Struggling former top position prospects (AL)
by The Congo Hammer on Sep 10, 2009 9:21 PM EDT
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While they may not be in the minors anymore, former top prospects are always intriguing...you never know when a guy will suddenly figure things out and have a breakthrough season in the majors a la Carlos Quentin. Right now there are quite a few potential sleepers for next year, or so it would seem. The question is, are there key reasons as to why the player has not found their groove (injuries, attitude etc.) or are they still just as likely to break out. I'm not going to include guys like Chris Davis who have already succeeded before in the majors.
The main guys -
Alex Gordon - That 40 HR / 25 SB potential still hasn't been realized, does he still have that potential, or did he ever? Injuries can explain this year, but still, when is he going to figure it out?
Delmon Young - okay, you can say he's had solid seasons in the majors, but this year has been flat out bad. But he's only 23, why is he not improving like he should be. I just can't give up on him yet, I still think he has some filling out to do.
Andy Marte -Had a big season in AAA, after he was almost left by the wayside after mediocre seasons in the minors. Now has a full-time job, is hitting fairly well... but will it last? Will he ever be the 30 HR hitter he was projected to be
Brandon Wood - One of my favorite prospects for years, he really just hasn't gotten enough ABs in the majors to prove himself. Perhaps Figgins moving on will give him a chance to shine at 3B in 2010. Still, while he crushed minors hitting, he's been less than impressive in his ML sample sizes
Daric Barton - The former top prospect has done little in AAA, and has been mediocre at best in the majors. Still young enough, but can he even get a full-time job? His power may be the deciding factor.
Let me know if I'm forgetting anyone, I'm sure that I am....
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no shit
I don’t ever remember reading that anymore. Typo by Congo?
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yeah it was a typo
i meant to say 30, I only saw that from one source though, it was far from consensus.
The 2008 Rogelio Moret League Fantasy Baseball Champions!
by The Congo Hammer on Sep 10, 2009 9:49 PM EDT reply actions
30 steals?
I don’t even remember hearing that. Perhaps you mean 03.
"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 10, 2009 9:58 PM EDT up reply actions
Well SIckels projected for him to have over 20
In his not a rookie feature. I don’t remember where I heard it, but it’s not the most ridiculous claim when discussing players’ ceilings
The 2008 Rogelio Moret League Fantasy Baseball Champions!
by The Congo Hammer on Sep 10, 2009 10:08 PM EDT up reply actions
Uhh no Chris Davis on this list?
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
he already had a good part of a season in the majors.
Not to mention he’d dominate the poll. I think he’ll hit around 30 HR with a .250-.260 AVG in 2010.
The 2008 Rogelio Moret League Fantasy Baseball Champions!
by The Congo Hammer on Sep 10, 2009 10:17 PM EDT up reply actions
i think i’m more concerned about gordon’s sudden proneness (is that a word?) to injury all of a sudden. missed some time last year, obviously the hip this year, and a shoulder thing that relegated him to DH for a week in Omaha.
a lot of folks had him pegged for a breakout year this year, and rightfully so. he had a pretty awesome 2nd half last year (.280/.380/.510, or something like that) and was hitting he ball in the air far more frequently. then he hit a bomb off Buehrle in his first AB. and then all of a sudden he was out ’til July.
anyway i don’t have much confidence in any of these guys except Gordon and Wood. Wood needs a team to tell him he gets 600 AB’s uninterrupted and just let him go. see what that cat can do.
baseball rules.
Young doesn't need to fill out. He's needs an electric shock every time he swing at a bad pitch
Young is striking out 26% this year while walking 3%. Those are both career worsts. He swings at balls out of the zone about 40% of the time. He’s also a horrible defensive outfielder. He will only progress as a hitter if he learns some plate discipline and his regression the past three years isn’t encouraging.
Young will swing at anything that doesn't hit him first.
I stole that from an old Bill James book.
I know his pitch selection is abysmal
But he should at least be showing more power at this point than he has. Chris Davis swings and misses a lot but still hits homers from time to time. Even with better pitch selection, he needs more power to be legit.
The 2008 Rogelio Moret League Fantasy Baseball Champions!
by The Congo Hammer on Sep 11, 2009 12:01 AM EDT up reply actions
It's hard to hit crappy pitches for power even if you do make contact
It’s not just reasonable, but likely, that if he drastically improves his ability to figure out where a pitch is going he’ll increase his power numbers.
by thejd44 on Sep 11, 2009 3:50 AM EDT up reply actions
I wen't with Young
he still has the tools to be a stud like everyone on this list and I think he can put it together with a full season.
Jennings, Hellickson, Davis, Brignac, Beckham, Moore > Your top 3
Not to be a grammar dick, but this is definitely the strangest misuse of an apostrophe I've ever seen.
by thejd44 on Sep 11, 2009 3:51 AM EDT up reply actions
Really? Because I've never once heard "grammar douche" but I've heard "grammar dick," well, a lot.
Either way, I don’t point out every single error. I make them, too. I just found that one particularly interesting.
by thejd44 on Sep 11, 2009 1:34 PM EDT up reply actions
my bad I was tired and not thinking clearly.
Jennings, Hellickson, Davis, Brignac, Beckham, Moore > Your top 3
Young knows too much to need to learn
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
I like the post
I went with Gordon. I’ll take a .900 OPS from my 3B any day! He’s proven he can do that through 1/2 season (2nd half last year), so now he just needs to get healthy and do it for a full season. Then my trade of Kouzmanoff and Chris Ray for Gordon will finally pay off (not that I’m missing anything not having Kouz or Ray).
I thought Gordon was going to be extremely similar to David Wright
He’s shown some of it, but not nearly what I thought he would.
And before I get hit with snark, I mean the David Wright that hit for power, not the David Wright who inside outs everything.
barton
I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt since he just turned 24 a month ago. He’s looked better since being called up in late july. He has less than 90 ab’s on the season and was passed over for giambi going back to last offseason. Which didnt work out. He has carter, wallace, doolittle to deal with by late 2010 or so. So its possible his mlb career w/ the A’s could be limited by age 25, probably unfair, but not unrealistic.
I just don't see it
I cannot ever see him flashing enough power to stick in the A’s lineup, and there are better players at his positions in the system that he will get passed up very, very soon. If Barton becomes a success, I think it will have to be in another organization.
Wood
Hasn’t ever gotten a legitimate shot.
Linda's in the cold ground, won't see her anymore
Somewhere out on the highway tonight, the drunken engines roar
It's just one of those things, one of those things
-- Al Stewart, "Accident on 3rd St."
In memory of Nick Adenhart and all victims of drunk driving
+1
Hasn’t gotten a real shot yet and still may be denied in 2010. I want to think he’ll get his chance next year since he’s out of options but the Angels have been willing to keep him on the roster at times in the past as a bench player. There are obviously scenarios where they let Figgins walk, or trade Wood, but the fear is they re-sign Figgins, keep Wood and give him 150 AB.
Wood
The trend seems to let the kids sit in the kiddy table until they are needed.
Aybar was once blocked by Orlando Cabrera.
Some guy named Kendry Morales was buried by Casey Kotchman and Mark Teixeira.
Wood has pretty much done all the growing up he needs to do in the minors – I doubt the Angels let him rot for another year.
Or is Kendry perhaps the one who needs to sit?
The Angels are pretty bad at this
They do one of the worst jobs of breaking in their prospects of almost any team out there… constantly yanking them around and never giving them a chance to make adjustments is not conducive to good player development.
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