Is anyone noticing Matt Tuiasosopo?

by slamcactus on Aug 31, 2008 9:29 PM EDT Comment 48 comments

Tuiasosopo has fallen off of every radar screen after failing to hit through aggressive promotions in the past few years, but after a terrible first 2 months he's been tearing it up in Triple-A.

Since June, he's hitting .302/.393/.526 - good for a .920 OPS in 264 ABs, including an august where he hit .341/.415/.659 with 7 home runs This despote playing in the most extreme pitchers' park in the PCL. He's still only 22, and he can play a legit third base. Mariners prospects tend to be overlooked because to a man they're always playing a level or two above where most teams would slot them, but he's looking like a legitimate prospect to me.

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I don't see him having enough power to play third in the majors.

But that’s just me.

Hi.

by Humongo on Aug 31, 2008 9:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Or...

the glove. I have to give him credit though, he’s hit better than i ever thought he would. Tacoma is a legitamitely tough place to put up numbers as well. There’s hope I suppose.

by casejud on Aug 31, 2008 10:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Um...

His Iso since June is .224. He’s 22 and in triple-A. He’s hit 7 home runs this month. Over the entire season, 38% of his hits have gone for extra bases. That’s not exactly the profile of a slap hitter.

He’s had trouble hitting for power in the past. Right now he’s crushing the ball.

by slamcactus on Aug 31, 2008 10:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Must be on steroids

Only kidding, only kidding.

In all seriousness, I hope the kid actually does break out. Hell, slide him over to first to take over for the burnt out husk that is Kenji Jojima (or whomever is playing first nowadays for the Mariners). The M’s deserve some good news this year- lets hope this plus Josh Fields refusing to sign helps them turn things around a little.

by demondeaconsbaseball on Aug 31, 2008 10:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

how on earth

would not signing your first round pick help you turn things around?

by nms on Aug 31, 2008 11:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Because in retrospect they may realize that having a near-ready setup-quality guy may not be priority #1

Given a do-over, they might take a guy with higher upside. Not signing him would give them just such a do-over.

BCB's "very own marginally deserving all-star!"

by battlekow on Aug 31, 2008 11:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

+1

Instead of Josh Fields, they could get a better prospect at a position they need more. Relief prospects aren’t exactly the most valuable of commodities- they also spoil quickly.

by demondeaconsbaseball on Sep 1, 2008 1:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Fields will sign

Because he’s out of NCAA eligibility, he can sign anytime up to next year’s draft. I imagine that they’ll get the deal done.

The Dodgers won't win a playoff series until the Cool-a-Coo returns.

by mckeeno on Sep 1, 2008 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nope.

Really. Hadn’t noticed him.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Sep 1, 2008 1:16 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Of course not....

You only follow A’s!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;) GO MARK ELLIS!!!

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
-Jonathan Swift

by King Billy Royal on Sep 1, 2008 9:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What the hell is your problem?

What have the A’s done to you? 99% of your posts are nothing but hating on the A’s for no reason at all.

Never, Never, NEVER give up

by hero66 on Sep 1, 2008 12:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

LOL

99% of my posts? Is this supposed to be serious? Go look at my history and you will see I talk about all different kinds of players.

PaulThomas and I were disagreeing over whether Ichiro is more valuable then Mark Ellis and I am just giving some good old fashioned ribbing. Paul isn’t upset and felt the need to make a joke in this post, so why can’t I? The reason I am tired of A’s prospects is because that there are so many fanboys here who only talk about them. I am tired of Chris Carter being touted a top 20 prospect when the guy WILL NOT hit for average and is making Brandon Wood look like a contact hitter. I am tired of hearing about every fringe A’s prospect who now apparantly is the next big hitter. The fact remains that Beane has a great eye for pitching but his ability to bring in an impact bat has negatively affected Oakland over the last 5 years.

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
-Jonathan Swift

by King Billy Royal on Sep 1, 2008 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

but! but!

…Trevor Cahill!!! Znn znn Brett Anderson!!!

by boonitez on Sep 1, 2008 4:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

you're not allowed to talk

you said noah lowry is a good pitcher because he “led the team in wins”.

"If you hit .440 with 20 bombs, you don't have to do s---. You don't have to bring a glove to practice, just hit and leave whenever you want. You can bring a 40 and smoke a cigarette and call me from the parking lot asking me what time the game is, and I'll tell you. You can even say 'F--- you, Steve!' Actually, don't say that, that wouldn't be very nice." -Steve Friend, Head Coach, Chabot College Gladiators Baseball

by flipgatey3 on Sep 2, 2008 12:08 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

well I said his ERA first actually

his ERA was actually decent. 3.9 isn’t exactly bad. He definitely didn’t have a bad season in 07’ and he’s definitely not a bad pitcher. But the point stands A’s fans kinda like their prospects way too much. I’m a Giants fan, but you don’t see me telling other people Angel Villalona should be considered a top 5 1B prospect.

by boonitez on Sep 2, 2008 12:15 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

...because he obviously isn't one

You don’t see me saying Jeff Baisley is a top 5 3B prospect either…

As regards Lowry, he was thoroughly mediocre last season. An FIP of 4.89, and he was lucky on fly balls to boot.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Sep 2, 2008 12:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i see no problem

with liking my team’s prospects when we will probably be ranked in the top 3 in the next BA.

you have other things to worry about, like your manager letting your 24-year-old ace throw 132 pitches the other night.

by flipgatey3 on Sep 2, 2008 12:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

and paul

you know that was to boonitez. sorry about that man.

by flipgatey3 on Sep 2, 2008 12:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

come on now

Baisley doesn’t come close to being a good comparison to Villalona. Baisley isn’t a 17 year old (now 18, but he was 17 for most of the year) with outstanding power potential in a league full of 21-year olds. I know his strikezone discipline sucks, but he’s friggin 18. It’s not like he doesn’t have time to figure it out. The kid’s definitely a decent prospect. And I don’t really care about Lowry he’s done anyways. Sure he may have been very lucky, but he still didn’t let runs score. Luck or not, that helps you win games.

by boonitez on Sep 2, 2008 1:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Getting lucky does not "help you win games"

It “helped you win games.” Note the tense there.

If your plan to win games going forward is “get lucky,” you’re not going to do very well.

As far as Villalona goes, he is a decent prospect, yes. He got a B+ last year from Sickels; that will probably slip to a B or so this year with the weight issues and his poor numbers. Good prospect, yes. But there are probably five 1B IN THIS DRAFT who are better prospects than he is. Claiming that he was top 5 in the minors would be literally laughable. As would claiming that Baisley was a top 5 third base prospect…

I mean, you claim that there are all these A’s fans running around posting irresponsible shit. I don’t see it. Like, there are some people who really like Chris Carter. I don’t think most of them are even A’s fans. Trevor Cahill has a few fanboys. So what?

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Sep 2, 2008 2:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree with that. I was just saying Lowry isn’t a shitty pitcher and lucky or not he had a good 07’ season. And Villalona doesn’t really have that bad weight issues. Especially not bad enough to drop him down a grade. His stats aren’t exactly poor for a 17 year old playing with 21 year olds. That’s like a junior in high school playing juniors in college. He should be way overmatched, but he’s doing mediocrely. He hasn’t done anything to drop his grade. Nothing that should improve it, but definitely nothing to drop it. And he also seems to be close to making the top 25 for some people on this site, so I wouldn’t call it “laughable.” I don’t think he’s at all top 5, but he’s gotta be top 10 or so.

And I wouldn’t say irresponsible shit; more just kinda annoying. King Billy Royal was the one that originally pointed it out, so it evidently isn’t just me. Sorry if I pissed you off or anything I’m just sayin the A’s fans around here tend to be a little down on other team’s prospects and a little high on their own.

by boonitez on Sep 2, 2008 7:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Response

“I’m just sayin the A’s fans around here tend to be a little down on other team’s prospects and a little high on their own.”

Example?

Never, Never, NEVER give up

by hero66 on Sep 2, 2008 7:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

here's a quick one

"As far as Villalona goes, he is a decent prospect, yes. He got a B+ last year from Sickels; that will probably slip to a B or so this year with the weight issues and his poor numbers. Good prospect, yes. But there are probably five 1B IN THIS DRAFT who are better prospects than he is. Claiming that he was top 5 in the minors would be literally laughable. "

by boonitez on Sep 2, 2008 8:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Uhhh...

What’s wrong with that?

Never, Never, NEVER give up

by hero66 on Sep 2, 2008 8:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

saying a kid that turned 18 two weeks ago

with a 750 OPS and 17 homers in class A is a laughable choice as one of the best or at least better 1st base prospects in the game? I get the stats don’t exactly jump off the page, but the power and age sure do. Not many prospects have their potential compared to Andres Galaragga in his prime.

by boonitez on Sep 2, 2008 11:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well....

When you have guys like Anderson, Blanks, Alonso, Hosmer, Smoak, Cooper, and Mills/Hodges, you could consider it laughable to call him a top 5 minor league 1st baseman.

Never, Never, NEVER give up

by hero66 on Sep 2, 2008 11:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ummmmm

If you think Blanks is a better prospect THAT IS LAUGHABLE!!!!! Also, Angel will be ranked higher then Mills, Hodges, Cooper for sure.

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
-Jonathan Swift

by King Billy Royal on Sep 3, 2008 12:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not to mention Carter, LaPorta, Gamel, Wallace...

all of whom are first basemen in all but name…

I mean, the list goes on. Villalona is probably not even in the top 10.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Sep 3, 2008 2:13 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

LOL

Carter and Gamel will be ranked lower then Angel as well. Do people understand how highly prospect evaluators think of Big V?

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
-Jonathan Swift

by King Billy Royal on Sep 3, 2008 9:33 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm stating my personal opinion, dude

I don’t think Villalona is anywhere close to the top 10. I think “prospect evaluators,” as a class, consistently and predictably overrate young players who are far from the major leagues because they evaluate everyone’s “upside” equally, without discounting it enough for the likelihood of a guy busting out.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Sep 3, 2008 5:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The guy

pitched 3.5 full seasons with an ERA of 4.03 and an ERA+ of 109. I don’t care if he got that by bribing the umpires – that’s a valuable pitcher

www.loftylantern.com

by OldProspects on Sep 2, 2008 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

In 2004-2005, he was quite valuable

Then his fastball inexplicably lost 5 MPH and he became totally mediocre.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Sep 3, 2008 2:05 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

sure

but when you are using wins and era as your metrics to make a case, especially in a guy like lowry’s case where he has awful peripherals…

by flipgatey3 on Sep 2, 2008 12:55 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yes

when it came to having runs scored against him, which is generally a pretty important factor when it comes to pitching, Lowry did decent.

by boonitez on Sep 2, 2008 1:14 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

but it was incredibly fluky is what i'm saying

walking 5 guys per 9 innings is not going to lead to a 3.92 era many times. the fact that it did for lowry means nothing, except that he was lucky to not have given up more runs. and it’s not like he ate up 220 innings either, he threw 156.

by flipgatey3 on Sep 2, 2008 3:06 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes, it's totally Beane's fault that his teams keep picking too low to score easy "impact bats"

Actually, thinking about it, that is his fault. At least if you interpret “fault” as “caused by Beane.”

Damn you, Beane, why must you build winning teams?

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Sep 1, 2008 6:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I like Beane

I am a HUGE Beane fan but he is much better at trading and developing pitching then he is at hitting.

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
-Jonathan Swift

by King Billy Royal on Sep 1, 2008 6:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Out of curiosity?

Can you name me some impacts bats that Beane has developed over the last 5 years? I do love Beane but it isn’t as if he doesn’t have his faults as well.

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
-Jonathan Swift

by King Billy Royal on Sep 1, 2008 6:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Answering both in one

I agree that he’s (or his people are… it’s hard to separate the GM from his assistants) better at pitching than position players, no question about that.

Since ‘04, the A’s have produced Crosby, Suzuki, Barton, Johnson, Ethier, and Swisher as more or less homegrown MLB starters. That’s a lot of quantity but not great quality. Barton might be an impact hitter eventually but he isn’t one at this point. Crosby just sucks. Johnson has severe deficiencies in his game. Suzuki’s a very good catcher, if not an “impact bat” (it’s a bit unfair to expect that from the catcher position though). Ethier is a slightly better than average corner man. Swisher… well, I think he’s really good and has just been horrifically unlucky this year, but I guess that’s open to interpretation.

I’d call that fairly average returns, given where the A’s were drafting, maybe a bit better than average.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Sep 1, 2008 7:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs