Double-A Transition Monitor: Joe Benson, Clint Robinson, Brandon Guyer
by John Sickels on Sep 24, 2010 1:15 PM EDT
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Joe Benson, OF, Minnesota Twins: Joe Benson's tools are among the best in the Twins organization, but his performance track record is uneven. He got off to a slow start in Double-A in 2010, hitting .169/.296/.271 in April, but after a three-week remedial course in High-A he returned to perform better in subsequent months, hitting .251/.336/.527 overall, with 23 homers, 14 steals, 39 walks, and 115 strikeouts in 374 at-bats. Benson has 20-20 potential, but continues to hamper his offense with an overaggressive swing and trouble with breaking stuff. He's made progress, and held his own in Double-A all things considered, but it still remains to be seen if he'll make sufficient contact for his tools to play at their full potential in the majors. He's still young, not turning 23 until March.
Brandon Guyer, OF, Chicago Cubs: Guyer led the Southern League with a .986 OPS this year, hitting .344/.398/.588 overall, with 27 walks, 51 strikeouts, and going 30-for-33 in stolen bases in 369 at-bats. A 24 year old, he was drafted from the University of Virginia in the fifth round in 2007. He tried the Double-A transition in 2009 but failed, hitting .190/.236/.291 in 57 games for Tennessee. Obviously he was much better this year. Guyer is an excellent athlete, one of the best in the Cubs system, with speed his best attribute. He's got some power as well, although a history of nagging injuries and some swing issues prevented that from being fully expressed until this year. I don't think he'll ever be a huge home run guy (he hit 13 this year), but he's got considerable gap pop and should be good for quite a few doubles. His walk rate is low, but he makes contact and his strikeout rate isn't bad. We could see him sometime in the majors next year.
Clint Robinson, 1B, Kansas City Royals: Although Eric Hosmer soaked up most of the first base prospect attention in the Royals system this year, Clint Robinson also had a terrific season. The 25-year-old won the Texas League Triple Crown, also leading in OPS, hitting .335/.410/.625 with 41 doubles, 29 homers, 58 walks, and 86 strikeouts in 477 at-bats. A 25th round pick out of Troy University in 2007, Robinson is a big guy at 6-5, 225 (although he actually looks bigger in person). He performed well at the A-ball levels, hitting .298/.356/.463 at Wilmington in '09 and .264/.333/.472 at Burlington in '08, both seasons being better than they might look on the surface due to the park/league environments in which they occurred. He exploded in the friendlier Northwest Arkansas environment this year, hitting a very robust .397/.482/.738 at home but a still solid .285/.348/.532 on the road. Robinson's main tool is power. He's not fast or very athletic and doesn't have a great glove, but he's always produced, and his strikeout rates have always been pretty low for a guy with substantial power, which is a good marker. I don't know what the Royals will do with him, and he's 26 next year, but the guy passed the Double-A test easily and deserves legitimate chances at higher levels.
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robinson
I liked him too. He is quite a monster of a man as you said, but I thought he moved around 1B deceptively well, and the Royals actually tried him in LF late this year IIRC. The raw power is definitely what stands out, but he showed some solid pure hitting aptitude as well. I’m hesitant to say that he would grade as more than a potential 55 hitting for average despite the strong BA because he does have a few flaws in the overall approach.
played all of 1 game in LF
but was supposedly taking fly balls there for a couple months. i’m pretty skeptical about him in the OF, but it’s worth a try i suppose with how he hit this year, especially with the 1B’s ahead of him in the org.
R.I.P. cwhitman412, Frederick0220, & Mets2k9
Clint is a guy the Royals like
The front office believe he will be a big leaguer. Now that doesn’t mean he won’t get 5000 ABs or 2 ABs, but they think he will be a big leaguer which is a good sign that they will at least give him a chance some where.
Clint has a little bit of an upper cut swing and it has some loop once in a while, but he is strong and he hits hard line drives. I saw him hit a HR this year at Arvest that maybe got 35 feet high. It was just a cannon shot and gone in about 2 seconds. It almost seemed like he’d hit that ball with a paddle he made such solid contact.
Defensively he’s a little weaker like John stated. Nothing like Hosmer around the bag but he is serviceable and a very hard worker.
Guyer
I’m a fan of his. He’s one of those guys I could see slotting in somewhere in the 8-15 range in the Cubs’ system. His only major downfall is that he’ll probably be a 4th OF in the majors since he is iffy defensively in CF, but probably won’t have the bat to start in a corner. He reminds me of Tyler Colvin in some ways. Still, Guyer had a great season.
One thing I will point out about his issues with drawing walks is that the second half of the season heavily influenced his line. In the first half, he posted a .276/.345/.472 line, which is fairly respectable. In the second half, he went out of his mind and hit .424/.459/.724. When a guy hits the ball that well, it’s pretty rare to see him draw a whole lot of walks. I think it’d be a safe prediction that his walk numbers will improve next season in AAA.
Joe Benson
.772 OPS at home .937 on the road is New Britain terrible to hit at ? It was nice to finally see something from Benson.
Benson
I’m not sure why I have faith that he’s going to finally break out next year, but I do. I’m just a sucker for CF prospects with power/speed tools, and I continue to see a decent chance of Benson emulating Drew Stubbs’.
Interestingly there seems to be a great deal of sanguine opinion on him around the internets, as I’ve seen more than one comment recently expecting Benson to threaten for a job with the major league club some time in 2011. Don’t know if I’d go that far, but it’s possible I suppose.
I think he could use at least one more full year in the minors
if not a year and a half to two years. I’d start him back in AA to see if he can maintain the improved plate discipline he showed in August and September. With Span, Cuddyer, Kubel and Revere ahead of him I don’t see much reason to rush him along. If he blows away the minors sure, but seeing as how his raw power just finally translated to in game power this year I wouldn’t push him too hard.
http://bullpenbanter.com
No reason
to sell me. I’m skeptical that he’ll be ready. Just seeing a lot of talk from MIN fans and bloggers. I think a lot of people are overreacting to Span’s erratic year. Span says he’s been playing hurt, so if that’s true, and he rebounds, then Revere and Benson go on the back burner.
And you forgot Delmon, gatling. Like it or not, he’s here to stay after a productive year.
by blackoutyears on Sep 25, 2010 1:37 AM EDT up reply actions
Probably closer to 2
He definitely has some contact and strike out issues. I’d expect him to start in AA again next season and hopefully break out before moving to Rochester. I don’t think he’s going to be an option for 2011 unless the injury bug bites hard, but I’d say that ideally he’d get his cup of coffee in 2012…
If he can get that average up to .280/.290 range and cut down on the Ks, he’s would be a very good centerfielder for the Twins.
by diehardtwinsfan on Sep 29, 2010 9:06 AM EDT up reply actions
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