More Arizona Observations
Brian Bugosevic, OF, Houston Astros: Converted to the outfield after failing to sustain success as a pitcher. He was a good hitter at Tulane, and he looks like a good hitter now, with a very attractive short swing, good strike zone judgment, and fine overall tools. Not sure about his home run power and he may project best as a fourth outfielder, which is better than being a Double-A pitcher.
Julio Borbon, OF, Texas Rangers: Showing much improved plate discipline and surprising power so far in Arizona. His athleticism and speed are obvious, and he has enough pop in his bat to avoid Gathrightdom. I'm not sure I totally buy into the improved plate discipline yet. I want to see how that holds up against more consistent pitching than he is seeing here.
Ivan DeJesus, SS, Los Angeles Dodgers: Came into Arizona with a reputation for strong defense and a promising bat, but he has looked awful this fall. He has played very sloppy defensively, making frequent mistakes that he normally does not make, and scouts are now questioning his work ethic. He is too young for this to hurt his status badly right now, but he needs to get his head back on straight before spring training.
Kevin Frandsen, SS, San Francisco Giants: Looks healthy which is the important thing after missing the season due to a torn achilles. Line drive bat, hits to the opposite field, hustles, won't have much home run power. Played shortstop down here and looked fine, can handle second base no problem defensively.
Drew Sutton, INF-OF, Houston Astros: Had a terrific Double-A season though he is old for the level. Being groomed as a super-utility type, spending time in the outfield though second and third are his main positions. Not a great athlete, but a "baseball rat" type who is fundamentally sound, hustles, and controls the zone well. I can see him as a .260ish hitter with a bit of pop to go with his defensive versatility.
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23 comments
Comments
Sutton Comp
Could you see Sutton becoming a Ty Wigginton-esque player?
The Dodgers won't win a playoff series until the Cool-a-Coo returns.
by mckeeno on Nov 5, 2008 4:33 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Woudn't that be a bit of a stretch?
Wiggy’s power is quite good… I don’t see that in Sutton, but I could be wrong.
by demondeaconsbaseball on Nov 5, 2008 7:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
John
Do you have a report on Clay Buchholz from AZI?
by LBDirtbags on Nov 5, 2008 6:31 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
buch
didn’t see him myself. Reports from those who have are very positive.
by John Sickels on Nov 6, 2008 12:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
if you're following him, don't expect to see any more AFL action.
he was removed from scottsdale’s roster.
by larry on Nov 6, 2008 2:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
He had a shaky last outing
but apparently looked great in the AFL. Command returned, they fixed his delivery and his stuff looks nasty again.
by alskor on Nov 6, 2008 3:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
knowing the red sox, he just reached the amount of innings (or whatever measure of "work") they wanted him to get this year and shut him down.
hasn’t been any talk of injury or anything.
by larry on Nov 6, 2008 4:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Murphy
obviously you didn’t get a chance to see him play, but what did scouts have to say about his defense.
by Duece on Nov 5, 2008 6:37 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
defense
People I talked with said his glove was not going to work at second base.
by John Sickels on Nov 6, 2008 12:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Logan Morrison
hey jon Can you please do a write up and let us know your observations about this kid. He is absolutely raking and IMO the AFL MVP
by southeastjerome on Nov 5, 2008 7:06 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Borbon
You have any notes on Borbon defense/arm?
by jf55510 on Nov 5, 2008 8:46 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Bogusevic
A 4th OF at best? I was thinking 5-tool stud in the making.
by Take3 on Nov 5, 2008 9:35 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Bogu
Just saw him one game. Not sure the home run power will be there for a corner. We will see.
by John Sickels on Nov 6, 2008 12:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Please don't call Frandsen a SS.
Really? Looked fine? The Giants tried him there last season in spring training and stopped that experiment after a few games. Unless there was some pre-injury type of effect from his achilles tendon.
The Basil Fawlty Moderating Strategy:
"We could run a nice blog here if we didn't have all these members getting in the way."
by WalrusMan on Nov 5, 2008 11:37 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Frand
In the game I saw, he made two very good defensive plays that required above average range at shortstop. So he looked fine, in THAT ONE GAME. I think he’s a 2B over a full season.
by John Sickels on Nov 6, 2008 12:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Frandsen was rushed into the SS situation on the fly at the beginning of last year when Omar had his injury. Its not out of the realm of possibility to believe the kid can hold his own at the position and play a passable SS if given an entire off-season to get familiar with the spot.
John, can Fransen’s bat pass as league average at either 2B or SS?
Cain is Able ...
by Norcalfan10 on Nov 6, 2008 3:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
John
How much value to place on winter league numbers and scouting reports in comparison to stats and reports in the regular season?
by Birdfan01 on Nov 5, 2008 11:48 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
winter
Winter season stats suffer from small sample size and erratic competition. So I don’t put HUGE stock in them. I look at them. But scouting reports are more important in most cases.
by John Sickels on Nov 6, 2008 12:47 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Josh Thole
Curious what your thoughts on him are John, it seems like Catching Prospects who can hit worth a damn are usually worth their weight in gold, and if nothing else, it looks like Thole can hit. .300/.382/.427 in A+ ball and now .405/.462/.500 in the AFL. Named to the Rising Stars team in the AFL as well.
You hear any reports on his Defense, or if scouts can see a little more power potential in his bat?
by adropofvenom on Nov 6, 2008 1:33 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Thole's D
His arm looked mediocre. He obviously needs more work at fielding – on one low pitch in the dirt Thole actually rose up rather than go to his knees.
by slacker george on Nov 6, 2008 4:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Appreciate the comment, the thing with Thole is it’s his First Year catching Full-Time, so I would expect there is still much for him to work on Defensively.
The Defensive Tools are more important to me at this point in time, the arm being mediocre doesn’t sound good, but I’m curious to see if through better mechanics (Faster release, ect) that he can improve upon it.
by adropofvenom on Nov 6, 2008 9:48 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
thole
Don’t know much about Thole at this point.
by John Sickels on Nov 6, 2008 9:57 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Thanks for the note on Frandsen, JS!
Psycho killer, qu'est-ce que c'est?
by shikantaza on Nov 7, 2008 7:47 AM EST reply actions 0 recs















