The Prospect/Minor Leagues Thread

[Frag]

I also disagree with this part of the original Fangraphs article by Marc Hulet that was under review;

 

 

 

I'm not disappointed with the 2013 draft. I think AA got a fair bit of talent in a weak draft. I'm expecting a great draft in 2014 with two top 12 picks in a stronger draft.

 

Especially with picks like the Legend of Rowdy Tellez and King Kalfus. Talk about an insult of their honour!

[GD]

And my man Jacob Brentz.

[ace3113]

It sucks, and I wanted him really bad too, but there's a great chance we get someone just as good if not a lot better than him in this draft. Patience

 

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with the players I see available this year as well. Darn delayed gratification.

[Angrioter]

Dantzler...Greene...Jansen....Dermody...Murphy...Smith...Reeves and on and on

 

Lots of interesting pieces going forward

 

None of them are considered impact talent. we fail again.

[Angrioter]

[ace3113]

Baseball America put out it's Top 20 Prospects list for the MWL. No Jays ranked, but it was a strong year fir the league.

 

1. Byron Buxton, OF, MIN

2. Carlos Correa, SS HOU

3. Robert Stephenson, RHP, CIN

4. Corey Seager, SS, LAD

5. Lance McCullers, RHP, HOU

6. Albert Almora, OF, CHI

7. Julio Urias, LHP, LAD

8. Max Fried, LHP, SAD

9. Jesse Winker, OF, CIN

10. Pierce Johnson, RHP, CHI

11. Zach Eflin, RHP, SAD

12. Vince Velasquez, RHP, HOU

13. Jose Berrios, RHP, MIN

14. Joe Ross, RHP, SAD

15. Adam Walker, OF, MIN

16. Brandon Drury, 3B, ARI

17. Dan Vogelbach, 1B, CHI

18. Tayler Guerrieri, RHP, TAM

19. Andrew Toles, OF, TAM

20. Jorge Polanco, SS, PIT

 

Some Jays content in the chat:

 

Ben (Leland Grove): Was Daniel Norris considered for your list? He made marked improvements this season, from what I've read.

 

J.J. Cooper: He was considered. In a thinner league I think he could have made it, but there are enough concerns to keep him off the list in a very deep league. Generally scouts were projecting him as a likely No. 4 starter. He has a chance to have three average or better pitches, but he’s likely to never have better than tick-below average to average command which limits his ceiling.

gerry (Toronto): Did any Lugnut hitter get consideration? which has the best potential between Nessy, Lopes, Guerrero, Smith Jr. or Pompey?

 

J.J. Cooper: Smith, Pompey and Lopes got the most consideration. None of the three were all that close to cracking the top 20, but all three are decent prospects.

[Caper]

Everytime I heard a lugnuts game, they spent a long time praising Guerrero. I think he's a more then decent prospect.

[GD]

Everytime I heard a lugnuts game, they spent a long time praising Guerrero. I think he's a more then decent prospect.

 

I have him at 16 but I feel like I'm not done moving him around just yet.

[GD]

Dalton Pompey won the Rawlings Gold Glove as the best defensive center fielder in the entire MiLB. Along with 115 wRC+ and 38 SB, he remains one of my favorite sleepers.

[KingKat]

Dalton Pompey won the Rawlings Gold Glove as the best defensive center fielder in the entire MiLB. Along with 115 wRC+ and 38 SB, he remains one of my favorite sleepers.

 

Who votes on that? Can we take it seriously?

[John_Havok]

Who votes on that? Can we take it seriously?

 

Well take anything with a grain of salt when it comes to minor league defense awards, but Pompey's calling card has always been top tier athleticism and speed so great CF defense is not a stretch.

[GD]

Yeah, I'm not too sure, but it's not all that much of a stretch, really like him.

[ace3113]

A BA article from June on every team's 2012 top draft picks.

 

Toronto Blue Jays

 

The Blue Jays like to take things slowly with their high school draft picks, and Mississippi prep center fielder D.J. Davis (17th) is no exception, despite his playing at three levels in his debut last season. Davis began 2013 in extended spring training and probably will head to short-season Vancouver in June. Toronto’s other first-round pick, Duke righthander Marcus Stroman (22nd overall), returned from his 50-game suspension (stimulant use) on May 19, rejoining the Double-A New Hampshire rotation. He got torched for eight runs in one inning during his third start, which ran his ERA to 8.10 through 10 innings.

[ace3113]

Baseball America's Top 20 Prospects from the Florida State League.

 

1. Byron Buxton, OF, MIN

2. Miguel Sano, 3B, MIN

3. Javier Baez, SS, CHC

4. Gregory Polanco, OF, PIT

5. Maikel Franco, 3B, PHI

6. Noah Syndergaard, RHP NYM

7. Gary Sanchez, C NYY

8. Jorge Soler, OF, CHC

9. Andrew Heaney, LHP, FLA

10. Aaron Sanchez, RHP, TOR

11. Nick Kingham, RHP, PIT

12. Eddie Rosario, 2B, MIN

13. Alen Hanson, SS, PIT

14. Stephen Piscotty, OF, STL

15. Pierce Johnson, RHP, CHC

16. Justin Nicolino, LHP, FLA

17. Devon Travis, 2B, DET

18. Anthony DeSclafani, RHP, FLA

19. Mason Williams, OF, NYY

20. Aaron Altherr, OF, PHI

 

10. Aaron Sanchez, rhp, Dunedin (Blue Jays)

Age: 21. B-T: R-R. Ht.: 6-4. Wt.: 190. Drafted: HS—Barstow, Calif. (1s).

 

Selected four spots ahead of Syndergaard in the same Blue Jays draft, Sanchez rivals his former teammate for pure fastball goodness. Sanchez’s long legs, loose arm and athleticism help produce electric heat in the 94-97 mph range. His fastball has late life, and he threw more strikes with it as the year went on, gaining confidence along the way.

His power breaking ball gives him a second plus pitch. He throws a 1-to-7 curveball with power, usually in the 78-82 mph range but at times harder, with excellent rotation and bite. “I’ve sat with scouts who thought we taught him a slider,” Blue Jays pitching coordinator Dane Johnson said, “but that’s just his curve. It has real power behind it.”

Sanchez’s changeup lags behind as a third pitch, but he won’t need it much if he continues to improve his control as he did this year. He reduced his walk rate by nearly a full batter per nine innings, dropping from 5.1 last year to 4.2 in 2013. Still, Sanchez must throw more strikes and go deeper into games more consistently—he was on a 90-pitch limit this season—to fulfill his frontline starter potential.

 

G GS W L SV ERA IP H R ER HR BB SO AVG

22 20 4 5 0 3.34 86 63 40 32 4 40 75 .202

 

Only one Jays related note in the BA Chat:

 

Mike (Buffalo): were there any other Dunedin Blue Jays considered for the list?

 

John Manuel: I like Andy Burns as a player but couldn't get any scouts to bite. The consensus seemed to be not enough power at 3B but not good enough defense for 2B. I've been following Burns' career since Fort Collins, Colo., days, and that seems to be the same story ever since then. He's proved some people wrong so far so we'll see. Tyler Ybarra is a nice sleeper, big time power LH arm, and he's headed to the AFL.

[GD]

The FSL was stacked this year. Yeesh.

[z3r0s]

The FSL was stacked this year. Yeesh.

 

You can say that again... that's filthy from 1-10 and not too shabby after that.

[jays_fever]

So today Blue Jays prospect Evan Smith sent me a scam on Twitter lol:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]364[/ATTACH]

 

Why the hell are you followingf Evan Smith on twitter.

[theblujay]

The FSL was stacked this year. Yeesh.

 

And we could have had 4 of them...

[ace3113]

Baseball America put up a list of Top 10 future Power/Speed threats and listed Burns as the lone sleeper pick.

 

Andy Burns, 3b, Blue Jays

 

David Wright and Chase Headley owners know that a third baseman who steals bases can be an important source of speed in Roto formats. Wright and Headley have averaged 16 and 14 bags a year, respectively, since 2010. Unlike those two, Burns entered pro ball as a shortstop, having been selected from Arizona in the 11th round of the 2011 draft. After racking up 33 steals and hitting .288/.346/.470 in 128 games at two levels this season—including a second half at Double-A New Hampshire—he’s a legitimate power-speed threat who draws 50 grades for his running speed. Some scouts believe he could pop 20 homers in the majors. As is the case with the Dodgers’ Joc Pederson, Burns isn’t a burner, but he’s an above-average baserunner who will convert stolen-base chances if given the green light.

 

Age PA 2B 3B HR XBH SB CS ATT SB% PSN

23 574 34 7 15 56 33 14 47 70% 21

[ace3113]

Klaw chat stuff

 

mike (utica, ny)

 

is noah syndergaard getting way overrated by the media, i heard a podcast compare him to the likes of verlander.

 

klaw

(2:12 pm)

 

imo, yes. He's very good. He's not verlander or harvey.

 

the dude (hartford, ct )

 

sanchez for the jays breaks out next year.

 

klaw

(1:09 pm)

 

i hope you're right, as he's a great kid with absurdly good stuff, but the shorter stride and more upright finish are real concerns. The jays have not had a good track record with young arms recently; this may be a window into why.

 

jeff (ny)

 

still sanchez over syndergaard? I know you go based on ceiling, but does probability start to factor in now?

 

klaw

(1:15 pm)

 

no, i can't stay with that, seeing sanchez' delivery and potential injury risk. Syndergaard doesn't have sanchez' offspeed stuff, but he has to be as low a risk for an arm injury as any major starter prospect in baseball. Fix sanchez and we can talk again.

[ace3113]

Some newish footage of Matt Smoral.

 

 

[ace3113]

Two more clips.

 

 

[Frenchsoup]

Smoral can't throw a strike to save his life, big bust right there.

[ReturnOfTheYeti]

Smoral can't throw a strike to save his life, big bust right there.

 

Let's string him up! Can imagine a pitcher that is in the low minors, struggling to find the plate?!? OH EM GEE, if a guy can't figure out how to pitch in his first 25 innings of pro experience, he NEVER will!!!

[GD]

Lol @ bust already

[ace3113]

Video of Aaron Sanchez from last night's AFL outing.

 

http://vimeo.com/77661737

[Frenchsoup]

the guy is a wild man who has no fastball command whatsoever, his breaking stuff looks terrible as well

[ReturnOfTheYeti]

the guy is a wild man who has no fastball command whatsoever, his breaking stuff looks terrible as well

 

Too funny - I guess you're not getting the point that ummm....pitchers who are starting out need to learn how to PITCH - and it takes just a bit more than a few games to figure it out? Were you aware that Norris would have fallen into the same category - especially earlier in the year and he was getting hammered? Do you understand that the reason why that is the case is because the team instructed him to ONLY throw fast balls. 100% of the time, knowing he'd get hammered and eventually learning how to get the ball down and how to pitch? Does this help?

[Frenchsoup]

Too funny - I guess you're not getting the point that ummm....pitchers who are starting out need to learn how to PITCH - and it takes just a bit more than a few games to figure it out? Were you aware that Norris would have fallen into the same category - especially earlier in the year and he was getting hammered? Do you understand that the reason why that is the case is because the team instructed him to ONLY throw fast balls. 100% of the time, knowing he'd get hammered and eventually learning how to get the ball down and how to pitch? Does this help?

 

Do you know the difference between missing the zone and throwing at guys heads? Because that's what i see with smoral, he has no idea where it's going and his delivery is all over the place. I have seen no improvement whatsoever in the throwing strikes regard. Norris had bad control to but at least he was around the zone and had a clean repeatable delivery.

[theblujay]

Video of Aaron Sanchez from last night's AFL outing.

 

http://vimeo.com/77661737

 

Great video. It looks like he has such easy velocity, but that was really bad command. Change looks OK, but all over the place. Didn't throw that many curves