My midseason top 30 list was mere days—nay, perhaps even hours—away.

Huh. I’m not sure what the correct move here is. Does proper etiquette demand that I slash it down, as a budget measure to avoid wasting words on topics already covered? Do I simply say “damn the torpedoes” and forge onward, leading to a hard-fought but ultimately not in doubt naval battle in which the mines of cynicism do more damage to my cause than the guns of Zonis’s rebel fleet? Do I ask him to delete his on the putative grounds that, well, mine is better, and I just got done watching “House” so I’m in a particularly self-centered mood right now? Should I even bother making it better? Should I instead focus on my job, which I will need in order to pay royalties to 74mk for his copyrighted “existential rant in the form of questions” style which I am shamelessly aping in this post?

It’s a head-scratcher, and no mistake.

Cahill
Anderson
Gonzalez
Doolittle
Dixon
Cunningham
Carter
Inoa
DLS
Weeks

I don’t want to move Inoa too high up the list (in fact, I was not going to have him at all, but the a’s are so high on him) because I like numbers. I love Dixon. I think he will move quickly through the system. I’m not sure about Henry Rodriguez. I like him, but if he does not learn control, he won’t make it past AA.

So I’ll post my list like Sickles. I might be a little optimistic but I think we are just so stacked and probably have the most depth of any minor league system even over Tampa. I’m not even listing injured players like DLS and Ross.

1. Trevor Cahill A- (only thing he doesn't have is an overpowering fastball)
 2. Brett Anderson A- (low end Blanton 2.0 high end Mulder 2.0)
 3. Gio Gonzalez A- 
 4. Michel Inoa B+ (Skys the limit only thing that will stop him is injuries)
 5. Sean Doolittle B+ 
 6. James Simmons B+
 7. Chris Carter B+
 8. Aaron Cunningham B
 9. Henry Rodriguez B
10. Vince Mazzaro B
11. Jemile Weeks B-
12. Corey Brown B-
13. Josh Donaldson B-
14. Rashun Dixon C+
15. Arnold Leon C+

We just have incredible depth even our lower end prospects like Herrera has a good chance to contribute at the MLB level at some point. Now if they can use that Harden and Gaudin money to sign Zac Elgie, Brent Warren, Brett Hunter(if healthy), and Nick Maronde we will be really stacked.

Cahill (will prove that movement >>> velocity on a big league level)
Anderson (Mulder 2.0)
Gio ( I saw him pitch against the portland beavers (san diego’s AAA) and worry about his ability to pitch efficiently and go deep in games over the long haul ala Zito.)
Doolittle (remember that Ryan Zimmerman hit something like 7 homers while also playing for Virginia his last season, who has a cavernous home stadium, so the new power might be real)
Simmons (I worry about the dead arm but seems to be a solid bet to be a part of the rotation soon)
HRod ( if you happen to find some missing control please return it to the A’s c/o Henry Rodriguez)
Carter (love the light tower power)
Corey Brown (can he cut the K’s?)
Cunningham ( Is he better than Tbuck or Matt Murton?)
Inoa (man i was obnoxious when i was 16)
DLS (TJ has excellent recovery rates)

Hit a grand slam today. His 4th homer of the year.

He also has 5 triples, but oddly enough zero doubles.

He’s out hitting bonus babies Beckham and Skipworth. But I don’t know how comparable the AZL and GCL are.

1. Cahill
2. Anderson

3. Gio
4. Carter (another HR today)
5. Doolittle

6. Simmons
7. Inoa
8. Leon
9. Cunningham
10. HRod
11. Jose Garcia (think FDLS after the injury)
12. FDLS

13. Mazzaro
14. Sulentic
15. C Brown
16. Italiano
17. Demel
18. Carignan
19. Donaldson
20. Petit
21. Guzman
22. Patterson
23. Bankston (dude’s still only 24)
24. Banwart

25. Weeks (this shows you how much I hate this selection)
26. Powell
27. Pennington
27. Rosario
28. Dixon
29. Recker
30. Robnett
31. Putnam
31. Lansford
32. Bailey
33. Horton
34. J Herrera
35. J Mitchell
36. Ross
37. Christian
38. David Thomas (a personal favorite who’s now hitting in the 3rd spot for Vancouver)
39. Barfield
40. Leyja
41. Paramore

42. Cobb
43. Godfrey
44. Richmond
45. LeVier
46. Sellers
47. Frank Martinez
48. Angel Sierra
49. Michael Richard
50. Tyreace House

And it’s only now that I notice I have two 27’s and two 31’s….Well I’m too lazy to change the numbers now. So there’s 52 looks at a really deep system.

but I will say that my personal list has Anderson rated above Cahill as the best pitching prospect. Cahill’s numbers have been fantastic this year and every year he stays healthy and every level he is able to advance to while still getting hitters to swing at his pitches raises his stock, but I think he is a bit overrated at this point by folks on AN.

Coming into this year, there were two big questions scouts had about Cahill: 1) Cahill relies upon swings and misses at balls that are not in the strike zone, and there is disagreement among scouts as to how much he will be able to get those swings and misses against major league hitters; and 2) his delivery has a lot of funk to it and raises injury concerns. Those questions will only be answered with time and performance against upper level hitters.

Anderson, in contrast, has much cleaner mechanics and gets more of his outs from within the strike zone. His numbers, while not quite as flashy as Cahill’s, are also outstanding, and there are simply less question marks about his eventual success in the majors. Ceiling-wise, Cahill slightly exceeds Anderson, but Anderson is a safer bet. I have them as more of 1A and 1B as prospects than 1 and 2, but despite Cahill’s incredible numbers this year I rate Anderson as 1A.

As far as hitters go, I will hold off picking a best hitting prospect until the end of the season. Candidates for that position are Doolittle, Carter, and Cunningham, with a longshot candidacy being waged by Dixon. Every A’s hitting prospect has real question marks to address in the second half, which candidate best addresses those question marks will emerge as the hitting prospect.

So, what’s the deal with this guy? I understand he’s back in the Mexican league right now, but I don’t really understand how this works. As, I’ve never heard of anything like it.

So, they are splitting him over the course of the season? How long does this go on?

How comparable is the Mexican League to A+ ball? If he were called up to the majors does it negate it?

Has anyone seen my remote control?

Not that Anderson is a bad pick at all since I think you really can’t go wrong with either one. But its just like A’s hater Callis to pick the guy that wasn’t developed through Oaktowns system.