I think he’s a very good prospect but he’s DEFINITELY over hyped. That being said, he seems to be maturing well.

Is it possible to overhype guys posting numbers like that with plus defense in CF at AA at age 21?

jesus he’s skinny. Not that this should limit anyone’s expectations, and more than a few guys are skinny and still perform (see: Upton, BJ), but until I saw him live for the first time last week at the AA All Star Game, I had no idea he was a toothpick. With 9 HR’s and 26 Doubles in the Eastern League, there’s some obvious pop in his bat. The BB:K rate is what excites me the most right now, given his age and relative “rawness”. Big fan.

Yeah, he deserves a lot of hype. Very good athlete who has always shown a good eye at the plate with a track record of steady improvement. Finding 2 out of those 3 traits in a young player makes for a pretty good prospect – finding all 3 to go along with good defense in CF makes for an outstanding prospect.

Toolsy, young, could hit the majors next year. I’m a bit skeptical about if he’ll hit his ceiling or not. I believe that he’ll be a .290/.360/.460 type player over his entire career, and he’ll have the gift of longevity to up his career numbers

My little crystal ball: .292/.359/.462, 289 HR, 387 SB, 2013 K, 3 Gold Gloves

At age 26, he’ll have some ridiculous .321/.409/.576 season with 33 HR and 41 SB.

Only overhyped if someone is predicting perennial 30 HR power.

Both played in AA at 21. Ruben had better numbers than Jackson and flamed out. Bernie had a little better eye, less power at that age, and turned in a great, sub-hall of fame level career.

Rivera at 21 in A: .292/.402/.523 in half season, 9 homers in 256 at bats, 37/71 BB/K, 16 steals 8 caught. He then tore up AAA for about 150 at-bats.

Bernie Williams: .281/.409/.414, 39 steals and 18 caught stealing in AA at 21. Only 8 homers in 400+ at bats, and he was repeating (he’d actually reached AAA in his age 20 season).

For some reason I am reminded of Ruppert Jones. Anyway, Austin Jackson sounds like a ballplayer, but I think he is over-hyped. Top 15 in BA? They love toolsy guys, plus he has the ratios stat heads at least find decent. He obviously could be very good indeed. I guess he is one of the top position players, in a slightly weak period for hitters. I think there are 15 pitchers I’d rather take the chance with. McCutchen is same age and a level ahead. Wonder how Austin will do in AAA.

John, I think you made the comment in the prospect book that asking how good Rivera was was like asking how good looking is Teri Hatcher, is she an A or A-. That got me in trouble because once I picked up a magazine sitting on our coffee table to see what Teri Hatcher looked like. My wife thought I had a thing for Teri Hatcher and didn’t believe me when I said I was just trying to see how good Ruben Rivera was.