Latest AskBA on Guzman

[BeerHere]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/columnists/askba.html

 

Cubs fans perennially get teased by the potential of righthander Angel Guzman. He had another lost year again in 2005 but was assigned to the Arizona Fall League. How important is this opportunity for him? This seems like his make-or-break chance to show he still deserves his once-lofty prospect status.

 

 

Callis: Two years ago, Guzman was the Cubs' top prospect. He probably would have come up at midseason had he not come down with shoulder problems. He had arthroscopic surgery to repair a small tear in his labrum, a relatively minor procedure. But since then, he pitched just 48 innings in the minors in 2004 and just 18 this year. Forearm stiffness prevented him from working more in 2005.

 

I don't think it's a make-or-break situation for him, though his health questions obviously have diminished his prospect luster. It's mainly an opportunity to get some much-needed innings.

 

Assistant editor Chris Kline was on hand to see Guzman pitch Wednesday, and reported that he showed a 91-93 mph fastball that peaked at 95. But he rarely used his curveball and his changeup wasn't as good as it was before he got hurt. It's not surprising that his secondary pitches got rusty during his inactivity. When he was healthy, all three of his offerings graded out as 70s on the 20-80 scouting scale at times.

[cubspeoria]

http://minorleaguebaseball.com/app/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&did=milb&t=g_box&gid=2005_10_24_peswin_msswin_1

 

A very good outing from Angel yesterday. That is certainly encouraging.

 

As you can also see from the box, Aardsma is struggling.

[RynoRules]

http://minorleaguebaseball.com/app/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&did=milb&t=g_box&gid=2005_10_24_peswin_msswin_1

 

A very good outing from Angel yesterday. That is certainly encouraging.

 

As you can also see from the box, Aardsma is struggling.

 

Good to see Angel pitching well (at least one outing, any way). Does anyone think he has any trade value whatsoever at this point?

 

EDIT: And welcome to the Forum, Peoria!

Edited October 25, 2005 by RynoRules

[Transmogrified Tiger]

http://minorleaguebaseball.com/app/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&did=milb&t=g_box&gid=2005_10_24_peswin_msswin_1

 

A very good outing from Angel yesterday. That is certainly encouraging.

 

As you can also see from the box, Aardsma is struggling.

 

Welcome to the Forum!

[don_kessinger_was_good]

Aardsma is really looking like a bust. Originally, I had him tagged as Iowa's closer for 2006, but not now. If we even keep him, he pretty much MUST repeat West Tennessee to see if he can get his act together. Shipman will get the promotion instead.

 

Frankly, I think Aardsma has become trade bait, some team will try and see if they can get him back on the right track. A team like Minnesota or Oakland would make a lot of sense.

[JeffH]

I don't think any team is going to be anxious to use a 40-man roster spot on the likes of David Aardsma.

 

Especially if they have to trade for him...

[Diffusion]

Angel Guzman's numbers now since coming back from his injury (12 IP at Rookie Ball, 6.1 at Low-A, 15.2 in the AFL)...

 

34 IP, 38 H, 2 HR, 8 BB, 40 K, 4.24 ERA

 

And half of those walks came in one uncharacteristicly wild three inning outing in the AFL last week, from which he bounced back resoundingly in his last start.

 

Obviously Guzman's not playing at the levels he's used to, and that "he rarely used his curveball and his changeup wasn't as good as it was before he got hurt" suggests he's not all the way there yet, but very encouraging stuff from Guzman...

[CubinNY]

Angel Guzman's numbers now since coming back from his injury (12 IP at Rookie Ball, 6.1 at Low-A, 15.2 in the AFL)...

 

34 IP, 38 H, 2 HR, 8 BB, 40 K, 4.24 ERA

 

And half of those walks came in one uncharacteristicly wild three inning outing in the AFL last week, from which he bounced back resoundingly in his last start.

 

Obviously Guzman's not playing at the levels he's used to, and that "he rarely used his curveball and his changeup wasn't as good as it was before he got hurt" suggests he's not all the way there yet, but very encouraging stuff from Guzman...

 

No kidding. Man if Angel could get and stay healthy that would open up a world of opportunity for the Cubs. They could trade him for a big bat difference maker. They could keep him and trade Wood/Z/Prior for significant talent. They could keep everybody and score 2 runs a game and still win more then they would lose. Oh boy, the possiblitiies.

 

Stay healthy young man.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Angel Guzman's numbers now since coming back from his injury (12 IP at Rookie Ball, 6.1 at Low-A, 15.2 in the AFL)...

 

34 IP, 38 H, 2 HR, 8 BB, 40 K, 4.24 ERA

 

And half of those walks came in one uncharacteristicly wild three inning outing in the AFL last week, from which he bounced back resoundingly in his last start.

 

Obviously Guzman's not playing at the levels he's used to, and that "he rarely used his curveball and his changeup wasn't as good as it was before he got hurt" suggests he's not all the way there yet, but very encouraging stuff from Guzman...

 

No kidding. Man if Angel could get and stay healthy that would open up a world of opportunity for the Cubs. They could trade him for a big bat difference maker. They could keep him and trade Wood/Z/Prior for significant talent. They could keep everybody and score 2 runs a game and still win more then they would lose. Oh boy, the possiblitiies.

 

Stay healthy young man.

 

If Angel were healthy enough to factor in the Cubs plans, he does open up a world of possibilities.

 

I wouldn't trade him or Prior/Zambrano/Wood. But if I felt Guz was healthy, you could trade Williams, pencil Guz into the rotation and still have Hill as a back-up if needed.

 

Also, a roster decision will have to be made on Mitre as well this spring.

[CubinNY]

Angel Guzman's numbers now since coming back from his injury (12 IP at Rookie Ball, 6.1 at Low-A, 15.2 in the AFL)...

 

34 IP, 38 H, 2 HR, 8 BB, 40 K, 4.24 ERA

 

And half of those walks came in one uncharacteristicly wild three inning outing in the AFL last week, from which he bounced back resoundingly in his last start.

 

Obviously Guzman's not playing at the levels he's used to, and that "he rarely used his curveball and his changeup wasn't as good as it was before he got hurt" suggests he's not all the way there yet, but very encouraging stuff from Guzman...

 

No kidding. Man if Angel could get and stay healthy that would open up a world of opportunity for the Cubs. They could trade him for a big bat difference maker. They could keep him and trade Wood/Z/Prior for significant talent. They could keep everybody and score 2 runs a game and still win more then they would lose. Oh boy, the possiblitiies.

 

Stay healthy young man.

 

If Angel were healthy enough to factor in the Cubs plans, he does open up a world of possibilities.

 

I wouldn't trade him or Prior/Zambrano/Wood. But if I felt Guz was healthy, you could trade Williams, pencil Guz into the rotation and still have Hill as a back-up if needed.

 

Also, a roster decision will have to be made on Mitre as well this spring.

 

Probably not the right forum to discuss this but...

 

Hill, Mitre, Williams, Welly, Wurtz, Pinto, Aardsma or any other young pitcher (by themself) will not get the Cubs what they need.

 

You have to trade talent to get talent. If Guzman can be parleyed into Adam Dunn or Carlos Beltran or any young difference maker outfileder I trade him. But as we know, he has to show he is healthy and he has to show he has the stuff in "the show". Until then we can dream.

[cubssox fan]

Guzman reminds me a lot of a kid in the sox system called Honel who was really doing great 1st round pick than got injured and hasnt been the same.

 

 

What kind of stuff does Guzman have and hows his control and everything. Also did he injure the same shoulder twice or different injuries?

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Guzman reminds me a lot of a kid in the sox system called Honel who was really doing great 1st round pick than got injured and hasnt been the same.

 

 

What kind of stuff does Guzman have and hows his control and everything. Also did he injure the same shoulder twice or different injuries?

 

Guzman's a much better prospect than Honel ever was (especially since Honel didn't throw that hard).

 

Guzman has a mid-90s FB, a sinker, a plus change and a plus curve.

[mg420]

is it safe to assume guzman's stuff can be compared to seattle's felix hern? i know felix is alot younger at 19 than guzman but he also has a 95+ fb & a killer slider.

[NCCubFan]

Guzman reminds me a lot of a kid in the sox system called Honel who was really doing great 1st round pick than got injured and hasnt been the same.

I remember a few years ago when a web site (perhaps Top Prospect Alert; I don't recall for sure) had a weekly prospect battle where fans voted between two choices. One week it was Honel vs. Sisco, and the voting was halted because of suspected irregularities (fans trying to rig the results by voting multiple times).

[JeffH]

is it safe to assume guzman's stuff can be compared to seattle's felix hern? i know felix is alot younger at 19 than guzman but he also has a 95+ fb & a killer slider.

 

Guzman is much like a healthy Javier Vazquez.

[burnt out cubbie fan]

is it safe to assume guzman's stuff can be compared to seattle's felix hern? i know felix is alot younger at 19 than guzman but he also has a 95+ fb & a killer slider.

Felix's top two pitches are better than Angel's. His fastball sits at 96-97 and hits 100 at times. Felix's curve is absolutely nasty. I'm not sure about after that. I saw him shut down the Twins in Seattle and could not have possibly been more impressed.

[cubssox fan]

I think you mean his slider... which is apposed to be one of the best in the major leagues...

[VVMattVV]

I think you mean his slider... which is apposed to be one of the best in the major leagues...

 

He throws both

[burnt out cubbie fan]

I think you mean his slider... which is apposed to be one of the best in the major leagues...

No, I meant his power curve. I'm sure we are talking about the same pitch though.

 

Also, while his changeup is supposed to be pretty nasty as well (according to BA scouting reports I read), he threw almost exclusively fastballs and curves when I saw him. He did mix in a couple changes but didn't use the pitch all that much.

[cubssox fan]

Well if you saw him while in the minors you wouldnt of seen much of his slider because they didnt want him to have any arm injuries of the sort since he is so young and the slider puts a lot of stress on the arm.

[burnt out cubbie fan]

Well if you saw him while in the minors you wouldnt of seen much of his slider because they didnt want him to have any arm injuries of the sort since he is so young and the slider puts a lot of stress on the arm.

I know the scouting report from BA you are talking about. He still isn't throwing the pitch. And btw, I saw him in his home major league debut.

[mg420]

is it safe to assume guzman's stuff can be compared to seattle's felix hern? i know felix is alot younger at 19 than guzman but he also has a 95+ fb & a killer slider.

 

Guzman is much like a healthy Javier Vazquez.

 

doesnt guzman throw harder than vasquez? last year i seem to remember him topping out at 90-91. i hope he has a better change up than vasquez too.

[mg420]

is it safe to assume guzman's stuff can be compared to seattle's felix hern? i know felix is alot younger at 19 than guzman but he also has a 95+ fb & a killer slider.

Felix's top two pitches are better than Angel's. His fastball sits at 96-97 and hits 100 at times. Felix's curve is absolutely nasty. I'm not sure about after that. I saw him shut down the Twins in Seattle and could not have possibly been more impressed.

 

felix sounds alot like gooden when he came up. very impressive for a 19 year old. he must be the top prospect in the majors with that kind of stuff.

[Tim]

is it safe to assume guzman's stuff can be compared to seattle's felix hern? i know felix is alot younger at 19 than guzman but he also has a 95+ fb & a killer slider.

 

Guzman is much like a healthy Javier Vazquez.

 

doesnt guzman throw harder than vasquez? last year i seem to remember him topping out at 90-91. i hope he has a better change up than vasquez too.

When Vazquez was at his peak with the Expos, his stuff was significantly better.

[JeffH]

When Vazquez was at his peak with the Expos, his stuff was significantly better.

 

Significantly better than it is now, not significantly better than Guzman's.

 

Right, Tim?