The arguements for and against Grant Green

Baseball America -

"...but he is similar to Tulowitzki in his defensive skills and playmaking ability. He has excellent range, outstanding hands and the smooth and fluid actions of a possible Gold Glove defender. Green has a fine arm, though not quite the cannon Tulowitzki possesses. He's faster than either Longoria or Tulowitzki, frequently clocking in the 6.6-second range over 60 yards. While he doesn't profile as an offensive powerhouse, he should become a long-term middle-infield fixture, a solid .280-plus big league hitter who may produce 15-20 home runs annually."



USS Mariner - http://ussmariner.com/2008/10/10/strasburg-alternative-no-1-grant-green/

“…Scott Pickler, who coached Green on the Cape two years ago and coached against his team last year, was impressed with what he saw.
“I thought he was the best player on the Cape this year,” Pickler said. “He’s going to drive the ball. I think he’s going to be a big-time guy. He’s got to get a little more consistent defensively—he loses focus out there sometimes—but he’s got enough range to stay at shortstop. He profiles right with the guys that I’ve seen that have made the jump. He’s one of the better ones I’ve seen out there, tools-wise.”
Pickler is not alone with those beliefs.
“I thought he was the best player in conference last year, and there were a lot of first-round guys there,” a Pac-10 coach said. “Unfortunately, he’s still in our league.”
The coach agreed with Pickler, saying that Green has the range to stay at shortstop but added that, if he needs to move off the position, he has the bat and the arm strength to play third base.
“I think the one thing that I like about him is that he doesn’t seem to have a ton of weaknesses,” the coach said. “He has all the tools in the world. He just has to be consistent and show up every day. I think the more he plays, the better he’ll get. I have every reason to believe he’ll be in the big leagues someday.”
He won’t come cheaply, however. Like Strasburg, Green is advised by Scott Boras, but if he puts together an impressive junior season, he’ll be worth the price. Five-tool shortstops don’t grow on trees and there’s a part of me that believes Green could actually end up being better than Strasburg."


Camden Depot – http://www.camdendepot.com/2009draft_scoutingreport_greengr.html


"Frame:Green has a lean, athletic build and stands to thicken a little more as he moves on to pro ball. He has easy movements and shows excellent body control at short. He's athletic enough that he should still be able to stick at shortstop even if he adds some weight (though ultimately it will likely be his range that determines whether he's a six-spot in the long run). His long, fluid motions probably play better on the pivots and around the bag from the shortstop side than they would from second.

Swing: Load – Green slides his hands from tight on his shoulder back into a solid hitting position (at times a little far back, but not prohibitively so). He also loads with a slight shoulder turn in, closing his front side and adding a little more potential torque in his rotation. He sets with a soft toe on his lead foot, widening his stance in prep for his weight transfer. He's around an ideal 60/40 weight distro.

Stride: Green's stride is almost non-existent, essentially consisting of a dropping of his heel from his soft toe plant in the load. As he begins his weight transfer forward, he keeps a quiet head and his hands stay tied to his body keeping a short path to the ball. He has a tendency to start his hips backwards (towards the dugout) as he enters his hip rotation, which allows some of his force to escape rather than be pushed towards the pitcher and the ball. It's a subtle movement that should be correctable, but it means he may be leaving some power on the table right now.

Swing: Green keeps a very compact stroke and shows good bat speed on a short path to the ball. He's generally clean from hips to knob to elbow to barrel. His head is very quiet throughout his whole swing, and there's very little extra movement throughout. There's solid torque in his rotation that, combined with his compact swing, could produce plus power at the professional level.

Contact: Green is well-balanced with a straight line running from his helmet down his torso, thigh and out of his knee. He generates good power and maintains his steady head, down on the bat to contact (which helps him to center the ball on the barrel). Aside from the bit of momentum lost when his hips bail early in his stride, Green does an excellent job of focusing his force to and through the ball.

Follow-through: Green has a clean one-handed release at the end of his swing, but essentially maintains two hands throughout. He stays under control and balanced to completion, and is easy enough in his follow-through to make sure his swing isn't cut short, regardless of the quadrant in which he's making contact.

Swing Summary: Green has solid swing mechanics, with a slight imperfection occasionally surfacing in his hip movement. Given his frame, his compact swing and solid torque, Green should be producing more power than we've seen. The good news is much of this may be attributable to his early-season approach. By pressing early on, Green may simply be hitting bad balls, making it difficult to consistently square-up. Over the first couple of weeks of conference play, Green was much better at letting the game come to him and began to drive the ball more regularly. A lot of his power is still to the pull side, but he has shown an ability to take the ball the other way. As he refines his approach, he should be capable of driving balls to all fields.



Baseball Beginnings - http://baseballbeginnings.com/2009/04/14/grant-green-report/


PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Tall and lean frame with long loose limbs. Has an athletic body with large hands and feet. A big man with good body control. Runs with long, graceful strides.

STRENGTHS: Polished amateur spray hitter with inside-out approach, capable of producing above-average major league average and slightly-above average power. Handsy swing generates above-average bat speed. Still head and balance, bat head does not drag, bat stays in hitting zone, shows plate coverage, good rhythmic hitter, good load and trigger. Hands stay back at swing and at take. Short strider, firm front side, keeps foundation. Defensively, soft hands, average arm, average release, average range, will field what he gets to. Heady player whose instincts will help him maximize physical skills.

WEAKNESSES: Must get physically stronger and continue to develop more consistent all-fields power approach. Still getting comfortable in new swing adapted late in amateur career. Won’t have immediate pure power for corner infield position and must continue to develop pitch selection. Defensively, AVG arm for 3B, AVG range for SS, could play both, but might be best suited as offensive-oriented 2B.

SUMMARY: Very desirable amateur product because of his bat; a good enough athlete to make it work in the infield, suitable arm, hands and athleticism. A frame to add muscle later on, but should be conscious not to lose flexibility. Reminds me of Rangers’ Michael Young.

Grades (Present/Future)
Hit 40/65
Power 40/55
Run 50/50
Arm 45/50
Field 40/50

Add one OFP point for athleticism, instincts and work ethic.Overall Future Potential: 55

MLB. Com - http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2009/reports.jsp?content=green


Hitting ability:
"Green got off to a slow start in 2009 and was striking out more than usual. He was chasing pitches and getting himself out. He's started to come around though, hitting balls in the gap with his inside-out swing.
Power:
He does have it -- he's capable of turning on an inside pitch and driving it -- but he has more of a line-drive stroke that shoots balls in the right and left-center field gaps. He could be a 15-20 homer guy down the road.
Running speed:
When he's going full-tilt, he's got solid-average to plus speed and can really get down the line.
Base running:
He is a little bit low energy at times, but does turn it up when he wants to.
Arm strength:
He's got a solid-average to plus arm which is very accurate.
Fielding:
Has good glove action, though like with his hitting, he struggled early, making uncharacteristic errors.
Range:
He's a little better to his right than up the middle, making the play in the hole better than the one to his glove side. But he's capable of making all the plays.
Physical Description:
Green is lean and wiry with an athletic frame and strong wrists. He has some room to get stronger as he matures.
Medical Update:
An ankle injury on the Sunday of the series with UCLA forced him to miss a Tuesday doubleheader, but he was back at short the following weekend.
Strengths:
He has five-tool potential at a premium position. He's capable of hitting for average and a little power while playing a fine shortstop.
Weaknesses:
He can be a little low energy and has frustrated some at times with a perceived lack of effort.
Summary:
Premier college shortstops don't come around all that often and when they do, they get drafted early. That should be the case for Green, who has the potential to shine on both sides of the ball with all five tools. He shook off some early struggles to perform up to expectations, though his lack of energy at times has bothered scouts. Even with that, he's a confident and accomplished college player who shouldn't wait long to hear his name called."


MLB-Draft.com - http://www.mlb-draft.com/Top-Prospects-2009.php

"#8... Grant Green, SS, 6' 3-185, USC, DOB- 9/27/87 (21)Someone had to be fifth... Green has tools that scouts love, and is a potential 5-tool talent. He is a good hitter that had shown above average wood-bat power, but confounded scouts with just 4 HR's this year. Green did fight through a few minor injuries early and had a sore shoulder at the end of his Cape Cod season (in which he was the league's MVP). His defensive is shaky, but his arm and range are good and he should stick at SS. If one buys into his Cape Cod efforts more so that his uneven play this college season, he profiles as a solid defender at short with good speed and an above average bat at a prime position."

Project Prospect - http://www.projectprospect.com/article/2009/04/07/how-good-a-draft-prospect-is-green

”Grant Green entered the year as one of the elite prospects for the 2009 Draft. Thought of as a Top 5 talent by every major evaluator, the USC shortstop has had an up and down junior season and generally failed to meet expectations. Praise for Green was not hard to come by before the season started.
On Februray 6th, John Manuel of Baseball America said the following in a chat when asked about Green, "I'd say he's the favorite for the No. 2 spot."
Jim Callis (same chat) responded to a question about Green versus Tim Beckham, "I think Green has more power and upside with the bat, while Beckham is more athletic and more of a pure shortstop. When guys are close, I tend to go with the one who has proven himself vs. tougher competition, so I'll take Green by just a hair."
I had Green as my No. 3 overall prospect, calling him an, "Athletic true shortstop w/ power (.254 IsoP), 35/15 K/BB must improve, likely will." For all the preseason praise, Grant Green needed a breakout season in 2009 in order to justify the aggressive rankings. Coming off of a productive 2008 season in which he showed good power, reasonable contact ability, and was strong in the Cape (top 5 in nearly every major offensive category), he looked ready for a breakout. So far, that hasn't quite happened.
Through 110 plate appearances, Green is hitting .375/.455/.552 with 11 walks and 22 strikeouts. Green's triple slash scores have been buoyed by a recent 17-for-39 stretch that has raised his average and OBP by over 100 points. However, of those 17 hits only five went for extra bases. Green now boasts a completely rediculous BABIP of .472. To put that number in perspective, the average BABIP in the Pac-10 this year is .333, with the confrenece batting average being .278. His recent hot streak is too singles and luck driven to be real. If we adjust his numbers to even a .400 BABIP is overall line drops to .322/.403/.529, assuming you only take away singles. If we give him a confrence average BABIP Green would only be hitting .270/.351/.478.
Green's zone judgement remains a red flag. He has struck out 20.0% of the time this year, showing a massive increase from last year's total of 15.49%. Green's walk rate of 10.0% represents a small upgrade from last year's horrendous 6.6% but still below average. Strikeout and walk rate are the most predictive convential statistics when translating college to pro success. Grant Green struggles in both of these areas.
Using my database of all Top 50 college draft picks since 2001, only one player has walked under 10.0% of the time during his sophomore and junior years and had MLB success. That person also happens to be a player Green is often compared to, former Long Beach State shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. Tulowitzki is also one of only two players to be first round picks and score under 480 in my college ranking system. If Green is a +20 defender who will get a massive boost from his home park, then he'll be worth a top 10 pick.
Despite being overrated early in the draft process, Grant Green is still a solid prospect -- likely a first rounder. He still has power, athleticism and upside that are rare for the position. A large part of his value is tied to his glove, if he can be a plus defender at short he's a reasonable gamble to be a league average player for the position with his bat. If he's a sub-par defender, or has to move off the position, his bat is unlikely to make up for it. Opinions have been mixed on Green's defensive ability this year. He does still have upside but Green is more of a high risk/high reward kind of prospect than some of the other elite college hitters in this draft class. Right now, he's a marginal first rounder in a weak draft who could still be overvalued due to positional scarsity. While there's still a lot of time between now and the draft, Green would have to show massive improvment at the plate, make better contact and draw more walks in order to be an early first rounder in our books. “


Baseball Draft Report - http://baseballdraftreport.com/2009/06/05/mock-draft-3-0/

“1.12 Kansas City: SS Grant Green – Southern California
You know who I hate? That guy who has to quote himself to show off just how right he was. More often than not, he just happened to stumble into being right just one lousy time, but that guy, you know that guy, will harp on his success until everybody has heard him twice over. You have to know where this is heading, right? From February 2, 2009:
The Grant Green as a special Troy Tulowitzki/Evan Longoria hybrid model comp that I’ve heard makes little to no sense to me, but that’s in no way an indictment of Green’s abilities. Just because you don’t measure up to Tulowitzki and Longoria doesn’t mean you aren’t a fine player in your own right. However, it is fair to say that Green has a long way to go to reach the level of either prospect. In fact, I believe that Grant Green has more to play for this upcoming season than any other college prospect. With a good spring, he goes second to Seattle. If he struggles –and it’s not out of the question for a guy with a less than inspiring walk rate to have a letdown season as pitchers begin to adjust their approach — then he come slip down the board. Of course, even with an off junior season he would still be the premier middle infield prospect by a large margin and a very desirable prospect.
A recap, based entirely on things we absolutely know: Green did not have a good spring and therefore will not be heading to Seattle. He did struggle, so it is now very likely he will slip down the board. He did have an off junior season, but he is still the best draft-eligible middle infielder by a wide margin, so teams picking early in the first will still kick the tires on him. The Royals, a team reportedly hot on the trail of all kinds of up-the-middle college defenders, could be the team to drive him off the lot.
I have a bit of a problem with not letting go some of the longstanding comps I come up with even after they have passed their point of relevancy, but, darnit, I still think Green looks like a rich man’s Jason Donald. “