Soto has been unbelievable offensively as a 19 yr old, 2.5 fWAR in 72 games.
For Vlad I’m tempering expectations and allowing for some growing pains. We have no idea about his long term defensive impact or position. We have no idea if his knee thing will come back, there could be more DL stints. And we have no idea if he’ll figure out major league pitching right away, or it will take him a season or two to really get going.
It’s easy to assume he’ll play 140 games a year from 2019-2021 and he’ll hit it off running full steam with no significant DL stints, while also being serviceable at third base. But s*** happens in baseball.
4, 5, 6 WAR season at age 20, 21, 22.. is really an impressive feat. How many guys in the past 20 years could do it? Maybe a handful. In 2017 fWAR were Corey Seager 5.9, Mookie Betts 5.4, Bryce Harper 4.9, Freddie Freeman 4.5, Jose Abreu 4.2, Anthony Rizzo 4.0, Nelson Cruz 3.8, J.D. Martinez 3.8
If Vlad is already in the same category as those guys in his first two years I would be thrilled. But not holding my breath. I’m hoping for multiple 6-8 WAR seasons approaching his prime, but in his first 3 years in the league? I’m not sure.
His numbers in the minor leagues are insane, but there’s such a huge gap between AAA and MLB