What leagues are the toughest to move between?

[badger1679666666]

Rookie to Advanced

Advanced to Short Season A

Short Season A to Low A

Low A to High A

High A to AA

AA to AAA

AAA to Bigs

 

What is the conventional wisdom on the easiest levels to move between? I've always been curious about this. Thanks.

[burnt out cubbie fan]

Either high A to AA or AAA to the majors. Both weed out a lot of prospects.

[rawaction]

I think it depends on the league. I think going from low A to high A is big when going to the Florida State League. But in general going from A to AA is the biggest.

[CubinNY]

I think it depends on the league. I think going from low A to high A is big when going to the Florida State League. But in general going from A to AA is the biggest.

 

That's what I've heard as well. Most of the people who I know that played minor league ball all said it was the hardest, most didn't make it out of AA. However, a couple of guys who pitched and made it to AAA said the bigest jump was from AA to AAA.

[rawaction]

I think it depends on the league. I think going from low A to high A is big when going to the Florida State League. But in general going from A to AA is the biggest.

 

That's what I've heard as well. Most of the people who I know that played minor league ball all said it was the hardest, most didn't make it out of AA. However, a couple of guys who pitched and made it to AAA said the bigest jump was from AA to AAA.

 

I think AA to AAA is not much of a jump. I'm sure it is moreso for pitchers than hitters. But if you can hit in AA, you should be able to hit in AAA. The AAA parks are more hitter friendly across the board. And AAA is actually LESS talented overall than AA. Most top prospects can easily skip AAA and not suffer at the ML level.

[Tim]

The PCL wipes out most any pitcher that can't keep the ball in the park.

[craig]

The PCL wipes out most any pitcher that can't keep the ball in the park.

 

Excellent point. For Cub pitchers, pitching-friendly Pringles/Southern League to hitter-friendly PCL is no question the toughest step. A lot of guys who looked good in AA have looked like roster-fill in AAA. (See Brownlie, Pinto, Valdes, Pignatiello this year; Nolasco last year...)

 

I used to consider the jump to Pringles to be the worst step for hitters, back in the days when Corey dropped from a .300+ guy to .260, Hinske went from a .300-type to .250-.260, Zuleta and Roosevelt Brown weren't quite as hot, Ryan Gripp went from an interesting prospect to a bust, etc. etc..

 

Recently that's seemed no longer true; Murton, Pie, Greenberg, McGehee, Sing, Bacon, Soto, Hoffpauir, Craig, Coats, Theriot, they've been pretty much the same hitters at WTenn as they were at Daytona, sometimes better.

 

Obviously the AAA to majors step is larger, much larger, than any individual step in the minors. And with reason. In minors, the gap between entry player and top players is always limited; if a guy on top is too good, he doesn't stay in the league. But guys like Pujols and Bonds don't get promoted out of the NL.

[jaxxradio]

The jump from A to Double-A is by far the biggest jump. The reason is quite simple. This jump seperates the true prospects from the guys that make a living feasting on A ball pitchers (or hitters).

 

I have said this many times, anybody who makes it to Double-A ball has a legitimate shot at going to the majors as long as the player in question works hard, puts up good numbers and stays out of trouble.

[rawaction]

The jump from A to Double-A is by far the biggest jump. The reason is quite simple. This jump seperates the true prospects from the guys that make a living feasting on A ball pitchers (or hitters).

 

I have said this many times, anybody who makes it to Double-A ball has a legitimate shot at going to the majors as long as the player in question works hard, puts up good numbers and stays out of trouble.

 

That's how I feel. AA is for all intents and purposes the last stop before the majors. Anyone who can hit well in AA is gonna be fast tracked to the majors. I think Matt Murton showed what he can do straight from AA.

[goonys evil twin]

The jump from A to Double-A is by far the biggest jump. The reason is quite simple. This jump seperates the true prospects from the guys that make a living feasting on A ball pitchers (or hitters).

 

I have said this many times, anybody who makes it to Double-A ball has a legitimate shot at going to the majors as long as the player in question works hard, puts up good numbers and stays out of trouble.

 

That's how I feel. AA is for all intents and purposes the last stop before the majors. Anyone who can hit well in AA is gonna be fast tracked to the majors. I think Matt Murton showed what he can do straight from AA.

 

And yet, the Cubs keep having guys skip high A. Why? What is the benefit? It certainly hasn't helped the big club.

[rawaction]

The jump from A to Double-A is by far the biggest jump. The reason is quite simple. This jump seperates the true prospects from the guys that make a living feasting on A ball pitchers (or hitters).

 

I have said this many times, anybody who makes it to Double-A ball has a legitimate shot at going to the majors as long as the player in question works hard, puts up good numbers and stays out of trouble.

 

That's how I feel. AA is for all intents and purposes the last stop before the majors. Anyone who can hit well in AA is gonna be fast tracked to the majors. I think Matt Murton showed what he can do straight from AA.

 

And yet, the Cubs keep having guys skip high A. Why? What is the benefit? It certainly hasn't helped the big club.

 

To be fair, that's not all that accurate. I can't think of that many prospects that have skipped low A since Corey Patterson. Ironically enough, the only one off the top of my head is Eric Patterson. He struggled some in AA and is in the AFL currently also. A few have skipped low A for high A (Nolasco comes to mind), but I don't think that's that big of a deal for former collegiate players.

[craig]

With Raw, I can't think of many Cub prospects who have skipped high-A, other than the Pattersons. (Assuming Eric starts next year in AA...). Both were special cases, Corey with his high draft and talent, Eric with their emphasis on not bouncing first-year guys around, and with WTenn losing Theriot and having playoff situation whereas Daytona no chance.

 

Other skippers: Sergio Mitre skipped high A. Didn't seem to bother him any. I think maybe Tydus Meadows skipped high A for a while, then got sent back there short enough.

 

Nolasco skipped low-A, but that rotation was crowded, so somebodyhad to. There has been some talk of Gallagher perhaps skipping high A. Blasko started in low A but jumped to high A after about 1 or 2 starts, due to injury and hole at Daytona. Soto skipped low A, didn't seem to hurt him any.

 

I don't see a lot of skipping in the system.

 

AA is obviously the big step. Anybody who's rocking in AA is within a shot of the majors, circumstances being right. A guy can go straight up like Murton or Greenberg, or Mitre in 03, or Beltran and Sanchez in years past. But it's also true that the Cubs have had a lot of pitchers who looked just fine at Pringles who weren't really major leaguers. Brian McNichol, Phil Norton, Mike Meyers, Jeff Yoder, Matt Bruback, Sergio Mitre, Todd Wellemeyer, Pinto, Nolasco, Kyle Farnsworth, etc.. There have been a lot of prospects who had real solid numbers and seemed like real solid pitchers in Pringles who were never any good in the majors, and many who looked pretty competitive, perhaps outstanding, in Pringles but got rocked once they hit AAA. There aren't any "nothing to worry about" steps along the ladder.

[rawaction]

With Raw, I can't think of many Cub prospects who have skipped high-A, other than the Pattersons. (Assuming Eric starts next year in AA...). Both were special cases, Corey with his high draft and talent, Eric with their emphasis on not bouncing first-year guys around, and with WTenn losing Theriot and having playoff situation whereas Daytona no chance.

 

Other skippers: Sergio Mitre skipped high A. Didn't seem to bother him any. I think maybe Tydus Meadows skipped high A for a while, then got sent back there short enough.

 

Nolasco skipped low-A, but that rotation was crowded, so somebodyhad to. There has been some talk of Gallagher perhaps skipping high A. Blasko started in low A but jumped to high A after about 1 or 2 starts, due to injury and hole at Daytona. Soto skipped low A, didn't seem to hurt him any.

 

I don't see a lot of skipping in the system.

 

AA is obviously the big step. Anybody who's rocking in AA is within a shot of the majors, circumstances being right. A guy can go straight up like Murton or Greenberg, or Mitre in 03, or Beltran and Sanchez in years past. But it's also true that the Cubs have had a lot of pitchers who looked just fine at Pringles who weren't really major leaguers. Brian McNichol, Phil Norton, Mike Meyers, Jeff Yoder, Matt Bruback, Sergio Mitre, Todd Wellemeyer, Pinto, Nolasco, Kyle Farnsworth, etc.. There have been a lot of prospects who had real solid numbers and seemed like real solid pitchers in Pringles who were never any good in the majors, and many who looked pretty competitive, perhaps outstanding, in Pringles but got rocked once they hit AAA. There aren't any "nothing to worry about" steps along the ladder.

 

HA. Those are some blasts from the past. I thought Meyers was legit. He's a former top 10 prospect. Remember that 2000 championship rotation for West Tenn? Micah Bowie, Joey Nation, and Chris Gissell. Christensen, Lindsay Gulin, and Meyers all started for that team too.

[jaxxradio]

In the Cubs case, the pitchers go from a very friendly enviornment in Pringles Park, as well as the entire Southern League, to the worst possible league to be in from a pitchers perspective in the Pacific Coast League.

 

The PCL is a hitters haven and the pitchers REALLY have to concentrate on getting their pitches out of the danger zone. In the Southern League, there are places (Jacksonville, Birmingham, West Tenn) where you can get away with occasionally throwing a pitch in somebody's wheel house. Not so in the very hitter firendly PCL.