Suggestions

by John Sickels on Jan 18, 2026 3:00 PM EST

Here is a suggestion thread. I want to do some historical pieces for a bit while we await the start of spring training, so if you have an idea for a Prospect Retro or other historical prospect piece, feel free to suggest it. Other ideas are welcome too.

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I hope this doesn’t come off as grotesque, but I’d be very curious to see some retros of players who were physically different from the norm, guys like Jim Abbott, Curtis Pride, and Antonio Alfonseca.

In part, I’m interested in whether we need to apply more subjective filters to players whose bodies make them a bit harder to compare to most other players — or whether our normal prospecting and scouting tools are sufficient. We’ve talked about “the good face” and “bad bodies.” But what about players whose bodies are beyond good or bad, and are just truly different, and whose adaptations to the game make them literally unlike most other players?

sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew

by alexwithclass on Jan 18, 2026 3:13 PM EST reply actions

interesting

Interesting idea….but hard to pull off. Worth thinkinig about though.

by John Sickels on Jan 18, 2026 3:31 PM EST up reply actions

Trevor Hoffman Prospect Retro

did a search and couldnt find one. Not sure if it has been done.

Started out as a SS. Picked in expansion draft. Didn’t stick in big leagues until 25. Could be interesting.

#269: Listen to SPORTS ROUNDUP every Sunday at 7:00pm at WVBR.com

by mrmetaa on Jan 18, 2026 3:22 PM EST reply actions

+1

by John Sickels on Jan 18, 2026 3:31 PM EST up reply actions

Retro comps

What I mean by this…take a HOFer and do a profile of him and than comp him to a modern baseball player. IE: Mickey Mantle comps to a ? Jason Heywood? just saying…Thx for great reading either way.

by Berndaddy on Jan 18, 2026 3:29 PM EST reply actions

My thinking behind this is to give younger baseball followers and idea of what came before them.

by Berndaddy on Jan 18, 2026 3:34 PM EST up reply actions

Jeff Francis Prospect Retro

After signing with KC I think it would be a good time for a retro on him.

by swilliam on Jan 18, 2026 3:38 PM EST reply actions

Jeff Francoeur prospect retro?

What a weird career path — although John actually nailed his 2006. Sadly, the rest of us did rather poorly at it.

by AndrewTorrez on Jan 18, 2026 4:19 PM EST up reply actions

I'm pretty sure that he meant the former COL SP

by dbreer23 on Jan 18, 2026 5:55 PM EST up reply actions

No, I knew what he meant

I was just saying I thought of the Royals signings, Francoeur is more interesting in a “what can we learn evaluating minor-leaguers” sort of way. Plus, I thought that the play on words was kind of funny.

by AndrewTorrez on Jan 19, 2026 9:32 AM EST up reply actions

Clay Buchholz crystal ball.

In Lax We Trust -
Offical Pro Lacrosse Blog of SBN

by Marisa Ingemi on Jan 18, 2026 3:43 PM EST reply actions

+1

>mfw

by MonkeyEpoxy on Jan 18, 2026 4:24 PM EST up reply actions

+1

by TonyRockyHorror on Jan 18, 2026 9:03 PM EST up reply actions

Casey Kotchman

What can we learn from his rise and fall? What went wrong for him and/or the Angels in his development?

by BryceHarper on Jan 18, 2026 4:26 PM EST reply actions

The Angels didnt do anything worng with him

He fell off after the Teixeria trade. He was having a great season with the Angels, was one of my favorite players

Minor League Ball's 2010 Rookie of the Year Poster

If you didn't know by now, my screen name is sarcastic

by mathisrocks5 on Jan 18, 2026 5:33 PM EST up reply actions

Not quite...

He was having a great season…then he got hit in the head and was never the same.

Now writing for BaseballInstinct.com

by Franchise887 on Jan 18, 2026 8:43 PM EST up reply actions

Prospect Haikus?

Top outfield prospect
Great season and then he quit
Father Grant Desme

by Kapellmeisters on Jan 18, 2026 6:14 PM EST reply actions

Oh yeah, he can hit
The question is: Can he catch?
Jesus Montero

by Kapellmeisters on Jan 18, 2026 10:11 PM EST up reply actions

Traded for Garza
Can hit but has no power
Shortstop Hak-Ju Lee

by Kapellmeisters on Jan 19, 2026 9:08 AM EST up reply actions

Not much control but
Plenty of K’s, and best name
Ever: Fu-Te Ni.

sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew

by alexwithclass on Jan 19, 2026 1:48 PM EST up reply actions

Canadian Catcher Turned 1B Retro Smackdown

Justin Morneau vs. Joey Votto

"We're gonna do this f*ucking thing over again cuz I just f*cked it up.....oh, we're live, I didn't know that" Bert Blyleven

by smoooooth on Jan 18, 2026 6:31 PM EST reply actions

That's a cool idea

http://bullpenbanter.com

by gatling on Jan 18, 2026 6:48 PM EST up reply actions

Freddie Freeman/Brandon Belt smackdown

"You think someone that big would be more well endowed" Aubrey Huff's mother on Pat Burrell
I thought he was going to punch me and I was totally accepting of it. I was planning a reason to thank him if he did." Brian Wilson on Buster Posey
Follow me: Twitter.com/gobroks

by Gobroks on Jan 18, 2026 6:37 PM EST via mobile reply actions

+1

by Teheman on Jan 18, 2026 6:40 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

Aaron Hicks/Brett Jackson smackdown?

by PrincetonCubs on Jan 18, 2026 6:52 PM EST reply actions

Napoleon

Noticed he was your icon fo awhile, interested on the appeal the Corsican Ogre holds for you

by gpellet41 on Jan 18, 2026 9:25 PM EST reply actions

Napoleon

I find Napoleon a fascinating mixture of evil and good….sort of the embodiment of late 18th and early 19th century cultural trends. The great villains of the 20th century (Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc) are much less interesting, being almost cartoonishly evil.

by John Sickels on Jan 18, 2026 9:40 PM EST up reply actions

Prospects with great minorleague numbers

that never carried over to the Majors. It’s funny Brad Komminsk has puzzled me for many years. The guy had great #’s in the minors and then looked terrible in the majors.

I guess I’m angling for a What happened to Brad Komminsk or a piece on guys like him.

by RogoRooter on Jan 18, 2026 9:50 PM EST reply actions

Have you ever seen his over-the-CF-wall catch in old Memorial Stadium?

Komminsk scaled the wall, caught a Cal Ripken homer, fell over the fence and landed outside the ballpark. Ruled a HR.

Next season the O’s signed Komminsk.

By the way, the Orioles have had a fair number of these Brad Komminsk All Stars — Jeff Manto, Mark Leonard… guess it’s the old Eddie Epstein influence, back before the team took an express train straight to hell.

by AndrewTorrez on Jan 19, 2026 9:36 AM EST up reply actions

Yuniesky Betancourt

I want to see a prospect retro of this guy. What went wrong and why is he still in the majors?

by Sikatrix on Jan 18, 2026 10:23 PM EST reply actions

there isnt really much prospect time to even look at with him

he was signed, played most of 1 year in the minors and then was up for good

Fire Everyone

by billybeingbilly on Jan 20, 2026 10:02 PM EST up reply actions

Jim Thome

prospect retro

by BenB on Jan 19, 2026 3:35 AM EST reply actions

I saw a snippet of this on the MLB Network

I thought this might be kinda interesting. They were discussing the tallest pitchers in the history of baseball, and their successes/failures.

Perhaps you could compare them to each other, or maybe compare the differences between some of the tallest pitching specs, and some of the shortest.

Maybe in the end, it’ll simply show talent is talent, and some guys are underrated simply based on their short stature.

"He don't want to walk you." -Sparky Anderson telling Kirk Gibson that Goose Gossage didn't want to walk Gibby just before he put it in the upper deck.

by sportznut3081 on Jan 19, 2026 9:21 AM EST reply actions

Hmmmm

What with his surprising retirement, how about a prospect retro on Gil Meche?

by thomasps3 on Jan 19, 2026 10:24 AM EST reply actions

Have you done a Lance Berkman prospect retro

or is that too far back?

The Personal Finance Playbook.

by Toddius on Jan 19, 2026 11:22 AM EST reply actions

Alternate Universe

I’m not sure if there’s anything quite like it off the top of my head, but perhaps a sort of prospect retro focusing on players who you/the conventional wisdom were wrong about, and under what circumstances things might have gone differently. Ex. Bizarro Alex Gordon, the 2010 AL MVP and where he “split” from the real Alex Gordon, who just moved to the OF.

by GuyinNY on Jan 19, 2026 1:03 PM EST reply actions