Angel Villalona
by GuyinNY on Nov 19, 2011 2:57 PM EST
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Printthe Giants have added former top prospect Angel Villalona to their 40-man roster.
Villalona, who received a club-record $2.1 million signing bonus as a 16-year-old in 2006, hasn’t played professionally in over two years after being accused of killing a 25-year-old man in a Dominican Republic nightclub in September of 2009. Charges were eventually dismissed as part of a $139,000 settlement with the victim’s family, but Villalona sued the Giants for $5 million earlier this summer claiming they violated the terms of his contract following his arrest. After the two sides settled the lawsuit in September, the Giants were prepared to welcome him back into the organization.
I'm curious as to what the MinorLeagueBall community thinks of Villalona's chances of succeeding. He's still only 21 years old, and he was a top shelf prospect prior to these troubles.
My hunch is that within two years, Villalona will be generating excitement. Assuming his tools are intact, I think Villalona can still be a sucessful Major Leaguer.
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He has a huge mountain to climb
First off, IMO, it’s still highly questionable that our friends in ICE will grant him a visa to enter the USA as the details surrounding his involvement in the shooting are still in question.
Secondly, I wouldn’t describe him as a “top shelf prospect” before his season in A+ ball ended halfway through the 2009 season due to injury. What he did have going for himself was plus power and being one of the youngest guys in both full-season leagues that he had played in. However, his defense and k-rates were scary bad and his physical conditioning was getting worse each year. When added to his reported lack of effort in the field, many evaluators were expressing doubt that he would even be able to stick at 1B if he made it to the majors.
Finally, it’s likely to be very difficult for a guy who had huge issues making contact when he was playing ball year-round to come back and do better after sittting out 2 whole years.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
by Fla-Giant on Nov 19, 2011 5:39 PM EST reply actions 5 recs
I agree as well
BUT his age was even more remarkable than he stated. They let this kid play in the freaking Northwest League when he was 16!!! That is a year younger than Profar was.
I agree with everything you say Fla-Giant but, he really was top-shelf guy at the time he was derailed. I also don’t think those k-rates are all that awfull 23 and, 25 in the SAL and CAL at age 17 and 18? He obviously had some work to do but, he had all sorts of time on his side. Not so much now but, its possible.
I also think that if they protected him on the 40-man, maybe he is actually in shape?
" It's never just a game when you're winning" - George Carlin
Yeah, he was still very young
I agree that his age relative to league was a big plus in his favor. The Giants really did rush him to A+ too quickly, IMO, but his 2nd half in the Sally in 2008 had them hoping that he had really figured things out at the plate. However, his results in the power-happy Cal League during approximately the first 10 weeks of the 2009 season were not good. For a guy whose main calling card was power, he only managed the following in 292 ABs:
SLG=.397, ISOp=.130, HR=9, K=73, BB=9
The K/BB ratio was scary bad and, even worse, all the reports that I saw back then had him as looking lost at the plate and often letting his attention wander during games. Due to his extremely young age, he had plenty of time to address the issues, but he had lost much of the shine of his top-shelf prospect status by the time he got hurt and shut down for the season.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
my guess is
They wouldn’t have done something like giving him a 40 man roster slot unless they had strong assurances that he was likely to be granted entry into the U.S. I think there is some benefit to reading between the lines here.
agreed and
I would also assume that for the past two years he just hasn’t sat on the couch and gotten fatter if they added him to the 40.
He’s probably been lifting, running everyday, facing live pitching and playing in sim games at their Dominican academy. If not, they wouldn’t have wasted the spot
You're guess is wrong
He was barred from their facilities during his time off. Not to mention that he was in jail for several months and then under house arrest for more than 6 months. Here’s the link to a good post by the Giants beat writer that summarizes a lot of the AnVil situation, followed by a money quote:
"He [Villalona] is in the midst of trying to get in baseball shape to return to playing activity," Evans said. "We’ve seen him swing the bat and he’s clearly got the bat speed. he’s got to get into baseball shape and that’s the hurdle in front of him right now."
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
"Baseball shape"
If you followed AnVil at all prior to the shooting, you’ll know that he was barely in “baseball shape” when he played for the Giants A and A+ teams.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
that's partly bad, but also partly good
I think it was/is obvious that Villalona’s professional future in baseball depends on the bat, not the glove. He could look like an Olympian and it wouldn’t matter a damn if he didn’t have the fast bat and power potential that made him an intriguing prospect in the first place.
I’m not terribly optimistic about his chances, but I’m willing to let this one play out a bit longer.
+1
Don’t let the seeming negative tone of my posts mislead anyone. He does have outsized talent (he was very athletic and quick for a kid of his size before the layoff) and if he rally buckles down, works his butt off and harnesses his talent he can be a good major leaguer. I hope he makes it.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Ways to tell your head of player development isn't thrilled to have you
This line from Evans, who’s usually pretty effusive about guys he likes:
"A decision was made and we’ll focus on what our options are under the current scenario. He’s been cleared and taken off the restricted list by Major League Baseball. So we’re reacting to his current set of circumstances, just as we reacted in the past."
Might as well just say “Well, shit, we gotta do something with this guy, so this is our least-unpleasant option!”
Random question… if he can’t get his visa, would that allow the club to put him on the suspended/restricted list?
by realitypolice on Nov 21, 2011 10:33 AM EST up reply actions
I don’t think so. They would likely have to let him continue to play out of the country and keep applyhing for a new visa each year.
"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner
Ogando was what I was thinking of… I knew the Rangers acquired him via Rule 5, but at some point he was no longer on their roster. I just couldn’t remember if he successfully cleared waivers at some point when all other organizations gave up on the notion that he’d ever get in, or what the story was.
by realitypolice on Nov 22, 2011 1:45 PM EST up reply actions
Says something about his talent maybe?
or at least how the Giants percieve his talent.
" It's never just a game when you're winning" - George Carlin
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