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Ackley is a STUDENT of the game.  This cannot be overly stressed.  Guys like Soriano, (Lopez, Yuni), or on a different plane - Vlad -- are physical freaks.
Ackley is NOT a physical freak.  Ohh, he's gifted.  His ability to read ball/strike in a nano-second is certainly a very rare commodity.  But, what he DOES based off that ability is probably EQUAL parts natural physical athleticism and unwavering drive and focus.
There are probably HUNDREDS of kids his age with 100% of his ability in terms of simply swinging the bat and making contact with ball -- or in reaching out and snagging a ball with glove.  "Athletically" Ackley is a solid specimen of which there are hundreds scattered throughout the minors.
Ackley's true genius - which made him the best hitter in college baseball - is above the neck, not below it.  He has an unrelenting drive to learn, to improve, to adjust, to GROW, to be just a little bit better tomorrow than he was today. 
The only REAL question in regards to Ackley in the majors is NOT his eye - but his average.  Utlimately, he'll be able to run 100 points of patience in the majors.  That's a given.  The first unknown is what will his baseline BA be?  To carry a .400 OBP with 100 points of patience means he *HAS* to hit .300.  Within 2 years of hitting the majors, Ackley *WILL* figure out HIS personally optimized approach that pushes his BA as high as he is capable of.  Maybe that is .300 ... maybe only .265. 
But, Ackley's trip doesn't end there.  AFTER maximizing his walks - and maximizing his BA - THEN, he'll look into increasing his power.  This is precisely what he did at Carolina.  It is predictable, because (like all humans), he is going to continue utilizing previous approaches that have worked until they stop working. 
It was really no surprise to me that he didn't immediately show any power at West Tenn.  And it wasn't much of a surprise that his power increased in Tacoma (or that his walks dropped and Ks went up a bit).  He's like Charles Emerson Winchester in cleats -- he does one thing, he does it very well, and then he moves on. 
The SCARY future is -- given a 100 patience baseline -- and let's imagine - a .280 average.  That's a nice .380 OBP -- but likely very little pop.  After he's comfortable at that stage, THEN he jumps from Ichiro power to Gutierrez power, (or he might only move to Kotchman power initially).  The key is, when he DOES add some HRs to his .280/.380 line, the competition gets a little more leary of challenging him -- and the likely result of that is a jump from 100 patience to 130 patience and you've got Bobby Abreu playing 2B for you at that point.
The "likely" path for Ackley is one where he "gradually" moves from good to very good to OMG over a period of 3-5 years. 
My only hope is that if he's "only" a .340 OBP guy his first year, or if he follows up a good year with a bad year the fans (and press) don't get overly absorbed in what he is NOT.  He's *NOT* an athletic freak like Griffey or AROD.  The reality is he is way more Kotchman than Griffey (from an purely athletic perspective).  But, that's not a bad thing.  Ackley's gift is his mental toughness - and ultimately, that is Kotchman's burden, and why he failed - and why Ackley will succeed.

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