With the caveats that he has been working with dramatically reduced draft capital and it’s only a month into the season, the early returns on the position player side of the farm system are very bleak.
How has Dana worked with dramatically reduced draft capital? Click had the two drafts without 1st or 2nd round picks. Certainly as an organization those 4 picks could be making a big difference, but to my knowledge the only pick Dana has dealt with missing was our second last year His two drafts have been very pitching heavy and hopefully the Tredwell kid is one of the next in line pitching success stories But outside of Brice who has huge upside but also huge question marks, the hitting side just doesn't look good
He has only overseen 2 drafts, was picking at the back of both of them, and didn’t have a 2nd round pick last year (due to signing Hader who had a QO attached). And as you said he inherited a farm reeling from a near decade of buyer deadlines, late draft picks, and the penalties of the sign stealing. Here are how the hitters in Houston’s system who received $700k+ bonuses are faring: Brice Matthews wRC+ 97, 32% k rate Jacob Melton wRC+ 116, 28% k rate Pedro Leon DNP INJURED Colin Barber 99, 28% Luis Baez DNP ??? Walker Janek 85, 18% Chase Jaworsky 63, 23% Tyler Whitaker 41, 40% Cesar Hernandez 94, 21% Esmil Valencia 71, 29% Alberto Hernandez DNP ??? Camilo Diaz DNP INJURED German Ramirez FCL Luis Rives FCL Eduardo Perez DSL Kevin Alvarez DSL
But why exclude those who got less than $700K? If they hit, isn't THAT the even bigger/better mark of excellent scouting and/or developing? I would argue only discussing them would be a better Guage of his success.
You’re missing the point. I was responding to a commenter asking about lack of draft capital, so I was just listing out the prospects that got big bonuses. Either way, it’s not like any of the lesser bonus position player prospects are tearing it up right now.
Pitching is a thing that can be developed by an organization. Hitters are born. Teams have come to realize that and are concentrating on what they can affect. Natural hitters are gone in the first few picks of a draft. I believe that the key to solving this dilemma is going to be identifying and drafting hitters at younger ages before the difference becomes obvious. Hand eye coordination and the muscle control required to be a good hitter can be identified earlier with technology available now. Developing the ability to accomplish that identification will give organizations the ability to bring in players who have the tools to succeed. This should be the next advance that baseball can achieve through technology and I expect it to begin showing up in the very near future.
I don’t believe he is hurt. Maybe he is, but he’s out of options and Ort is ahead of him on the pecking order. Nobody is an obvious candidate to go down. that’s my guess.
Is this the same leg as the bone bruise? If so, this dude has a torn acl. Edit: I saw that it's the same leg. Torn acl is my diagnosis.
Yeah, they have enough pitching depth in the minors to trade a starter for an impact bat. Blubaugh/Gordon/LMJ/Ullola/Walter etc...
No thank you. While I have no problem with the Astros trading Arrighetti for an impactful bat, Kjerstad does not meet that criteria IMO. Nor has he shown much to indicate he will in the future. Any bright hopes he may have shown in last years brief experience, has been erased by his disastrous start to this year.
The problem with adding ANY corner OF is Altuve/Yordan in LF and Cam Smith in RF with Dezenzo showing he probably belongs. They really need to focus on players who can play CF or 2b.
I'm not saying the corners are beyond improvement, but focusing on up the middle makes much more sense. Let's say you need to raise your GPA and can still drop a class before the deadline, do you drop the class you have "C" in or the one you have an "F" in? Especially if the "C" is in a required course (players you are committed to anyway) Edit: sorry - probably a terrible metaphor. Oh well there's always tomorrow.
