#25 Brett Pill, 1B. AAA: .275/.319/.433 with 34 2B, 16 HR.
Brett Pill went into the 2010 season with a bit of a buzz due to his breakout 2009 season in AA Connecticut, a notoriously difficult stop for most Giants hitting prospects, in which he put up a line of .298/.348/.480 with 37 2B and 19 HR's. Since most hitting prospects tend to hit significantly better after their promotion to AAA Fresno, Pill's line there in 2010 was a disappointment. The fact that his post all-star BA was almost 50 points lower than his pre all-star BA didn't help matters. In the meantime, both Buster Posey and Brandon Belt roared past him on the Giants 1B depth chart. The fact that the Giants dropped him from the 40 man roster in order to protect other players from the Rule 5 draft shows how much his stock dropped. BTW, I have to admit I don't quite understand what happened when the Giants outrighted him back to the Fresno roster. I always though that once a player was on the 40 man roster he couldn't be dropped without clearing waivers, but there is no mention of waivers in the news releases about Pill's demotion. Players have come back from being dropped from the 40 man roster before, but I can't say I recall any off the top of my head and I'm pretty sure it doesn't happen very often. Pill turned 26 years old after the season so time is not on his side at all.
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Can it be because he was never on the 25 man roster?
ReplyDeleteOr never in the MLB roster.
I didn't say he was on the 25 man roster. He was on the 40 man major league roster and was outrighted back to Fresno after the season to make room for others to be protected from the Rule 5 draft.
ReplyDeleteI just assumed that he cleared waivers and then decided to return, but I have to agree that the G's are not exactly a good situation for him anymore, so that does not make a lot of sense...
ReplyDeleteAdd this to the Joaquim situation, and all the waiver-wire rules come into question this year.
I did not say you had said he was on the 25 man roster.
ReplyDeleteNo need to get defensive. I was only speculating on the mystery of waiver rules.
Anon,
ReplyDeleteSorry. There are several people who post here anonymously and some them are not friendly. I think that led me to misinterpret your question. You might want to consider getting a handle so we can distinguish you from all the other anons. Anyway.....
My understanding is the 25 man roster does not come into play here, but I could be wrong. Maybe I'll send in a question to Chris Haft or Ask BA.
Howdy. Been reading the blog for a while now, occasionally posting as "anonymous." Just wanted to say I really enjoy the insight, especially on the prospects, which many free-lance writers are not able to provide with any sort of credibility, but your analysis is fantastic!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I think Brett Pill falls in to a category of players who appeared to be fringe MLB players not too long ago, but just will fall just a bit short. At 26, playing a premium position in a hitter's league, with (what I assume because I haven't heard anything different) average defense, he is just one of those guys who quickly get buried in the organizational depth chart.
If he continues to play, I would imagine him as a perennial AAA All-Star and perhaps even get a few AB's in the majors if he finds himself in an organization that is shallow at 1B. I just can't foresee him having any impact or place on the Giants
Hey JazzHands! Welcome aboard! I believe Pill is pretty good defensively, but so are Travis Ishikawa and Brandon Belt. I have to agree that Pill doesn't appear to have quite enough bat for a player who has only played first base.
ReplyDeleteI never understood the love for Pill. Ishikawa hit better and played better defense yet never got similar love from the fans. And, frankly, his 2009 stats was not all that good either, he needed to hit above 1000 OPS in Eastern League to have even a chance of making the majors as a regular, and at his age he fell well short.
ReplyDeleteHe and Bond got love from the general fan base that I just did not understand, as their MLEs were not good at all plus did not have any prior prospect cred. Belt, while no prospect cred, hit very well at three different levels plus AFL, showing that it was probably no fluke.
As OGC already stated, I have always heard that Pill had +++D. I just do not understand why he would have come back to the Giants if he had any choice in the matter. We have Huff holding down the fort in SF with Belt ready to take control of the position for the foreseeable future. Then we have Ishi as the Doug Mienthdfkskghtyehjf wannabe backup, and the outside possibility of AnVill re-entering the picture.
ReplyDeleteNot exactly a great org to play for when you are 26 and trying to make your last stand...