Results tagged ‘ prospects ’
The Burnett deal: Who the Pirates won’t include
Well, it looks like this A.J. Burnett to the Pirates trade is all but official. One thing that’s not known at this point is who the Pirates are sending to the Yankees in return, other than what are being considered “low-level prospects.” So the question is: What does low-level mean?
There are some obvious prospects who won’t be on the table either, starting with names on the Top 20 list.I’ve been told by a source that no one on that current Top 20 is involved in this deal. So, Pirates fans who were worried that “low-level” for one person might not be for someone else, you can relax. Anyone from the 2011 Draft is excluded anyway — you can’t trade them yet — so here are the rest of the names of Pirates prospects who will not be included in this deal:
Jameson Taillon
Starling Marte
Stetson Allie
Luis Heredia
Tony Sanchez
Robbie Grossman
Jeff Locke
Justin Wilson
Kyle McPherson
Nick Kingham
Rudy Owens
Bryan Morris
Alen Hanson
Colton Cain
Zack Von Rosenberg
Jarek Cunningham
More as I can get info…
Thoughts on the Montero deal and much, much more
Believe it or not, this is my first post of 2012. But I have a good reason, honest. First, I was traveling overseas with my family. Don’t believe me? Here’s a picture as proof (Yes, that’s the Dome of the Rock behind my Dome):
- The B3 brood in the Old City of Jerusalem (Mrs. B3 is the official family photographer)
Then it was on to the Rookie Career Development Program outside of Washington, D.C. Don’t believe me? Well, proof is in this link, our overview of the Program (with player interviews galore beneath that).
These days, I’m knee deep in prospect ranking work. Don’t believe me? (Perhaps I’m overusing the theme). Proof is the first list that was released today: The Top 10 RHP Prospects, the story as well as in Prospect Watch (with video of each player). Oh, and if you didn’t notice, there’s a brand new central location for all things prospect called Prospect Central. Check it out early and often.
In the midst of all of this, there was the news of the big Yankees-Mariners trade. It’s not official just yet, so no movement on the ol’ 2011 Postseason lists, but it’s coming. And we’re making sure all the 2012 lists are up to date (Top 100 overall coming out on Jan. 25), Top 20 per team coming in February (that’s right, folks, twice as many names!!!! So you understand why the B3 Blog had taken a back seat).
So, the trade… my first gut reaction was that the Mariners gave up too much. But then I talked to a bunch of people who’s opinions I trust in the scouting industry and I’ve come around to this perhaps being a win-win. The Yankees needed starting pitching help and they can, if they so desire, have Michael Pineda for a long time. Jose Campos is a legit prospect as well and even if he’s young and hasn’t pitched in full-season ball, I had one scout tell me he thought he’d be ready by 2014.
The key, though, is Montero (Hector Noesi will contribute, tho). The M’s have wanted him for a while, remember? So now they got their man, the middle of the order (young) bat to put with Dustin Ackley and Justin Smoak. But, the $64,000 question is, can he catch?
My thinking is the Yankees didn’t think so, or else they didn’t want to, in the pressure cooker of New York, find out. There was no room for Montero on that roster unless he was going to be a DH at age 22. To me, the writing was on the wall when late last year they needed a catcher, Montero was up, but they brought up Austin Romine instead. Having made the determination that Montero wasn’t going to catch for them anytime soon, they were more willing to part with his bat. This, by the way, is just a theory.
I thought that most in the scouting world agreed that Montero would never have the stuff to catch every day in the big leagues. But it turns out I was wrong. I know, shocking. But in an informal survey I did of some high-level scouts, most actually thought he’d eventually be OK behind the plate. No one was ready to etch his name on Gold Gloves, but those I talked to made comparisons to Javy Lopez (he came up several times), Jorge Posada and, of course, Mike Piazza (Yes, many think Montero’s bat could be THAT good). Here’s some of what they had to say:
“There are a bunch of ex-catchers that made their mark with their bats and figured out the catching position the more they played. Remember, this kid is 22 years old and he can really throw. That’s a good start for his continued development.”
“Yes [he'll be able to catch]! The team will need patience. He’s better than Mike Napoli was at the same stage!”
“Not now (will he be able to catch full-time), but Javier Lopez did! All catchers that stay there get better if they try!”
“If he hits enough — remember Javy Lopez?”
Told you about the Lopez comps. And scouts really like to use exclamation points in text messages. But that’s neither here nor there.
So, Mariners fans, don’t expect defensive miracles right off the bat. But stick with your soon-to-be new catcher. Sounds like most think he’ll be acceptable back there and the bat will more than make up for any deficiencies with the glove.
First Week of AFL is in the books
Week 2 is about to get underway today, so I figured it’s a good time to take a look at the week that was out in the Arizona Fall League.
Be sure to follow all the AFL players who are on Twitter as well as the group we have blogging about their experiences. It’s a great way to get first-hand insight into life in the AFL.
The league (follow them at @MLBAZFallleague) will have it’s Player and Pitcher of the Week, but I figured I’d put in my two cents:
B3 AFL Hitter of the Week
AFL Hitter of the Week: Michael Choice, A’s
The 2010 first-round pick is coming off a 30-homer season in his first full year of pro ball. So far, he’s made it look easy going from Class A Advanced ball to the AFL. Granted, both are hitters’s leagues, but power is power. Choice led the AFL in total bases (18), second in OPS (1.585) — second to Kevin Mattison, who wins best ‘stache in a headshot, at the very least (see below). Choice also topped the AFL with three homers while hitting .471 overall.
Love the 'stache
B3 AFL Pitcher of the Week
AFL Pitcher of the Week: Daryl Maday, Giants
It was a toss-up for me, between Maday and Reds reliever Brad Boxberger, but I thought perhaps I was being biased because of Boxberger’s blog. That and the fact he’s gone 2 1/3 IP and struck out seven. He did walk two in his second outing (though pitched out of trouble), so I decided to go with the starter in Maday. He went four shutout innings in his start on Oct. 8, allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out six.
While all this is going on, wanted to be sure you saw the end-of-season organizational prospect reviews I’ve been writing. It’s got a little feature on the top prospect in each system along with a review of how the rest of the Top 10 fared and picks for 2011 Player and Pitcher of the Year. Enjoy.
More to come on that front as the offseason unfolds.
Memories of All-Stars…before they were stars
One of the best things about my job in covering prospects is that I get to know players at the very beginning and see them “before they are stars.” Over the years, I’ve been very fortunate to meet and cover a vast number of young players on their way up who have now gone on to bigger and better things. I must admit, I take a certain kind of pride when I see someone I knew in the Minors (or as an amateur) make it to an All-Star Game.
When Adam Jones made the All-Star team in 2009, I was able to talk to him about the journal he used to write for us (you can sample one here if you like) when he was an up-and-comer in the Mariners system, just making the transition to center field.
When Shane Victorino was an All-Star that very same season (perhaps he’ll go again as the Final Man), we joked about the times we talked about him being a two-time Rule 5 pick and how they might need to re-name the rule after him.
The list goes on and on. So I looked through this year’s All-Star rosters to keep an eye on anyone I’ve had the good fortune to cross paths with when they were prospects on the way up. I’ll do the American League now, with the NL later on today:
Robinson Cano, 2B: I didn’t make it to the 2004 Futures Game (it’s the only one I’ve missed, but I had a good reason: my daughter, Elena, was born that week), but I was there in Chicago in 2003 to see him play.
Curtis Granderson, OF: Granderson, then a Minor Leaguer with the Tigers, wrote an Arizona Fall League journal for us back in 2004. Here’s a sample of that journal, where he talks about dressing up as Rick James for Halloween.
Josh Hamilton, OF: When we saw Hamilton play in the 2000 Futures Game in Atlanta — and get three hits, if my memory serves — we knew he had special talent. We obviously didn’t know the adversity he’d face, but the pure on-field skills were apparent back then.
Josh Beckett, RHP: That was a pretty good U.S. squad in 2000, wasn’t it? Hamilton and Beckett went 1-2 in the 1999 Draft and both made it to the Futures Game a year after being drafted. He was in the big leagues the following year, at age 21.
Gio Gonzalez, LHP: Ahh, Gio. Gotta love Gio. Gio played in the Futures game in 2006 and also played in the Arizona Fall League. Back in the day when we had MLB Radio, he did a weekly segment from the AFL with us. It wasn’t always so easy to track him down, but when we did, it was about as much fun on the radio as we had.
Russ Martin, C: I met Martin when he was the catcher for the Double-A Jacksonville Suns, the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate at the time. They won the Southern League title that year and that was a squad with just a ridiculous amount of talent on it (James Loney, Chad Billingsley, Andy LaRoche, to name a few).
Miguel Cabrera, 1B: He was a 19-year-old third baseman when he played in the Futures Game for the first time, in 2001. He was there again in 2002 and there was plenty of buzz around him any time he hit, with it pretty apparent what was to come.
Howard Kendrick, 2B: He was Howie when I met him for the first time and he did an AFL journal for us (here’s an example) which was fantastic. Even if he’s Howard now, he still stands out as one of the all-time good guys I’ve covered.
Kevin Youkilis, 3B/1B: Youk played in the 2003 Futures Game and he was still getting a lot of attention for his “role” in the book Moneyball. We had a good laugh over how he should be called “The Jewish God of Walks” instead of the “Greek God of Walks.”
Jacoby Ellsbury, OF: He was in the 2007 Futures Game in San Francisco. The year before that, in 2006, I got to chat with him during the Eastern League playoffs, when he was playing for the Portland SeaDogs.
David Price, LHP: Price didn’t spend too much time as a prospect, did he? But when he was at Vanderbilt, the year he became the No. overall pick in the first televised Draft, he did a Draft journal for our site.
Ricky Romero, LHP: Romero was the first pitcher take in the 2005 Draft’s first round (the one with Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, Ryan Zimmerman and Ryan Braun taken ahead of him, along with Jeff Clement). In 2007, the Cal State Fullerton product wrote a season-long journal for us and was probably one of the most reliable journal writers we’ve ever had.
C.C. Sabathia, LHP: Remember what I said about the 2000 U.S. Team in the Futures Game? Sabathia was there as well.
James Shields, RHP: He was Jamie when I first saw him pitch. But anyone who saw him throw his changeup in the Arizona Fall League championship game back in 2005 knew he was going to be a big leaguer soon thereafter.
Justin Verlander, RHP: In 2004, I went to Virginia to see Verlander and his Old Dominion team take on Justin Orenduff and Virginia Commonwealth (Orenduff would be a supplemental first-round pick of the Dodgers, but arm troubles derailed his career). Verlander struck out 16 in that game for the win. The result of that trip was a two-part Q&A with both Justins (Part I and Part II)
Prospects aplenty in MiLB Playoffs
That’s right, folks, there are plenty of ‘em still in action as teams move closer to winning (and losing) titles.
A brief overview:
- Game 3 of the Texas League championship series between Northwest Arkansas (Royals) and Midland (A’s) has lefty John Lamb on the hill for NW Arkansas. (I wrote about Lamb in this playoff preview feature). His teammate, Eric Hosmer, is hitting .276, but with five homers in seven playoff games to date (that’s an .862 SLG if you’re scoring at home).
- The Eastern League championship, like the Texas League, is tied at one game apiece. Altoona (Pirates) 2B Chase d’Arnaud has hit .348 with a 1.247 OPS in the postseason. Trenton (Yankees) is sending fairly under-appreciated pitching prospect Adam Warren to the mound for Game 3. Warren, who had a 2.59 ERA for the season split between Tampa and Trenton, tossed six innings of shutout ball with 10 K’s in his previous playoff start.
- Pitcher of the year candidate Trey McNutt, who also won his previous postseason starts, gets the ball for Tennessee (Cubs) in Game 3 of the Southern League championship. That one is also tied 1-1, with Marlins former first-round pick Matt Dominguez driving in three runs in Game 2 to even up the series. The third baseman is hitting .364 with three homers and eight RBIs in the postseason.
- With the South Atlantic League championship knotted at a game a piece, the defending champion Lakewood BlueClaws (Phillies) send pitching prospect Brody Colvin to the mound. He tossed five shutout innings in a first-round no-decision.
Playoff previews — MiLB style
Hey all. It’s playoff time in the Minors as most of the leagues get their postseason underway (or have in the last day or two). With that in mind, we’ve efforted to provide some features on key players who are getting the chance to play for a ring. And you can ask anyone, playing for a ring is huge, no matter what level it’s at.
Some of the stories have gone up already, others will arrive in the coming days. But here are links to each of the features currently up on MLB.com. Some were written by yours truly, some by MLB.com reporter Bailey Stephens. I’ve also linked to the playoff previews done by the fine MiLB.com staff.
Northwest League: First-rounder Michael Choice (A’s) gets taste of playoffs
(Sadly, Vancouver and Choice have already been eliminated
NY-Penn League: Cory Vaughn (Mets) hopes to power Brooklyn to title
(Vaughn doubled and tripled in Brooklyn’s 7-6 Game 1 loss).
South Atlantic League: Jonathan Singleton (Phillies) leads Lakewood in search of second straight
Florida State League: Former No. 1 pick Tim Beckham (Rays) continues climb
(Beckham went 1-for-4 in a Game 1 loss to Bradenton)
Eastern League: Yankees’ prospect Andrew Brackman continues comeback
Still to come:
Texas League: Royals lefty John Lamb joins elite staff in NW Arkansas
And hopefully a couple more when all is said and done.
Urban Youth Academy Draft Showcase
Yup, it’s that time of year again and I have to say, I’m loving it. Pitchers and catchers are heading to Spring Training facilities and the MLB Draft season is upon us. That means showcases, college seasons starting and, in the near future, the 2010 premier of our Draft Reports. The first set should run in about two weeks and the players in that first edition will be from the group that participated in this past Saturday’s showcase at the Urban Youth Academy. There were a ton of scouts on hand to watch SoCal’s finest among the high school ranks. Plenty of folks have already written about it:
- There was our story on MLB.com, penned by Ben Platt, which gives a great overview of what the event is all about
- Baseball America‘s man on the scene (as he tends to be in Southern California), was Dave Perkin. He filed this report on their Draft blog. (Their early Draft preview stuff is up, too. You have to be a subscriber, but it’s worth it).
- Keith Law filed a report as well on the ESPN Draft blog (You have to be an insider. Again, a worthy investment). He ran down some of the top performers at the event.
As for me, you’ll have to wait for the details when the first batch of Draft Reports come out
(complete with video et al, as always). For now, though, I’ve cobbled together this list of players scouts told me stood out at the event. This isn’t ranked, so I’m putting it in alphabetical order instead:
Cody Buckel, RHP — showed a really live arm.
Dylan Covey, RHP — top pitching prospect at event was solid.
Jake Hernandez, C — stood out defensively among the catchers there.
Lonni Kauppila, SS — good defense in infield; quality at-bats at plate.
Chad Lewis, 3B — a couple of base hits in game, good approach at plate
Griffin Murphy, LHP — put himself on map with strong outing
Aaron Sanchez, RHP — projectable righty starting to fill into frame
Vincent Velasquez, INF/RHP — two-way player who showed good velocity and sink on
Austin Wilson, OF (in picture) — toolsy outfielder showed off big power in BP, arm in field
Tony Wolters, INF — high energy infielder stood out
Christian Yelich, 1B — great frame, nice left-handed stroke, could be ready to bust out.
mound.
A couple of things to note when reading this or any of the reports on the event. Pitching tends to do better at these things, since pitchers are only going an inning or four batters in one stint. Also, the old adage of pitchers being ahead of hitters at this time of year translates well to this kind of event. As one scout put it, “It’s a lot like Spring Training, but it gives you a snapshot of where kids are.” That scout wanted to be sure not to be too effusive with his praise,adding “You don’t want kids to think this event will make their season. You want them to continue to go out and play hard. You hope their parents, coaches and advisors help keep that in perspective.”
Prospect Impression for March 31
Hey folks —
Sorry I haven’t been able to be as diligent in filling you in about prospects I’ve been seeing. But between the Reds coverage, finishing up the last couple of organization previews last week, the draft reports… and my kids coming to visit over the weekend, time has been at a premium.
But I wanted to jump on quickly and talk about someone I saw at the Yankees-Reds game today. It’s not often we can talk about a Yankees prospect, right? OK, that’s an unfair shot, but still…
Starting for the Yankees in this game, as he will on Opening Day, was Brett Gardner, who was named recently as the starter in center field over Melky Cabrera, had three hits in the game, though he was doubled off of first following the first one (not his fault, it was rocket line drive) and getting caught stealing after the second one. Overall, he’s had a terrific spring, hitting .390 in 59 at-bats. He’s stolen five bases and had a .446 OBP.
Those last two stats are what makes him interesting. His best tool is his speed, and it’s a plus. He’s stolen 153 bases in his Minor League career. Even better is that he seems to know what he’s doing as well, with just 31 caught stealing for an 83-percent success rate. Of course, having speed doesn’t help if you don’t get on base. Gardner seems to understand that. He’s hit a respectable .291 in the Minors, though batting average in the Minors for speed guys is always called into question (fair or not) because, especially at the lower levels, guys with Gardner’s kind of wheels can hit groundballs and leg them out consistently for hits.
But Gardner’s managed to continue hitting as he’s moved up the ladder, including a .296 mark last year in his first full season of Tripole-A last year. More importantly for his leadoff potential is his career .389 OBP. He may not hit for much, if any power, but he’ll use his speed on the bases and in center field whie trying to get on base as much as he can for the big boppers. He’s a fun guy to watch play because of his effort and his speed and you know he’s not going to get outworked. It should be fun to watch him patrol that new center field when they get going up there in the Bronx.
Day 9: Sarasota
Hey kids. Back in Sarasota at good ‘ol Ed Smith Stadium. Don’t have a ton of time today, so I’m going to get straight to today’s Prospect Impression:
I must admit going in that I’ve always been a big fan of Ricky Romero. I can’t say it’s because I’ve seen him blow hitters away in the past or because I’ve heard amazing scouting reports on his abilties. No, it’s really because he wrote a player journal for us during the 2007 season. On the field, the 2005 first-round pick (No. 6 overall) has been a little up-and-down in his career, mostly because he’s had to deal with some injury issues along the way.
Here’s the good thing, though. The 24-year-old has climbed back into the race for a spot in the Blue Jays rotation. That wasn’t necessarily because of anything he had done, but because of the futility of the other candidates. In fact, Romero had a 7.50 ERA and had walked nine in six previous Grapefruit League innings. He hadn’t pitched in a big-league game since March 7. But that’s neither here nor there. He’s back in the race and if Monday is any indication, he could snag the job.
Over the past few weeks, Romero’s been working on making some adjustments to his mechanics, working to not throw across his body. Those kinks were causing much of his command issues. It looked like all that work has paid off, at least for now. The southpaw walked two in his five innings and allowed two runs, but overall looked very sharp. He scattered seven hits and struck out five. It’s looking like he’s going to get at least one more start and definitely seems to be moving forward while the other veteran options are going in the opposite direction. It could come down to a choice between lefty prospects Romero or Brad Mills. Should be interesting to watch the rest of the way.
Day 8: Bradenton
Sorry I’ve been a little less than daily. Truthfully, the game yesterday was kind of devoid of prospects. I could’ve come up with something, but it was Saturday, I figured no one would mind.
In today’s (Sunday) action, I once again saw the Reds and Pirates for the second day in a row. I’m looking forward until tomorrow when I get to see the Blue Jays play the Reds. With all due respect, I see the Pirates all the time back home. I don’t need to see them here every day.
But I digress. The Prospect Impression… Since I won’t see the Pirates again for a while, I’ll go there.
I’m not 100 percent sure about his status (meaning is he a rookie or not), but Brian Bixler is a guy who was highly regarded, the possible future shortstop for the Pirates. And it’s not that he’s been bad in the Minors — he’s been an All-Star the past two years — but he’s been an All-Star two years in a row in the same league. His stints in the bigs last year weren’t particularly inspiring, with a .157 average in 108 at-bats. He didn’t seem ready to handle big-league pitching.
But something’s looked different this spring. He looks, well, like he belongs. Playing both second and short to increase his flexibility, he’s hit .333 and slugged .513. Now, I wouldn’t expect that kind of production, obviously, but he’s working his way into the picture as a utilityman for the Pirates. Something to watch for anyway for the rest of Pirates camp.
Finally, that small world story I promised. I was at my hotel in Clearwater and I went to the front desk to make sure I had the best directions to head to George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa for the Pirates-Yankees game. The conversation went something like this:
Front desk lady: I don’t like the Yankees.
(We chatted a bit about the Evil Empire, etc.)
Front desk lady continued: I’m a Braves fan.
Me (figuring that people in Florida are often Braves fans back when there weren’t teans in Floriday): Oh, a Braves fan, huh?
(This basically was the pleasant ****-chat between hotel patron and nice front desk lady. Then she said…)
FDL: My brother is a manager in the Braves’ Minor League system.
Me: (After double-taking) Who’s your brother?
FDL: Rocket Wheeler
Me: (Flabbergasted) I know Rocket Wheeler!
I then went on to explain how I got to know Rocket a little during the Arizona Fall League. I mean, I knew he was the manager of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, but I knew him more, in some ways, as the skipper of the Mesa Solar Sox, who played in the AFL championship game. Don’t know if you remember this (or ever knew), but Rocket let his players vote on who should play and what the lineup should be. Don’t believe me? Read about it here.
OK, here’s hoping Travis Snider makes the trip to Sarasota in the a.m.
Jonathan Mayo
Recent Comments