Jim Callis: Shoulders are always more worrisome than elbows. Torra didn't pitch much in the MWL, but a scout who saw him late was underwhelmed by how he looked. I guess the best way to put it is that with a labrum surgery, I'll believe the full recovery when I see it.

Jim Callis: Whittleman had a very rough year, and even considering his age, league observers were underwhelmed. I'd cool it on the Hank Blalock comparisons now. He needs to get up to Jake Blalock levels, and then he can worry about Hank.

Jim Callis: I'll probably repeat this a few times, but in a 14-team league (most leagues are 8-12 clubs), it's hard to make the Top 20. Taylor wasn't in my group that just missed the Top 20, but he did get mentioned. Has some life on his fastball, touches 93 on occasion, some consistency with his breaking ball. He has a shot, but he's not a Top 20 guy yet.

Jim Callis: Jay is a glass half-fullhalf-empty kind of player. He hits for average but doesn't have another particular strength of weakness. He played very well for Quad Cities, but may be more of a fourth outfielder. He did get some consideration for the Top 20. Greene did not. Scouts were disappointed in him, saying they thought he was going to wind up at third base and did most of his damage against mistakes while being vulnerable to good pitching.

Jim Callis: Among the guys who just missed (in no particular order): Fort Wayne outfielder Will Venable, Quad Cities outfielder John Jay, Beloit lefthander Alexander Smit, DaytonBeloit righthander Zach Ward, Peoria lefty Edward Campusano, Quad Cities righty Chris Perez. Beloit had several other pitchers who are prospects. Lis was probably the best first-base prospect in the league, but wasn't real close to the Top 20. At 22, he was old for the league and his defense was pretty rough, and he may have to be a DH.

Jim Callis: Matt Walbeck is a very good manager. Given how highly everyone speaks of him, it wouldn't surprise me if he's a big league skipper down the road. He had a solid team, but no one else right on the verge of the Top 20. Shortstop Michael Hollimon had a nice year but was 24, and righties Sendy Vasquez (23) and Anthony Claggett (22) were old too. Matt Joyce is solid, but didn't compare to the top outfielders in the league.

Jim Callis: Those are more of those Beloit pitchers I was talking about. They're not lost in the shuffle and they're all prospects, but they're down the Minnesota depth chart a little ways. Shinskie has one of the very best arms in the system but is inconsistent, and I wonder if a permanent move to the bullpen would be best. Pino has good control of ordinary stuff, and projects as more of a middle reliever in the long run.

Jim Callis: Less of a Top 20 guy than Scott Taylor, but Atkins did get a little mention. He throws strikes with an 88-92 mph fastball (that has life) and average secondary pitches.

Jim Callis: His manager (Billy Gardner) brought him up. Fisher has a fastball that sits at 92-93 with a lot of running and cutting action. He's working on his breaking ball and changeup.

Jim Callis: It was very, very close between those two, as well as Justin Upton and Colby Rasmus. Some MWL observers thought Rasmus would be the best in the long run--they all had support. More than one scout told me that they were all close, and if that's the case you should bet on the guy with the best bat--and that's Bruce. Now if Bruce was just a slug confined to left field, it would be different, but he has center-field skills and will wind up as a very good all-around right fielder as he fills out.

Jim Callis: Ottavino didn't have enough innings to qualify. If he had, he would have checking in around No. 13 or so.

Jim Callis: How a player performs at higher levels isn't a huge consideration, but it is a factor. Coming out of Georgia Tech and having played in the Cape Cod League, a 22-year-old Tyler Greene should hit well in the MWL. But as I mentioned earlier, scouts don't think he'll stay at shortstop and believe he's just a mistake hitter. Of all the scouts I talked to, none believed in him.

Jim Callis: I didn't say Bruce had better tools than Maybin. Maybin has better tools than Bruce--he's a better athlete. But Bruce is a good all-around athlete as well. The consensus of MWL observers is that Bruce is a better hitter, more instinctive at the plate, makes adjustments better. I really like Maybin, too, but he struck out a ton (116 times in 385 at-bats). So while Maybin is one of the best prospects in the game, he's not a sure thing either.

Jim Callis: Those two, catcher Nick Hundley and third baseman David Freese were all decent position prospects on the Fort Wayne roster. Hundley projects as a big league regular more than any of them, with Venable second in line. Blanks and Freese look more like reserves at this point.

Jim Callis: No, not really. The Wisconsin team was pretty barren. The best prospect was second baseman Luis Valbuena, and he wasn't close to the Top 20 at all.

Jim Callis: One more time, for clarification: Bruce isn't a stiff. He has a plus arm and great instincts that make his slightly above-average speed and center-field range play up. And he has a better bat than Maybin's, so that put him over the top. We're talking about two of the 10-20 best players in the minor leagues right here. Maybin's run-in with the law wasn't a factor.

Jim Callis: Great question, Hugh, and there's no definite answer. With Upton, he behaved like someone who's been a stud since he was 15 and thought the game would just get handed to him. No one thought he was a bad kid, just that he had to grow up (stop throwing tantrums), work harder (especially on his defense) and not try to jack everything out of the park during games (as opposed to batting practice--he had the best BP in the league). He needs some sort of wakeup call. Maybe if the organization sat down with him and told him this wasn't going to cut it, that might work--or it might not. He can cruise to the majors on tools alone, but I too wonder if he can be truly great while coasting. I don't think so. He's still one of the game's top prospects, but his status has taken a hit in my mind, solely because of the makeup and not the so-so stats (which were pretty good for a teenager making his pro debut in the MWL).

Jim Callis: Wood would have been in the 26-30 range, in part because it's a deep league. His stuff isn't really comparable to McGee's, though. Wood does have that nifty changeup, the best in the league, but his fastball was 87-91 (down from the consistent low 90s he showed as a high school senior) and his curveball was mediocre. The potential is there, sure, but in terms of lefties, Jacob McGee is well ahead of him.

Jim Callis: Yes, the scouts still love the tools. They're as good as they were when he went No. 1 overall in the 2005 draft.

Jim Callis: Campusano has the stuff to be a lefty setup man in the majors. He turned 24 during the season, but he has a 92-93 mph fastball with a life and a hard slider. He also pitched very well in Double-A following a promotion.

Jim Callis: Anderson has improved defensively, though he's still working to get better at blocking and receiving. He has an average, accurate arm. As mentioned earlier, Jay and Perez were in the next group of prospects who just missed the Top 20.

Jim Callis: It's close, but I'd go with McGee because he's lefthanded and I think with the combination of velocity, movement, command, his fastball is better than Davis'. His changeup is better too. On the other hand, Davis throws a little harder when he's at this best and has a better curveblal. It's close. They'll probably move quickly through the system together.

Jim Callis: Cordier didn't pitch long enough to qualify for the list. But he's fully healthy, finally, and one scout saw his fastball sit at 93-94 mph and touch 97 late in the year. He's back and is one of the Royals' top pitching prospects.

Jim Callis: That's fair. I'm not sure Mayberry will ever become as good as either comp, but he did make some progress in the second half. There have been concerns about his swing forever, though, and that really bothers me.

Jim Callis: It's the best outfield crop they've had in quite a while, and there was impressive pitching depth. After the four outfielders at the top, though, the position players fell off quickly.

Jim Callis: Not in terms of anyone close to making the Top 20. The best pitching prospects on the staff were Paul Phillips, Chi-Hung Cheng, Kristian Bell and Chi-Hung Cheng.

Jim Callis: He's a tough guy to figure out. Smit is a one-pitch guy for the most part. His fastball can hit 94 when he's going well, but it also dips to the mid-80s when he starts. He has a funky delivery that throws hitters off and gets a lot of swings and misses up in the zone. His breaking balls are below average, though, and he doesn't throw much of a change, so I wound up not ranking him. My guess is he winds up in relief.

Jim Callis: They weren't on par with Nick Adenhart and Stephen Marek, who were two of the top pitchers in league on that Cedar Rapids staff, but they did get mentioned as legit prospects. Ryan Aldridge's slider got some play as well.

Jim Callis: Veal gets compared to Willis a lot because both have unorthodox deliveries, but Veal's is the more orthodox of the two. He has a big-time arm for a lefty, but his biggest problem is the lack of a trustworthy breaking pitch. His delivery makes that more difficult to overcome, too.

Jim Callis: All four of those guys could be in the majors by the end of 2008 or beginning of 2009, and I'm usually conservative with ETAs. McCutchen would rank right at the top, and if you give him extra credit for how he performed in Double-A, you could put him ahead of Bruce and Maybin. Drennen would come in behind the big four.

Jim Callis: Those guys are more spare parts than cornerstones or even regulars. The Royals have a lot more rebuilding to do.

Jim Callis: Don't forget Mitch Talbot, too. I keep touting the Devil Rays as having the game's best farm system, and I will use this as another occasion to do so. The Rays are going to be very respectable, very soon.

Jim Callis: Gonzalez would get the edge for pure tools, Bruce would get the edge for instincts (which would erase the gap on the tools). Close call.