New List of Prospects
I have re-created my list of thebaseballcube.com prospects using only those that have not specifically been highly touted — not first and second rounders, I mean. From here on out, that’s how I’ll be managing my list of prospects, for lack of a better term (some were never prospects, but rather are players that I feel could have an impact in the major leagues soon). Bear in mind that I’ve already had this list for over a year, and when it started, none were in the big leagues. The success of a few of them this year is just a testament to me happening to stumble across good minor league numbers for these players last year.
The Updated List:
Alfredo Aceves
Bryan Anderson
Kyle Blanks
Carlos Carrasco
David Hernandez
Joe Koshansky
Daniel McCutchen
David Pauley
Steve Pearce
Evan Scribner
Wow.
The Colorado Rockies are the most ambitious baseball team I have seen in the decade-plus of Major League Baseball I have witnessed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf8L9V2YZXE
Baltimore’s Back?
How amazing do the Baltimore Orioles look right now for the future?
Look at their pitching rotation now: Guthrie, Berken, Hernandez, Tillman, Matusz. That’s pretty impressive.
Look at their outfield: Reimold, Jones, Markakis. (That’s big pop, 5-tool, 5-tool)
Look at MATT WIETERS.
And, as always, take another look at their sometimes-franchise player, Brian Roberts.
That leaves a future hole at first base (Aubrey Huff), shortstop (Cesar Izturis), and third base (Mora, Wigginton).
Well, third base will soon be filled by Billy Rowell, first could be manned by Brandon Snyder before too long, and who knows how shortstop will play out? If I’m correct, freeing up the payroll by getting rid of Mora, Huff, Izturis, and Luke Scott, will at the LEAST allow them to pick up a shortstop via free agency or offseason trade.
I’m guessing the Orioles will be, if not next season’s, 2011′s AL Wild Card winner. I’m going all out here.
Note: my computer was murdered by a virus, and thus, after reinstalling Windows Vista, I lost my list of my favorite prospects. well, I’ll just have to start a new one, I suppose…
Prospect Progress
Here’s how my favorite prospects are doing so far in 2009:
Pitchers W-L ERA SO-BB
Alfredo Aceves 5-1 2.25 29-7 w/NYY
Blake Beavan 5-4 4.30 51-16 @A+
Carlos Carrasco 5-7 4.70 88-27 @AAA
Rudy Darrow 1-0 9.31 9-10 @AA
David Hernandez1-2 4.19 12-8 w/BAL
Tommy Hunter 0-1 3.86 4-3 w/TEX
Daniel McCutchen 6-5 4.41 63-23 @AAA
David Pauley 6-6 4.11 47-17 @AAA
Evan Scribner 4-1 2.02 35-9 @AA
Chris Tillman 5-5 2.97 75-21 @AAA
Jess Todd 3-1 2.43 46-9 @AAA
Hitters AVG HR RBI SB
Bryan Anderson .245 4 11 1 @AAA
Kyle Banks .194 0 3 0 w/SD
Jason Heyward .296 10 31 4 @A+
Aaron Hicks .182 0 7 1 @A
Joe Koshansky .215 15 43 3 @AAA
Steve Pearce .277 11 43 3 @AAA
Mike Stanton .270 17 50 3 btwnA+ and AA
Evan Scribner, probably the only player from my alma mater, CCSU, who looks to ever be a successful major leaguer, is doing fantastic down at AA for the Padres organization. Alfredo Aceves is currently a rock in the Yankees bullpen, while David Hernandez and Tommy Hunter are turning into the same for the Orioles and the Rangers respectively in the rotation.
My postition players aren’t doing quite as well. Bryan Anderson is struggling with the bat at AAA Memphis. as is Aaron Hicks for the Braves A ball affiliate. However, Mike Stanton is having an unbelievable year climbing up the Marlins organizational ladder, as is Jason Heyward for the Braves A+ team. Joe Koshansky and Steve Pearce are still toiling at the AAA level, but doing what they do best and swatting 4-baggers (though Koshansky needs desperately to get his average up). Kyle Banks has had a great season at AAA, but is struggling in his first cup of coffee at the big-league level with the Padres.
All in all, I think I’ve got a good bunch of guys here.
Sick of Steroids
I am so unbelievably sick of hearing about
players testing positive for drugs, performance-enhancing or
not. You play baseball for a living. You’re doing what we all
wish we were able to go out and do every day for millions of
dollars. Get a grip on reality and stop ruining the
game.
Prospects
Since the middle of last year, I started keeping track of minor league players who look like they would or will make great major leaguers. Thus began the “Prospects” folder in my Firefox Favorites tab, where I keep thebaseballcube.com profiles on said players. Some are 1st round draft picks, and others are long-time minor leaguers who don’t garner much attention (the kind of guys I’d like to see have success at the big league level). Anyway, I thought I’d share my list with you, so far, in alphabetical order.
P Name Organization
SP Alfredo Aceves NYY
C Bryan Anderson STL
SP Blake Beavan TEX
1B Kyle Blanks SD
SP Carlos Carrasco PHI
RP Rudy Darrow ATL
OF Jason Heyward ATL
OF Aaron Hicks MIN
SP Tommy Hunter TEX
1B Joe Koshansky MIL
SP Daniel McCutchen PIT
SP David Pauley BAL
OF Steve Pearce PIT
OF Mike Stanton FLA
SP Chris Tillman BAL
SP Jess Todd STL
SP P.J. Walters STL
Cheers!
The New York Bankees
I walked to my Dad’s room again last night, looking grim, and he looked around at me, pausing from scraping up an old floor tile.
“How are the Yankees doing?”
“Losing, of course,” I replied, as if the Yankees’ previous 26 World Championships never occurred. “I’m starting to hate them.”
“Yeah, everybody feels like that,” he told me. “The guys at work are pretty mad.”
Thus, we had the whole discussion that has been occupying my mind every time I watch a Yankees game these days. The Yankees, as it turns out, are so easy to hate! I’ve been watching every Yankees game of every season for about five years now and every year they seem to spend more and more money, trade away their young talent, and put out perpetually more disappointing seasons than the last. Last year, I stopped watching Yankees games at the end of August, when I was sure they wouldn’t make the playoffs. This year, I’ve stopped already.
I understand that it’s Brian Cashman’s obligation to “field a winning team” every year, but when does the point come when the Yankees organization realizes that, using the methods they’ve used for the past nine years, the Yankees aren’t winning? Hey, if Teixeira and Sabathia were on the market and I was a GM, I’d go after them, too. But trading Jose Tabata and Jeff Karstens for Xavier Nady? Trading Jeff Marquez for Nick Swisher? I mean, Nady’s a good player and Swisher is a great guy, I’d love to have him on my team, but how long will the Yankees have Nady and Swisher around? And I’m not just ranking on those two. There have been other cases, as well. How about trading Nady to a pennant-race team for prospects this July? How about at least trying to unload Matsui to AL team in need of a clutch DH? How about building from within? How about putting together a team that takes pitches, runs the bases, and feels like a team rather than a ego-boosting home for aging superstars. The Yankees dynasty of the late nineties was not built on power bats and huge names. Derek Jeter, Tino Martinez, Paul Oneil – Scott Brosius for christ’s sake! These are guys that played their hearts out and played the game the right way (passing over Oneil’s attitude, which, I would argue, is only an outward display of his desire to win). It wasn’t about Tino Martinez or Derek Jeter, it was about the Yankees.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m too much of an idealist. But I wouldn’t mind seeing the Yankees make some drastic moves to build up their farm system again and set the foundation for the future Yankees from within the organization. I’m not saying don’t pick up guys who hit home runs. I’m saying that the Yankees teams these past few years have not felt like a team. They’ve felt like a mix-and-match bunch of stars who aren’t pulling their weight, not to mention their rotation slots have been continually revolving doors. Not to mention, it feels wrong without Joe Torre, a man who NEVER should have been slapped in the face like that. That disgusted me more than anything.
I’m pretty sick of watching the Yankees lose.
But on the bright side, who’s in first place in the NL Central? THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS, THAT’S WHO! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
11/27/2008-01/07/2008
I was sick for a long time (turns out it was mono) and was in no mood to write in my blog — not to mention I had finals, too — so please excuse the absence. I hope you had fantastic holidays. Take away the mono and my holidays would have been great.
St. Louis Cardinals
We haven’t done much in the past month. I’m excited about the Khalil Greene deal because even if he hits .240, he’s likely to hit 20+ home runs and 70+ RBI. This is not to mention he is a fantastic defender at shortstop. Izturis is a very good defender, but nothing to be excited about with the bat. He’ll do well in Baltimore, I’m sure (and hope), but I’m much more excited to have Greene as the Cards’ starting shortstop.
The Cards have added Royce Ring in addition to Trevor Miller to solidify their ‘pen. Royce Ring is arguably solid (minus the last six or so appearances in the majors last season), but Trevor Miller is a great addition. The rotation is solid (at best, unfortunately) if everyone performs as well as they did last year. Todd Wellemeyer and Kyle Lohse need to prove that they didn’t just have freak excellent seasons and Joel Piniero needs to step it up. If Carp gets healthy and Wainwright stays so, we’re at least assured of two fantastic starters. Jaime Garcia looks ready to jump in if we need him as well. The problem is the closer’s spot. I’m all for giving Chris Perez another shot, but Jason Motte looked great in September. That dude can throw. I suppose we’ll see in Spring Training who gets a look. There’s even rumors that the Cards are checking out Chad Cordero. High-risk = possible high reward? I don’t know. We’ll see, maybe.
New York Yankees
What haven’t the Yankees done since I last posted. They picked up Burnett (which, if you read my last entry, I should be happy with), Sabathia, and now Teixeira. But keep your pants on, people: the Yankees are not just out to buy anyone that they can. They know what they need and they have the money to pursue those needs at the top-tier. Hal Steinbrenner said it best, when introducing Mark Teixeira as the newest Yankee. He stated that every year, the Yankees feel a responsibility to put out a championship-caliber team. Who doesn’t want that? Are you telling me the Pittsburgh Pirates don’t feel a responsibility to win games for their fans? If the Pirates had the pockets the Yankees did, wouldn’t they go after top-tier players as well? They sure aren’t expected to, but they would. The Yankees are expected to, and that’s what makes the Yankees even more suitable for acting on the free-agent market the way they do. I will never bash the Yankees for using the money the have to pursue a championship-caliber team. And as we saw last year with both the Yankees and the Tigers, a team with a huge payroll is not guaranteed success (see a team called the Tampa Bay Rays).
Anyways, I’m already getting excited for Spring Training. You?
AJ Burnett
I’m sure there are a lot of baseball-freaks out there like me who check mlb.com religiously and surf player profiles and career stats with the enthusiasm of Jose Canseco with a microphone under his nose, but how many people have actually reviewed AJ Burnett’s career stats of late? I’m sure a lot of you have because of the buzz surrounding his free agency. I’ve always known him as a hard thrower with an inclination to be injured quite often, and specifically, this year and last, I believe, there were plenty of articles speculating that Burnett didn’t actually want to be out there throwing and was being too overly-cautious – that is, if the source wasn’t bold enough to say that he might perhaps just be lazy or unwilling to play. None of us will actually know the real reason because we’ll never be that close to AJ Burnett and it’s tough to speculate when you have no proof besides the word of newspapers, who are aware that any slightly scandalous incident makes for juicy reading.
But seriously, this guy, if he is healthy, is worth going after for the teams with deep pockets. Check the numbers.
His worst ERA for a season in his career was a 4.79 over 13 starts in 2000 with the Marlins. He’s been pitching for a decade now and his worst season-end ERA is 4.79? And that was only less than a half-season? This is a guy with an ERA in the 3′s for 5 of his 7 full-seasons. He’ll keep runs off the board in the long-run, go deep into ballgames when he’s healthy, and just blow hitters away. Who wouldn’t be gunning at the chance to include a guy like that in the rotation. His win-totals aren’t fantastic, but this guy will keep you in the game a great percentage of the time. To be honest, I think he’s actually underrated, not overrated. And perhaps you all know this, but from the perception I’ve personally had for the past five or six years, I wasn’t aware that he was so solid. You hear commentators and analysts talk all the time about how this year he really broke out and finally lived up to expectations. Well, I mean, come on. This guy has been solid for a decade now.
A very, very, select few MLB players are actually worth the totally rediculous sums of money they are being paid these days, but I think the Yankees, Mets, and Angels (if not the BoSox) should be pursuing this guy to the end, 5-year deal or not. He’s been great for a long time now, and I’d bet a 5-year deal would pay at least SOME sort of dividends for any of those teams, most of which could manage without Burnett for a week or two if his injuries return. Of course, Yankees fans are weary of the second coming of Carl Pavano, but the big-spenders need a big showing after this past season and this might be a fantastic investment for the Bronx Bombers. I would personally enjoy watching Burnett fan batters on the YES network every fifth game.
The only problem with Burnett, as I see it, is mere speculation. There are few team-oriented players and fans who want a guy on their team who doesn’t want to go out there and help the team win. If it is true that Burnett is not a team player, is not a hard-working arm, then I would be more hesitant to pursue him. His statements about the Florida Marlins before he departed were not well-chosen and perhaps should have stayed in his head, if anywhere at all. But this is something that, if it is true about his character, can be overcome and dropped. He’ll be 32 in Spring Training, and perhaps he’ll be an older, wiser man. Then again, it could all just be media speculation and he could really have been aching too frequently and painfully to pitch. I don’t know.
But I know this guy is good.
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