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2017 Minor League Thread

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macbdog said:
So why is the farm system so terrible all of a a sudden? Bobby Bradley looked like he had turned a corner, now I look and he has a 110 WRC+. Mejia is the only hitter who stands out. The advanced college guys have stalled (Krieger, Mathias), Cheng has power and nothing else, Lake County is a disaster zone and the pitching up and down is hot garbage. MacKenzie and Esparza have slowed down. One trade and a couple promotions shouldn't have decimated the system like that. Do any of the picks from the last three years look like they will impact the big league club before Kluber hits FA?
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Not sure the doom and gloom has merit.

Bradley, Cheng and Mejia are 21 year olds in AA ball. If Bradley and Cheng performed any better, they'd be top-50 prospects in all of baseball. People forget AA is the toughest jump before the Majors...

There's some really encouraging stats though.... Bobby Bradley has cut his K rate down from 29.7% to 22.9% this year. His BABIP plummeted from .293 to .261 so it's possible he's suffered from some bad luck. Same with Cheng-- he had a BABIP of .316 last year (.288 the year before last) and it's .246 this year. Scouting reports seem to be favorable for both guys so I don't think there's much to worry about.

McKenzie had two bad starts in a row and his last start was great. He's an absolute stud. 11.38 K/9 is elite. People forget this is his first full season of professional baseball.... it's a grind. ERA in the Minor Leagues is totally worthless. Defense and official scorer's are absolutely brutal throughout the minors.

Eric Haase has taken a huge step forward this season. Some teams around the MLB think he could be an everyday catcher in the bigs per Fangraphs.

Yandy would be in the bigs if the Indians weren't contending. He's worthy of an extended look in the MLB whether it's with the Indians or not.

Nolan Jones is coming in REAL hot.

Bieber has climbed three levels in one season.... which is telling because the Indians typically like their prospects to ripen a little bit.

Connor Capel is a 20 year old CF in A-ball and quietly nearing 20 HR's.
 
Capel has been ok. Bieber tops out at 90-91 mph; he is a less cool Josh Tomlin ( your personal favorite). Eric Haase is repeating a level and is already 24; he reminds me a ton of Kelly Shoppach. Nolan Jones is a lone bright spot. Yandy isn't in AAA because the team is contending- he is in AAA because he did poorly in his shot earlier this year and because Gio is a far superior defender. And because despite being ridiculously jacked he doesn't have much power- esp for playing in a launching pad like Columbus. Only one frontline starting pitching prospect is producing and the club continues to fail to develop relievers from within. I understand not being able to replace the Clint Fraziers drafting lower but they continue to swing and miss terribly in the 2nd/3rd round. At least find prospects, not guys who can't even get out of A ball.
 
macbdog said:
Capel has been ok. Bieber tops out at 90-91 mph; he is a less cool Josh Tomlin ( your personal favorite). Eric Haase is repeating a level and is already 24; he reminds me a ton of Kelly Shoppach. Nolan Jones is a lone bright spot. Yandy isn't in AAA because the team is contending- he is in AAA because he did poorly in his shot earlier this year and because Gio is a far superior defender. And because despite being ridiculously jacked he doesn't have much power- esp for playing in a launching pad like Columbus. Only one frontline starting pitching prospect is producing and the club continues to fail to develop relievers from within. I understand not being able to replace the Clint Fraziers drafting lower but they continue to swing and miss terribly in the 2nd/3rd round. At least find prospects, not guys who can't even get out of A ball.
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Not sure what you're talking about.

Here are their 2nd/3rd round picks (including competitive balance picks):

2016:
Nolan Jones
Logan Ice
Aaron Civale

All doing well. Jones looks legit. Civale has pitched well across 2 levels. Ice's bat hasn't been great, but he was always touted as a defensive catcher to begin with. Plus, we also got Bieber (who has over a 15:1 K:BB ratio in his pro career compared to about 4:1 for Tomlin in the minors) and Capel in 4/5 last year.

2015:
Triston McKenzie
Juan Hillman
Mark Mathias

McKenzie is obviously a stud, and is already one of the top pitching prospects in baseball despite turning 20 just last week. Hillman has shown flashes, but has been incredibly inconsistent. Would be silly to give up on a 20 year old though. Mathias looked like a legit bat heading into this year, but started the season on the DL, and has never really gotten going. I'm not going to write him off just yet. Also worth mentioning we got Matt Esparza in the 14th round, who has pitched his way up to AA this year.

2014:
Mike Papi
Grant Hockin
Bobby Bradley

Papi and Hockin probably represent to biggest misses over the last 3 years in these rounds, but even this year we produced a top 100 prospect in Bobby Bradley. Hockin has been hurt since 2014, and just returned to the mound this year. If he stays healthy, it will be interesting to see if he can pitch to the expectations from when he was initially drafted. Papi has made his was up to AA, and has had a solid season. Good discipline at the plate, but the power and contact have been inconsistent.

Maybe you have higher expectations than this, but producing top 100 prospects outside the 1st round in each of the past 3 drafts is an excellent haul.
 
@BimboColesHair I am sorry to tell you Baltimore is activating Santander today and putting him on the 25 man roster. They are doing everything they can to keep him even though he has never played above AA.
 
sportscoach said:
@BimboColesHair I am sorry to tell you Baltimore is activating Santander today and putting him on the 25 man roster. They are doing everything they can to keep him even though he has never played above AA.
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.380/.458/.780 slash, 5 HRs, 5 2Bs, 14 RBI, 13 R, 7 BB, 9 K in his first 15 games in AA after being activated. He's ready...and he reminds me so much of Victor Martinez...makes me sad.
 
Huber. said:
Nobody knows what that is.
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Essentially after a player has been in the minors for a certain amount of time, (4 or 5 seasons depending on when signed/drafted) another team can draft them in the rule 5 and the other team can keep the player as long as they stay on the 25 man roster for the entire season. If the player doesn't stay on the 25 man roster he is returned to the original team/a trade would have to be made to keep him.

Players who are on a teams 40 man roster cannot be targeted in the Rule 5 draft hence why there was discussion in the offseason by who would be added and next season we will have discussions again since we have some good players becoming eligible.

We grabbed Hoby Milner in the Rule 5 draft, but since he didn't make the roster he was returned to the Phillies. Last season we lost Josh Martin to the Rule 5 but he was returned by San Diego. Over the years we lost guys like TJ McFarland and this year we lost Santander who had high potential but never played above A ball so we didn't put him on the 40 man roster.

Edit: honestly it is designed from teams keeping all the good prospects/allowing guys more opportunities to get into the big leagues. Most Rule 5 guys don't end up doing much, but sometimes you get guys like Johan Santana who just needed the chance to play.
 
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Least likely 20 HR hitter I have seen in some time...Conner Capel, who was pretty much a speed/glove only guy when we drafted him last year, and who skipped short season A ball and went straight to full season A ball, just hit his 20th.

Has a chance to be a 20/20/20 player (20 2B, 20 HR, 20 SB, currently at 21/20/14). Batting average is starting to creep up thanks to an uptick to his BABIP, and his OPS has finally gone over the .800 mark, which is always good to see. K rate is falling in the 2nd half, but he still has some ironing out to do with his swing. Still, nice shot in the arm to the farm.
 
@BimboColesHair what do you think of Ronny Rodriguez's season so far? His numbers have been looking good, but do you expect him to be added to the 40 man roster for next season or do you think he is a AAAA type of guy?

Do you also think we will see Yandy again this season like in September? I am hoping we see more of him this season.
 
Nolan Jones continues to give me the feels. .297/.410/.461 slash right now, 14 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR. Top 5 in most offensive categories in the NY-Penn League.

But when you see a 19 year old with plus plate skills and lots of body projection left doing this, its hard not to have the feels:


That is not a cheap HR for a LH hitter. Power to the left/the left center gap is usually the last thing to come to a young LH hitter...but that is beautiful to see. Kid has such a nice swing at such a young age:


Smooth, simple swing and he lets his size generate his power. Usually takes big, young hitters a couple years as a pro to figure that out.

Between him, Benson, Capel, and Cantu, there is a lot of high offensive upside with a lot of tools in the 2016 draft class, even after trading away Samad Taylor. That group of 4 that we still have is currently slashing .261/.342/.451, and their average age is just a hair over 19...and Taylor himself is currently slashing .291/.341/.451 this season.

Couple those high potential HS bats with what we are getting from our college pitchers we took in 2016 right now (Bieber, Civale, Plesac, Krauth, Tully), and I'm beginning to like the 2016 draft class a whole bunch.
 
sportscoach said:
@BimboColesHair what do you think of Ronny Rodriguez's season so far? His numbers have been looking good, but do you expect him to be added to the 40 man roster for next season or do you think he is a AAAA type of guy?

Do you also think we will see Yandy again this season like in September? I am hoping we see more of him this season.
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No. Too many guys ahead of him who play the same positions, and better guys who will need protected too, most notably Yu-Cheng Chang.

Yes.
 
Is that announcer like 16?
 
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