McPherson vs. Kotchman

[Registered_Guest]

Kotchman is Mark Grace (Gold Glove 1B and perrenial .300 hitter) with the possibility of greater power with the bat.

I think Anaheim will end up dealing him to Arizona, but I'd still take him.

[reiser]

Who is the superior prospect? McPherson obviously has more power
but he is three years older and strikes out a ton. Kotchman could
develop power but can McPherson develop contact skills?

Furthermore, how likely is McPherson to stay at third?

let's face it, most organizations would kill to have 2 prospects as good as McPherson and Kotchman. the only ones close are Milwaukee (Weeks and Fielder) and the DRays (Upton, Kazmir, Delmon).

it's hard to say who is better, though it's worth noting that the AVG isn't that bad on McPherson-he hit .310+ at AA and AAA, again with 40HR's.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?id=1939576

that said, I can't think of a better 1B prospect in baseball than Kotchman, and I believe BA has assessed him as having Helton potential. Kotchman will start in Salt Lake though.

I guess Morneau if you are looking for someone in the bigs this year.

[raiders_umpire]

i would take mcpherson as well but not by much

[sisyphus]

I watched them both last season here in Salt Lake from my seats right beyond home plate. McPherson is the more dynamic hitter at this point, but his plate discipline is horrible. He can get away with it at AAA, but may have some problems in the big leagues. Kotchman is the superior technical hitter. He was the best pure hitter on that team. He has a real nice swing and appears strong enough to develop power. McPherson will always hit for more power, but Kotchman will be the better overall hitter. I guess it really depends on what type of hitter you prefer. They are both outstanding players.

[El Gaupo]

BA has Kotchman as Angels # 1 prospect, however with Glauss going to Arizona and McPherson the likely starter; McPherson would be my choice.

[warrick95]

Kotchman is a superb hitter. He's arguably THE top pure hitting prospect in the minor leagues. If not for injuries, he'd essentially be the perfect prospect. Think of him as an Aubrey Huff on steroids. He can reach .300-30-100 in his sleep. The kid is just a flat out hitter. Nothing else you can say about him.

For now, McPherson has shown us that he has superb power. That kid has a chance to seriously blast some in the future...and be among the league leaders in homers perenially. However, as y'all see, his high strikeout rates don't bear well for his future potential and he doesn't possess Kotchman's batting eye. Like the guy above said, Dally Mac got away with that sort of stuff in the minors, but guessing incorrectly and swinging at bad pitches will not lead to any success in the pros as it may have done at lower levels. He could stay at third with Glaus out of the picture now...

I'd take Kotchman, because I really don't know how McPherson's subpar batting eye is going to transcend to pro ball. I like Kotchman more than others do and do not think as highly of McPherson as some do, as well.