Down On The Farm: Baseball America Prospect Chat

Here are a few excerpts from Friday's prospect chat over at Baseball America:

Ben (Leland Grove): If you had to pick one team's farm system as the most impressive overall at present, who would it be and why?

Matthew Eddy: I'm really coming around on the Royals. I liked Moustakas, Hosmer, Myers and Lamb perhaps more than most coming into the year, and they certainly have done nothing to extinguish that flame this year. The Braves and Phillies would also have to be in the discussion, but what separates the Royals is the two elite hitters at the upper levels.

The Phillies? After Domonic Brown, all of their best prospects are either in High A or Low A.

AG (San Jose): Where do you see Chris Nelson 5 years from now, Starting SS. 2bman, 3bman or just utility player? Looks like he is finally living up to that potential, no?

Matthew Eddy: For a player who's taken so long to matriculate to the majors, I'll take the under on Nelson, who went 9th overall to the Rox in 2004. So that's bat-oriented utility player.

He was highly ranked several years ago and it appears injuries dimmed the shine off his star. I wonder if he could be the Rockies second baseman in 2011.

mick (cali): Brandon Belt is quite a polarizing prospect. So what is your take... future star, average big leaguer, or the next Giants 4A player?

Matthew Eddy: Cautiously optimistic, but as with any prospect, I want to see results in Double-A and beyond.

He's hitting .370 at AA Richmond. i wonder if he ends the season hitting .370.

Ken Rule (Lakewood CA): Hi Matt. So has Luebke passed up Castro on the San Diego Minor League Depth Chart? I thought Castro was the bomb, but now??? Does Luebke project that much higher than Castro?

Matthew Eddy: A lot of people appear to be jumping off the Simon Castro bandwagon. Sure, he was terrible in the Futures Game and in the Texas League all-star game, but that's nothing compared to how terrible he was in Rookie ball in '06 and '07. He's come a long way in three years and certainly has the capacity to overcome his latest struggles. In others words, few prospects will work harder to refine their craft than will Castro. Just give him time. Castro and Luebke appear to be best-case No. 3 starters in the big leagues.

People are jumping off the Castro bandwagon real quick. He gave up 3 runs in 5 innings last night, but the strikeout rate is down.