Baseball Prospectus - Chat with Kevin Goldstein

Chat: Kevin Goldstein

Welcome to Baseball Prospectus' Tuesday March 17, 2009 2:00 PM ET chat session with Kevin Goldstein.

Drop in on Kevin Goldstein's chat to talk about the prospect landscape and all things Baseball Prospectus.

Kevin Goldstein: Hey kids, Top o' the morning and all that crap. The queue is loaded with questions, so lets hit it or whatever all the cool kids are saying these days.

LindInMoskva (DC): When evaluating Alicedes Escobar I think you have to ask two questions: 1. How likely will Escobar reach the offensive/defensive production of a Davey Concepcion or Larry Bowa? 2. How valuable was that production? What would be your answer to those questions?

Kevin Goldstein: We first off, lets get this out of the way -- Dave Concepcion was a very valuable offensive shortstop for his time, Bowa was night. They were VERY VERY different players at the plate. They were both outstanding defensive players, like Escobar is. I think Escobar ends up a plus defender who hits for a nice average but offers little else offensively. That's still a good ballplayer.

Dan McKay (Albuquerque, N.M.): Every once in awhile, a high-ranked pitcher (ex. Ross Detwiler) fails to bring his velocity or good stuff into the pros. Are there any warning signs or ways to spot who's going to have more trouble than expected in the pros -- whether because of the five-man rotation or some other reason?

Kevin Goldstein: If you know what they are, I know plenty of teams willing to pay you good money for the knowledge. There's a lot going on in a discussion like this, as forgetting about college for a sec, there are TONS of players who never throw as hard as they did in high school.

Dave (Denver): Kevin, Stephen Strasburg is pitching lights-out for San Diego State. Where will he rank in your prospect list when he is drafted?

Kevin Goldstein: In the last chat I said I'd have him number three overall. I was talking to a scouting director last week and he asked me the same question, I said three and he just started laughing before saying, "that's WAY too low."

Marcus (Silver Spring): Jordan Zimermann is tearing it up in Spring Training, what have you heard about him so far? & Does he make the Nats rotation?

Kevin Goldstein: He's been nothing short of excellent, with the scouting reports matching the numbers. I'm not sure he breaks camp with them still, but I bet he's up by mid-season. If I re-did the top 100, I'd move him up a bit.

Kevin Goldstein: Folks, Kevin just had a power outage. Curses! We'll move your unanswered questions to a chat on Thursday at 3pm ET--the link will be up momentarily. Sorry for the inconvenience.