Re: Minor League Discussion & Boxes 8-2-12

[El Duderino]

I'm the polar opposite of Toonster on Torreyes: I think the hit tool is totally legit. I see him as a solid defensive 2B, that can hit .300 in the majors consistently, with 35-40 doubles and close to double digit homers in his prime.

 

i see torreyes as a sure a bet to be a productive major league player as anyone in the system. he may not have the high ceiling as some of the others, but as you've said, his hit tool is too good not to make it and stay for a long time.

if he makes the bigs:

best case - polanco

most likely - fernando vina

worse case - mark lemke

What the hell? You just turned on Torreyes! You just blindsided him. He knew you were all in on him and now you just hit him in the head with a steel chair.

 

Take out Mark Lemke and move Polanco to most likely and Vina to worst case and I'll buy it more. I'm still working on best case.

[Guest]

Idaho Statesman[/url]"]But, with Buckner’s help, Amaya has transformed himself at the plate. He said he used to struggle with inside pitches, but now he doesn’t mind seeing a pitcher come inside.

 

“It’s good now,” he said. “I’ve done a lot of work with (Buckner) on pitches inside, and now I can swing at inside pitches with some power.”

 

“He was hitting a few too many balls to right field,” Buckner said. “So we said, ‘Hey, if the ball’s inside, you’ve got to pull it.’ Then he hit the ball out of the park a couple of times and kind of liked that.”

 

http://media.idahostatesman.com/smedia/2012/08/02/00/27/10ODYJ.AuSt.36.jpeg

[davell]

I can actually see a Pedroia comp, bat-wise anyway, for Amaya.

[Rob]

 

Btw, no it's not Amaya. I don't think Amaya will ever be good enough defensively at 2nd. It wouldn't stun me if Amaya ended up in a corner OF role. Give me until the off-season before I decide to be bold and even remotely say I see some similarities. To be clear, if you asked me, do I expect said player to become Dustin Pedroia-ish, I would say, heck no. I'm not crazy. But I see some similarities between the two, I actually thought it would be fairly obvious who I had in mind.

 

Gotta be Junior Lake.

[Guest]

Italian bonus baby Alberto Mineo is 1 for 28 this far in his pro debut. In 34 plate appearances: .036/.212/.036/.248.

[toonsterwu]

 

Btw, no it's not Amaya. I don't think Amaya will ever be good enough defensively at 2nd. It wouldn't stun me if Amaya ended up in a corner OF role. Give me until the off-season before I decide to be bold and even remotely say I see some similarities. To be clear, if you asked me, do I expect said player to become Dustin Pedroia-ish, I would say, heck no. I'm not crazy. But I see some similarities between the two, I actually thought it would be fairly obvious who I had in mind.

 

Gotta be Junior Lake.

 

Yup, it's Junior Lake.

 

As a total side note, reading my comment above before the cold medication kicks in (some generic brand, only think that can knock me out), I didn't mean that I didn't think Amaya couldn't stick at 2nd (it sort of reads that way). I just meant I don't think he'd ever be as good as Pedroia has been, defensively, at 2nd, and if Amaya's bat plays, it really wouldn't surprise me if he ended up in a corner OF spot.

[wvcbxl]

Italian bonus baby Alberto Mineo is 1 for 28 this far in his pro debut. In 34 plate appearances: .036/.212/.036/.248.

 

I don't think they'll be very patient with him; he'll probably spend 2013 in the Italian league.

[hawkeyecub]

25 walks, 23 strikeouts for torreyes

 

http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/gallery/yes/Al_Bundy_excited.gif

 

LOL

[Little Slide Rooter]

The fact that we have this glut of infield prospects really makes me wish that we could make a deal with Oakland for 1-2 of their pitching prospects. We could build a package based around Vitters and 1 of Lake, Alcantara, Torreyes, Amaya, or Hernandez, depending on how close to big league ready they're looking for. We woulnd't land Gray, Cole, or Parker, but damn they've got a lot of pitching prospects and not a single 2B, SS, or 3B that can hit to save their lives. There's little doubt in my mind that Beane and Epstein would be able to make a great deal for both sides.

[davell]

Actually, I could see Oakland listening very hard on a straight up Vitters for Gray swap.

[mul21]

Does Brett's minor league guy pay much attention to how prospects are rated or am I crazy for thinking this is totally out of left field:

 

Long term, thanks in no small part to guys like Baez and Candelario, I think Villanueva will be playing second base for the Cubs, but we can expect to see him continue to earn plenty of starts at third as we he works his way up the system.

[Guest]

I think there was a little buzz about Villanueva playing 2B because he was trapped between Olt and Gallo in the Rangers system, so in that sense it's not completely out of nowhere. Of course, with both Baez and Candelario being lower in the system, Baez currently playing SS well enough to think he could maybe stick there, and the worry that Candelario may be a future 1B/OF, it's a bit of an odd prediction to make for Villanueva at the moment.

[Tyrant]

Does Brett's minor league guy pay much attention

 

Nope.

[Guest]

Villanueva did play some second base in Rangers instructs last fall but got bigger after that. I think the second base possibility is unlikely, especially if he's on the same team as Torreyes.

[sneakypower]

I'm the polar opposite of Toonster on Torreyes: I think the hit tool is totally legit. I see him as a solid defensive 2B, that can hit .300 in the majors consistently, with 35-40 doubles and close to double digit homers in his prime.

 

i see torreyes as a sure a bet to be a productive major league player as anyone in the system. he may not have the high ceiling as some of the others, but as you've said, his hit tool is too good not to make it and stay for a long time.

if he makes the bigs:

best case - polanco

most likely - fernando vina

worse case - mark lemke

What the hell? You just turned on Torreyes! You just blindsided him. He knew you were all in on him and now you just hit him in the head with a steel chair.

 

Take out Mark Lemke and move Polanco to most likely and Vina to worst case and I'll buy it more. I'm still working on best case.

Polanco was a 3.5-4 win player for a decade, if that's Torreyes' likely career path, he's one of the most valuable assets in the game

[davell]

I keep thinking of 87 year old Placido still out there. Forgot he was once a really solid piece. Glad you didn't turn on Ronald. Had me scared for a minute.

[sneakypower]

yeah, Polanco's a career .300 hitter with 3 gold gloves; there's not many prospects i'd ever project that kind of career for