Top 9 Most Disappointing Minor League Seasons

[videographer]

1. Kyler Burke - .227 avg./.658 OPS says it all for last year's Minor League POY

 

2. Chris Huseby - No longer pitching, Huseby is racking up Ks at Boise with his own swing and misses.

 

3. Blake Parker - Competed in training camp for a ML roster spot, Parker has been demoted to AA after showing an inability to control his stuff and get quality hitters out.

 

4. Josh Vitters - For all that has been said defending his prospect status, Vitters' season has been a big disappointment. He still has a future with the Cubs, but next year will define what that future is.

 

5. Jeff Antigua - Antigua showed excellent promise last year. However, his strength in controlling his pitches has abandoned him this year. We were all expecting results better than a 4.57 ERA at Peoria with a team leading 11 HRs given up.

 

6. Micah Gibbs - Granted, a .093 avg at Boise is a small sample size. However, Gibbs was advertised as an advanced college player. For whatever reason, the 3rd round draft pick has not performed in his professional debut. If he gets off to another poor start next year, his prospect status will go in the dumpster.

 

7. John Gaub - One off-season scouting report proclaimed he was the best lefty reliever prospect in all of minor league baseball. He has followed up such billing with a 6.57 ERA and 25 BB in 29 IP in AAA, muddling his prospect status for next year.

 

8. Ryan Searle - 2009 began with a promotion to Daytona for the then 19 year old. 2010 saw his demotion to Peoria. After watching him pitch, I can say there is nothing major league about Searle. Average stuff and a bad body contribute to his falling prospect status. This most likely will be the last year he is relevant.

 

9. Logan Watkins - He still is a prospect, however is mundane stats (.253 avg/0 HR) at Peoria are a concern. He shows no power and has not used his speed enough on the base paths to show a future as a base stealer.

[scarey]

This list stings. I didn't even realize Parker was sent down to AA. I was really high on him last year and coming into this season.

[Guest]

Vitters season was disappointing, but I'm more upset with the Cubs than I am Vitters. If he was tearing up Daytona for 1/2 the year and then posted the numbers in AA that he did, he still would have had a pretty good season.

[CubsWin]

Vitters season was disappointing, but I'm more upset with the Cubs than I am Vitters. If he was tearing up Daytona for 1/2 the year and then posted the numbers in AA that he did, he still would have had a pretty good season.

Feel free to blame the Cubs for having his overall numbers look bad this season by promoting him so quickly, surely they are to blame. But they're not in the business of making sure he winds up with a pretty stat line. They are in the business of preparing him for success in the majors as quickly as possible and his seemingly early promotion to Tennessee is the best way to make that happen.

 

Vitters needs to learn better discretion at the plate. The longer he sees A+ level pitching, the longer it will be before he is challenged to layoff the more deceiving AA pitches. I think the Cubs are very confident in his abilities and don't need to see him put up great numbers every year to know that he'll be okay. They also believe in Vitters confidence in himself. They think Vitters doesn't need to see himself succeed in order to believe that he'll make it one day.

 

Is it an aggressive plan they are following? Yes. But it is one they only follow with players they feel can take it and will benefit from it. The player's got to be special though. It worked with Castro. We'll see if Vitters is that kind of player as well

[Guest]

Vitters season was disappointing, but I'm more upset with the Cubs than I am Vitters. If he was tearing up Daytona for 1/2 the year and then posted the numbers in AA that he did, he still would have had a pretty good season.

Feel free to blame the Cubs for having his overall numbers look bad this season by promoting him so quickly, surely they are to blame. But they're not in the business of making sure he winds up with a pretty stat line. They are in the business of preparing him for success in the majors as quickly as possible and his seemingly early promotion to Tennessee is the best way to make that happen.

 

Vitters needs to learn better discretion at the plate. The longer he sees A+ level pitching, the longer it will be before he is challenged to layoff the more deceiving AA pitches. I think the Cubs are very confident in his abilities and don't need to see him put up great numbers every year to know that he'll be okay. They also believe in Vitters confidence in himself. They think Vitters doesn't need to see himself succeed in order to believe that he'll make it one day.

 

Is it an aggressive plan they are following? Yes. But it is one they only follow with players they feel can take it and will benefit from it. The player's got to be special though. It worked with Castro. We'll see if Vitters is that kind of player as well

It's not about a pretty stat line, but that's what makes a good season. I don't think you think he mastered A ball, so I won't have that argument.

 

As for the parts I bolded, well, they just makes no sense at all. As of now the Cubs have a guy who stunk up AA and is falling like a stone in terms of his value.

[CubsWin]

Vitters season was disappointing, but I'm more upset with the Cubs than I am Vitters. If he was tearing up Daytona for 1/2 the year and then posted the numbers in AA that he did, he still would have had a pretty good season.

Feel free to blame the Cubs for having his overall numbers look bad this season by promoting him so quickly, surely they are to blame. But they're not in the business of making sure he winds up with a pretty stat line. They are in the business of preparing him for success in the majors as quickly as possible and his seemingly early promotion to Tennessee is the best way to make that happen.

 

Vitters needs to learn better discretion at the plate. The longer he sees A+ level pitching, the longer it will be before he is challenged to layoff the more deceiving AA pitches. I think the Cubs are very confident in his abilities and don't need to see him put up great numbers every year to know that he'll be okay. They also believe in Vitters confidence in himself. They think Vitters doesn't need to see himself succeed in order to believe that he'll make it one day.

 

Is it an aggressive plan they are following? Yes. But it is one they only follow with players they feel can take it and will benefit from it. The player's got to be special though. It worked with Castro. We'll see if Vitters is that kind of player as well

It's not about a pretty stat line, but that's what makes a good season. I don't think you think he mastered A ball, so I won't have that argument.

 

As for the parts I bolded, well, they just makes no sense at all. As of now the Cubs have a guy who stunk up AA and is falling like a stone in terms of his value.

I think it makes perfect sense to challenge a hitter who is clearly very talented at making contact with all sorts of pitches and has had success hitting pitches safely that are not in the strike zone by having him learn to deal with the more deceptive pitches at AA. Clearly that doesn't make sense if you think the player might not ever be good enough to get above A+. Someone like Kyler Burke, for example, I would need to see prove himself at every level before promoting him. I think Vitters is different.

 

The part that I disagree with in your line of thinking is that a pretty stat line makes for a good season. At the major league level, maybe, but when your goal is to get better at the things you're not good at as quickly as possible, a pretty stat line at the end of the year can have little to do with you reaching your goal.

 

Again, this type of approach to development will usually be reserved for those players that have the talent, confidence/poise and mental toughness to handle it.

[Rob]

Vitters season was disappointing, but I'm more upset with the Cubs than I am Vitters. If he was tearing up Daytona for 1/2 the year and then posted the numbers in AA that he did, he still would have had a pretty good season.

Feel free to blame the Cubs for having his overall numbers look bad this season by promoting him so quickly, surely they are to blame. But they're not in the business of making sure he winds up with a pretty stat line. They are in the business of preparing him for success in the majors as quickly as possible and his seemingly early promotion to Tennessee is the best way to make that happen.

 

Vitters needs to learn better discretion at the plate. The longer he sees A+ level pitching, the longer it will be before he is challenged to layoff the more deceiving AA pitches. I think the Cubs are very confident in his abilities and don't need to see him put up great numbers every year to know that he'll be okay. They also believe in Vitters confidence in himself. They think Vitters doesn't need to see himself succeed in order to believe that he'll make it one day.

 

Is it an aggressive plan they are following? Yes. But it is one they only follow with players they feel can take it and will benefit from it. The player's got to be special though. It worked with Castro. We'll see if Vitters is that kind of player as well

It's not about a pretty stat line, but that's what makes a good season. I don't think you think he mastered A ball, so I won't have that argument.

 

As for the parts I bolded, well, they just makes no sense at all. As of now the Cubs have a guy who stunk up AA and is falling like a stone in terms of his value.

 

It makes some sense.

 

Vitters is a special case, like it or not. He's got a very advanced hit tool, and absolutely no plate disciple whatsoever. In A ball he can pretty much put the bat on the ball at will, in large part because the pitchers are just chucking it up there and not worrying so much about hitting their spots.

 

Vitters needs to see some more advanced pitchers capable of actually hitting their spots and changing speeds so he'll learn some plate discipline (hopefully). I think the Cubs are gambling that if he develops that discipline, everything else will fall into line quickly.

[Guest]

If you neutralize Jeffry Antigua's season for luck, he has a FIP of 3.88. He's certainly nowhere near the top 9 most disappointing seasons. You could put in Wes Darvill instead of him.

 

On Ryan Searle, look at his GO-FO numbers His potential plus sinker has apparently completely disappeared this season.

[toonsterwu]

What happened to Searle? The reports on his stuff are pretty bad. I half wonder if there's an injury. The velocity seems down, the movement seems down.

 

Too early to put Gibbs in a list like this, and I agree with Raisin on Antigua.

 

One of the bigger disappointments for me this year, and for, say, the past 2 years, was Jovan Rosa, but he's already been cut. Big Larry Suarez and Jordan Latham have both been disappointing this year. That said, overall expectations weren't huge. I think Flaherty can be considered a disappointment in some respects, but hard to put him down in a list like this.

 

I'm not sure what would comprise my top 9 disappointments this year in regards to performance. I really don't think there's been that many big disappointments this year, outside of the guys listed. My biggest disappointment, actually, was the fact that Justin Bristow was injured for the majority of the year.

[sandbergcubs]

If you neutralize Jeffry Antigua's season for luck, he has a FIP of 3.88. He's certainly nowhere near the top 9 most disappointing seasons. You could put in Wes Darvill instead of him.

 

On Ryan Searle, look at his GO-FO numbers His potential plus sinker has apparently completely disappeared this season.

 

 

Its as if he was reading this and decided to silence his critics haha, no hitter through 5.2

[videographer]

If you neutralize Jeffry Antigua's season for luck, he has a FIP of 3.88. He's certainly nowhere near the top 9 most disappointing seasons. You could put in Wes Darvill instead of him.

 

The reason I put Antigua on the list is he showed enough ability to be ranked 19th on BA's prospect list. He pitched well at Peoria last year raising expectations that he would continue to improve. To paraphrase the mood of the forum this season, "What's wrong with Antigua?" is a collective disappointment. I hope he finishes strong this year and renews our interest next year.

 

As for Darvill, he would have been next on my list because of being a 5th round pick last year. However, he is so young and has yet to do anything of consequence. The scouting reports tempered his prospect talents with raw ability and a Canadian baseball background. If Darvill flounders next year, he most definitely will be a disappointment.