BO IS MR. DEPENDABLE.

Byline: Chris Cocoles The Minors

When they label you a major-league prospect, it's all about the tools: Runs like the wind, hits for power, dazzles with the glove.

JetHawks third baseman Bo Robinson doesn't admit to being a five-tool player. Or four. Probably not even three.

``I know why I got drafted so late,'' said Robinson, a 1998 28th-round pick of the Seattle Mariners. ``I don't have the tools that a lot of these guys have, with the blazing speed and the awesome home run power.''

But Robinson accepts his supposed shortcomings, continues to produce solid statistics and contributes to winning baseball teams.

He was the catalyst of the 1999 low Single-A Wisconsin club that lost in the decisive Game 5 of the Midwest League championship series.

Steady across-the-board 1999 numbers at Wisconsin - .329 average, 13 homers, 102 RBI, 108 walks - earned Robinson Seattle's minor-league player of the year award.

Robinson moved onto the Lancaster Stealth, who won the inaugural California Fall League title last November.

The 75-44 JetHawks are also a league championship contender. Robinson, a 24-year-old native of Charlotte, N.C., was hitting .324 with 10 homers and 83 RBI through Friday.

He quietly goes about the business of being Bo, with the consistency managers crave.

``You can depend on him. He's going to screw up every now and then. He's going to be an all-star every now and then. You know what you're going to get,'' JetHawks skipper Mark Parent said. ``You take Bo for what he gives you now and that's a lot.''

Robinson provides his team with a durable performer who plays every day. He appeared in 138 of 140 games last year at Wisconsin. Despite suffering nagging injuries throughout 2000, Robinson has started at third base in 115 of the JetHawks' 119 games.

Robinson has upgraded once-questionable defensive skills. The California League's managers voted Robinson best defensive third baseman in Baseball America's annual best tools report.

``Mainly I've wanted to get better defensively. That's always been my knock,'' Robinson said. ``Basically offense is the fun side. . . . The only way I'm going to move up is to get better at third.''

Bo's father, Ron Robinson, knows what it's like to struggle through the minor leagues. Ron, a third baseman/catcher, spent seven years toiling in the Cincinnati Reds and Washington Senators farm systems. He reached Triple-A before arm problems wrecked any big-league aspirations.

With a baseball-playing father around, Bo swung baseball bats when he was 3 years old. Ron guided Bo through high school until a college career beckoned at hometown UNC-Charlotte.

Despite a second-team All-America senior year, Robinson wasn't a highly regarded prospect considering he went undrafted for 27 rounds.

``Everybody's dream is to get the chance to play professional ball and that's all I was hoping for,'' Robinson said. ``Once you get the chance to play, then nobody can hold you back.''

Both Parent and Robinson prefer to see more power numbers, though he collected a Midwest League-leading 50 doubles in 1999 and blasted a three-run homer over the 410-foot sign in left-center Friday night against Rancho Cucamonga.

``There's a lot of things I'd like to see him do better. . . . He's going to get better because he works hard,'' Parent said. ``Bo's Bo.''

And that's just fine with Bo.

--Tool time: Offensively, the 2000 season has been a disaster for Junior Brignac. The Cleveland High product is batting just .207 at Single-A Myrtle Beach.

But Carolina League managers have noticed Brignac in another way. Baseball America's best tools survey recognized him as having the league's best outfield arm.

Other local products making the list include Glendale College's Pete Paciorek (Single-A San Bernardino) for best defensive first baseman; USC's Justin Lehr (Single-A Modesto) for best control.

USC's Morgan Ensberg of Double-A Round Rock was voted best defensive third baseman in the Texas League. Another Texas Leaguer, Thousand Oaks High's Jack Wilson (now at Altoona in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization), was named best defensive shortstop.

UCLA's Eric Valent of the Double-A Reading Phillies earned best outfield arm according to Eastern League managers.

--What's in a name: Joe Borchard signed for a record bonus of $5.3 million as the Chicago White Sox's first-round draft pick, but the Camarillo High product is already just another guy in rookie ball.

Borchard had four hits in his first 10 professional at-bats in the Arizona League. But Howe Sports Data, which provides statistics for minor-league teams, incorrectly listed Borchard as Bouchard in box scores.

--Survival of the fittest: The Cape Fear Crocs of the Single-A South Atlantic League cashed in on the phenomenon of the CBS television show ``Survivor'' with an eight-day version that eliminates one contestant every game. The survivor is rewarded with a trip to a Braves major-league game in Atlanta.

The Fayetteville, N.C.-based Montreal Expos affiliate has played its own ``Survivor'' game. The team's owners voted themselves out of town and will move to Lakewood, N.J., at season's end.

--Check swings: Veteran J.P. Roberge, who attended St. Francis High and USC, had one of his best performances in a difficult season last Thursday. The 27-year-old, who plays for the Double-A Wichita Wranglers, went 4 for 5 with two doubles and four RBI. Roberge is batting .226 in 25 games as a utility player. He held down a similar role in the New York Yankees organization, was released from Triple-A Columbus but re-signed with the Kansas City Royals. . . .

Former JetHawk Greg Wooten, once a gem in the Seattle Mariners' pitching prospect pool who underwent elbow surgery two years ago, is on the way back. Wooten is 14-2 with 12 consecutive winning decisions with Double-A New Haven.

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Chart: Local players in the minor leagues