2008 Minor Leagues/Prospect Discussion Thread

Post #1 » by **OldNo7** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 7:30 pm

Continued from here: http://www.realgm.com/boards/baseball/v ... c.php?t=62

We will start fresh with the new season, new players, new hopes, new disappointments, so on and so forth.

Griff83 · Post #2 » by **Griff83** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 6:33 pm

Ive seen him ranked ahead of prospects like Homer Bailey, Jacoby Ellsbury, Andy Laroche, Brandon Wood, Joey Votto, Daric Barton. What kind of potential does he have?

.290, 35 hr, 110 rbi

^^ are those realistic projections for him in his prime?

The_Hater · Post #3 » by **The_Hater** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 6:44 pm

I've heard him described as either the 1st and 2nd best pure hitter in the entire minors along with Evan Longoria. He's a big guy who hit 16 HR's in 457 AB's as 19 yr old playing A ball. And he hit 11 HR's 194 AB;s playing Rookie ball as an 18 year old. That sounds like future bomber to me.

Still, there's no such thing as 'can't miss' when it comes to lower level prospects and I hope there isn't too much pressure put on the guy to ascend through the ranks just because he's the top prospect in an otherwise dry farm system.

Post #4 » by **OldNo7** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 6:56 pm

I believe his hitting style was compared to a Cleveland Jim Thome.

And I believe this fits nicely in the Prospect thread.

Michael Bradley · Post #5 » by **Michael Bradley** » Thu Apr 3, 2008 9:04 pm

Syracuse won its first game of the season 2-0.

Purcey: 6 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 7 strike outs
Lind: 1-4 with a HR
Diaz: 2-3 (both singles)

Very encouraging start out of Purcey.

Post #6 » by **OldNo7** » Thu Apr 3, 2008 10:58 pm

I read a few places saying they expect Purcey in the bigs as an injury replacement by mid-season. I dont mind stats like that at all, I hope he proves to be consistent.

Post #7 » by **SmallTownJournalist303** » Fri Apr 4, 2008 4:32 am

Those two walks in six innings from Purcey looks nice. If he can keep it up he's got quite the arm.

Ong_dynasty · Post #8 » by **Ong_dynasty** » Mon Apr 7, 2008 9:25 pm

Does anybody know what's happening with Brandon League? I know he had an injury, how did the recovery go?

Post #9 » by **OldNo7** » Mon Apr 7, 2008 10:46 pm

Chris Reina, RealGM's editor, interviewed Ricky Romero:

http://www.realgmbaseball.com/src_fromt ... ky_romero/

NH_soxfan14 · Post #10 » by **NH_soxfan14** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 1:00 am

Hello Blue Jays fans, i am one of the bat boys for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. I work all the home games but i dont travel with the team. I'm going to work the visiting side this year. But im still going to be able to watch all your AA prospects. I will be open to answering any questions, so feel free to ask. I will check in with you guys once or twice a week.

The_Hater · Post #11 » by **The_Hater** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 1:36 am

Ong_dynasty wrote:Does anybody know what's happening with Brandon League? I know he had an injury, how did the recovery go?

He pitched in the spring and is on the active roster right now, he just hasn't pitched yet this season. Why? I'm not sure.

Post #12 » by **OldNo7** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 2:43 am

NH_soxfan14 wrote:Hello Blue Jays fans, i am one of the bat boys for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. I work all the home games but i dont travel with the team. I'm going to work the visiting side this year. But im still going to be able to watch all your AA prospects. I will be open to answering any questions, so feel free to ask. I will check in with you guys once or twice a week.

Awesome! Any info you can give is great. Players that opposing teams are taking notice of, if you see any young guy not being talked about that is doing real well and may make the jump to AAA, who is struggling and looks a lot worse than advertised, etc.

The_Hater · Post #13 » by **The_Hater** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 7:32 pm

David Purcey through 6 shutout innings in his Syracuse debut last week. He might be a much needed SP at some point this season.

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... pid=453515

Adam Lind is proving that he's too good for AAA pitching. With Wells and Rios signed long term, is he trade bait this season?

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... pid=452252

It's early but with an 1100+ OPS Travis Snider isn't having much problem handling A pitching thus far. He probably finishes the season in AA.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... pid=501983

Ricky Romero with a bad first start at AA.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... pid=460069

Chacin is getting rocked in A ball. Stick a fork in him...

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... pid=407860

vaff87 · Post #14 » by **vaff87** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 7:58 pm

The_Hater wrote:David Purcey through 6 shutout innings in his Syracuse debut last week. He might be a much needed SP at some point this season.

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... pid=453515

Adam Lind is proving that he's too good for AAA pitching. With Wells and Rios signed long term, is he trade bait this season?

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... pid=452252

It's early but with an 1100+ OPS Travis Snider isn't having much problem handling A pitching thus far. He probably finishes the season in AA.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... pid=501983

Ricky Romero with a bad first start at AA.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... pid=460069

Chacin is getting rocked in A ball. Stick a fork in him...

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... pid=407860

I was thinking the other day, that he might get traded this season, but I'm not sure it's such a good idea. The Jays current leftfielders are 40 and 34 years old, and also Buck Coats, but he's hardly proven anything. If they trade Lind, who will be their LF next season? They also have Frank Thomas at Dh who will turn 40 next month, he's not going to play past next year. I figure Lind and Snider are needed to fill these spots either next year or at the latest the year after.

Post #15 » by **OldNo7** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 8:08 pm

Yeah I am not sure they trade Lind, unless they get a real good arm (for the possibly departing Burnett) or SS back.

I wouldnt be surprised if Snider saw some AAA ball this year to be honest. I think the Jays need to move these highly touted prospects quicker through the system. There is not much sense keeping them somewhere that they overmatch everyone around them.

Michael Bradley · Post #16 » by **Michael Bradley** » Wed Apr 9, 2008 2:02 pm

One move I was thinking about in the off-season was Lind for Harden, but if Harden increases his value with a healthy first half, then the price for him will go way up.

Purcey had another good start in AAA last night. 6 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 7 strike outs. In his first two starts this year he has an ERA of 1.50 and a 14/4 strike out to walk ratio in 12 innings (8 hits, 0 HR). So far so good. He needs to keep this up for at least 2 months before I start to believe he's turned the corner.

It'll also be interesting to keep track of Lansing and Dunedin this year. The 2007 draft picks have started off great (Jackson, Ahrens, Arencibia, and Tolisano). Eiland hasn't played yet, as I believe he's still in extended ST for some reason. Chavez has also started the year off well. It'll be interesting to see if these guys all get promoted together as the years go on.

The_Hater · Post #17 » by **The_Hater** » Wed Apr 9, 2008 5:12 pm

vaff87 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

I was thinking the other day, that he might get traded this season, but I'm not sure it's such a good idea. The Jays current leftfielders are 40 and 34 years old, and also Buck Coats, but he's hardly proven anything. If they trade Lind, who will be their LF next season? They also have Frank Thomas at Dh who will turn 40 next month, he's not going to play past next year. I figure Lind and Snider are needed to fill these spots either next year or at the latest the year after.

But LF (and DH) are probably the two of the easiest positions to plug through free-agency and as you just mentioned, Snider is coming just around the corner. He probably starts for us in LF opening day 2010.

And more importantly, we have far bigger concerns that need to be addressed. SP depth (always a concern and pretty weak in our upper farm system) and as usual, C and SS. The negative side is that we're already short of LH batters as it is. It would be nice to see Lind hit so well in AAA that he ends up taking the LF job on the big club and subsequently increases is trade value quite a bit.

vaff87 · Post #18 » by **vaff87** » Wed Apr 9, 2008 6:26 pm

The_Hater wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

But LF (and DH) are probably the two of the easiest positions to plug through free-agency and as you just mentioned, Snider is coming just around the corner. He probably starts for us in LF opening day 2010.

And more importantly, we have far bigger concerns that need to be addressed. SP depth (always a concern and pretty weak in our upper farm system) and as usual, C and SS. The negative side is that we're already short of LH batters as it is. It would be nice to see Lind hit so well in AAA that he ends up taking the LF job on the big club and subsequently increases is trade value quite a bit.

If they do trade Lind what type of value do you think he will have? I'm not sure what to make of him, I could see him becoming a very good hitter in the majors, or I could see him being one of those AAAA guys, who is too good for AAA, but not quite good enough to be an everyday player in the majors. What do you think they would look for, another young player/prospect at another position or a veteran?

Post #19 » by **OldNo7** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:07 pm

Adams is batting .176 through 6 games and is listed as an OF.

Robinson Diaz is hitting 300 points higher than Curtis Thigpen; they are splitting games but I wouldnt be surprised to see Diaz get the majority of the starts if there is that big of a production disparity.

NH_soxfan14 · Post #20 » by **NH_soxfan14** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 4:30 am

Fisher Cats update:
Aaron Mathews, Romero, and Scott Campbell are the only interesting guys to watch. Scott Campbell is a beast right now, he's batting like 500.

Random fact: Brian Jeroloman loves to play high stakes poker and he knocked out some pros at a WTP event.

Thats just about it so far, its only been 2 games.