Sickles's preliminary farm system grades

[diehardtwinsfan]

You can find them here.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2014/11/7/7173447/minnesota-twins-prospect-list-update

Interesting to note that he had to cut the system back from over 60 guys deserving mention to 40some guys. That's a pretty nice compliment when you think of it. Go over and voice your opinions.

[Coreygoeltl]

sickles always has had a good list some of the guys I thought were ranked a little high.

[bird]

sickles always has had a good list some of the guys I thought were ranked a little high.

That might be the case, but if anything, Sickles has a rep of being a fairly tough grader. He gave Zack Jones a C grade and Jake Reed a C+, for example. But still, having 45 prospects worthy of a C grade or better shows depth, and very few systems are going to have a dozen prospects grading out at B- and better, especially after a year of graduating several prospects. 

[TheLeviathan]

Encouraging grade on Kepler.

[jokin]

I thought this one was interesting:

 

Huascar Ynoa RHP C      HIGH CEILING ALERT


while these were pleasant surprises:

 

Jason Adam RHP C
Tyler Duffey RHP C+ SLEEPER ALERT
Mitch Garver C C SLEEPER ALERT
Chih-Wei Hu RHP C+ SLEEPER ALERT


but these were somewhat disappointing:

Kohl Stewart RHP B
Lewis Thorpe LHP B-
Stephen Gonsalves LHP B-


I was expecting a #4 pick still deserves a B+ for Stewart, and his "high ceiling alert" rating wasn't tarnished all that much from being coached to throw pitch-to-contact in A ball, was it?


I don't have a problem with the B- grades for Gonsalves and Thorpe, but I think they both are the definition of "high ceiling alert".

[Badsmerf]

I don't think a b grade is unfair for Stewart right now. That is still a pretty good score. He just hasn't really down much yet, and that isn't a bad thing. The potential is still there.

[diehardtwinsfan]

The high ceiling alert is something he's using on C/C+ prospects. That's why Buxton and Sano don't have those alerts, even though both have ceilings that say multiple all star seasons. He started doing that this year in order to distinguish a bit more on the C type prospects who have high ceilings vs. the ones that don't, as in his world, not all C prospects are created equal.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I thought this one was interesting:

 

Huascar Ynoa RHP C      HIGH CEILING ALERT

 

 

while these were pleasant surprises:

 

Jason Adam RHP C

Tyler Duffey RHP C+ SLEEPER ALERT

Mitch Garver C C SLEEPER ALERT

Chih-Wei Hu RHP C+ SLEEPER ALERT

 

 

but these were somewhat disappointing:

 

Kohl Stewart RHP B

Lewis Thorpe LHP B-

Stephen Gonsalves LHP B-

 

 

I was expecting a #4 pick still deserves a B+ for Stewart, and his "high ceiling alert" rating wasn't tarnished all that much from being coached to throw pitch-to-contact in A ball, was it?

 

 

I don't have a problem with the B- grades for Gonsalves and Thorpe, but I think they both are the definition of "high ceiling alert".

He's a pretty tough grader. I'd have made Stewart a B+ and the other 2 straight Bs. I'd have called Garver a C+ at this point as he did quite well in A ball and seems to have a major league approach at the plate to go with what appears to be above average defense. Not bad for a 9th pick. That said, I think he usually only has 100-150 or so prospects that are a B- or higher if I remember right. The fact that the Twins are holding on to a dozen of them bodes real well in his book. As a side note, he's a Twins fan.

[DocBauer]

Echoing comments made. That many prospects with a C or higher grade is outstanding. And I too could argue a few grades as being too low or too high IMO.

 

I know it's only the "minor league prospect game", but it's not hard to look at that list of over 40 players and put together a damn fine roster in 2-3 years time. And I don't mean, "well, if a couple of these guys....". I mean, a roster of talent that you would be surprised if they didn't make it, not the other way around.

[iTwins]

Sickles is a notorious tough (but fair) grader. I don't balk at Stewart, Gonsalves and crew hitting the 'B' range, because on Sickles' scale - that's a pretty hefty compliment. (And there's still lots of room for each to grow) There's great depth to this farm, and having too much talent to grade (from the point of view of a tough evaluator) is a GREAT thing.

 

Watch the high ceiling and breakout guys. Sickles had Danny Santana among them last year and nailed that call.

[gunnarthor]

As others have said, Sickels is a hard grader and of all the major professional prospectors out there, he's probably the "lowest" on Buxton.  So that's a good thing.

 

He gave the Twins 14 players at B- or better.  For comparison, Atlanta has seven players graded that well.  Give Ryan and the FO some credit, they've amassed a really deep talent pool in the minors.  Hopefully, it'll pay off in the majors soon.  

[Brock Beauchamp]

I have no issues with Stewart being a B right now. He doesn't have any issues that warrant full-blown panic mode but he does have a strikeout rate that's mildly concerning.

 

I'm a bit surprised by the Lewis Thorpe rating. Given his age, velo, K rate, and competition level, I thought he might warrant a higher grade than Stewart.

[TRex]

I have no issues with Stewart being a B right now. He doesn't have any issues that warrant full-blown panic mode but he does have a strikeout rate that's mildly concerning.

 

I'm a bit surprised by the Lewis Thorpe rating. Given his age, velo, K rate, and competition level, I thought he might warrant a higher grade than Stewart.

 

 

 

While Sickels doesn't share the aversion of many towards giving high grades to low-A players, I think he makes his point pretty clear that his grades do not reflect concerns with on-field performance, but rather he does not give potentially injured low-A prospects the benefit of the doubt.

 

The money quote (IMHO) for Stewart's grade was: "His grade is a half-step lower than last year but this is more a reflection of health uncertainty than any loss of ability."

 

... and about Thorpe, he says "Like teammate Stewart, there were some late-season arm worries with a sore elbow."

[bird]

As others have said, Sickels is a hard grader and of all the major professional prospectors out there, he's probably the "lowest" on Buxton.  So that's a good thing.

 

He gave the Twins 14 players at B- or better.  For comparison, Atlanta has seven players graded that well.  Give Ryan and the FO some credit, they've amassed a really deep talent pool in the minors.  Hopefully, it'll pay off in the majors soon.  

And if you have a fair sense of the history of success prospects given a B- or better grade by Sickles have, you are even more encouraged.

 

In addition, the Twins have 11 players at C+, and many include comments from Sickles like "borderline B-" or HIGH CEILING ALERT, or SLEEPER ALERT.

 

I gotta tell ya, I've been watching this stuff since the 60's, and I've never seen anything remotely like this as far as both top-end talent and depth. Not even close to this, frankly.

[tobi0040]

I have no issues with Stewart being a B right now. He doesn't have any issues that warrant full-blown panic mode but he does have a strikeout rate that's mildly concerning.

 

I'm a bit surprised by the Lewis Thorpe rating. Given his age, velo, K rate, and competition level, I thought he might warrant a higher grade than Stewart.

 

Kohl just turned 20 years old and never played baseball full time.  Then in his first year the Twins basically took his best pitch away from him.

 

Then he goes out and puts up a 2.59 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 7.8 H per 9, does not walk anyone (2.5 per 9) with a 6.4 K per 9. 

 

I find those numbers extremely encouraging.  His slider is graded as his best pitch, with that pitch in low A that K rate jumps to at least 8-9 per 9 innings and nobody is concerned about it.

[diehardtwinsfan]

Kohl just turned 20 years old and never played baseball full time.  Then in his first year the Twins basically took his best pitch away from him.

 

Then he goes out and puts up a 2.59 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 7.8 H per 9, does not walk anyone (2.5 per 9) with a 6.4 K per 9. 

 

I find those numbers extremely encouraging.  His slider is graded as his best pitch, with that pitch in low A that K rate jumps to at least 8-9 per 9 innings and nobody is concerned about it.

This.

 

I think he was allowed to use that slider eventually, but from what I read, he was pretty unhittable in CR last year. I'm guessing that stuff gets worked back in this season as he has a full year under his belt and will be allowed to go closer to 150 innings. I'm expecting the K rate to jump, especially in the pitcher friendly FSL.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Kohl just turned 20 years old and never played baseball full time.  Then in his first year the Twins basically took his best pitch away from him.

 

Then he goes out and puts up a 2.59 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 7.8 H per 9, does not walk anyone (2.5 per 9) with a 6.4 K per 9. 

 

I find those numbers extremely encouraging.  His slider is graded as his best pitch, with that pitch in low A that K rate jumps to at least 8-9 per 9 innings and nobody is concerned about it.

Oh, I get the reasoning (hence the "no full-blown panic mode" comment) but the K rate is something to watch as a potential issue going forward. Whether he's using his best pitch or not, is new to baseball, or whatever, it's something to watch.

[tobi0040]

This.

 

I think he was allowed to use that slider eventually, but from what I read, he was pretty unhittable in CR last year. I'm guessing that stuff gets worked back in this season as he has a full year under his belt and will be allowed to go closer to 150 innings. I'm expecting the K rate to jump, especially in the pitcher friendly FSL.

 

I totally agree.  I also think the Twins limiting his slider is a great move for his development, not to mention is health.