2019 Minor Leagues/Prospect Discussion Thread

[Schad]

It's funny that the post game interviews with the Bison's manager and Norris himself emphasized how "not sharp" he was last night, that he didn't have command of all his pitches. But he battled through it. The suggestion was that he may have been a bit intimidated by the "Toronto people" at the game.

That's why I'm not that concerned about Norris' command (versus his control, which is good). It might prevent him from being elite, but when you throw hard and around the zone from the left side and can do it with three above-average pitches, you can have not-sharp days that still go pretty well, even in the majors.

[blaateeee]

Miguel Castro to Dunedin, wow, talk about helium.

[Schad]

One other thing on Norris: that 'negative' scouting report and other people on Twitter and the like have mentioned Norris' FB as low as 88-89 at times...I'm wondering if they're seeing his cutter (which is a work in progress, from what I understand) as a fastball. It'd explain the swings in velocity, though for what it's worth backing 94 with one at 89 isn't actually a bad thing, either.

[There There]

Miguel Castro to Dunedin, wow, talk about helium.

Osuna and him should up the wow factor next season. Osuna will be somewhat limited with his innings, but the ascent through the system that we've seen from Norris this year, we could end up seeing again with those two next year.

Castro is already touching 97 and sitting 92-94, and he should have plenty of filling out still to do. Needs work on his command obviously, but still, there is so much to like about both those guys.

And the lefty brigade of Smoral, Borucki, Smith and Labourt should be plenty interesting down in Lansing. Tall, lanky and lefty, all four of them... Brings tears to my eyes already. Mix in Tirado, Tinoco and Greene from the other side just for good measure.

[torontoaces04]

Rowdy Tellez continues his hitting streak going 2-4 to get his average at Bluefield upto .299. Considering the absolute horrid start, he has really come into his own as a RBI machine. The only worrying part is that the HRs are not coming at the rate expected since he was touted for his potential LHB power.

If the power is taking a while, so be it. His swing looks vastly improved (much more fluid, less of an uppercut, and slightly shorter), and the power is bound to come. IMO, Tellez's power potential is a 70 (on the 20-80 scale). Either way, love what we've seen this season from him.

If he doesn't start in Dunedin next season, I'll be surprised.

Why would Tellez go from rookie ball to High A?

The Jays have a general policy of position players spending two full seasons below Full Season A ball, he'll probably go to Lansing and that's fair. Tellez hasn't shown to be an advanced hitter like Barreto to justify skipping a level and Barreto actually faced college pitching in the NWL, Tellez has just done ok against rookie ball pitchers.

Tellez won't start above Lansing, but I wouldn't necessarily call his performance just okay. His overall numbers, sure, but after a rough start he's been quite good, hitting (prior to today) .336/.399/.486 in July/August, striking out in 14.4% of PAs while collecting XBHs 9.2% of the time. The only thing missing from those components is power, and his strikeout rate leaves plenty of wiggle room should it rise alongside his pop.

Glad to see Tellez getting his feet wet at Lansing right now. If he excels during his cup of tea this season with the Lugnuts, I still think they push him to start with Dunedin. He is by far one of our most talented and exciting offensive prospects. It seems as of late, AA has been less hesitant to advance guys through the system, who are excelling at the level they've been competing at. Dalton Pompey, Daniel Norris, Miguel Castro...who's to say Rowdy Tellez can't take a similar path?

[There There]

Tellez likely won't skip Lansing. He may be able to handle it, but the fact that they kept him in extended this year, despite some ( I think Chris King was one ) who thought he could start at Lansing this season, indicates they're not planning on rushing him through the system.

Don't forget Nay and Dean will start at Dunedin next year.

[Graham's Cracker]

Miguel Castro to Dunedin, wow, talk about helium.

Osuna and him should up the wow factor next season. Osuna will be somewhat limited with his innings, but the ascent through the system that we've seen from Norris this year, we could end up seeing again with those two next year.

Castro is already touching 97 and sitting 92-94, and he should have plenty of filling out still to do. Needs work on his command obviously, but still, there is so much to like about both those guys.

And the lefty brigade of Smoral, Borucki, Smith and Labourt should be plenty interesting down in Lansing. Tall, lanky and lefty, all four of them... Brings tears to my eyes already. Mix in Tirado, Tinoco and Greene from the other side just for good measure.

Don't forget Hoffman as well.

Sent from my LG-P880g using RealGM Forums mobile app

[There There]

Miguel Castro to Dunedin, wow, talk about helium.

Osuna and him should up the wow factor next season. Osuna will be somewhat limited with his innings, but the ascent through the system that we've seen from Norris this year, we could end up seeing again with those two next year.

Castro is already touching 97 and sitting 92-94, and he should have plenty of filling out still to do. Needs work on his command obviously, but still, there is so much to like about both those guys.

And the lefty brigade of Smoral, Borucki, Smith and Labourt should be plenty interesting down in Lansing. Tall, lanky and lefty, all four of them... Brings tears to my eyes already. Mix in Tirado, Tinoco and Greene from the other side just for good measure.

Don't forget Hoffman as well.

Sent from my LG-P880g using RealGM Forums mobile app

Ha, definitely not forgetting him... Just have no idea where they'd likely start him. I'd assume Dunedin, but they could him ease him into things at Lansing, or if he's only ready mid June, a brief stint in Vancouver is also a possibility if they really want to ease him in.

Regardless where he starts, I hope they really take it easy with him next year. They should just be concerned with building up some innings and giving him a taste of pro ball, in preparation for 2016.

[Schad]

Glad to see Tellez getting his feet wet at Lansing right now. If he excels during his cup of tea this season with the Lugnuts, I still think they push him to start with Dunedin. He is by far one of our most talented and exciting offensive prospects. It seems as of late, AA has been less hesitant to advance guys through the system, who are excelling at the level they've been competing at. Dalton Pompey, Daniel Norris, Miguel Castro...who's to say Rowdy Tellez can't take a similar path?

Moving guys through the low-minors faster (which I support) may be partially by necessity as much as a change in philosophy. We simply have so many of them that were high school/IFA pickups that we're a couple years away from a massive 40-man roster crunch, and consequently we need to know what we have in certain players before they become Rule 5 eligible...and, hopefully, have some of them at least call-up ready (or maybe even in the bigs) so that we have some depth.

[Graham's Cracker]

Pompey 2-4 with a couple of steals tonight and 3 runs scored. Making Hay!

[tweet]https://twitter.com/BuffaloBisons/status/502976019234447360[/tweet]

If the Bisons hang on to their lead tonight (11-6 in the 7th) and the PawSox wind up losing (7-3 in the 6th) they'll sit two games back of the PawSox with a four game series at home against them.

I think it'll be Graveman, Nolin, Mills and not sure who will take Norris' spot.

[Trilogy]

Glad to see Tellez getting his feet wet at Lansing right now. If he excels during his cup of tea this season with the Lugnuts, I still think they push him to start with Dunedin. He is by far one of our most talented and exciting offensive prospects. It seems as of late, AA has been less hesitant to advance guys through the system, who are excelling at the level they've been competing at. Dalton Pompey, Daniel Norris, Miguel Castro...who's to say Rowdy Tellez can't take a similar path?

Moving guys through the low-minors faster (which I support) may be partially by necessity as much as a change in philosophy. We simply have so many of them that were high school/IFA pickups that we're a couple years away from a massive 40-man roster crunch, and consequently we need to know what we have in certain players before they become Rule 5 eligible...and, hopefully, have some of them at least call-up ready (or maybe even in the bigs) so that we have some depth.

Whatever the case, it's nice to see some of the lower minors guys actually move at a decent pace. The Jays were frustratingly slow in the past with that, but oddly fast when they got to upper minors. I'm sure New Hampshire hates us because it seems like our top guys stay there for like a month max.

Barreto is the one more I'd like to see but I doubt it happens because there are other prospects at Lansing in his position and they can justify it since he's the youngest player the NWL.

[Lateral Quicks]

How is Kottaras' defence? Looking at his career offensive numbers, it's hard to believe this guy can't hold down a big-league job unless his defense is horrible.

[Schad]

Don't go to MiLB.com and look at Francisco Rios' pitching line with Bluefield. Just...don't do it. Trust me on this one. There are some things that can't be unseen.

[Randle McMurphy]

How is Kottaras' defence? Looking at his career offensive numbers, it's hard to believe this guy can't hold down a big-league job unless his defense is horrible.

His defense is terrible. It's too bad because his plate discipline is exceptional (especially for a catcher).

[dagger]

Bison thrashing Pawtucket in the first of four that could decide the IL wildcard. Pompey 3-4 with 2 RBIs and a stolen base. Pillar 2-4 with a homer, double, sac fly and 5 RBIs. Kendall Graveman went seven, not as dominant but gave up two runs and nine hits - no walks - and got 1K, but his usual double digit ground balls. In the eighth as I write this, 12-2 Buffalo.

[Lateral Quicks]

Bison thrashing Pawtucket in the first of four that could decide the IL wildcard. Pompey 3-4 with 2 RBIs and a stolen base. Pillar 2-4 with a homer, double, sac fly and 5 RBIs. Kendall Graveman went seven, not as dominant but gave up two runs and nine hits - no walks - and got 1K, but his usual double digit ground balls. In the eighth as I write this, 12-2 Buffalo.

Pillar has officially mastered AAA ball. He's ready for at least a part-time/4th outfielder role somewhere in the bigs. Ten big flies in ~400 ABs, leading to an .882 OPS, not to mention 27 stolen bases in 33 tries. If we're filling CF internally next year, I'd give Pillar the full-time role to start. Give him 150-200 regular ABs and see what he can do. I'm still not ready to relegate a guy who's hit .300+ at every level at which he's received regular playing time. (This won't happen because Gose is AA's guy, but still).

Pompey hasn't missed a step offensively so far in Buffalo, though he has struck out six times in 14 ABs. At this rate he could be pushing for a promotion sometime next year. Two months ago I was thinking 2016 was when we'd see him.

Graveman continues to impress. That was his worst outing so far, and it was still really, really good. Ground ball pitchers do well at the homer dome.

It's nice to see some quality prospects at our AAA affiliate again. Next year the Bisons should be really good assuming we don't make any major farm-depleting trades before then.

[BigLeagueChew]

Pillar has officially mastered AAA ball. He's ready for at least a part-time/4th outfielder role somewhere in the bigs. Ten big flies in ~400 ABs, leading to an .882 OPS, not to mention 27 stolen bases in 33 tries. If we're filling CF internally next year, I'd give Pillar the full-time role to start. Give him 150-200 regular ABs and see what he can do. I'm still not ready to relegate a guy who's hit .300+ at every level at which he's received regular playing time. (This won't happen because Gose is AA's guy, but still).

We already know what Pillar can do. In 140 AB"s for his MLB career Pillar has walked 4 times with OPS of .566. Gose is a better defender and hitter than him at the MLB level. Gose should be his guy, since Gose has put up better MLB numbers than Pillar up here already. Or just re-sign Rasmus , who is better than both of them.

[Lateral Quicks]

Pillar has officially mastered AAA ball. He's ready for at least a part-time/4th outfielder role somewhere in the bigs. Ten big flies in ~400 ABs, leading to an .882 OPS, not to mention 27 stolen bases in 33 tries. If we're filling CF internally next year, I'd give Pillar the full-time role to start. Give him 150-200 regular ABs and see what he can do. I'm still not ready to relegate a guy who's hit .300+ at every level at which he's received regular playing time. (This won't happen because Gose is AA's guy, but still).

We already know what Pillar can do. In 140 AB"s for his MLB career Pillar has walked 4 times with OPS of .566. Gose is a better defender and hitter than him at the MLB level. Gose should be his guy, since Gose has put up better MLB numbers than Pillar up here already. Or just re-sign Rasmus , who is better than both of them.

He's never had a chance to get settled in to a full-time role. His at-bats this year were as part of a strict platoon, and I don't think we can read too much into his limited debut last year. Throughout his minor-league career Pillar has been a dramatically better hitter than Gose, and despite a speed disadvantage probably the better base stealer too. Gose has the edge in defense, but I don't think Pillar is a liability out there either.

I'm fine with a platoon, but I really think Pillar deserves a quarter-third of a season in a full-time role to see what he can really do. If he falls flat on his face, then you revert to the platoon.

[BigLeagueChew]

He's never had a chance to get settled in to a full-time role. His at-bats this year were as part of a strict platoon, and I don't think we can read too much into his limited debut last year. Throughout his minor-league career Pillar has been a dramatically better hitter than Gose, and despite a speed disadvantage probably the better base stealer too. Gose has the edge in defense, but I don't think Pillar is a liability out there either.

I'm fine with a platoon, but I really think Pillar deserves a quarter-third of a season in a full-time role to see what he can really do. If he falls flat on his face, then you revert to the platoon.

Will agree to disagree then. I just don't see how he's a better player than Gose or Rasmus, and even if he was better, is next year really the year that we should see what we have in players instead of actually having a player that we know can perform at that level or who is better. If we are rebuilding next year then yeah I could see it.

[dagger]

He's never had a chance to get settled in to a full-time role. His at-bats this year were as part of a strict platoon, and I don't think we can read too much into his limited debut last year. Throughout his minor-league career Pillar has been a dramatically better hitter than Gose, and despite a speed disadvantage probably the better base stealer too. Gose has the edge in defense, but I don't think Pillar is a liability out there either.

I'm fine with a platoon, but I really think Pillar deserves a quarter-third of a season in a full-time role to see what he can really do. If he falls flat on his face, then you revert to the platoon.

Will agree to disagree then. I just don't see how he's a better player than Gose or Rasmus, and even if he was better, is next year really the year that we should see what we have in players instead of actually having a player that we know can perform at that level or who is better. If we are rebuilding next year then yeah I could see it.

So we should pay Rasmus his $14m qualifying offer? That's Cloud cuckoo land stuff. A Gose/Pillar platoon wouldn't be much of a downgrade, if any, on Rasmus.