Angel Villalona

Maybe he should take a look in the mirror if he really thinks that?

I would also add that there appears to be a wave of new Giants fans, joining in the 2000's, and newbies like that sometimes 1) think they know it all, 2) don't mind telling you that they know it all, 3) the internet seems to embolden people who don't actually know anything, 4) lack social graces, and 5) don't know the history of baseball, let alone the Giants.  

It reminds me of the company I used to work for, new kids from college would come in and think they know how things should be run in a consulting firm, how things should be in any company, and their naivety left them very unhappy with what I considered a good situation for a company.  There are no perfect companies, but there are good situations and bad situations, and hopefully since then they've learned the difference.

To rwperu34:  yes, long way away from making the majors, but you can say that about any high school prospect out there, or even most college prospects, the vast majority of players will take 4-6 years to make the majors, if ever.

Here's what I think you need to take account of about what you saw in Villalona, rw:  he was 16 years old competing in a league of mainly 18-19 year olds (from what I remember).  So if he look like a little leaguer, well, he's that age.  And he will be 17 for 2008.  And Miguel Cabrera still is not impressing anyone at 3B, but his hitting makes up for that greatly.  But other players figure out how to play defense in college, when they are in their late teens, early 20's, so he might do that too, it is up to him to take that upon himself and develop.

Still, he hit well enough to be among the upper tier of the league, prompting Baseball America to rank him the best prospect in the league.  

And I've heard all the talk about him being huge, and since you saw him, I'll admit that I've never seen him in person, but the pictures I've seen of him this season did not show a body as bad as I was led to believe, he did not look fat and out of shape and all that, certainly not Prince Fielder huge, but again, I'm judging from photos, not from actual experience.  Perhaps John or someone else who saw Villalona can share their opinions on Villalona's body size.  And if he turns out to be comparable with Prince Fielder, I think I can handle that, easily.

Upper minors in two years (SS in 2008, A/A+ in 2009, then make AA in 2010), when he is only 19 years old, is pretty special in my mind.  Justin Upton got so much accolades for making the upper minors then majors this year at 20.  Heck, making the upper minors in your early 20's - let alone teens - is pretty darn good, there are not that many players doing that every year.

And if you ignore his skill set that he has shown thus far, because of the huge chance that this guy doesn't amount to anything, then I have to assume that you don't really count any prospect who are below AA as a good prospect, so you would have missed players in the pre-season, like Tim Lincecum, Homer Bailey, Joba Chamberlain, et al, who rose up through their systems fast and made the majors.  And you will basically ignore any rising prospect under 20 years old, like Delmon Young, Joe Maurer, Justin Upton, who showed a great set of skills, but hadn't made the upper minors yet.

And that's fine if you use the tactic that in prospecting for ballplayers, you go for players who are relatively more ready for the majors.  

But I think most people want to know earlier than that who are the prospects we should put on our radar as potential major leaguers, with the knowing caveat that they still have a lot of development to go.  

Sure, he might hit a speed bump and fall flat on his face, but that doesn't negate the physical gifts that have allowed him to play well against players who are 2-3 years older than he is, players who are more physically mature than he is, yet he's the one who is better than they are.

I think most fans would take it if one of their prospects is rated B+, that's still very good, I think there would be no shame if he made that grade again in 2008.  If he never make an A/A- grade, then I think that would be disappointing, but he'll be only 17 next season, I can be patient, a B+ would be great as that means he continued to do well against players much older than he is.

I think the fact that his grade is the highest of anybody that far out shows how special his skill set is among those who follow prospects professionally.  Skills that are so special that in last season's rankings, Villalona ranked in some analyst's Top 100 rankings, even though he hadn't played one out or AB in professional ball yet.

It's like the difference between a Mozart and regular piano players.  He might be raw and still a long way to go to get to being a special player, but he has shown the skills at an early age that suggests that he could be a great one, not just good, but great.  Yes, he probably fall far short of that, but until that happens, his special skills should be acknowledged to the extent that he exhibits them.  Thus far, it is great enough for many experts to rate him very highly.

Giants fans need to be reminded how BA raised the hype to unrealistic levels on Jesse Foppert with Angel.

Great potential, and the highest ceiling of probably any Giants hitting prospect since McCovey, but he's got a long ways to go before he's close to that kind of player.