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.

Lorenzo Cain / OF / 6’2” 185 LBS / 4/13/86 When amateur scouts evaluate prospective draftees, one of the things that they look for is untapped potential. If an 18 year old is a polished hitter who is doing very well but maxing out the skills that he has, an organization is going to downgrade him somewhat. If a guy is producing at the same level, but has physical skills that leave room to project growth, that is the kind of player that can make a scouts reputation for finding the “diamond in the rough.” Cain is, perhaps, as good an example of this sort of prospective drafting as the Brewers have had come through their system in a while. He didn’t even begin playing baseball until he was a teenager, and when the Brewers drafted him in the 17^th round out of a community college in Florida, they saw that he was just scratching the surface of his potential.

It was thus something of a surprise that Cain got off to such a great start, winning the Arizona League MVP in his first run through pro ball in 2005 and following that up with a solid 2006 in West Virginia. It was somewhat inevitable, then, that he would struggle at some point. Cain did struggle in 2007 at Brevard, seeing not only a marked decline in power consistent with a move to the FSL, but also a disturbing decline in his walk rate. Coming off of that performance, a rebound year in 2008 was essential to keep him on a major league track, and rebound is exactly what he did.

The Brewers were cautious with Cain and sent him back to Brevard to open 2008, where he upped his line to (.287/.358/.448/.806) in 317 AB’s. He hit more doubles (22 versus 21), triples (4 versus 3), and homers (7 versus 2) than he did the whole year before in 165 fewer AB’s. He upped his walk rate a bit too. After a short and unremarkable trip up to AAA to cover for some injury issues and another short trip back to Brevard, Cain was promoted to AA, where he just kept right on hitting. In 148 AB’s, he posted a line of  (.277/.363/.486/.849). As if he hadn’t already shown that he was back on track, he absolutely killed the ball in the Arizona Fall League, hitting (.333/.382/.635/1.017), with 5 HR in 63 AB’s.

So where does this leave Cain? Well, he’s not yet 23 and has proven he can get on base and hit for decent power against AA level competition. At the moment, he has the speed to play CF (25 steals in 31 attempts), and the Brewers have been working him in there some in the minors. If he can play CF passably for a while, it would greatly add to his value and give him a place to play. Long term, though, Cain is probably destined for RF, where his arm is (11 assists last year) playable. If that is the case, he’ll need to continue to add to his frame and up his homerun power to be an everyday RF for a contender. With Mike Cameron destined to leave after the 2009 season (if not sooner) there is a spot opening up in the Milwaukee OF for someone. While Cain is probably not a true CF long term, he has a good shot to step in as an everyday player in 2010 if he can keep developing at AAA Nashville next year, both offensively (power) and defensively as a center fielder.

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: Cutter Dykstra

#12: Zach Braddock

#11: Caleb Gindl

#10: Jake Odorizzi

#9: Cole Gillespie