Over-Rated; Adam Miller #41 MLB Prospect

[GhostofTedCox]

MLB.com is releasing it's top 50 prospects one at a time and Adam Miller has come in at #41. This is a rating provided by the "top scouts in baseball".

I think Adam Miller has a boatload of talent and potential. He can become a key member of the Tribe soon. (SP, bullpen, closer, whatever he is). However, in the past 2 seasons, he has done very little to deserve such a high rating. I think those rankings should be given to those who actually play in the games.
Don't get me wrong. I'll be rooting for Adam to succeed. He deserves good health to show what he can do. But as far as rankings; he'll have to show me first.

[Hermie13]

Well he was top 10 by minor league baseball last year.......so down a lot from there.....

I agree, I think it's a bit high, but kudos to him for it I guess.


I'm just wondering...if he's #41, what are guys like LaPorta, Mills, and Santana gonna be then........

[MadThinker88]

I heard an interesting take on how to 'rank' Adam Miller.

According to this other poster if healthy, Miller is the best arm in the Tribe system and likely the best overall prospect. If unhealthy, Miller isn't worth a hill of beans to anyone, including the Tribe. As a result, this other poster listed Miller as the #25 prospect in the Tribe system because the health is unknown and cannot be assumed due to the multiple injuries over the past few years.

[indianinkslinger]

People can debate the pros and cons of Miller and both be right. Whether you are rating the Cleveland organization or the top 50, the issues are the same. He is still the highest upside prospect in our system, and I do not believe I am slighting Santana, LaPorta et al., but has shown serious medical problems to the same right arm, elbow and hand that makes that upside possible. The nice news is that somebody is likely to be right. The bad news is the divergence will only be solved with time. That's when we know who is right/wrong.

[TonyIBI]

Without a doubt, Miller is still the biggest impact prospect in the system. He is far and away the best pitcher when he is out there. Most of these lists are on projection, and if healthy, he's a FOR starter and #1 or now may be a closer in the making. He'll make a huge impact to the Indians staff provided he stays healthy. The health issue is something not weighed much.....it is considered, but even with his recent health issues he still projects as a pretty damn good pitcher.

[GhostofTedCox]

Without a doubt, Miller is still the biggest impact prospect in the system. He is far and away the best pitcher when he is out there. Most of these lists are on projection, and if healthy, he's a FOR starter and #1 or now may be a closer in the making.

That's part of the issue. He's a top prospect, but the Indians aren't even sure where to pitch him.

He'll make a huge impact to the Indians staff provided he stays healthy. The health issue is something not weighed much.....it is considered, but even with his recent health issues he still projects as a pretty damn good pitcher.

I think health history has to be considered highly when ranking and rating prospects. Miller is high-risk/high-reward. That doesn't bode well for a long career.

[jellis]

You never know, Cole Hamels had a really bad injury history in the minors and look how he has turned out sometimes just having the pro trainers around you all the time can make a world of difference

[gotribe31]

Healthy, Miller is a top-10 prospect in the game...he is that good. Not healthy, he is a non-factor, obviously. I think #41 is about right...he is a tantalizing guy who could be a Lincecum-type pitcher if he can just put a full season together.

[endlesssleeper]

Laporta came in at #14 on this list, which is probably about right, but Carlos freakin' Santana wasn't even on it!!! Can someone please explain this??

[Hermie13]

My guess is the fact that Santana still needs to work some at catcher and that the fact that in 2007 he had an OPS under .700 played into it. Some people still aren't sold on Santana being a top prospect.

[TonyIBI]

Anyone know who does this list for MiLB.com? Is it Mayo, or is this compiled by a bunch of the site writers/reporters? Makes a big difference if you ask me in who is writing and ranking these guys. The writeups I think are very weak, which to me implies this was a group effort from the writers. Which could explain why Miller is still in there, and someone like Santana is not.

[carnegie44115]

Anyone know who does this list for MiLB.com? Is it Mayo, or is this compiled by a bunch of the site writers/reporters? Makes a big difference if you ask me in who is writing and ranking these guys. The writeups I think are very weak, which to me implies this was a group effort from the writers. Which could explain why Miller is still in there, and someone like Santana is not.

Well it looks like Mayo is the lead guy on all of this, he did the main write-up for the breakdown.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081204&content_id=3701895&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

[Hermie13]

Anyone know who does this list for MiLB.com? Is it Mayo, or is this compiled by a bunch of the site writers/reporters? Makes a big difference if you ask me in who is writing and ranking these guys. The writeups I think are very weak, which to me implies this was a group effort from the writers. Which could explain why Miller is still in there, and someone like Santana is not.

So are you saying you think there's more people out there that like Miller more than Santana?


I'm still waiting to see Baseball Prospectus' take on the Tribe's prospects....

[carnegie44115]

I think the two reasons Miller is still on there is because he has so much potential when healthy and perhaps these writers were taking into what they were hearing from how Miller was performing down in the winter league.

[jellis]

at the end of the day if healthy this guy was a top ten prospect in all of baseball, yes health is an issue, but the talent is not

[gotribe31]

Anyone know who does this list for MiLB.com? Is it Mayo, or is this compiled by a bunch of the site writers/reporters? Makes a big difference if you ask me in who is writing and ranking these guys. The writeups I think are very weak, which to me implies this was a group effort from the writers. Which could explain why Miller is still in there, and someone like Santana is not.

So are you saying you think there's more people out there that like Miller more than Santana?


I'm still waiting to see Baseball Prospectus' take on the Tribe's prospects....

It will be a while...BP does the NL first, then the AL.

[jellis]

figured this would be the place for a miller related callis question today

J (Pitt): Hochevar or Adam Miller?

Jim Callis : (2:54 PM ET ) Adam Miller.

Not sure if that is a comment on miller or hochevar

[Hermie13]

Miller is younger and has the better overall minor league numbers.......If Hochevar can make it as a ML starter I'd take him.....if Miller never does that is......