I think you’re reading a bit too far into my words. Does 26 HRs, 109 RBI, and a .353 average in one season at Triple-A qualify as minor league success? You bet it does. Does that infer he was just as good in each season prior? I don’t think so.

Minor league stats don’t always indicate a player’s potential, especially when they’re young. The low levels of the minors are in place for players to develop, not to hit 30 HRs every year.

You could say Soto’s 2007 season in Triple-A was a fluke, because nothing he had done previous indicated a spike in production. When he took those numbers to the next level in 2008, however, he proved he’s capable of being a top-five catcher.

Maybe he’s not as good as 2008 suggested, but like you said, he’s not as bad as he was last year either. He should be somewhere in between in 2010, and I still believe that leaves the possibility to be a top-five catcher.

Thanks again for the comment, feel free to continue to challenge the Insiders’ projections.

I can’t really agree that Soto has had a lot of minor league success. I can’t really say having one really good season in the minors and having six really bad/sub par seasons can be called minor league success.

I know he had a monster year in 2007, but from 2001 to 2006, there was very little known about Soto, he wasn’t regarded as a top prospect.

His best overall season during that span from 01′ to 06′ was in 2004 at Double-A, when he put up a .271 average, nine home runs, 48 runs batted in and 47 runs scored.

He owned a .262 batting average and only hit 25 home runs in 1,574 at bats over his first six years in the minor leagues. That comes out to one home run every 63 at bats. And that comes out to eight home runs per 500 at bats over the first six years of his minor league career.

He never reached double-digit home runs in any single season from 2001 to 2006. He actually only hit seven or more home runs in one season over that span.

I think his average should bounce back from last season, so his power numbers might slightly increase, but I don’t expect him to come close to a repeat of his terrific 08′ season. I think he will be somewhere around a .260 avg, 15 hr and 60 rbi, which in my mind puts him in the middle tier of catchers. Saying he could be a top 5 catcher might be too high of hopes, I don’t think last season was just a fluke, he doesn’t have as great of a minor league track record as most people tend to think.