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The question for me is not whether anyone could do better.  That would be REALLY hard to do at the blistering pace that Ackley is setting.
 
  
The question is, "Is it possible to be an AFL monster and not be a good pro, or even a great prospect?"
 
  
And the answer to that is yes.
 
  
This year, who are the prospects right behind Ackley?
 
  
Juan Carlos Linares, 1.180 OPS. 26 year old Cuban defector, plays CF, was miserable in his first 50 ABs in the pros (.662 OPS, 13K/0BB) and stellar in these last 50 in the AFL.
 
  
Derrick Norris, 1.098 OPS. 21 year old catcher.  Rated the #38 prospect by BA before the season.  Career .876 OPS bat behind the plate with a great eye and low BA.
 
  
Cory Harrilchak, 1.052 OPS. 22 year old, low-power CF/RF.  Drafted in the 14th round.  Might be the best OF prospect in the Braves' system, though.  I see Jeremy Reed.
 
  
Charlie Culberson, 1.048 OPS. 21 year old 2B/3B.  Had a sub-.800 OPS in the Cal League in his 4th year as a pro.  Supplemental first round pick in 2007, terrible til now.
 
  
Jordan Pacheco, 1.026 OPS. 24 year old Catcher, transplanted from MIF. Rising prospect with a career .824 OPS and an even batting eye.
 
  
So as I look them, I might be tempted to say, "Wow, Ackley is really staking a claim to an opening day roster spot, and Linares is starting to make the pro transition with style, and Norris and Pacheco are continuing to climb as catching prospects...but Harrilchak and Culberson are just getting lucky and will be falling back to earth shortly."
 
  
50-80 at-bats are a tough way to make a judgment.  If Ackley came out of the gate in April and posted a .600 OPS in the bigs for the month, I wouldn't exactly consider him a bust. If he'd only been average in the AFL I wouldn't have thought he needed another year in the minors to get ready.  So how much weight can be placed in the numbers he IS posting.
 
  
When succeeding means something, but not everything, and failure is easily discounted, that's when it's hard to tell what the league performance means.
 
  
I do believe his performance is indicative of something, but it still doesn't mean he's immune to falling on his face come 2011, any more than his good performance means mister Culberson is going to carry this back to AA and suddenly become a monster.
 
  
I like it, I get enthusiastic about it...but my expectations for Ackley's coming year remain unchanged from September.
 
 
~G