Until a hyperactive spring in which he batted .389 with 11 RBI and generally impressed everyone in Brewers camp with his speed and defensive ability, center fielder Alex Sanchez wasn't expected to ever be much more than a fourth outfielder at Miller Park.

In a measure of just how barren the team's minor-league talent base is, as well as how quickly he has progressed since last year, Sanchez may now be the most viable position prospect near or at the top of the Milwaukee system. But just as his rise is a paradoxical statement on the team's future, so has his play been equally frustrating and exciting. {INSERT_RELATED}

As we reach Memorial Day with the Brewers 16 games under .500, Sanchez could be a poster boy for all that ails the team. He's lost games with both poor defense and base running, but he's also shown enough flashes of speed and on-base ability to encourage Jerry Royster and Dean Taylor that he could be the long-term answer in center.

His 13 steals lead the team, but he's also been caught stealing seven times. He falls prey to pedestrian pickoff moves or mental mistakes on the basepaths nearly every game, most recently in Sunday's first inning when he was caught between second and third on a comebacker to the mound.

As Brewers' broadcaster Jim Powell said before a game last week, at times Sanchez has been reminiscent of Kenny Lofton, at other times Chucky Carr. The Brewers are desperately trying to find out which one he definitively tends toward by -- oh, let's say -- July 31 or so.

Not that Sanchez would earn anything in a trading deadline deal. But by then, at least the team would know the general state of its outfield in case any young talent became available from a contending team looking to acquire Chad Fox, Mike DeJean or another viable Brewers' commodity.

The 25-year-old (he'll be 26 in August -- officially, anyways) Cuban's primary assets are his two legs. In 140 plate appearances, he's stolen 13 bases. Considering how raw his base running instincts are, that's fairly impressive. It's doubly impressive for a team that hasn't had a 30-base stealer since Pat Listach (54) and Darryl Hamilton (41) in 1992. If Sanchez were to get 500 plate appearances and stay on his present pace, he'd finish with 46 steals.

Unfortunately, his instincts are not only raw, they're flawed. Are good base runners made or born? Paul Molitor was probably the best instinctual base runner the franchise has ever seen, and Sanchez will never be on his level. But can Royster and his staff -- or the next regime, perhaps -- eliminate his worst mistakes and still maintain Sanchez's aggressiveness?

Sanchez also has a long way to go in the field. He can overcome balls in the gaps with pure athleticism, but balls hit over his head are more adventurous than Star Wars screenplays. Line drives hit right at him also tend to confound Sanchez. Center field is a critical defensive position -- you can't have a good defensive team without a good center fielder. Sanchez must improve massively for the Brewers to stick with him.

Could he move to a corner outfield spot? Perhaps, but despite nearly a year-long slump, Geoff Jenkins probably isn't going anywhere in left, and right fielders need a bigger arm than Sanchez possesses.

Despite those negatives, Sanchez has made great strides at the plate. At. 280 and .355, his batting and on-base averages are a marked improvement over recent Brewers' leadoff men. In a 30-game stint last year, Sanchez hit 2.42 ground balls for every fly ball; he's improved that to 2.84 this season, an impressive jump. His ability to work a count is still questionable (he only sees 3.32 pitches per at bat, compared to Jeffrey Hammonds' total of 4.20), but his 13 walks and 23 strikeouts aren't bad considering his more experienced teammates' futility in either category.

Sure, Sanchez's increasingly steady playing time takes ABs away from either Hammonds, Alex Ochoa or Matt Stairs (when he gets off the DL), and all those players have documented skills, in varying degrees, that the team could use. And, also unfortunately, with just 2 doubles and 3 triples, Sanchez has little if any power. In fact, his slugging percentage (.344) is actually lower than his OBP (.355), which makes for interesting bar trivia if not a contractual bargaining point.

But at 17-33, why not see how Sanchez develops in a full-time role over the course of the summer? Just look at the Twins, a team now reaping the benefits of suffering through the early lean times of young stars like Torii Hunter and Christian Guzman, not to mention Jacque Jones or Corey Koskie, players who developed offensively as quickly as Sanchez appears to be due to steady playing time from ex-skipper Tom Kelly.

Sanchez may turn out to be nothing more than the fourth outfielder he was pegged to be last fall. If so, the Brewers can always cut bait later. For now, they're fishing for any sort of progress they can catch. And in a disappointing season, Sanchez provides at least one legitimate reason to pay attention.