Jim Powell is referring to a past "Talkin' Baseball" show, during which Dan O'Brien (Special Assistant to the General Manager) was a guest. O'Brien apparently said that Alcides Escobar was the best shortstop prospect he'd seen in a long time; one of the best he'd ever seen.
Alcides Escobar? Yeah, the guy's young, and he still has plenty of potential, but he had an OPS of 605 in high-A last year. That's...bad. Like, Adam Everett bad. I suppose O'Brien may be referring to his defensive skill, on which I have nothing to add, except for the fact that, given limited data, he doesn't grade out that well there, either.
Is O'Brien just smoking some Brewers farmhand crack, or is there something the rest of us are missing? While Escobar has been something of a scouty favorite, he's not that big of a favorite: after all, he's hardly a top prospect list stalwart. Perhaps someone can explain this to me.