Laynce Nix All-Stars

[jaybird2001wi]

Every Spring Training all of us get a glimpse of what our top prospects can do as non-roster invitees or as 40-man roster participants and we always zero in on our top prospects and what they can do for our Major League club within a year or two. This has reminded me of the so-called AAAA players that continually tear it up in AAA and we become excited to see them in Milwaukee as soon as possible, only to realize they are going to post OBPs of below .300 and barely crack a .250 batting average. That is Laynce Nix.

Pretty much every team has a Laynce Nix on their team and every year these teams continually boast them as "the future" only to realize they can't cut it in the Majors, either due to less than ample playing time or they just don't have the right tools as Major Leaguers.

During the 1980's when I watched the Cubs on WGN, they always had a "Gary Scott watch" in Des Moines, Iowa and basically called him the "answer at third base" after so many years of stopgaps since Ron Santo last played that position. Scott only ended up playing a handful of games between two seasons with the Cubs. I also believe they did the same with Jody Davis, now Davis was a bit more successful than Scott.

Every year, we as Brewers fans, always kept an eye those one or two guys we absolutely can't wait to see. I think this year's guy is Alcides Escobar. Most recently I flipped through some old Milwaukee Brewers yearbooks from the 1980's and there were a ton of these "can't miss" guys in these programs (ie: Mike Felder, stealing 92 bases with Stockton one year; Brad Komminsk, "can't miss player" according to Hank Aaron)

But what causes these guys to totally tear up AAA only to falter worse in the Majors than players "below" them in the minors? Ben Hendrickson comes to mind, I also seem to remember Kevin Barker "being our guy at first." Can anyone help me fill in the rest?

 

C:

1B: Kevin Barker

2B: Juan Castillo

SS:

3B:

OF: Laynce Nix

OF: Brad Komminsk

OF: Mike Felder

SP: Ben Hendrickson

RP:

[Tedaldtada]

RP: Jose Cappellan (sp?)

[patrickgpe]

I'd put Todd Dunn in the outfield.

Third Basenab Antone Williamson

[joepepsi]

How about Mike Kinkade at 3B? He made to AAA for Milwaukee before being traded to the Mets. Was hitting .309/.385/.505; .890 OPS when they traded him. I could never understand why he didn't get a better chance in the majors.

 

Brian Banks is another possibility.

[patrickgpe]

Wes Obermueller!

[Brian the Automator]

When I started following the minors real closely, it was the 3 K's that excited me the most (Scott Krause, Danny Klassen, Mike Kincade). I think they were all mashing in El Paso, and I was too young and naïve to know about park effects.

[LouisEly]

Catcher - Jason Belcher or Kade Johnson

 

Or Lou Palmisano?

[LouisEly]

RP - VDLS or Angel Miranda

[jwill535]

I remember a guy with the last name Askia or something similar being huge in the spring like 15 years ago.

[mothershipconnection]

Meyer, and Robidoux are required members of the list. Braggs was in the same class but was league average a couple times, so he's ineligible.

[Fatter than Joey]

Tim Pyznarski

[greeg35]

Steve Keifer? George Canale? Earnest Riles?

[craigharmann]

Tim Pyznarski

Yeah....I had his '87 Topps future stars card....quite the star he became.

[davego]

I really liked Ernie Riles.

[sheetswannabe]

Rickie Weeks! Haha just kidding. Dave Krynzel anyone?

[nate82]

J.M. Gold? I think that was his first two initials. I can't remember it has been so long.

[RockCoCougars]

I'll second the Kevin Barker one. I remember wondering what planet Powell was on when he was spewing nonsense about him being a Rookie of the Year candidate. I also remember wondering whether or not he truly believed that or if he was giving the company line.

 

How about Tim McIntosh and Valerio DeLosSantos? Going a little bit further back, most if not all the teams prospects from 83 and 84 flamed out for the crew (though some had fairly long careers). Guys like Randy Ready, Dion James, Jaimie Coconower and Doug Loman. Going further back, Dan Thomas was another one, and going way back, a guy named Rob Ellis was a huge flop.

[OglivieHomePerm]

Not a prospect, but Jose Fernandez had a huge spring for the Brewers, probably about 10 years ago. Lyle Mouton played his way onto the roster as well once with a huge spring that surprisingly did not translate into regular season success.

[bcf5575]

Joey Meyer is the mvp of this list.

[davego]

The 'other' Bob Gibson.

[Outlander]

My friends and I were at the game were Chris Saenz shut out the Cardinals for six innings and we thought the Brewers finally had a pitching prospect. Unfortunately he never played again for the Brewers except as the setup man in my MVP Baseball 2005 video game.

[RightFieldCoder]

I remember the outrage on this board when Pujols said Saenz was lucky. We thought this was a guy that would dominate the Cardinals in a couple of years. I never heard from him again.

[Fatter than Joey]

My friends and I were at the game were Chris Saenz shut out the Cardinals for six innings and we thought the Brewers finally had a pitching prospect.

 

I was at that game as well..

 

Saenz was an emergency call-up -- I think he was pitching in the Indys last year.

[joepepsi]

Billy Jo Robidoux should have been a major league star just based on his name. But he also had a career .903 OPS in the minors. When he was 21 in AA he posted a 1.020 OPS with 23 homers. Talk about your "can't miss prospect"!

 

He needs to be starting on this team, either at 1B or DH.

[davego]

I was at the game the night before when Matt Kinney gave up 2-hits thru 7 innings.