Prospect Retro: Bill Mueller

by John Sickels on Oct 8, 2005 3:09 PM EDT in News

Bill Mueller (AP photo)

Per reader request, a Prospect Retro for Bill Mueller

Bill Mueller was drafted by the Giants in the 15th round in 1993, from Southwest Missouri State University. His pro debut was quite successful: he hit .300 with 13 steals and a .425 OBP in 58 games for Everett in the Northwest League. He didn't show any power, however, slugging just .375. Scouts liked his plate discipline and ability to hit line drives, but questioned whether he would hit for sufficient authority at higher levels.

Promoted to full-season San Jose in 1994, he hit .302/.435/.425 in 120 games, showing exceptional plate discipline with 103 walks against just 47 strikeouts. He also played well defensively at third base. Eddie Epstein gave him a Grade B- in the 1995 Minor League Scouting Notebook, a very reasonable grade.

Mueller began '95 at Double-A Shreveport, hitting .309/.435/.379 in 88 games, with 53 walks and just 36 strikeouts. Promoted to Triple-A in late July, he hit .297/.365/.477 for Phoenix. It was a solid season, as Mueller continued to show excellent strike zone judgment and on-base ability, as well as slightly improved power. I gave him a Grade B- in the '96 book.

Returning to Phoenix in '96, Mueller hit .302 in 106 games, earning a promotion to San Francisco, where he hit .330/.401/.415 in 55 games for the Giants. His plate discipline and line drive ability carried to the major league level without trouble, though lack of power was still an issue. He hit .292/.369/.428 for the Giants in '97.

Sabermetrics pointed to Mueller as a good prospect before regular scouts joined the bandwagon. Mueller's career marks of .292/.372/.430 are very much in line with his minor league numbers, actually better in some ways as he's developed more power than most scouts expected. At age 34, he's entering the downslope of his career, but it has been a good one.

Similar Players to Bill Mueller:

Kevin Seitzer
Rance Mulliniks
Don Hoak
Bill Doran
Buddy Lewis

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Trade

Let's see, the Giants traded Meuller for Tim Worrell. Now, Worrell pitched well for them for several years and helped them reach the WS in 2002. Mueller's replacements at 3B were Russ Davis and Pedro Feliz. Later, David Bell and then Edgardo Alfonzo came along. None were better than Mueller. Some were worse. Alfonzo has been a lot more expensive. It's hard to say if they could have gotten equal value on Worrell somewhere else but in retrospect, they might have been better off just keeping Mueller at 3B despite his lack of speed and power. BTW, no way he ever hits 18 HR's in SBC park.

by DrBGiantsfan on Oct 8, 2005 4:28 PM EDT reply actions

Yep

That was a sad trade. Even if Mueller didn't become the player he did, he was a great guy to have around.

Worrell did pitch well for the Giants, but you have to believe they could have had somebody equally good for a lot less money than they've paid Alfonzo and Feliz (not to mention that idiot Benitez).

by 3Com Park on Oct 9, 2005 8:26 PM EDT reply actions

The new Mueller

I hadn't realized the "all OBP/no power" thing that Mueller had going on when he was coming up. Sounds a lot like Kevin Youkilis. So what do the Sox do next year? Let Mueller walk and hand the job to Youks? Sign Mueller and trade Youks? Keep them both and let Tito let Youks rot on the bench for another year?

by erghammer on Oct 10, 2005 11:57 AM EDT reply actions