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brewerguy71 wrote:

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He needs about 6 inches of height and 2 seconds of speed to be regarded as a viable prospect in my book.

While you're entitled to your opinion there's simply no way he's as slow as you make him out to be given his pre draft 60 time. Some proof of a current 60 time would be appreciated, as given coach32sm's comments I think we're all curious to see where Angel stands speed wise.

I said it last year, all year, and I'll keep saying it, there is no way Salome isn't a top 100 prospect. Say what you want about his defense, I won't defend him there, but his bat will play, he's easily one of the top 40 hitters in MiLB. He just doesn't get any love from BA what so ever, and never has... he got what? 1 whole mention in the hot sheet last year? Who was a hotter hitter than him? He batted over .350 in AA for goodness sakes, in a traditional pitcher's league. The hot sheet has nothing to do with defense and never has, they just have a bias towards him.

I got that you were exaggerating for effect, however you have a history of bashing Salome including saying that his arm was "average at best". You're certainly entitled to your opinion but to continually stretch the facts for effect is a disservice to the young man. As for tools he has a cannon for an arm, can hit for average, and can hit for power. He's a legit 3 tool prospect now and with a little work could be a legit 4 tool prospect if he cleans up his defense. To me the Hit tools are the biggest deal so there's reason to be optimistic about him.

The size and projectability comment are one in the same, not 2 separate knocks against him, he's not projectable because he's short... fine everyone gets that. However when a player makes the biggest jump besides the jump to MLB and tears it up, he's certainly deserving of a little love. To dismiss his accomplishments because he's short isn't justice, it's bigotry.

Lucroy is the better catching prospect today, but Salome has the higher ceiling as a player.

There is a fine line here between realism and trashing players when discussing prospects because their former coaches and family members read the forum which many of us have learned the hard way.

Southern League Batting Leaders by Season

YR    Player                Age Tm  Lg  Lvl Aff  G   AB  R   H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB  SO   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS   SB CS|  PA Out  RC  RC/G  Pos
+---+--------------------+----+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---+--+----+---+---+------+---+
08    Angel Salome           22 HVL SOU AA  MIL  98 367  67 132 30  2 13  83  33  57  .360  .415  .559  .974   3  2| 411 256  83   8.59
07    Josh Kroeger           24 TEN SOU AA  CHC  66 225  40  86 14  2 11  50  27  35  .382  .449  .609 1.058   8  3| 256 149  62  11.03  OF
06    Luis Montanez          24 WTN SOU AA  CHC  38 141  24  52 11  0  2  25  15  26  .369  .438  .489  .927   5  3| 162  97  31   8.47  OF
05    Matt Murton            23 WTN SOU AA  CHC  78 313  46 107 17  4  8  46  29  42  .342  .403  .498  .901  18  5| 350 226  62   7.27  OF
05    Justin Ruggiano        23 JAX SOU AA  LAD  53 161  23  55 10  1  6  29  17  56  .342  .422  .528  .950   8  3| 185 111  38   9.07  OF
04    Bobby Darula           29 CNG SOU AA  CIN  48 153  38  56  8  0  6  27  16  16  .366  .426  .536  .962   8  2| 169  99  36   9.27  OF
04    Napoleon Calzado       27 GRV SOU AA  ATL 119 449  68 161 28  7  8  59  22  59  .359  .389  .506  .895  18  8| 471 296  88   7.58  OF
03    Jeremy Reed            22 BIR SOU AA  CHW  66 242  51  99 17  3  7  43  29  19  .409  .472  .591 1.063  18 13| 271 156  65  10.62  OF
03    Matt Diaz              25 ORL SOU AA  TBD  60 227  32  87 21  0  5  41  19  24  .383  .431  .542  .973   9  5| 246 145  53   9.32  OF
03    Miguel Cabrera         20 CAR SOU AA  FLA  69 266  46  97 29  3 10  59  31  49  .365  .431  .609 1.040   9  4| 297 173  70  10.32  3B
02    Bobby Darula           27 CNG SOU AA  CIN  96 323  48 105 17  4  4  36  43  27  .325  .404  .440  .844  10  3| 366 221  58   6.69  OF
01    Wilson Betemit         19 GRV SOU AA  ATL  47 183  22  65 14  0  5  19  12  36  .355  .395  .514  .909   6  2| 195 120  37   7.86  SS
01    Adam Dunn              21 CNG SOU AA  CIN  39 140  30  48  9  0 12  31  24  31  .343  .439  .664 1.103   6  3| 164  95  41  11.01  OF
01    Jim Rushford           27 HVL SOU AA  MIL  57 187  35  64 16  1  7  30  23  22  .342  .414  .551  .965   3  2| 210 125  42   8.57  OF
00    Chris Saunders         29 CNG SOU AA  CIN  61 200  30  70 15  1  9  37  28  53  .350  .430  .570 1.000   1  6| 228 136  46   8.62  1B
00    Toby Hall              24 ORL SOU AA  TBD  68 271  37  93 14  0  9  50  17  24  .343  .382  .494  .876   3  2| 288 180  51   7.22   C 

Players his age just don't put up those kinds of numbers over a similar number of PAs. You might not like him as a prospect, but his season was certainly noteworthy, especially considering the position he plays.

(edit: added scroll to wide table --1992)