Sox Underrated Minor Leaguers

[CharlieWhigg]

I know the Sox farm system isn't that great right now, but there are quite a few guys at Portland who have some great potential. Don't know why more people aren't talking about them.

https://redsoxunfiltered.com/2018/07/06/underrated-portland-sea-dogs-prospects/

[notin]

Ockimey is universally accepted as a top ten prospect in the Sox system.

 

Kent does get no chatter. This is true...

[jacksonianmarch]

Kent reminds me of Dan Camarena and Shaeffer Hall from Yankee minor league lore. Both were soft tossing lefties who dominated minor league competition but neither developed in terms of added velocity. They stalled in AAA and the org knew they had no shot in the bigs. Mark Buerhle's are rare beasts. Most soft tossing lefties came up as harder throwing lefties who lost velo after years of throwing. Starting off mid 80s is not going to be competitive in the majors

[notin]

Kent reminds me of Dan Camarena and Shaeffer Hall from Yankee minor league lore. Both were soft tossing lefties who dominated minor league competition but neither developed in terms of added velocity. They stalled in AAA and the org knew they had no shot in the bigs. Mark Buerhle's are rare beasts. Most soft tossing lefties came up as harder throwing lefties who lost velo after years of throwing. Starting off mid 80s is not going to be competitive in the majors

 

That’s what I was telling Jamie Moyer just the other day...

[jacksonianmarch]

He started off as a pitcher capable of throwing low 90s

[notin]

He started off as a pitcher capable of throwing low 90s

 

And then became of soft-tossing lefty for the last 18 years of his career.

 

I’m not saying Kent is a future all star. He’s a minor leaguer doing a better job than many realize solely because he doesn’t fit the mold of what many fans and scouts want from young players. For pitchers, that means radar gun readings.

 

Well there are no strong set of minimum standards to make the majors. The odds were always stacked against Kent anyway, but maybe he can still get there.

[jacksonianmarch]

The only guy in recent memory who came up as a mid to high 80s guy and have a good career was Buerhle. All others at least started with reasonable velocity and then became better pitchers as their velo fell

[Fan_since_Boggs]

I think the Red Sox system is going to blossom next year big time. Groome will return. A couple of the pitching prospects will blossom (candidates: Houck, Mata, Scherff) and they already have a couple of guys who look like big league starters, albeit middle of the rotation types, Beeks and Shawaryn. A couple of position players could blossom too, especially Casas and Chatham.

 

I don't hold out much hope for Chavis. Why does soxprospects.com rank him #1? I guess they never got the memo that PEDs are known to enhance performance and statistics, turning a 35 year old Barry Bonds into Babe Ruth. I'm drifting from the main topic, but Soxprospects has really gone downhill. The founder of the site, Mike Andrews, rarely posts on the site unless he is asking members to help pay for his vacations. It amazes me that people actually donate money to the site. I'm pretty sure Andrews lies about the amount coming in, though.

Edited July 6, 2018 by Fan_since_Boggs

[jacksonianmarch]

I think the Red Sox system is going to blossom next year big time. Groome will return. A couple of the pitching prospects will blossom (candidates: Houck, Mata, Scherff) and they already have a couple of guys who look like big league starters, albeit middle of the rotation types, Beeks and Shawaryn. A couple of position players could blossom too, especially Casas and Chatham.

 

I don't hold out much hope for Chavis. Why does soxprospects.com rank him #1? I guess they never got the memo that PEDs are known to enhance performance and statistics, turning a 35 year old Barry Bonds into Babe Ruth. I'm drifting from the main topic, but Soxprospects has really gone downhill. The founder of the site, Mike Andrews, rarely posts on the site unless he is asking members to help pay for his vacations. It amazes me that people actually donate money to the site. I'm pretty sure Andrews lies about the amount coming in, though.

 

Wait, so you're down on Yankee prospects on the national stage who are thriving yet you think the pile of trash in the sox minors will blossom? Dude, the sox are three years away only because of the INTL signings from the past few seasons. Otherwise, their drafts have been terrible and their development worse.

[moonslav59]

Wait, so you're down on Yankee prospects on the national stage who are thriving yet you think the pile of trash in the sox minors will blossom? Dude, the sox are three years away only because of the INTL signings from the past few seasons. Otherwise, their drafts have been terrible and their development worse.

 

The biggest reason our farm sucks is because we called up Devers and Beni early and traded away about 15 guys that at some point were in our top 20 prospects.

 

It's not because of poor drafting, except for pitchers.

 

(Even the pitchers we drafted or signed as IFAs helped bring us back a lot in trade.)

 

How high would our farm system be, if we had Beni, Devers, Moncada, Kopech, Espinoza, Basabe, Allen, Asuaje, plus others including Groome & Co.

[jacksonianmarch]

The biggest reason our farm sucks is because we called up Devers and Beni early and traded away about 15 guys that at some point were in our top 20 prospects.

 

It's not because of poor drafting, except for pitchers.

 

(Even the pitchers we drafted or signed as IFAs helped bring us back a lot in trade.)

 

How high would our farm system be, if we had Beni, Devers, Moncada, Kopech, Espinoza, Basabe, Allen, Asuaje, plus others including Groome & Co.

 

The next wave led by Groome didn't develop. By dealing away and then missing on a few guys, the system became thin. DD's drafting and the development under him has not been strong

[CharlieWhigg]

Kent reminds me of Dan Camarena and Shaeffer Hall from Yankee minor league lore. Both were soft tossing lefties who dominated minor league competition but neither developed in terms of added velocity. They stalled in AAA and the org knew they had no shot in the bigs. Mark Buerhle's are rare beasts. Most soft tossing lefties came up as harder throwing lefties who lost velo after years of throwing. Starting off mid 80s is not going to be competitive in the majors

 

Read an interview with Kent in which he somewhat talked about his lower velocity. Early in his career, he tried to constantly attack hitters every at-bat. While it worked in Lowell, he found out he didn't have the stuff to get away with that against higher competition. He's become a much more cerebral pitcher, so I don't think the lack of velocity will slow him like it did Hall or Camarena

Here's the interview: https://redsoxunfiltered.com/2018/07/06/interviewing-portland-sea-dogs-all-star-matthew-kent/

[jacksonianmarch]

Hall and Camarena did well through AA. The low velocity will kill him. He’s not a prospect

[moonslav59]

The next wave led by Groome didn't develop. By dealing away and then missing on a few guys, the system became thin. DD's drafting and the development under him has not been strong

 

Groome got hurt. He has until after 2020 to reach rule 5.

 

I'm not saying our most recent draft picks are great, but poor draft picks is not even close to the major reason our farm is weak.

 

DD dealt away mega farm talent. That is the main reason by far.

 

BTW, Mata and Groome are just 19- a little too early to imply they are failures or duds.

 

Edited July 6, 2018 by moonslav59

[Natick to NC]

Chavis doesn't suck he's actually a damn good player who will contribute .

[jacksonianmarch]

Assuming he can find the needle again

[a700hitter]

Assuming he can find the needle again

And you have not lost your needle.

[CharlieWhigg]

Assuming he can find the needle again

 

Small sample size, but Chavis has done well since his suspension ended

[OH FOY]

Thanks Kent is Pitching tomorrow in Hartford, and Sharwaryn is Pitching Sunday, plan on going to both games.

[Larry Cook]

Watching Shaun Anderson pitch well in double a is so extruciating. And all we got was Nunez.

 

Desperate dave is so clueless!

[Behindenemylines]

Wait, so you're down on Yankee prospects on the national stage who are thriving yet you think the pile of trash in the sox minors will blossom? Dude, the sox are three years away only because of the INTL signings from the past few seasons. Otherwise, their drafts have been terrible and their development worse.

 

This is why Sox fans hate the Spankees. Until a prospect shows he can do it in the majors they are just prospects.

[Bellhorn04]

Watching Shaun Anderson pitch well in double a is so extruciating. And all we got was Nunez.

 

Desperate dave is so clueless!

 

You're kind of a sick man, Larry.

[jacksonianmarch]

That’s not my point. Boggs has been ripping the Yankee system yet has optimism that the stripped down and barren Sox system will blossom? It could happen, but it’d be blind luck rather than expectation at this point. The hypocrisy is deafening

[OH FOY]

Chavis got promoted to Portland, and Phillips starts his rehab for Lowell tonight.

[Larry Cook]

A guy that I think is under rated is gorst. He is a reliever, but I like his stuff.

 

I think he has a chance to be a major league reliever.

[OH FOY]

Went to Portland game, I'll give Kent a incomplete, got hit hard in 1st inning, and a lot of loud outs. Might not have been his night. But he doesn't impress me at this point. Kid for Hartford, Garcia who they just promoted, impressed me more. Had better stuff. Pitched a heck of a game, in only his 2nd game he started for Double AA. 6 innings 3 hits, 7 K's, 0 Runs. Hartford won 5-0. In all honesty I liked the Kid in Lowell, Montero more than Kent. Kid has good stuff, for his age. Fastball at 95, with a hell of a change-up.

 

Lakins, gave up a run, a little erratic, with his control, but good fastball.

The whole Offense stunk, Ockimey got a Double, and that was about it. Chavis over-matched K'd 4 times in this game. Last night for Lowell was off too, and that is a much easier League. Work in progress, I guess.

Here's the write up, be going to game today too.https://www.milb.com/portland/news/hartford-wins-5-0-on-saturday-night/c-284747704

Edited July 8, 2018 by OH FOY!

[Hugh2]

The good news is the reason the system is so weak is because of the trades and graduations that have made the #1 team in baseball right now. A farm is supposed to supplement the big league club, but make no mistake this system is very weak.

 

With that said, I'd be very very very surprised if anyone currently on the Portland seadogs roster ends up being an impactful MLB player. I think the team has some talented players who may contribute in a bench role, or out of the pen and there's nothing wrong with that. But the system is deviod of any blue chippers.

 

With that said, there's a lot of talent in the low minors that if they pan out could really strengthen the system in a few years.

[OH FOY]

Good to see you Hugh, kid down in Greenville, Reyes we should keep an eye on too. And Crawford too.

By the way Houck had a nice outing last night, he has been pitching much better the last Month. Last 30 days Opponents are hitting .208 against him. It's his control, and walks that are hurting him. Last night 7 innings 2 BB's, 5 K's, 1 Run, 4 hits. His ERA is down under 5 now.

 

Work in progress and patience. Progress as season goes, that's important.

By the way have you gone to new Park in Hartford? I know you went a lot to the New Britain Park. Only 10 minutes difference for me. Its beautiful.

Yard Goats got a SS that is real good, should go see him. Brendan Rodgers, think he's in the Futures Game, SS of the future, for the Rockies.

Senators got a real stud coming up at SS Kieboom. Probably move Turner to 2nd.

Edited July 8, 2018 by OH FOY!

[moonslav59]

Small sample size, but Chavis has done well since his suspension ended

 

How long does it take for the effects of steroids to wear off?

[Larry Cook]

How long does it take for the effects of steroids to wear off?

 

Last I heard, chavis was still denying he used.