Brian Barton

Brian Barton - Outfielder
Age: 25 Height: 6'3" Weight: 185 Bats: Right Throws: Right

	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	OBP	SLG	OPS
2007 Akr/Buf	.305	131	476	64	145	21	2	10	66	48	117	21	.402	.420	.822
Career	.316	354	1278	226	404	71	12	35	212	152	304	80	.416	.473	.889

History: The Indians signed Barton as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Miami, FL in August 2004. There were serious concerns about how serious he was about baseball after he had to sit out a year after transferring from Loyola and he was majoring in aerospace engineering. His draft stock plummeted as a result and led to him not being selected in the 2004 Draft.

Strengths & Opportunities: Since debuting in Lake County in 2005, Barton caught the attention of the Indians and made a lot of teams second guess their decision to not draft him. In his 2005 debut, he combined at Lake County and Kinston to hit .326 with 7 HR, 64 RBI, 20 stolen bases and a .948 OPS. He followed that up with a breakout performance in 2006, hitting a combined .323 with 19 HR, 83 RBI, 41 stolen bases and .923 OPS for Kinston and Akron. Even though he hit over .300 and had an OPS over .800 last year, Barton seemed to take a step back due to an alarming drop in power and significant dip in stolen bases. He had a lot of trouble in the one month he was at Triple-A, hitting .264 with a .666 OPS in 25 games.

Barton's build and ability has often been compared by people inside and outside the Indians organization to major leaguer Mike Cameron. Barton is an extremely versatile player who possesses a rare combination of speed on the bases with outstanding bat power to all fields. His speed/power combination is what many teams dream about, and he has the physical tools and the athleticism to make an impact. He is an extremely intelligent player, has great composure, and a very good feel for the game.

As a runner, Barton has very good speed and instincts on the bases and in the field. He also is a good defensive outfielder, and is versatile and shows good arm strength and range to play all three outfield positions. Also, Barton certainly has done a good job of getting on base. While he does not walk a great amount, he does hit over .300 and he gets hit by pitches at a ridiculous rate. So much so, he has been on the league leader board every year and in his minor league career has been hit by a pitch 74 times (30 last year).

Barton does have a tendency to pile up strikeouts, as he whiffed once every four at bats last year which is right in line with his career ratio. His inability to improve his plate discipline as he has moved up the minor league ladder has seen his slugging percentage dip significantly (.502 to .420) from 2006 to 2007. This clearly is his biggest weakness as a hitter, and unless Barton can develop more patience at the plate, he will have a hard time providing consistent production each at bat at the major league level. Barton also needs to work on identifying breaking pitches better, his swing tends to get long and he is very susceptible to inside pitches. Barton is still working on ironing out some things defensively in the outfield.

Barton has done a lot of the things the Indians have asked him to do, but some of the things he has to do to finish off his development are things that are better off being taken care of in the minors where an organization can be more patient with him. Since he was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the Rule 5 Draft this past December, Barton will have to make those adjustments at the major league level where the pressure to produce good results will intensify greatly. The Cardinals will do everything they can to keep him and be patient with him the first month of the season, but if he struggles he most definitely would be returned. The Cardinals may choose to just buy his rights in spring training so they can send him up and down as needed, and to get his full rights they would have to complete some sort of trade with the Indians.

Outlook: Barton really shot up the Indians system in 2006, where he went from an unknown undrafted free agent signing to a top five prospect in the system in two years time. He does it all, as he hits for average and power, he runs well, and is solid defensively. While he is not great at any one of these attributes, he is well rounded enough where he provides good value to any major league team. With the path he has taken and the strides he has made, he has the potential to become a remarkable success story considering he went undrafted. Barton is with the St. Louis Cardinals now as he was taken in the Rule 5 Draft this offseason, and is expected to open the season with them. There is a remote chance he could be returned to the Indians if he struggles in spring training like Ryan Goleski did for Oakland last year.

Video: Barton at the plate in Buffalo and at Akron.

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