Who would be ahead of him besides Villar? The only guys I can think of are the two guys they signed earlier this year who haven't even begun playing.
There is only a 9 month age difference, so thats a non factor. Villar has 250 more PA's. When you look at Miers A ball numbers this year they compare favorably to Villars, so maybe it just takes him longer to adjust. Plus Mier is a much better fielder. Mier 4.38 RF .944 Fld% Villar 4.07 RF .922 Fld% Villar clearly has the better upside with his physical tools, but Mier still has a chance to develop into the better ML shortstop, he's still only 20.
I have a hard time putting 2 16 year olds who haven't played yet ahead of Mier. Mier is certainly a fading prospect, but he is still a prospect. He turns 21 later this month.
The big negative right now is that he's not hitting at Lancaster... and EVERYBODY hits (or at least shows glimpses) at Lancaster. According to CP, who has talked with some of the Astros brass about him, is that they fear they blew the pick.
I think he will hit at Lancaster next year. Of course they blew it. They took an Adam Everett type player in the first round (Everett was actually a higher pick), and Mike Trout went 3 picks later.
Villar is at AA, and Mier is at A+. Mier started strong at A ball this year, but fell off, but was still promoted to A+ when Villar got promoted to AA. Since their promotions, Villar's BA has decreased, but he his power has continued outside of Lancaster and Mier has struggled at Lancaster, especially with his power.
If you told me I had to cut one of Mier, Batista(GCL) or Santana(DSL) I would have a hard time justifying keeping Mier. You can say he's like adam Everett, but really Mier would kill to have Adam Everett's offensive prowess. Mier is about to turn 21, and he has a .679 OPS through 300+ at bats in A and A+ ball this year. Everett was never below .695 in ay full season of minor league ball. Mier has done much worse since being moved up. Down around .570 OPS in A+ ball. How many times has a guy been this bad at this stage of the game, at this age and then turned it around? Not very often. I think the best case scenario for Mier at this point is Everett. That's his ceiling. His floor is Dave Rhode.
I'm pretty worried about Mier and think he is firmly behind Villar on the depth chart but he is only 20 years of age. It is WAY to early to start making comparisons for good or bad. Last season was a diaster but he was having a decent season at Lexington before being moved up. He has been injuried since the move up so I really won't judge to much into it but the juror is out on the guy. One guy you could look at and it gives you hope Mier can turn it around is Jimmy Rollins. Numbers were less than stellar in the minors and look at how he developed.
Everett was older when he started than Mier is right now, so an unfair comparison. That said, Mier was unlikely to be much better than AE ever was, and that was true when we drafted him. Probably another Tommy Manzella.
I remember hearing Nomar comparisons around the time he was drafted. Can't provide a link though so maybe it was just the commentators blowing smoke.
I think nearly every scout in the US would disagree with you on this one. Villar projects to be elite or close to it with the glove.
I looked into Jiovanni Mier's crib when he was a mere babe and told his mom that Jio was no Adam Everett. [/revisonist history]
I think most experts believe Villar will be a much better defender than Mier. I have heard people question whether Mier will even be able to stick at shortstop. Everett was a year older in his first year than Mier is this year, but I still believe that the best we can expect from Mier is Everett type offensive production. Mier just does not have anywhere close to the type of potential that Villar has.
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=170194&page=2 A poster the day of the draft compared him to AE. You can also see the comparison's to Nomar, which was primarily based on body type. It is also interesting to see how differing the scouting reports were. One guy says he is slow with pop, and another says he is a base stealing threat, while he probably wouldn't develop much pop due to it not being necessary for his position. The overwhelming feeling though, was he could flat out play the position defensively, but could he hit? So far that question is still out there.
In games already completed, Corpus lost 1-0 to Midland. Ross Seaton allowed 3 hits in 6 shutout innings, walking 2 and striking out 6. Henry Villar allowed the only run in the top of the 7th. Jonathan Villar and Brandon Barnes had 2 hits apiece. Lexington walked off 6-5 losers in 10 against Greenville. Jhonny Medrano had a 2-run homer, his 2nd game in a row with a homer and 5th on the season. He added another RBI, which turned out to be the only RBIs for the Legends. Carlos Quevedo allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 8 hits (grand slam) in 6, striking out 5. David Martinez served up a walk-off homer to Xander Bogaerts in the 10th for the loss. Tri-City took care of Vermont 9-3. Jamaine Cotton, recently promoted from Greeneville, won in his ValleyCats debut, allowing 1 run on 5 hits in 5 innings, walking 2 and striking out 3. Neiko Johnson drove in 2. Matt Duffy and Chris Epps drove in 1 each. Rafael Valenzuela had a 2-run homer in the 9th, his 2nd of the year. Mitchell Lambson went 3 up, 3 down for 3 innings, striking out 2. Greeneville blew a 5-3 lead in the 8th to Princeton, turning the game into a 7-5 loss. Chase Davidson had a grand slam in the 6th, his 11th homer. Jesse Wierzbicki drove in 1. Danilo Del Rio allowed 2 runs on 3 hits in 5 innings. He walked 2 and fanned 1. The Gulf Coast team got pounded 9-2 by the Nats. Jose Fernandez and Alfredo Gonzalez drove in 1 each. Enderson Franco allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits in 4 innings, striking out 5. The Academy defeated the A's 9-6, as Juan Santana went 3-5 with his 3rd homer, another RBI, and scored 3 times. Frederick Serrano had a 2-run double, and 4 drove in 1 each, led by Teoscar Hernandez. Rey Guduan allowed 2 unearned runs on 1 hit, walking 2 and striking out 8 in 4 innings of work. Victor Mesa allowed 1 run on 4 hits in 3 innings of relief for the win, walking 2 and striking out 4. So, when and where will Chase Davidson be promoted, if at all?
That's a good question. He's been tearing it up at Greeneville but our 1st basemen above him are doing well too. Singelton at A and Hinze at AA. Maybe we move Singelton up to A+ or Davidson. I'm not really for sure
