.  Plus, Snyder is no older than Barton (a month younger than Barton, in fact.)

As for Choo and Francisco, they both were more experienced and accomplished than Barton was, and Francisco is essentially the same age as Barton (Francisco was born in Oct. 1981, Barton in April 1982,) while Choo is essentially a year younger than Barton (July 1982.)  So, essentially, Barton was blocked by prospects that had more established track records, and in Choo's and Francisco's cases, more distinguished track records than Barton's, due to performing well or very well at a younger age at AAA.

Combine that with the fact that Barton only had 151 ABs at AA in 2006, and I don't think it was unreasonable to have him start back at AA Akron to begin 2007.  He didn't spend all of 2007 at AA, and in a SSS, he only hit .264/.333/.333 in 87 AAA ABs, so it's not like he tore up AAA when he finally reached there, though 87 ABs isn't really a large enough sample size to determine his ability to handle AAA, just like 151 ABs wasn't a large enough sample size to determine his ability to handle AA.  

Also, if I recall correctly, Barton got off to a slower start at AA in 2007, especially in regards to his relatively weak BB/K ratio, taking him a while to get his numbers closer to the numbers he put up at AA Akron in 2006 (and not reaching those same high 2006 numbers and ratios at AA in 2007,) so overall, I don't think it was unreasonable to have him start 2007 at AA Akron.

In terms of his ability to help at the ML level as a Rule 5 pick, I think he has some interesting tools that could be useful right now - especially his speed (20 SB/9 CS at AA Akron, 21 SB/10 CS overall between AA and AAA in 2007) and his defense (can play all 3 OF spots at an average to above-average level.)  Offensively, he could probably put together some solid games, though I suspect he'll probably struggle a bit as well, especially in terms of BB/K ratio, as he was a bit streaky to start 2007 in terms of having too many Ks and too few BBs.  In addition, he probably won't hit for much power - at his best, he might have a 20-25 HR season or two, but I suspect that won't be in 2008, so Barton will probably not supply much power to whichever team chooses him in the Rule 5 Draft.

Just my 2 cents.  :-)

Take care and have a great day!