Matt Eddy's BA APPY chat

[RedSox]

I'm reading it now and I'm wondering if he's drunk.

Daniel (Toronto): Rays C Justin O'Conner's numbers are just ugly. Besides where he was drafted, what qualifies him to rank 15th on this list??

Matthew Eddy: With theses lists we attempt to reflect the opinions and evaluations of league personnel. I can assure you that managers who watched C Justin O'Conner on a daily basis came away impressed with his throwing arm and power, believing that he'll be a plus receiver with experience. If that comes to pass, he'll have nailed two of the three most important tools for a big league catcher: fielding and arm strength. Now, hitting is the third bigee and O'Conner has not shown that yet. But compare his progress with where a big league catcher like a Kelly Shoppach was at when he was 19.

Shoppach was riding pine at Baylor when he was 19. At 20 he hit .296/.439/.528 then .397/.463/.654 before he was drafted and started off in the FSL. Hitting MiLB pitching was never Shoppach's problem, (career .261/.349/.472). If you can't hit then you'd better be a plus defender right out of the box and O'Conner isn't. Bad comp.

And then later on he says on Drury:

" He makes consistent line-drive contact and can square up the best fastballs, and that's really the name of the game when you're projecting players this young."

Didn't he just relegate being able to hit as the third most important part of being a prospect?

And then on the second youngest position player in the league:

Matthew Eddy: "I've got to be honest: I think I whiffed by excluding Burlington RF Jorge Bonifacio from the Top 20."

Well at least he's honest. Badler never would have admitted he missed someone.