goulik

We have had lots of pitchers come through the MLB club and be much worse than where they were before whether it was from free agency, trade, or promotion from the minors which again brings up the topic of defense behind them. It also makes me wonder about pitch framing, pitch calling, and overall coaching. Seeing one or two guys plummet is just part of the ups and downs of seasons and careers. Santiago was hot before arriving and now we're lynching him... Maybe the pitchers are not the (only) problem.

There are many unadopted prospects who have been left as orphans all season. Some are new to the organization and do not know that they should miss the love of an adopting fan but others are surely crying themselves to sleep nightly with no fans to tuck them in once a month or so. I think all prospects should at least get a page on Adopt a Prospect Forum (AaPF) and get at least a small taste of the love we have for them. Now keep in mind, some minor leaguers are no longer prospects. They grew up you could say. (I'm looking at you Logan Schafer, Andrew Albers, and Darin Mastroiani) so I have intentionally left some people off the following lists. But these prospects below should have at least a page on AaPF and a season wrap up. I would suggest including a suggestion on their next year team be included in the season wrap up. Let's get er done TD! (Shane and I REALLY can't do the rest alone) Rochester: First group are the almost grown up and this may be the last season for a page. Second group surely need adoption. I know, I know, they don't excite you any more. Just do it! It would be good to give them all at least a moment here. Logan Darnell, JT Chargios, Pat Light, Jason Wheeler, Adalberto Mejia, Pat Dean Alan Busenitz, DJ Baxendale, Jake Reed, Marcus Walden, David Hurlbut, Nick Greenwood, Alex Wimmers, Omar Bencomo Chatanooga: Lots of pitchers without pages. Some are real head scratchers as to why they don't... Luke Bard, Nick Burdi, Ryan Eades, Raul Fernandez, Steven Gonsalves, Tyler Jay, (Really? Those two are not adopted?) Zach Jones, Felix Jorge, Mason Melotakis, Brandon Peterson, Randy Rosario, Aaron Slegers, TJ White, Tanner Witt, Edgar Corcino. Fort Meyers: Many of mine were promoted here so again, mostly pitchers but first the 6 who have been there all year carrying the lumber. Ok 5 plus Chris Paul but he got promoted before I started my CR pages so practically all year. Chris Paul, Alex Perez, Trey Vavra, Brad Hartong, Joe Maloney, Max Murphy, Nick Anderson, Cam Booser, Sam Clay, John Curtiss, Confesor Lara, Randy LeBlanc, Miles Nordgren, Derek Rodriguez, Cody Stashak, Keaton Steele, Michael Theofanopoulus (my word prediction just got his name after the first 5 letters... Holy wow!) Cedar Rapids: SD Buhr is watching so get these guys pages up or he will know it! Kevin Garcia, Rainis Silva, Travis Blankenhorn, Brandon Lopez, Jaylin Davis, Austin Diemer, Casey Scoggins, Brady Anderson, Tyler Beardsley, Michael Cederoth, Max Cordy, Andro Cuturo, Eduardo Del Rosario, Sam Gibbons, Tom Hackimer, CK Irby, Logan Lombano, Anthony McIver, Sean Poppen, Williams Ramirez, Lewis Thorpe, Zach Tillery, Andrew Vasquez, Lachlan Wells. There are also almost the entire rosters of the GCL and Elizabethton. Brian Olson Is adopted at the GCL and a couple at Elizabethton as well so there is surely some jealousy and excitement among the other kids in rookie ball but let's get these older guys done first, OK?

I missed Garvers promotion to AAA somewhere. He's off to a nice start in Rochester!

Demoted to Chatanooga on August 22nd. Hasn't been given an at bat since August 8th.

Interesting pick up. Hope he continues to exhibit control of his pitches.

After a hot start, Hayman is now hitting 204/222/290 in Elizabethton. He is only hitting 121 in his last 10 games/33 at bats which was his batting average was when he was demoted. As a 23 year old undrafted ball player in rookie leagues, this is not good for his career. Defensively, Hayman is throwing out one third of those attempting to steal against him. He has 3 errors and 5 passed balls in 244 combined innings behind the dish.

AJ is still adjusting to the next level and He is not hitting. His FM slash is 195/284/305. He got off to a good start (see previous post) but he obviously needs to make some adjustments at this point. The problem is not Ks as his K rate has dropped at FM. In his last 10 games he has 5 hits in 34 at bats for a 147 batting average. Nothing pops out to me looking at his defensive stats. He has not been throwing out people stealing bases at the same rate as at CR and he has the same number of passed balls in 173 fewer innings. His FPCT is 991.

FM Slash now 318/386/518 for a 904 OPS. This guy just contines to hit. In 110 at bats, he has struck out 17 times and walked 10. His GO/AO ratio is a nice 0.77. Pretty imressive. He goes up a level and gets even better. Combined he is hitting 293/402/438 in 317 innings with 44 Ks and 54 BBs. Wade has played 47 innings in LF in FM without an error. Combined with his CR numbers, Wade has 236 innings in Left having committed one error. In CF, he has 154 innings (430 Combined) without an error at either level. I really hope Wade keeps getting pushed quickly and starts next year in AA.

SSS still in play with Santiago. He was just uprooted and placed with a new team that isn't very good. He has a lot going on. Anaheim (a better team) just told you they preferred Nolasco and Meyer over you. Not good for the old confidence. You must have to work on Something so you have that in your head before you go to the new pitching coach for some help. Santiago you said is throwing more fastballs. Probably because he's been missing with the off speed stuff so his arm tires faster now and the velo drops. That is a reasonable and correctable outcome when he regains confidence in the off speed stuff. I also wonder about Suzuki and what pitches are beng called. That's a topic in a different thread...

In the first half of the year we were a little concerned about Zanders ability to hit home runs and the fact that he had not hit many. Now, he hasn't become a prodigious home run hitter yet but He does have 14 and with an additional 25 doubles and 8 triples we can see the potential is developing into reality for Zander to be a solid slugging offensive 1B. 256/334/448 is a solid slash line to go with that for a respectable 782 OPS. Defensively he has a 985 FPCT with 15 errors in 1017 innings at 1B. He has not played another position this year or last year.

At 22 years old and in his fifth year in the minors, 219/290/348 is not going to cut it and may lead to your own cut as soon as there is a replacement.

You beat me to AJ Murray Molina though has been more of a 3B than a SS this year...

Sean is regressing to his career mean (259/281/355) and is now hitting 263/287/366 on the season. At 2B he is still errorless in 202 innings and at SS he now has 6 errors in 319 innings. In 30 additional innings at 3rd, he has not committed another error. I guess he is who we thought he was a month ago.

The hype hasn't just been by the Twins. These prospects have had national attention. Sano seems to be able to live up to that hype and I believe Buxton will eventually as well. Meyer was definitely disappointing but I believe he was mishandled. Berrios is still emerging as well...those are the big names that have had the most attention. The second tier prospects: Arcia, Vargas, Rosario, Polanco, May, Gibson, and Kepler are a mixed bag so far. We will see where that all ends up. After them are lottery tickets: Duffey, most of the bull pen, Danny Santana, Escobar, Many that have been up and down over the past few years. You expect the majority of them to fail. I'm sure I'm missing lots of names but my point is there are differences in the big hype and the other prospects that come up.

But of course we still have Plouffe. If your worried about the future of 3B, the better answer is to hold on to Plouffe who has proven himself there. Polanco is speculative on whether that is a place for him as is SS. Polanco is a second baseman.

Wait, I forgot to throw in the obligatory Plouffe part of the trade...

Start the discussion offering Brian Dozier for SF Giants AA Prospect Tyler Beede plus a low A prospect. See if you can work from there to offering other pieces to also get Aramis Garcia. I am not sure if they would take Ervin Santana though Santana has outperformed both Peavey and Cain this year so you would probably need someone else to sweeten the pot for Garcia...

I wish there was a love button but instead you will have to accept a "buy him a steak dinner" like to your reply! I know I've typed things and posted them then thought, "Gee, I hope (insert actual person I just talked) about doesn't read that"

Go blockbuster. Dozier And Santana for A can't miss Ace from AAA to pair with Berrios and a high minors Can't miss catcher both that are projected ready next year. So who needs a proven 2B and SP both reasonably controlled that has those pieces?

No, No, No!!!

Two call ups this week have resulted in a lack of a thread so here is the second one. This one is to discuss O'Rourke and his call up.. I used to see O'Rourke as a potential contributor out of a healthy pen. A guy that could come in at the key moment and get that guy or two out that he specialized in getting out. I looked forward to his call up and imagined his success. Now, With our rotation requiring more from the pen and having already been called up and sent down, there is little luster associated with this move. Is the luster gone because of misuse his first time up or was it based on guys opinions that watch our (and only our) minor league teams? Is he a diamond in the rough or is this just going to be rough? Does he have a useful role if used well? Are the other guys that will soon be mentioned in this thread just overhyped by us on TD or do they really have what it takes to be successful bull pen pieces? Should they really have been the ones called up or Are we just looking past O'Rourke, Dean, Wheeler, etc... Based on fools gold of those others that were picked higher in the draft or have received more hype? I hope for O'Rourke to blow our minds and succeed like we never imagined. I give that hope low odds of success but maybe if used right, he will be a useful 1-2 out guy that could be used 4-5 times a week in the right situations.

Or maybe, just maybe, these front offices keep talking after the trade deadline. Maybe a potential good deal for Zukes is even closer now than it was two weeks ago and that's why he goes on waivers now instead of two weeks ago. Maybe these front office guys spend their lives doing these front office jobs and are not just fans but their whole Livelihoods are tied up in what they decide and what they do for 50-80 hours a week next year will depend on their decisions today. Maybe they spend WAY more time thinking about and analyzing this stuff than we ever would want to. Maybe some fans cavalierly throw hyperbole out there as if they know better when at best they know less than half of the information. Maybe we all need to take it down a notch and see what happens before we judge Antony, the new GM hire, etc... Maybe we all get caught up here in our own small circle of discussion and come to the conclusion that we are experts when in reality, no one would dream (nightmare) of me in their front office.

There was a thread or article about Sano and how deep he goes into counts before striking out and how that also helps him get more gopher balls to launch into the stratosphere. His k rate has bothered me less since reading it and a link here wouldn't hurt. I have believed in Sano for a long time and am confident his defense will come around (and his k rate will drop a little too). I think this is a great start to his HoF career.

I'm not sure why there was not a thread dedicated to the promotion of Dean but my real first name is Dean so I should start one I guess... So, how long does he stay? What % chance do you give him sticking as a long reliever? Is it ok to have a first name as a last name or vice versa?

Id like to see Wimmers but Light is a nice consolation prize to me.