3.18.2008

HOW MANY HITS?

Depending on how you count them, either Elvis or the Beatles or (rolls eyes) some hip-hop artist has the most hit records. For many years, Elvis was credited by Billboard with two hits for one, since he would have a record go Top 40 in both the R'n'B and Pop charts. By the way, back in the day, R'n'B was code for 'music made by black folks' and Pop was code for 'music acceptable to white suburban families.'

Then the Beatles and the Stones and the rest of the British Invasion came over, playing Chuck Berry and Little Richard and other black artists, but looking reasonably wholesome (well, white, anyway) and pretty quick the distinction between the two charts dried up. But as a convention, for years, Elvis was credited with way more hits than he actually ever had, thus propping up his increasingly-limpid reputation as the kitsch 'King of Rock n'Roll'.

Now, you may be wondering what all of this had to do with BARB. Just this. Right now, outfits like Baseball America have their 'Greatest Hits' list of Top Prospects, and it's interesting to see how many BARB players are already on it (30 percent or so), and how many players were taken by each outfit. If you wonder why it is the Eastern Division has looked so dominant, here's your answer: those clubs have pipelines of talent feeding the parent roster. But don't go overboard with this list. It doesn't prove that the Finches are the best at drafting talent, or that Oakeyland hasn't drafted any good players. Remember, this is a snapshot of a certain type of talent who hasn't yet contributed, but who is high enough in people's minds to be a likely contributor. There were lots of names left off the particular list I'm using, and lots of arguments about who to leave and who to take.

Anyway, the raw numbers....

1. Darwin (8 players in Top 100)
2. Brooklyn (5)
3. Yuma (4)
4. Black Mesa (T,3)
4. Pottsylvania (T,3)
6. Arizona (T,2)
6. Frostbite Falls (T,2)
6. Worcester (T, 2)
9. San Jose (1)
10. Las Vegas (none)
11. Oakeyland (none)
12. S-Mart (none)

BY DIVISION:

Eastern Division (17)
Western Division (10)
Central Division (3)

Now, if this survey had been taken three years ago, then Las Vegas would've been right up there with Prince Fielder, J.J. Hardy, Matt Holliday, Kevin Youkilis, etc. etc. So don't take this to heart, but if you're low in the talent, you probably need to beef up your minor-league system this draft.

9 comments:

ejcMOABS said...

Sorry there Vegas, Prince was my find and I think I got Utley in the deal for Prince. Due to the position that Utley plays, the fact he had 103 RBIs in 103 games as a secondbaseman, Utley is more valuable, especially with Big Ryan Howard at first for me. Youkilis is not as good as some may state, but Holliday was a terrific find. I do think taht Holliday is a product of Coors though. For the record, I have traded a ton of young prospects, which I brought into the league. In return, I have received talent like Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens (on HGH-- damnit) and others who helped me win the title.

ejcMOABS said...

OH and I could be wrong, but I have 7 prospects in BA's Top 100. Maybin, McCuctheon, Tabata, Barton, Volstad, Andrus, Balester, Niemann.

cjm06 said...
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cjm06 said...
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cjm06 said...

i have seven. buchholz, price, davis, hurley, walker, elbert and patton (patton is questionable cause he tore his labrum :( )on BA's top 100

On ESPN, i have five. elbert and patton were left off

Andrew Haynes said...

Well, I actually have three players in the Top 100. Reid Brignac, #39, was the player who wasn't counted for my team. Of course, Jay Bruce and Evan Longoria are #1 and #2. Beat that!

Scott Hatfield . . . . said...

Gentlemen: I should've made clear that the list was of players that your team drafted, not ones that you currently possess.

For example, Reid Brignac was drafted by Darwin and Scott Elbert drafted by Pottsylvania, that's why they were listed with their current teams.

And I might add that it's cashing in the minor-league depth that allowed Darwin to go from sub-.500 to winning their first divisional title.

However, as far as this year is concerned I would also rather have Frostbite's two two prospects than my top two (Kershaw and Wood). We'll see how things play out.

ejcMOABS said...

Well in that case then, I have six, instead of five which is posted. McCutcheon was the only one I did not draft.

Scott Hatfield . . . . said...

Ah. It's tough to keep track of this. Now that we're allowing multiple draft picks to be swapped, it'll get even harder to track. Oh, well.