But with Daytona out of the race, and Peoria chugging for the playoffs, there was no point to make any move unless it was so absolutely obvious to make, and even then, maybe not even. Austin was a Indy League signing – he wasn’t going to be high on the charts.

BLou post here soon

I didn’t disagree with a bottom 5 ranking last year. With few blue chip prospects and few upper level assets, while I liked our potential, I understood the ranking. Now, I thought we would’ve been in that 21-25 range, but that’s not a big deal to me.

If we aren’t in the top 20 this year, I’ll be surprised. Actually, I think there’s an outside shot of a top 12 spot, but more likely, we will sit in that 15-25 spot. We’ve probably got the best system in the NL Central right now, and probably one of the better systems in the NL in general (for some reason, feels like the AL is stronger … pondering it right now, the Braves have a solid system, as do the Marlins and Phillies, Mets are a bit iffy as are the Nats. NL West? Dodgers … we’re on par basically, actually probably a bit ahead post-Bell trade, D-backs system is weak. Giants are solid, Rockies are solid, and the Padres are better than people give them credit for, but I think we’re probably ahead with Latos likely to cross the threshold.

As for the Jackson pick, I was always okay with it. Never understood the hate people had for it. Never understood the love for AJ Pollock that so many Cubs fans had. I agreed with Pollock’s general rating (late first), but I wouldn’t want to pick a guy with that type of skillset unless he was as close to a sure thing as possible. Even then, there are your Trevor Crow’s and there are your Jacoby Ellsbury’s. I feel like guys with Pollock’s skillset can be found later. Even if Brett busts and AJ succeeds, I would still be pleased with the pick. I was fine with the pick for a couple reasons:

a) Adds much needed upside to the system
b) The K’s were overstated, imo. He had a huge jump in K’s from his sophomore to junior campaign. Was it a concern? Yes. Was it end of the world troubling, as many claimed? I never saw that.
c) The reports were good about him with wood bats.

I’ve been impressed with Jackson so far, more because of the reports suggesting that he knows how to handle the bat, in regards to situational hitting. Add in the positive reports on his clubhouse attitude. That said, perhaps because I expected him to be fine in the lower levels, I’m still not reading too much into anything he does until at least Daytona. He’ll be there next year, though (unless they get really bold and bump him to Tennessee … I’d have a hard time seeing that, but who knows).

and at the end of the day, rankings are simply to engender discussion.

I think in general (not you) but some people have this perception that the difference between a bad system and a solid system is a lot. It really isn’t. It could be as little as a difference one draft. Looking at where we sit right now, if it wasn’t for the 2008 draft, our ranking would probably be in the lower 3rd again.

Houston has improved some this year, but their upper levels are pretty barren. Their most intriguing chips are largely lower down. The top three of Jason Castro, Jordan Lyle, and Ross Seaton is fairly nice, but a lot of unknown with the latter two, although both are promising.

Charlie over at bucsdugout did a top 30 for the Pirates the other day and Dejan Kovacevic did one as well. Too lazy to dig for the links right now. Here’s my take on comparing us – Pedro Alvarez would be the top prospect in either system, but I think a case can be made that 2-8 would be Cubs prospects. Maybe Tabata sneaks in there, but at some point, he actually has to show power, and not just be a guy expected to develop some power. Buying the Pirates system means buying their young talent. I like Marte and Rudy Owens, but in general, I’m not willing to buy their system solely on account of their young talent. They’ve had an excellent draft, so in a couple years, this could be one of the elite systems in the game, but right now, it reminds me of our systems a couple years ago, one top dog, a few decent chips following, and then a whole bunch of eithe upper level cup of tea guys or lower level upside guys.

The Cardinals system was probably a bit overhyped at the start of the year, solid and better than ours, but now, post-deadline, even with Shelby Miller and Wagner Mateo, it’s been stripped. I have to ponder the Brewers/Reds more. The Brewers largely seem to be stocked at the lower levels, with draftess like Jake Odorizzi and Brett Lawrie near the top of their charts. They’ve dealt some filler off. If Alcides Escobar still qualifies, maybe their system is up there. I doubt it, though, and with little pitching in the upper levels (there’s some decent arms, a lefty whose name is slipping me that I like as a sleeper) and the bulk of the talent in the lower levels, I think Melvin made the right choice in not getting too aggressive this year. The Reds … off the top, I think we’re better, but that’s one I’ll have to ponder some more. The loss of Stewart and Roenicke doesn’t help, but there’s still some raw talent, although some of the bats seemed to have stalled a bit, off the top.