ackley. if chapman was right handed he would have no more talent or polish then jeremy jeffress and probably no less expierience with the herb. chapman is coveted by mlb teams because lefties with that kind of fastball are rare. if he was right handed he would still have rare velocity but would not be unique in his quality as a pitching prospect. ackley as a 1b would be odd because there is no one to compare him to. i would imagine john olerud with 30 sb. witch i think would be way more valuable than ant 1b in the minors including smoak.

Chapman might be…
Ackely will be…

All the difference in the world.

Took Ackley.

It’s a slam dunk for me. One is a polished hitter with a very high floor and a Sizemore-esque ceiling. The other is a Cuban IFA. Much riskier.

I have Chapman slightly above him on my normal top 100, though.

Does your league have a specific CF spot? If it doesn’t and you don’t think Ackley is a second baseman, Chapman becomes a bit more interesting.

I like Ackley a lot and I have him about 10 spots higher than Chapman, but I’m not sure if he’ll be a better fantasy asset if he’s simply listed as OF.

Yes, other than Stras and Matusz (and perhaps Feliz), I think I’d take Chapman over pretty much any other pitching prospect: Hellickson, Perez, Davis, Friedrich, Moore, Drabek, Lyles, Mejia, and Kelly. Yes, there are safer choices. But Chapman is the poster child for “high risk, super high reward.” My 2 cents.

as they say he is, then I think 2B shouldn’t be too bad for him. He played SS in high school and then 1B/CF in college, following a career line a lot like Skip Schumaker for the Cardinals who also just switched to 2B. I’m not saying he will transition to second as easily, but there is a relatively recent example of how this move could work out. It really comes down to how well he turns the two and how his coaches are.

Do you take the risk and upside of Chapman or the safety of Ackley? My vote is for Ackley as I think Chapman has more risk than upside at this point. Regarding Ackley, I keep reading that he could be a future batting champ. What kind of numbers (average, power, speed) can we expect during his peak years? Will they match Sizemore or bit a bit different?

Ackley definitely has the higher floor no question although I believe Chapman has the higher ceiling but that ceiling comes with extreme risk as well, Ackley much less so. There are so many unknowns about Chapman it would be tough to recommend him over Ackley, but arent all prospects a crapshoot. I would probably base this selection on the current foundation of your team. If you are in desperate need of a bat take Ackley if a pitcher take Chapman. Now if your foundation is equal than it comes down to your philosophy. If your a gambler take Chapman if your more conservative take Ackley.