Come on, he played in Rookie Ball and didn’t hit for power or average. The fielding, plate discipline, and athleticism is all there but he is older than MadBum and Alderson. A .725 OPS?? I think he needs to prove more than he has for himself to become a legit prospect. Being a first-rounder doesn’t lock you in for greatness.

Maybe the reports on Jesse English were from the past? This year in San Jose, he looked ripped and in incredible shape. Said he worked hard all summer, and looks to be turning things around after injuries derailed him early. There was an article on him on milb.com about how he was the team leader of the staff in San Jose, and he couldn’t have been more cool to everyone. Plus all his teammates laughed at his rookie cards of how he used to look.

Angel’s K/BB by month last year:
April 21/6
May 26/5
June 31/2
July 21/2
August 22/3

In addition, his LD% was actually at it’s highest in June (24) and May (17.6). His GB% was highest in April (50) and August (48.8). Honestly, I think the idea that he had any major sort of progression through the season last year is overplayed. Pretty much across the board he was much better in May than in June; his August performance was buoyed by a .351 BABIP. He showed good raw power throughout the season (again two best HR months, May and August) but his awful plate discipline (refinement) was equally on display throughout the season.

Give him a season to prove himself behind the plate before declaring him a terrible catcher. He’s fairly new to the position and was playing his first games of pro ball; he might not be acclamated to it yet.

I don’t know anything about him, could someone enlighten me please?

I can’t see Posey much higher than a B+ myself. Disagree on Villalona though, youth is nice but you can’t give him much more than a B because of the horrid plate discipline.

Posey was considered as sure a thing as anyone in the 2008 draft, albeit with a lower ceiling than some of the other elite prospects. I like the A-, although I can see some reasoning (but not a lot) for dropping it to a B+.

I see a large step down from Buster to AnVil. I would probably rank Buster as a low A- and AnVil as a high B. Actually, a high B probably overstates AnVil’s case to me. Despite the huge potential of Madison Bumgarner, I could actually see Buster as the Giants’ #1 prospect, given the uncertainty of pitchers. I see AnVil as being much closer to Tim Alderson than to either Buster or Mad Bum.

By the way, you didn’t see me downgrading Tim Lincecum for potential injury problems. Certainly he’s not out of the woods yet, and the Giants pushed him hard the last quarter of the season, but I think he motion keeps much of the strain off his arm.

Lincecum would seem to me to be most vulnerable in his core — but that is the area he has emphasized for both strength and flexibility for close to 20 years now. Tim is built almost identically to his dad and is said to have a very similar motion. Chris was said to be clocked at 88 mph at the age of 52 when Chris was pitching batting practice for the team Tim’s older brother Sean played for.

Regarding the other Tim (Alderson), he is said to rarely hit over 92 mph on the gun, but his curve ball and poise already appear to be at a major league level. He either doesn’t have confidence in his change or doesn’t feel he has to use it, as he rarely uses the pitch.

IMO the key to Alderson’s becoming a good major league starter will be his ability to develop the change up to help keep left-handed batters off balance. At High A San Jose (Yes, I know the way.), Tim limited right-handed hitters to a paltry .201 batting average, while lefties hit .265 against him.

It would help Alderson if he could add a little to his fastball, but I think the change is the key for him. Tim seems to have good speed differential from his fastball with his change, but he isn’t yet consistent in his speed on the pitch. As long as there is enough speed differential, I’m not sure I see the varying speed of the change up as a real problem.

Tim Lincecum added his change up prior to the 2007 season, and it helped him fashion an 0.29 ERA at AAA Fresno after not having pitched higher than High A, the precise level Alderson pitched at last season. Timmy Two doesn’t have the stuff of The Freak, but I believe the proper improvement in his change up will round out the equipment needed for him to become a successful major league starter.

And I think John would point out injuries; nobody’s ever a lock to work things out in the majors. I haven’t been reading this site for that long, but if Lincecum didn’t get an A+, MadBum definitely won’t.

I would take David Price over Madison Bumgarner. As for the A+, keep in mind that John ultimately downgraded Tim Lincecum from an A to an A-.

By the way, I would rank Kevin Pucetas ahead of Joe Martinez. I think each of them could be headed for the ROOGY position, but I think Kevin is the better of the two. Martinez has never shown a real ability to get lefty hitters out at any level in which he has pitched.

Jorge was my major sleeper pick for the system last year. He had a rough adjustment to playing in the US, but by the end of the season I think he was starting to show what he’s capable of. I really look for some big things from him this year. If he follows his brother’s path, he’ll stay in XST and go to short season NWL to compete against much older players.

The Giants’ position prospects do have a bit of versatility, which should serve both them and the Giants well.

Angel Villalona is a first baseman — who used to be and apparently would like to again be a third baseman. AnVil is said to take ground balls at third on a daily basis. With his big bat and big size, AnVil appears ticketed for first base, but should the Giants draft a heavy-hitting first baseman with the #6 overall pick in 2009, who knows?

Pablo Sandoval has now played third base (his original position), catcher (his most valuable position) and first base (perhaps the position at which he looked best) in the major leagues in his brief time there. Pablo appears likely to be the Giants’ starting third baseman in 2009 — unless they trade for or sign a third baseman, in which case he would move over to first. If Bengie Molina were injured, Pablo would likely become the everyday catcher.

Unless, of course, Buster Posey were ready, in which case the Giants’ eventual catcher might be called up to start while Molina was out. Posey was an All-American shortstop as a freshman and has played each of the nine positions in a single game. It is possible the Giants will capitalize on both his and Sandoval’s versatility something like the Yankees once did with Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Berra and Howard were mostly outfielders when not catching, but you get the idea.

Which brings us to Gillaspie. If Villona or a draftee plays first and Sandoval, Villalona or a combination of Sandoval and Posey plays third, where would that leave Conor? Well, Gillaspie has been said to be athletic enough to play second base, so perhaps he would switch to second.

Except that the Giants see Nick Noonan as their second baseman of the future. But there is also a possibility of Nick’s switching to shortstop, where his good hitting would stand out more.

But of course the Giants already have Emmanuel Burriss, Edihire Adrianza, Brandon Crawford, Brian Bocock (last year’s opening-day starter) and Charlie Culberson at short. And this spring they will have Kevin Frandsen, Eugenio Velez and Burriss battling for the starting position in 2009.

The Giants may be a little short on outfield prospects who haven’t already played at the major league level, but behind the dish and around the infield they have versatility — and more than a few legitimate prospects and a handful of suspects.

This is my round-about way of saying, yeah, Gillaspie could wind up at second base, although I would say the Giants still look at him as primarily a hot sacker.