But Cervelli is probably out for the year, has 10 AB’s at AA. He’s still maybe 2 years off.

The low A teenager C’s – 2010, really? They could be in AA in 2010- C’s are less likely to jump levels, but Montero could move faster if he shifts to 1B.

Angelini, also in teen’s, is at the same level, hitting under .250 with 29 E’s in 85 games. He’s got a ways to go too. Why no Ramiro Pena? He’s 22 at AA, in the Futures Game, good defensively, hitting around .280 at the leadoff spot.

Hilligoss is hitting .244 with 0 HR in Tampa. Jury’s out there for sure.

’07 30th round “beast” Brandon Laird is at .254, SLG .411, OPS .717 in low A as well. Top 10 in ’09? Top 30 maybe. Brad Suttle (now 3B) and Montero could both be better bets at 1B.

Miranda’s hitting for a nice average, but his total of 17 XBHs of 56 hits is distinctly Sean Casey like and he often DH’s.

Look, I love our prospects too, but let’s not oversell them. There still needs to be some proof in the pudding.

What I’m saying is that if that’s what those 2 guys did in AAA this year, and that’s what McCutchen is doing this year, what can you expect out of McCutchen at another new level, the majors, this year? Stat lines don’t predict the future, but they can guide expectations.

To be fair to Giese, he’s never been a starter before this year, so he had an adjustment to make as well. And Rasner’s AAA debut stats in 2006, at age 25 like Cutch, are almost identical to McCutchen’s ’08:
Rasner 10 starts, 59 IP, 47 K, 1.20 WHIP, 2.75 ERA.
McCutch 9 starts 59 IP, 45 K, 1.20 WHIP, 3.36 ERA.

Read what I said, not what you’ve interpreted.
“the age of decline” is not the same as “the age for peak performance”. For example Jeter at Age 33, ARod at Age 33, arguably are virtually at or near their peak performance level. So was Mays, Aaron, Brooks Robinson, Cal Ripken and on and on. One can still perform at a high level at Ages 31-32-33-34-35 and still be very, very productive and valuable – and not necessarily be at their peak performance level.

Yeah but how many years in AAA did it take those other two guys to get those stats? This is McCutchen’s first time in AAA. I’m not saying he’s going to be good or even that he’s going to get called up but theres reason to be hopeful.

3 starters Scranton ’08 stats.
Starts ERA WHIP K/9
A 5 0.87 0.77 7.84
B 10 1.98 0.97 7.78
C 9 3.36 1.20 6.86

A – Darryl Rasner
B – Dan Giese
C – Dan McCutchen

But guys that get 5 year $100 mil contracts aren’t average players. Their rules are simply different.

3 starters in Scranton in ’08:
Starts ERA WHIP K/9
A 5 0.87