Frankly, I don't think there's a single one of us who didn't have high expectations for Russ Adams when he was drafted out of the University of Notrh Carolina with the 14th overall pick in the 2002 MLB Draft. Adams is currently being challenged defensively and offensively at AAA Syracuse, hitting just .272/.344/.384 and showing a few signs of being stretched defensively at shortstop. Adams has plenty of time to turn his career around and become a star, but he hasn't performed up to reasonable expectations so far.
Or has he?
I decided to look at Adams's peers, as well as the plausible alternatives on the draft board when he was selected, to get an idea of just how encouraged or discouraged Jays fans should be with their erstwhile Shortstop Of The Future.
Note : This article does not examine the question of who the "best prospect" is among Russ Adams's contemporaries. Rather, it measures how close each is to contributing at a major league level, in response to a recent comment that Adams was unreasonably far away from the majors at this juncture.
Here's how Adams's peers, the players selected between #10 and #20 overall in the 2002 draft, have been doing this season:
Drew Meyer is hitting .232/.300/303, 53 games at AA Frisco, making errors like Adams.
Jeremy Hermida, an outfielder, is hitting .292/.374/.426, 76 games at high-A Jupiter.
Joe Saunders is 9-7, 3.41 in 105 IP at high-A Cucamonga, 1-2, 6.75 20 IP at AA Arkansas.
Khalil Greene is performing well in the majors.
Adams is hitting .272/.344/.384 at AAA Syracuse.
Scott Kazmir is a just-about-major-league-ready pitcher currently punching out the AA Southern League.
Nick Swisher is hitting .257/.402/.499 at AAA Sacramento.
Cole Hamels was shut down for the season after four starts in high-A.
Royce Ring had a 4.11 ERA in 11 AA appearances and has a 3.63 ERA in 29 AAA appearances.
James Loney is hitting .250/.323/.346 in 85 games at AA Jacksonville.
Denard Span is hitting .262/.361/.305 in 44 games at low-A Quad Cities.
And the other first-round collegians drafted below Adams:
Bobby Brownlie is 9-8, 3.41 ERA in 126 IP at AA West Tenn.
Jeremy Guthrie is 7-8, 4.23 ERA in 121 IP at AA Akron; he's been shelled in 4 AAA starts.
Joe Blanton is 8-8, 4.42 ERA in 150 IP at AAA Sacramento.
Matt Cain is kicking ass in AA and AAA, and is major-league ready.
John McCurdy is "hitting" .249/284/.364 at AA Midland.
Derick Grigsby is 6-8, 4.40 ERA in 118 IP at low-A Lexington.
Ben Fritz is 7-4, 5.63 ERA in 108 IP at AA Midland.
There is, in hindsight, no reason to have expected Adams to be major-league ready for next April. It certainly would have been nice. Few college players, even senior draftees, are ready for the bigs in two years from draft day. I thought Adams would be one; it looks like I'm wrong but I suppose the real story will be told next spring. We certainly can't write off Adams just yet. He has made AAA, is holding his own there, and hopefully will get the push forward that he needs.
Of the guys drafted 10-20 other than Adams, three are further along the road towards major league success (four if you count Royce Ring), and six are further away from contributing. Of the next seven collegians, one (Cain) is further along, Blanton and maybe Brownlie are about where Adams is, and the others are further back. It just goes to show, the grass always looks greener on the other side, but I can imagine the Texas Rangers would take Adams in a hearbeat over their choice at #10, Drew Meyer.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20040816050623999