2015 Prospect Mega Thread

[Spudboy]

I wonder when he will get promoted to the next level?

 

Would that be Lowell?

 

I see no reason to rush him. Let him learn the game and become acclimated.

[sk7326]

Would that be Lowell?

 

I see no reason to rush him. Let him learn the game and become acclimated.

 

Salem. They rushed him past Lowell already. I'd say there is no need to hustle him. At the same time, there might be a push to get him to play 3B more, and if that is the case, he's fighting Devers and Chavis for PT in Greenville and moving somebody to Salem would alleviate some of that.

[a700hitter]

Salem. They rushed him past Lowell already. I'd say there is no need to hustle him. At the same time, there might be a push to get him to play 3B more, and if that is the case, he's fighting Devers and Chavis for PT in Greenville and moving somebody to Salem would alleviate some of that.

 

Is that where you think he will end his season?

[sk7326]

Is that where you think he will end his season?

 

I don't know. Currently he is being raised as a 2B, so he is getting lots of PT. That is thing with promotions - if you look at Margot's promotion to AA. He did not crush Salem. But teams have their own internal checklists - what is the kid working on, is he fixing whatever. Let's put it this way - nobody is having egg on their face if the kid is not in Portland yet.

[cp176]

I thought that the people that criticize us old folk are all about stats, because they don't think we can understand the numbers? The numbers are favoring this kid enough for him to get selected to the All zstar game where he won the MVP, but people are pooh poohing him because of his draft position and some scouting evaluations. Am I getting this right? He wouldn't be the first late round draft choice to defy the odds.

 

 

You are right. It is easy to be blinded by the opinions of all of the analysists.

[cp176]

Sam Travis -not what you would call eye candy for prospect watchers. Everything points to him just being one step above ordinary. To me that means he has a real chance to develop. Hard worker! He has been putting up some pretty good numbers. A potential first baseman.

[sk7326]

Sam Travis -not what you would call eye candy for prospect watchers. Everything points to him just being one step above ordinary. To me that means he has a real chance to develop. Hard worker! He has been putting up some pretty good numbers. A potential first baseman.

 

Polished college bat. Might not have ideal power for 1B, but the approach and contact from what I have read is legit

[Spudboy]

Just about everyone at that level is a gamble.

 

Reading what others have read and written about is useless for the most part. Progression and success at several levels is a better way of guessing that a young player will translate to success in MLB.

 

This kid is no different. Either he makes it or he does not.

[cp176]

Just about everyone at that level is a gamble.

 

Reading what others have read and written about is useless for the most part. Progression and success at several levels is a better way of guessing that a young player will translate to success in MLB.

 

This kid is no different. Either he makes it or he does not.

 

No doubt about that. The only but would be that things would look one helluva lot more depressing than they do right now if people's expectations for these kids wasn't what it was. If you look how they are currently performing and have performed this year, JBJ should be called up right now and based on overall performance this year, Hernandez would be getting a look as well. Margot is showing some good signs of life at Portland but other than those 3 guys (travis would be 4) there isn't a whole bunch happening to make me very excited.

[sk7326]

Just about everyone at that level is a gamble.

 

Reading what others have read and written about is useless for the most part. Progression and success at several levels is a better way of guessing that a young player will translate to success in MLB.

 

This kid is no different. Either he makes it or he does not.

 

Indeed - although I will add a couple things.

 

1. You get to Portland, you are on the radar for the bigs. So that he is there and has not looked overmatched is good.

2. College bat helps make me optimistic on his big league likelihood, but limits excitement about big league potential.

 

BTW: off topic, Moncada seems to be coming around

[cp176]

Sk - We are a long ways away. Is there a bright side to this?

[cp176]

Hernandez and Travis continue to hit - who are these guys right? Not Margot,Devers,Guerra?

[a700hitter]

Hernandez and Travis continue to hit - who are these guys right? Not Margot,Devers,Guerra?

They are players. Organizations that are only concerned with the development of their top prospects are not doing the best by their organizations. Players mature and develop at different rates. Guys who were not blue chippers at the beginning can overtake the blue chippers. Good scouts can spot the kids with that potential, but the organization needs to develop them. Edited August 2, 2015 by a700hitter

[sk7326]

Hernandez and Travis continue to hit - who are these guys right? Not Margot,Devers,Guerra?

 

Interesting guys. Orgs have goals the guys need to achieve to move up - some of it shows up in the box score, other stuff doesn't necessarily.

[cp176]

i wonder what the orgs goals are for Guerra? I'm not sure he can do a lot more than what he has done at the level he is currently at.

[sk7326]

i wonder what the orgs goals are for Guerra? I'm not sure he can do a lot more than what he has done at the level he is currently at.

 

True - although I think in Guerra and Devers cases (and Moncada's too) that being teenagers there is no real rush to promote. Although you'd expect all three to be in Salem soon enough and possibly pushing for Portland. I also imagine there are some off field goals, in terms of maturity and whatnot which impact things too.

[cp176]

True - although I think in Guerra and Devers cases (and Moncada's too) that being teenagers there is no real rush to promote. Although you'd expect all three to be in Salem soon enough and possibly pushing for Portland. I also imagine there are some off field goals, in terms of maturity and whatnot which impact things too.

 

 

I agree. It's good to be cautious for sure. On occasion though, I do think that they wait a little too long. I also see Hernandez playing some second base now in Pawtucket. I still think that the Ramirez-Sandoval-Ortiz issue has to be settled before they can truly move forward.

[cp176]

Read a glowing report of Moncada possibly moving up. He is starting to hit (.287) but 18 errors at second base in 59 games has to be a concern. Want the best for the kid but you can't sugar coat that stat. It is what it is.

[BigPapi]

Read a glowing report of Moncada possibly moving up. He is starting to hit (.287) but 18 errors at second base in 59 games has to be a concern. Want the best for the kid but you can't sugar coat that stat. It is what it is.

 

Thats a lot of errors. His stolen base numbers are impressive (27 in 59 games) and so are his doubles (14). Hopefully his fielding can improve.

[a700hitter]

Thats a lot of errors. His stolen base numbers are impressive (27 in 59 games) and so are his doubles (14). Hopefully his fielding can improve.

In Jeters first minor league season, he made an incredible number of errors 30, 40 or something like that.

[BigPapi]

In Jeters first minor league season, he made an incredible number of errors 30, 40 or something like that.

 

Wow. Was it that many? I knew he struggled, but not that badly. Thats good for Moncada though. He's not going to be playing second base here anyways if pedey stays. His only real options would be to play third base or the outfield when he mostl likely comes up in 2017.

[BigPapi]

Moncada has been elite offensively in the 36 games since the single- a all star game. .348 average, 5 hrs, .988 ops, 12 doubles, and a whopping 27 stolen bases. At least he is making some good progress.

[sk7326]

Read a glowing report of Moncada possibly moving up. He is starting to hit (.287) but 18 errors at second base in 59 games has to be a concern. Want the best for the kid but you can't sugar coat that stat. It is what it is.

 

Depends on what they were. Errors by themselves don't say a lot about fielding.

[cp176]

Don't agree - they don't tell the whole story obviously but that many at second base over that many games is reason to suspect that improvement in some area is needed.

[sk7326]

Don't agree - they don't tell the whole story obviously but that many at second base over that many games is reason to suspect that improvement in some area is needed.

 

It does mean some improvement is required, but if he is generating many more chances for errors by getting to balls, that is a good thing. Or at least something which large error totals can hide.

[a700hitter]

It does mean some improvement is required, but if he is generating many more chances for errors by getting to balls, that is a good thing. Or at least something which large error totals can hide.

 

It may indicate that he has good range, but the number of errors shows a clear need to improve.

[cp176]

It does mean some improvement is required, but if he is generating many more chances for errors by getting to balls, that is a good thing. Or at least something which large error totals can hide.

 

sk - you know that you can spin that one anyway you want to. If he was that much quicker than other second basemen at getting to those balls then their official scorer would suck too I think. I want him to succeed for sure but this franchise is starting to actually become known for moving players from position to position while just assuming that they will be able to field them all if they can field one. But also understand that I still think that wins and losses by starting pitchers is a solid stat to use as well as earned runs allowed as well as RBI's. i am also willing to go on record as saying that bringing Hanley Ramirez to Boston was a much greater risk than bringing Sandoval on board. See what you are dealing with here? I also believe that the people who studied the statistics and suggested that certain moves be made are as responsible as the current coaches for this franchise's failings. That small space between the ears of the players brought in was not studied adequately. Everyone shares the blame. No one gets a free pass. Looking good and actually being good are often two very separate things.

[cp176]

sk - you know that you can spin that one anyway you want to. If he was that much quicker than other second basemen at getting to those balls then their official scorer would suck too I think. I want him to succeed for sure but this franchise is starting to actually become known for moving players from position to position while just assuming that they will be able to field them all if they can field one. But also understand that I still think that wins and losses by starting pitchers is a solid stat to use as well as earned runs allowed as well as RBI's. i am also willing to go on record as saying that bringing Hanley Ramirez to Boston was a much greater risk than bringing Sandoval on board. See what you are dealing with here? I also believe that the people who studied the statistics and suggested that certain moves be made are as responsible as the current coaches for this franchise's failings. That small space between the ears of the players brought in was not studied adequately. Everyone shares the blame. No one gets a free pass. Looking good and actually being good are often two very separate things.

 

 

Oh - while I am on a little rant here - I think that your best hitter hits third. And that your run producers should still be in the 3-4-5 slots.

[sk7326]

sk - you know that you can spin that one anyway you want to. If he was that much quicker than other second basemen at getting to those balls then their official scorer would suck too I think. I want him to succeed for sure but this franchise is starting to actually become known for moving players from position to position while just assuming that they will be able to field them all if they can field one. But also understand that I still think that wins and losses by starting pitchers is a solid stat to use as well as earned runs allowed as well as RBI's. i am also willing to go on record as saying that bringing Hanley Ramirez to Boston was a much greater risk than bringing Sandoval on board. See what you are dealing with here? I also believe that the people who studied the statistics and suggested that certain moves be made are as responsible as the current coaches for this franchise's failings. That small space between the ears of the players brought in was not studied adequately. Everyone shares the blame. No one gets a free pass. Looking good and actually being good are often two very separate things.

 

I will refrain from the threadjacking bait on the second half.

 

The other stuff - he obviously needs to field balls he can get to. But there is indicators he is getting to a lot of balls. I don't think the team is making a fetish out of moving players - because it's not that simple. I think it is more that (and this was at least true in my high school and college teams) your best athletes pitch, your best athletes play shortstop and your best athletes play centerfield, and acquiring premium athletes is a good thing. Also in a lot of cases, their first good exposure to defensive instruction does not really start until you get to pro ball.

[cp176]

I will refrain from the threadjacking bait on the second half.

 

The other stuff - he obviously needs to field balls he can get to. But there is indicators he is getting to a lot of balls. I don't think the team is making a fetish out of moving players - because it's not that simple. I think it is more that (and this was at least true in my high school and college teams) your best athletes pitch, your best athletes play shortstop and your best athletes play centerfield, and acquiring premium athletes is a good thing. Also in a lot of cases, their first good exposure to defensive instruction does not really start until you get to pro ball.

 

it's all good - you can hit me with the thread jacking stuff if you like. I just couldn't help it. I agree with you on much of this. I would say that in some cases a player's first exposure to the teaching of good defensive technique may be at the professional level. Some not a lot. Pretty sad! Not the way it is where I come from. On my high school and college teams, the instruction was quite good. I have always been a believer in drafting your best athletes. Normally it is foolish not to. I think implying that I called the Red Sox overuse of repositioning players a fetish is a little harsh though.