Minor League Discussion & Boxes 7-8-12

[Little Slide Rooter]

I keep asking Goldstein what he's heard about Cabrera but he never answers.

 

These days, it seems as though if you want a straight answer from him, the question needs to be about Billy Hamilton.

[rawaction]

I believe I read Cabrera throws high 90s out of the pen (highest I've heard officially is 97), with a really good slider. His control hasn't been a problem out of the pen so far. He fits the mold of a great late inning reliever. Being on the 40-man, I'd guess he'd get at least a Sept callup and be given every shot to make the big league pen in 2013.

[Guest]

I'm not so sure Alberto Cabrera isn't my top pitching prospect for us at the moment. At least until Pierce Johnson gets on the mound. Cabrera's been phenomenal out of the pen. I think he's our best hope to find a closer in house. His stuff has really played up out of the pen. Props to Toonster, who's been on him for a couple of years, saying he needed to be put in late inning situations, instead of starting.

 

Yeah, the only guys I would rank ahead of him would be Johnson and maybe Blackburn...and I really don't like ranking relievers too high.

 

Ben Wells is still #1 for me, but Cabrera's not to far behind. Other than that, until Maples or one of the 2012 picks do something, then there's just Rosario, McNutt, Struck, Raley, Beliveau, Loosen, Jokisch, Kirk, and a few others all lumped together. Hopefully, our 2013 top pitching prospects come back in trades for Dempster and Garza.

 

There's no way Struck, Raley, Loosen, Jokisch and Kirk should be lumped in the same group as Rosario and McNutt or even Raley.

 

Also, I dropped Wells about 10 spots once he needed TJS. I did the same with Whitenack last year.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I'm not so sure Alberto Cabrera isn't my top pitching prospect for us at the moment. At least until Pierce Johnson gets on the mound. Cabrera's been phenomenal out of the pen. I think he's our best hope to find a closer in house. His stuff has really played up out of the pen. Props to Toonster, who's been on him for a couple of years, saying he needed to be put in late inning situations, instead of starting.

 

Yeah, the only guys I would rank ahead of him would be Johnson and maybe Blackburn...and I really don't like ranking relievers too high.

 

Ben Wells is still #1 for me, but Cabrera's not to far behind. Other than that, until Maples or one of the 2012 picks do something, then there's just Rosario, McNutt, Struck, Raley, Beliveau, Loosen, Jokisch, Kirk, and a few others all lumped together. Hopefully, our 2013 top pitching prospects come back in trades for Dempster and Garza.

 

There's no way Struck, Raley, Loosen, Jokisch and Kirk should be lumped in the same group as Rosario and McNutt or even Raley.

 

Also, I dropped Wells about 10 spots once he needed TJS. I did the same with Whitenack last year.

 

McNutt's really worrying me this season. I know he was a bonus baby, but he wasn't on the same level as Wells or Maples, at least I don't think he was. He had 2 great years in 2009&2010, and be it injury related or not, he's simply not been able to recapture what made him a top 50 prospect.

[Guest]

Yes, McNutt ($115,000 bonus) got a far smaller bonus (and less over slot) than Wells ($530,000 bonus) and Maples ($2,500,000 bonus).

[davell]

I know I'd feel much better about our future rotation if we had sent McNutt instead of Archer to Tampa last year.

[Guest]

Chris Archer can't throw strikes. He never could, and we were lucky enough for him to have 70 fluky innings at Daytona that made him seem like he had figured it out so we could trade him for an actual good pitcher. His value has only gone down since the trade, and he's a lot closer to being Alberto Cabrera than he is a valuable contributor to an MLB rotation.

[davell]

His walk rate in AAA this year was higher than I thought honestly. For some reason, I thought it was under 4. His 2 big league starts, he kept it under control at least. At any rate, he's a better prospect than McNutt at this point.

[Elrhino]

Vitters goes into the All Star break tied for third among PCL 3Bers for homeruns (1st place is 34 year old Mike Hessman with 27), tied for 2nd among PCL 3Bers in doubles (first place is Scott Moore who is now in the Astros system, Vitters is tied with Josh Fields).

[Little Slide Rooter]

Vitters goes into the All Star break tied for third among PCL 3Bers for homeruns (1st place is 34 year old Mike Hessman with 27), tied for 2nd among PCL 3Bers in doubles (first place is Scott Moore who is now in the Astros system, Vitters is tied with Josh Fields).

 

While I do trust the word of the guys like Law and Goldstein who make a living watching and analyzing prospects, due to his age, level, and the fact that he seems to have made significant improvements across the board including defense, I'm really not sure what could be keeping him off the top 100 list at this point. In the PCL, he's top 25 in SLG and OPS, top 40 in BA, and top 50 in OBP, and this includes guys who are already in the big leagues as well as AAAA guys in their late 20s.

[Elrhino]

Among the PCL OPS leaders, Vitters is younger than everyone ahead of him. In fact, there are only about 6 or 7 guys ahead of him that I wouldn't put in the AAAA category. Some of those guys are highly rated (Travis d'Arnaud) and some of those guys don't get hardly any recognition despite putting up awesome production for their age (Adam Eaton). What you mostly need is a good deal of hype around you, which Vitters doesn't have because he hasn't dominated at a level. No reason why Rizzo shouldn't have been rated higher coming into this season other than he lost some of his hype after his cup of coffee with the Padres. As far as talent and tools, he was still the same guy that everyone loved 6 months earlier.