How an opposing evaluator rates the Jays' top prospects

polo007 · Post #1 » by **polo007** » Wed May 30, 2012 6:26 am

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseball/MLB/ ... 15091.html

POWER RANKINGS

How an opposing evaluator rates the Jays' top prospects:

1. Travis d'Araund (.313 average, 11 homers, 31 RBIs in 43 games, .949 OPS at Vegas).

"I like the way he's adjusted to facing triple-A pitching and he's still staying solid behind the plate."

2. Anthony Gose (.293, three, 24, in 50 games, .791 at Vegas).

"He started slowly, but he's progressing. He might be one of the youngest in the league facing former big-league arms, crafty veterans and he's still hitting, still stealing bases (21). Impressive."

3. Adeiny Hechavarria (.316, four, 34 in 49 games, .825 at Vegas).

"He has 14 doubles, I saw a young Omar Vizquel, Hechavarria might be the best shortstop I've ever seen, better than Jimmy Rollins or Rey Ordonez."

4. Mike McDade (.324, nine, 29 in 48 games, .911 OPS at N.H.)

"He has almost as many walks this year (19) that he had in 125 games last season (28). He's the best defensive first baseman in their organization, one of the best in the minors. He's big (6-foot-1, 250 lbs.) but he's a hard worker from what I've seen."

5. Jake Marisnick (.258, three, 25 in 45 game, .758 OPS at Dunedin).

"He's going to be a great major-leaguer, he has all the attributes. Some day they are going to have Colby Rasmus, Anthony Gose and Moises Sierra in the outfield, with this guy knocking on the door."

Post #2 » by **Schad** » Wed May 30, 2012 6:59 am

McDade has definitely made himself into one of the more interesting prospects in the Jays organization. He was drafted as a kid with power and little else, and has turned himself into a fantastic defensive first baseman (when the consensus early in his career was that he'd likely be a DH only because of his build) with good power and significantly-improved plate discipline, and consider power still. As a switch hitter who -- while stronger as a lefty, by some margin -- is capable on both sides, we could see him within twelve months, and he's quickly turning into a damned good prospect.

Score one for the Ricciardi regime, he's a kid who looked like an also-ran for a couple years after being drafted, but has blossomed into a great get in the sixth round.

J-Roc · Post #3 » by **J-Roc** » Wed May 30, 2012 11:17 am

McDade is a big boy.

Hamyltowne · Post #4 » by **Hamyltowne** » Wed May 30, 2012 1:45 pm

polo007 wrote:http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseball/MLB/Toronto/2012/05/30/19815091.html

POWER RANKINGS

How an opposing evaluator rates the Jays' top prospects:

5. Jake Marisnick (.258, three, 25 in 45 game, .758 OPS at Dunedin).

"He's going to be a great major-leaguer, he has all the attributes. Some day they are going to have Colby Rasmus, Anthony Gose and Moises Sierra in the outfield, with this guy knocking on the door."

Moises Sierra? :-o

tecumseh18 · Post #5 » by **tecumseh18** » Wed May 30, 2012 2:09 pm

J-Roc wrote:McDade is a big boy.

As long as we're not locked into paying him $214 mill over 9 years, I'm fine with him being big.

Lateral Quicks · Post #6 » by **Lateral Quicks** » Wed May 30, 2012 4:42 pm

Yeah, that point about Moises Sierra makes me question his analytical abilities. He's one of the few guys who's actually hitting worse in Vegas compared to NH. His great defensive abilities are only leveraged in the corner outfield, and it's far from clear he has the bat to play there as a regular.

Re: McDade, it would be pretty cool to have a switch hitter in the lineup again. They seem to be a dying breed...

flatjacket1 · Post #7 » by **flatjacket1** » Wed May 30, 2012 4:45 pm

tecumseh18 wrote:
J-Roc wrote:McDade is a big boy.

As long as we're not locked into paying him $214 mill over 9 years, I'm fine with him being big.

Big boys tend to peak earlier in their careers, which means he might give us a solid 6 years of service before netting us 2 draft picks.

There is nothing wrong with this as long as we don't extend him through FA years.

Lateral Quicks · Post #8 » by **Lateral Quicks** » Wed May 30, 2012 4:52 pm

I'm pretty sure that pic is from a couple years ago. He's in better shape now, but no doubt about it, he's still a big guy.

Mattd97 · Post #9 » by **Mattd97** » Wed May 30, 2012 5:08 pm

flatjacket1 wrote:
tecumseh18 wrote:
J-Roc wrote:McDade is a big boy.

As long as we're not locked into paying him $214 mill over 9 years, I'm fine with him being big.

Big boys tend to peak earlier in their careers, which means he might give us a solid 6 years of service before netting us 2 draft picks.

There is nothing wrong with this as long as we don't extend him through FA years.

umm yeah, i think you might be thinking a little too far away here

s e n s i · Post #10 » by **s e n s i** » Wed May 30, 2012 5:39 pm

3. Adeiny Hechavarria (.316, four, 34 in 49 games, .825 at Vegas).

"He has 14 doubles, I saw a young Omar Vizquel, Hechavarria might be the best shortstop I've ever seen, better than Jimmy Rollins or Rey Ordonez."

this is just bonerific if you ask me

flatjacket1 · Post #11 » by **flatjacket1** » Wed May 30, 2012 5:45 pm

Mattd97 wrote:umm yeah, i think you might be thinking a little too far away here

All I'm saying is nobody should be worried about the weight. Best case scenario is arguably better than the average player assuming we don't extend him.

Hoopstarr · Post #12 » by **Hoopstarr** » Wed May 30, 2012 7:41 pm

s e n s i F Y C wrote:
3. Adeiny Hechavarria (.316, four, 34 in 49 games, .825 at Vegas).

"He has 14 doubles, I saw a young Omar Vizquel, Hechavarria might be the best shortstop I've ever seen, better than Jimmy Rollins or Rey Ordonez."

this is just bonerific if you ask me

Holy crap

torontoaces04 · Post #13 » by **torontoaces04** » Wed May 30, 2012 9:14 pm

Hoopstarr wrote:
s e n s i F Y C wrote:
3. Adeiny Hechavarria (.316, four, 34 in 49 games, .825 at Vegas).

"He has 14 doubles, I saw a young Omar Vizquel, Hechavarria might be the best shortstop I've ever seen, better than Jimmy Rollins or Rey Ordonez."

this is just bonerific if you ask me

Holy crap

Open question to anyone who's been watching AAA games...

Is this guy for real?!?

vaff87 · Post #14 » by **vaff87** » Thu May 31, 2012 12:10 am

Well, it's not like these are new comments regarding Hech's D. People have always said he's just about as good as anyone at SS.

flatjacket1 · Post #15 » by **flatjacket1** » Thu May 31, 2012 1:26 am

torontoaces04 wrote:Open question to anyone who's been watching AAA games...

Is this guy for real?!?

I watch a lot of Vegas and defensively hes sound, makes some plays that you never see made even in the MLB. Incredibly smart too, through the chaos he always seems to make the right play. Still does sail the odd throw or throw high time to time but way less frequently than most SS. He still has 8 errors on the season, but that is mainly because his uber range gives him many more chances than most SS (thus more chances to make errors).

Batting wise I can tell you he is hitting the ball hard, and he is walking much more than in the past (GREAT sign). He is hitting .316. I can't see him hitting for much power in the future however.

That's just my opinion, I am not a pro (yet

)

Avenger · Post #16 » by **Avenger** » Thu May 31, 2012 2:28 am

Hech's minor league equivalency line is at 253/296/358. I would take that in a heart beat but i don't expect him to hit 253 in the bigs, his BABIP is gonna come doww quite a bit to the point he's gonna have a tough time making it to 600 OPS. Even that might be enough for him to become an everyday player becaususe of how dominant pitching is these days but if offence around Baseball picks up again, he'll have a hard time making it is a defensive speacialist bench player ala Johnny Mac.

vaff87 · Post #17 » by **vaff87** » Thu May 31, 2012 2:33 am

Avenger wrote:Hech's minor league equivalency line is at 253/296/358. I would take that in a heart beat but i don't expect him to hit 253 in the bigs, his BABIP is gonna come doww quite a bit to the point he's gonna have a tough time making it to 600 OPS. Even that might be enough for him to become an everyday player becaususe of how dominant pitching is these days but if offence around Baseball picks up again, he'll have a hard time making it is a defensive speacialist bench player ala Johnny Mac.

I think he's going to be much better than this. It's not the guy isn't talented with the bat.

flatjacket1 · Post #18 » by **flatjacket1** » Thu May 31, 2012 2:33 am

Avenger wrote:Hech's minor league equivalency line is at 253/296/358. I would take that in a heart beat but i don't expect him to hit 253 in the bigs, his BABIP is gonna come doww quite a bit to the point he's gonna have a tough time making it to 600 OPS. Even that might be enough for him to become an everyday player becaususe of how dominant pitching is these days but if offence around Baseball picks up again, he'll have a hard time making it is a defensive speacialist bench player ala Johnny Mac.

Minor league equivalency calculators are a joke.

Hamyltowne · Post #19 » by **Hamyltowne** » Thu May 31, 2012 2:52 am

Lateral Quicks wrote:Yeah, that point about Moises Sierra makes me question his analytical abilities. He's one of the few guys who's actually hitting worse in Vegas compared to NH. His great defensive abilities are only leveraged in the corner outfield, and it's far from clear he has the bat to play there as a regular.

I know. That's why I made the face. I couldn't believe it.

Still can't, in fact.