This year we’ll be releasing our top 25 list in conjunction with the people over at Bernie’s Crew, which means the list is going to posted somewhat out of order to match up with what Jim has for his Top 25. An up-to-date list of the Between the Green Pillars Top 25 can be found at the bottom of the page.

Caleb Gindl / OF / 5’9” 185 LBS / 8/31/88

Never let it be said that former Brewer scouting director Jack Zduriencik had a bias against smaller players. 2007 fifth round pick Caleb Gindl fits right in with similarly slightly statured prospects Erik Komatsu, Angel Salome and Taylor Green. Besides their lack of NBA potential they all have another thing in common: they can all hit the ball. Given the fact that none of those players was drafted in the first couple rounds, it just goes to show that the "size bias" is alive and well in major league scouting circles. 

Gindl first opened eyes in 2007 at Rookie Helena, where he posted a nice even 1.000 OPS, racked up 22 doubles, 3 triples and 5 HR in just over 200 AB’s. He also walked in almost 10% of his plate appearances. Not bad for a 18 year old playing against mostly older competition. Though his numbers dropped off a bit in 508 AB’s in 2008, they were still very strong for a player at his age and level. He was still a doubles machine (38) and he mixed in a good number of triples (4) and HR (13). His walk rate nosed up from just under 10% to over it, which is outstanding for a guy at this point in his career.

The problem for Gindl is positional. While he stole 14 bases in 19 attempts last year, scouts don’t think he has the speed to play CF everyday in the majors. His arm is good enough to play RF, but he lacks the home run power traditionally associated with the position, at least at this point. If Gindl can strengthen up and turn some of those doubles into homers, he could become something of a poor man’s Brain Giles in RF. At the very least, he could be a useful 4^th OF for a contender, subbing at all three outfield positions, getting on base and hitting with gap power. It will be interesting to see what happens to his homerun power as he moves to the FSL in 2009. If it holds, it would be a sign that he's taking a step forward towards a major league starting job in RF someday.

Between the Green Pillars Top 25 Prospects:

# 25: Evan Frederickson

# 24: Cody Adams

#23: Alex Periard

#22: Brent Brewer

#21: Brad Nelson

#20: RJ Seidel

#19: Tim Dillard

# 18: Seth Lintz

# 17: Efrain Nieves

#16: Erik Komatsu

#14: Omar Aguilar

#13: Zach Braddock