Will Lingo: Good afternoon, Baseball Americans. It's another beautiful day in North Carolina, the playoffs are well under way, and we have an almost unlimited supply of tunes from America's greatest rock band, the Drive-By Truckers. So let's get started...

Will Lingo: I would say Stewart's struggles have mostly been a factor of him continuing to work past his wrist injury--which has affected his swing--and the continuing development of his approach at the plate. He's still learning to control the strike zone, and still has problems with offspeed pitches. He tended to chase breaking balls in the dirt and high fastballs this season. Double-A is all about getting your weaknesses exposed, and I think that's what happened to Stewart. But the tools are still there. I think another year in the minors will do him good.

Will Lingo: Wow, long question of the day! I think the numbers Wood put up this year are a pretty good representation of what he can do in the big leagues, with more home runs possible as he gets older. And that's not bad. Whether he stays at shortstop may depend more on the Angels' circumstances than anything Wood does.

Will Lingo: Now, that's just mean.

Will Lingo: 'When healthy' would be the operative phrase there, though we have to be encouraged that he made 27 starts this year and piled up 163 innings. I would like nothing more than for Hawksworth to have a long and prosperous career--I once ranked him No. 1 in the Cardinals system, after all--but I guess I'm just gunshy after his ups and downs of the past couple of years.

Will Lingo: We don't really rank guys beyond the 20. There's 1-20, and then there's everybody who didn't make the list, so it's hard to say who the highest-ranked Cardinal is. You can count Terry Evans, if you like. Looks like we have more Cardinals questions piling up, though, so we'll get to talk more about them as the chat rolls on.

Will Lingo: Depending on what directions the Royals go in this offseason, I think it would be reasonable to include Lubanski in the outfield mix going into spring training. Whether he would make the team, who knows? You could throw Butler and Maier into that mix as well. I think Royals fans might rather see what those guys can do than what they saw this season.

Will Lingo: He's another guy who was 'on the worksheet,' as we say at Baseball America. You still want to see him offer something exciting beyond his speed, though. His approach at the plate improved this season, according to managers, but his OBP was still around .350 and he showed almost no power. He did improve his routes on defense and made better use of his speed there.

Moderator: Lots of interesting hitters this year, to be sure. If I had to pick one of those guys just to swing the bat for the next 10-plus years, it would be Butler. Gordon and Wood both offer better all-around packages, but Butler was the best pure hitter in the league. Koshansky offers better raw power now, but Butler is two years younger and is a better hitter overall.

Will Lingo: Probably not long at all, though the presence of Mark Teahen complicates that situation some.

Will Lingo: That's a good point, Chuck. That line was meant to illustrate that, all right, Lubanski isn't as good as everyone thought when he was coming out of high school, but he still could be a useful big league player. But it came out as a slight against the Royals, who did overdraft him, but not ridiculously so.

Will Lingo: As for us hating the Royals, that's simply not the case. If you've been with us for 13 years, you'll remember when the Royals were our 1994 Organization of the Year, and our cover (featuring a photo of Johnny Damon wearing a pair of Oakleys) read: The Future Is So Bright, They've Got To Wear Shades. Since then, well, you know better than anyone. Just one winning record. And with a stretch like that, it's inevitable some bad things will be written about your organization. But I think there is legitimately some reason for hope now.

Will Lingo: Great catch, Ronnie. And here I am, perpetuating his incorrect age again in this chat, even though I know it's wrong. It's Royals reparations day here at Baseball America! We care, we really do. Kansas City is one of America's great baseball cities, and it should have a model major league franchise, just like the good old days.

Will Lingo: Perhaps the most intriguing prospect for me in the league this year. One scout described Balentien as taking a "Cuban approach" at the plate, meaning he's not going to get cheated on any swing. He has massive tools but has not shown the ability to make adjustments yet, so it's hard to see him in the big leagues until something clicks with that. I think sending him back to Double-A would be the best idea. I wouldn't expect him to contribute until 08 at the earliest.

Will Lingo: As usual, we get a lot of questions asking where guys would have slotted in had they qualified, and that's hard to say since Hurley was never really factored into my thinking as I built the list. He almost certainly would have been in the top 10, though. Managers were impressed with his stuff but also with his poise.

Will Lingo: His own manager compared him to Andre Ethier, who broke out last year at Midland, because he's a line-drive hitter who has some power. I don't think I found anyone who didn't like the way this guy hits; it's just a question of how much power he'll eventually have.

Will Lingo: There were some managers who liked him quite a bit, but he just isn't quite as good as some of the other hitters in the league. He showed power to all fields and also played solid defense, and managers love his attitude. I haven't seen the Rockies preliminary prospect list, but they've got a lot of talent and I would be surprised if he's in the top 10. But he's a decent prospect.

Will Lingo: Oh, no. Put him at first base or DH and let him pile up numbers.

Will Lingo: We're always trying to balance production and potential. On production, Iannetta and Koshansky are clearly ahead at this point. But on potential, Stewart still gets the nod.

Will Lingo: I think somebody's got to be traded, because Gordon and Teahen are both legit third basemen, so I'd hate to move one of them off that position. I'd keep the younger guys, even though Teahen was originally one of the building blocks acquired in the Beltran trade. But that was the previous administration, so it's an easier move to explain.

Will Lingo: Funny stuff. For those of you who don't know, Patterson Hood is the lead singer for the Drive-By Truckers, and it's true that BA rock starsupernova Chris Kline actually left the show after about five songs because he said it was too loud. Sad.

Will Lingo: I'd keep both of them and move Wood to third.

Will Lingo: Most of them, actually. I think that's generally what we expect from guys who succeed in Double-A. There are also the guys like Jimenez and Danks, though, who make the list on potential one year after putting up not-so-great numbers, then make it again the next year after performing. The only guy in this year's 20 who might need a good bit more time in the minors would be Juan Morillo, but even he could break through if he moves to the bullpen.

Will Lingo: If you haven't checked out the new pitch tracking system at MLB.com, I would encourage you to do so. It has a fancy name that I forget, so I apologize for that, but it's pretty cool and gives you several velo readings for each pitch (at different points), as well as tracking the flight and movement of the ball. They just brought it out for the playoffs, but I think it will be available for all games next year.

Will Lingo: I think you're a bullpen arm at best. Just don't see the stuff for a major league starter. I think you'll move up to Triple-A next year and then wait for an opportunity. Good luck!

Will Lingo: That's just such a great question. Who could ever settle the great StavinohaDuncanRodriguez debate? Certainly not me. Stavinoha is what he is, so as long as he hits he'll keep getting opportunities. His age is the biggest thing working against him.

Will Lingo: With the humidor, all things are possible.

Will Lingo: Another solid hitter on that team, shows gap power now and could add power as he matures. Solid defensively, not flashy but gets to a lot of balls. As we talked about earlier, nice talent for the Rockies these days.

Will Lingo: I don't think I've slammed on Stewart at all. I've talked about how he still has those same tools, how he's still a hard worker, etc. But the fact is he hasn't performed the last two seasons as he did in 2004. There may be some very good reasons for that--as discussed above--but you can't ignore it. We still think he has plenty of potential, but other guys have similar tools and have performed better.

Will Lingo: Of those guys, I think I'd take Pence just because he's a hitter and that's always a safer bet. Pence is not going to be a superstar, but he's going to produce year in and year out. The kind of guy you can put in a real or fantasy lineup and not worry about. I wouldn't count on him for production next year, though he should get to Houston at some point.

Will Lingo: It's a testament to the talent in the league, along with questions about how good he's going to be. He doesn't have a dominant pitch, so he just looks like he'll be a durable, middle of the rotation innings eater. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Will Lingo: There were a couple of managers who really liked this guy and said he has improved significantly over the last few seasons. While teams used to be able to pitch to him, this year "there was no plan other than just walk him." But yeah, he's 26 and doing it at Double-A, so you wonder what else you're going to get out of him. But he's worth keeping an eye on at least.

Will Lingo: Well that's about it for today. Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to come back for our Triple-A chats as we wrap up the minor league prospect talk this week.