The Prospect/Minor Leagues Thread

[theblujay]

Marc Hulet dropped some prospect knowledge on the Jays today.

 

Kendall Graveman

 

 

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/prospect-stock-watch-julio-urias-and-some-blue-jays/

I like Graveman and Boyd and think they're both more than just punted picks. The funny thing is both of them are similar and at best will be 4/5th starter or middle relief. Not unlike two other college pitchers: Jenkins and McGuire. We only got those two for much more money and first round picks.

[theblujay]

Great night for Pompey: 2-2 2HRs 2BBs

Guerrero: 3-4 2B HR

Lopes: 2-4

[Caper]

Great night for Pompey: 2-2 2HRs 2BBs

Guerrero: 3-4 2B HR

Lopes: 2-4

 

Guerrero has to be considered a top 10 prospect in the org IMO. The guy is 6'4", under 190.... That's a god damn stick that should fill out... and produce more as he gets older.

[KingKat]

Guerrero has to be considered a top 10 prospect in the org IMO. The guy is 6'4", under 190.... That's a god damn stick that should fill out... and produce more as he gets older.

 

Definitely one of this year's breakouts.

[Angrioter]

Guerrero has to be considered a top 10 prospect in the org IMO. The guy is 6'4", under 190.... That's a god damn stick that should fill out... and produce more as he gets older.

 

Manny Acta nephew.

[HERPDERP]

Aaron "The Franchise" Sanchez retweeted:

 

Dan Dakich ‏@dandakich 1h MLB Executives now figuring out about pitchers what everyone else knows?...THROW MORE..long toss..build muscle..babying doesn't work .Retweeted by Aaron Sanchez

 

GET THAT AA?!

[theblujay]

Guerrero has to be considered a top 10 prospect in the org IMO. The guy is 6'4", under 190.... That's a god damn stick that should fill out... and produce more as he gets older.

 

I guess the problem is whether or not he can stick at SS.

[ReturnOfTheYeti]

Rowdy Tellez has a 3B with an RBI and a run scored in the first inning. Second triple of the year for the big guy. Seems like when he makes contact, that the ball generally goes a long way.

[ace3113]

Rowdy Tellez has a 3B with an RBI and a run scored in the first inning. Second triple of the year for the big guy. Seems like when he makes contact, that the ball generally goes a long way.

 

He's now 3-3 with that triple and rbi. Rowdy baby!

[ace3113]

From BA:

 

Anthony Alford has disappeared. Where did he go?

 

David MacPhee

Vernon, British Columbia

 

When the Blue Jays signed Alford for $750,000 in 2012 they did so with the agreement that he could play college football. He led an awful Southern Miss team in total offense as a freshman quarterback last year. He’s since transferred to Mississippi where he will have to sit out this year as a redshirt thanks to the transfer rules, but he is attending classes and practicing with the football team.

 

Because of the time commitment of football, Alford’s baseball career up to now has been limited to a series of very brief snippets of on-field action. He played five games in the Gulf Coast League before reporting back to school in 2012 and six more in the GCL this year before heading to Ole Miss.

 

With such limited exposure to pro ball, it’s hard to make any sort of assessment of Alford’s chances to be a big leaguer. He’s one of the best athletes in the minors and is a plus defender in center field. But as long as his pro baseball experience consists of a few weeks in the summer around classes and football, it’s going to be very hard for him to develop into a polished hitter.

 

The Blue Jays, like any team that works out a two-sport deal that allows the player to leave for a college sport, hope that at some point Alford will focus full-time on baseball. This transfer to Ole Miss is a setback for the Blue Jays however, as it raises the possibility that Alford will spend five years as a college football player because of his redshirt year.

 

The track record of baseball success for players who split time between pro baseball and college football is not a good one. Actually it’s terrible. Baseball is hard enough to succeed at if you work on it year-round. Because of the demands of the college football season, players splitting their time between the two sports often fall further and further behind at the plate.

 

Drew Henson, Russell Wilson, Ricky Williams, Dennis Dixon and Terrell Buckley are a number of examples of players who received good money to give baseball a try, but ended up taking the “easier” path to the NFL.

 

The difficulty of life in the minors is not to be ignored. Often these players are struggling in sparsely attended stadiums to catch up to baseball players who have more at-bats under their belts because they play year-round. At the same time, these same players are on national TV having success on the college football field. Before long, the lure of football success wins out over baseball struggles.

 

It’s worth noting that the biggest two-sport football/baseball success stories are players who played both sports in college first. Deion Sanders, Bo Jackson and Brian Jordan all managed to succeed at both, in part because it was easier to get at-bats as a college baseball player than it is as a pro baseball player who is also a college football star.

 

Rockies outfielder Kyle Parker, currently playing at Double-A Tulsa, followed a similar track, playing three years at Clemson as an outfielder and four years as a quarterback. He signed with the Rockies with the provision that he would play one more year of college football, but unlike Alford, Wilson or others, his football career had a definitive end date, which meant he missed much less time because of his second sport.

 

Alford has the tools to become a solid baseball prospect, but unless he focuses more time on baseball, it’s hard to see how it will ever be more than a hobby.

[theblujay]

C: Reeves

1B: Dean

2B: Lopes (repeat after horrible second half?)

SS: Lugo

3B: Nay

OF: Frank

OF: Davis

OF: Kalfus

DH: Dantzler

 

Lansing next year?

And with that starting rotation Lansing will win their league.

[Atothe]

why is kalfus given a spot?

[GD]

why is kalfus given a spot?

 

121 wRC+?

[theblujay]

So why hasn't Hollon pitched in over a week?

[Frenchsoup]

I was just thinking about this and wondering, since this organization babies its pitchers so much when they do get a little soar or hurt if the pitcher tries to pitch through it in fear of a long dl stint and slow building back up. Unlike tampa who actually lets u pitch and when your body is able to pitch you'll pitch. I know if i was in this org i would look at hiding an injury in order to advance.

[Angrioter]

Tellez 3-3, 3B

[GD]

Tellez <3

[Convo]

Gose, Pillar, Goins - Dat depth!

[theblujay]

Yikes, Stroman got beat up: 3IP 7H 5ER 3BB 1K

[ReturnOfTheYeti]

Yikes, Stroman got beat up: 3IP 7H 5ER 3BB 1K

 

It happens, he seems to have one of these stinkers every once in awhile but otherwise he's nails. I would not be surprised if part of the reason last night was that he was a little ticked off that he's assigned to AFL. He had been planning - and looking forward - to going to Duke in the off-season and his tweet indicated that it was "bitter sweet". If he found out before the game, maybe it affected him a bit - who knows.

[theblujay]

Andy Burns is hitting

 

.286/.330/.476 in his last 28 days

 

Any chance he starts next year in Buffalo?

 

Doubt it, but it doesn't really matter. He'll get there next year if he continues to advance.

[ace3113]

Tellez might be the lowest drafted player ever on a top prospects list in a few years. I know it was about signability and school and all that. But it would still be pretty funny to see a 30th round selection in the top 100 prospects.

 

Tellez with another good game today: 2-3 with 2bb.

[KingKat]

Tellez might be the lowest drafted player ever on a top prospects list in a few years. I know it was about signability and school and all that. But it would still be pretty funny to see a 30th round selection in the top 100 prospects.

 

Mike Piazza probably has the record for lowest drafted player on a prospect list. He went in the 62nd round and he was the Dodgers top prospect and highly ranked overall. I'm not sure where I'd find the exact rankings for those days but from my memory, there was a lot of hype. Wouldn't surprise me if he was top 10 prospect.

 

Edit: Baseball America says he was ranked #38 after the 1992 season. That seems a bit low given that I remember hearing about him before he even played at a time where I knew next to nothing about prospects but I guess his story probably got more attention because of the Lasorda/Dodgers connection (Lasorda being his godfather).

[flafson]

Tellez is all about hitting, if he can adjust he has a shot.

[theblujay]

DeJong: 5IP 4H 1BB 5K

Hollon: 1IP 2H 2ER 1BB

Davis: 1-4 BB

Barreto: 1-5 2B

Nay: 1-5

Dean: 2-4 3B

[ace3113]

Interesting.

 

[ReturnOfTheYeti]

Tellez with another good game today: 2-3 with 2bb.

 

Not only the 2 for 3, but his one out was grounding out to first moving the runner from 2nd to 3rd, who then scored on a WP which was the go-ahead run. Splits are slowly increasing. Still looking for the power to be translated to game play but from what Chris King said, the raw power is definitely there as he mashes in BP.

[GD]

Norris promoted? Sweet.

[Angrioter]

[Angrioter]