#11 Chris Dominguez, 3B. 6'3", 215 lbs. BD: 11/22/1986. B-R, T-R.
High A: .291/.337/.465, 10 2B, 11 HR, 8 SB in 258 AB.
AA: .244/.272/.403, 22 2B, 7 HR in 295 AB.
My lasting recollection of Chris Dominguez from the SJ Giants game I saw early last year in Lake Elsinore is not so much the 2 HR's he hit in the game, but his physical presence. Chris is a big man, but he looks even bigger on the field. I mean, he really did look like a man playing with a bunch of boys out there. Chris Dominguez is a bit of an enigma in the making. I don't think anyone in the GIants system has more raw power, including Tommy Joseph. The big question is whether Chris will ever make enough contact to harness that power.
His numbers held up very well through the first half of the season in San Jose. After his promotion, he started out like a house afire in AA going .314/.333/.647 in his first 13 games. He then went into a deep slump hitting .218 in July before rebounding to a .257 BA in August.
Chris boasts a plus-plus arm, and could probably pitch if he had to. His range at 3B is limited but he can play 2 steps farther back because of that arm. He has shown the ability to make incremental adjustments at the plate going all the way back to college, but the progress has been slow at times and at 25 yo, he isn't getting any younger. Still, power hitters often develop more slowly and Dominguez power is something that is worth being patient with. The Giants could consider his half season at AA to be a jump-start on 2012 and send him back to Richmond. With Pablo esconced at 3B in SF, there is certainly no reason to rush. Gillaspie will likely still be in Fresno, so that scenario probably makes the most sense. They could also push him to Fresno and make Gillaspie more of a utility player. In that scenario, I wouldn't be shocked if Chris had a huge breakout in the more hitter friendly PCL.
If Pablo Sandoval stays in shape and continues to grow as a player and the Giants sign him to a long term contract, there might not be a place in SF for Chris Dominguez. He might then become trade bait for a team looking for a Mark Reynolds type 3B, a guy who hits for a low BA, strikes out a ton but hits a ton of HR's. On the other hand, you never know. Pablo might get too expensive to keep or he might fall off the fitness wagon. It never hurts to have options in the system.
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Between Conor G, Charlie C and Chris D we have 3 guys getting long in the tooth for 2 positions in Fresno. Maybe holding Dominguez back would be a good idea. While it wasn't a spectacular bust out that SJ 1/2 season was pretty good progress.
ReplyDeleteWith so few power bats in the system, and across mlb it pays to be as patient as possible with big Chris. I think a trip to Fresno will make his numbers stick out, but in this day and age its not like every mlb team hasn't already got a big thick scouting report on him already.
That's what makes trades so tough for the Giants the past few years. We have a limited amount of prospects that are blue chip and we have to hang onto every one to build the big club. Sabean has done a good job with that. You have a marginal sideways trade such as Garko, a nice trade to score a good player such as Sanchez, but that takes 2 of your top 10 rated arms to do that. It seems like GMs are skeptical to trade for Giant arms except as throw ins or blue chip now. 2 long in the tooth guys for Keppinger. Throw in of Verdugo to get Melky. Our top guy for Beltran. The Giants have been long on arms for a long time, so that's what Sabey Sabes trades. This is a new day having position player guys.
As far as trade value it seems like Dominguez would be comparable to John Bowker, enough to get a competent reliever (with another throw in arm?). Who knows what our needs will be but the betting odds will be middle infield if things don't work out for Freddy or Crawford. Dominguez for Gordon Beckham mid season? Hmmm...
Just to add, I don't think Beckham is a great pickup, he's been found wanting. But that is the type of trade Sabey Sabes can get - a prospect who has lost some tarnish, like Garko. Also, Scott Barnes is tooling along in CLE and might actually make the show this year.
ReplyDeleteSome of those PR academy guys are in Florida this weekend. http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=6421
In addition to Correa, there's also a pitcher Edwin Diaz, and a couple catcher prospects. No mention of the guy I like Jesmuel Valentin, not sure if he's going to be there. This could be the event that jumps Correa into the top 10 or down into sleeper status where the G's have a shot to grab him at 20.
While this might be a very "left field" idea, (especially considering Dominguez's lack of range at third) why not thrown him in right? The way I see it, long term third and first is locked up (which are Dominguez's main positions) and with Posey potentially moving to first for injury reasons/making room for Tommy Joseph or Andrew Susac, that makes Belt move to Left. Now, my idea is moving Dominguez to right. He definitely has the arm for it and the Giants are really hurting for a power bat. Think of the top three right field in-house options:
ReplyDelete1. Nate Schierholtz: About 10 home run power, best defender of the three
2. Jarrett Parker: About 15 home run power, Nate arm, but not Dominguez arm.
3. Francisco Peguero: Only one season of ten home runs in his entire career (and he has been with the Giants since he was 16) great arm, great athlete.
Now, you throw a guy like Dominguez in there, who could potentially give you 30 home runs, 170 strikeouts, a .250 batting average, ad a KILLER arm in right, I'll take it. The Giants REALLY need a power bat, and I think Dominguez can take care of that.
PS: Not anon anymore, check out my blog SFBall covers Giants and 49ers, am getting ready to post my top 20 prospects (sorry Dr.B, don't have the gumption that you do to do 50).
SFBall,
ReplyDeleteOK, I'll check it out. Just the thought of Dominguez lumbering around in RF is quite the visual picture. I was surprised when I looked up his stats and saw 8 SB's in SJ, so maybe there's enough speed there to cover RF, who knows?
Speaking of trades. Bold prediction: the PTBNL for the Pagan/Torres trade that we get from the Mets: Luis Mateo. The G's originally signed him for 625K in 2008, voided due to bone chips in his elbow. Yocum rec'd aggressive rehab instead of surgery. Then he had some birth certificate fun. He's 22 for 2012, RHP. The Mets signed him in May 2011 for 150K, that is just the right amount of money invested they won't care about losing him. Book it! He throws mid 90s and has filled out to 200 lbs on a 6'3 frame.
ReplyDeleteSFBall - interesting idea. If Chris D is athletic enough for third, maybe he can roll to right. Worked for Schierholz no problem. Don't know if Chris D has enough footspeed though, and obviously our RF is tough.
I'm all over the interwebz this morning. DrB - noticed your comment on Jeremy Baltz the StJohns OF who did pretty well in the cape cod and has a good hit tool. This type of guy screams 4-5 round for the G's and maybe they can work on that hit technique that you critiqued.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I just figured the Giants are between a rock and a hard place in right field, not getting any power, and have only just started to get production when schierholtz went down. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing on Baltz: One scout described Jeremy as being a "Pat Burrell clone." At 6-3/215 pounds, he certainly has the body type.
ReplyDeleteI could live with that.
My top 20 is up, if anyone here has time, check it out, there are some surprises.
ReplyDeleteI'll stick my neck way out here a bit ahead of time. Giants RF of the future: Leonardo Fuentes!
ReplyDeleteSFBall,
ReplyDeleteNot a bad list. As I've said, the exact order is not as important as getting acquainted with the talent down on the farm. You might want to re-think Adam Duvall though.
Wow, big prediction. I'm just going to add my two cents (hoping you were not kidding!):
ReplyDeleteWhile he has good doubles power, I don't see much else to get excited about. While I am unsure of his ceiling, his stats scream organizational filler. 10 BB to 55 SO, .257 BA and only one steal. I also don't see very good defensive ability with 7 errors in right.
The thought of Dominguez lumbering towards the right-CF gap at AT&T is a bit scary. A CF type of player like Peguero or Pegan seems like a more favorable option to me especially at AT&T.
ReplyDeleteDominguez really needs to step up his contact issues pretty quick as he is starting to get long in the tooth.
Dr.B
ReplyDeleteAbout Duvall, I am just super excited about his power with 22 homeruns and 30 doubles. Also, while he could tone down his strikeouts, his OBP is 100 points better (.385 to .285) than his AVG. That is kind of a magic number for me. But, he does need work on the defensive side.
I think Giants fans are way too enthusiastic about Duvall and need to draw their breaks on this fact: he feasted on bad pitching to hit those HRs. I like him as a sleeper but back in the 20s. Just like Richmond is going to be a big test for Ehire, even hitting friendly SJ will be a test for Duvall, and he's old for the league.
ReplyDeleteUh yeah, that would be "Brakes". Duvall needs the breaks. I think he'll have to prove out at every level - that was from Baggs chat as well.
ReplyDeleteGetting a big bat into the lineup is hard. LF/1B are the best chances to hide bad or lumbering D.
Alright, that's fair, maybe I did rate him too high at 6, because he is a bit old for the level, but you also have to take where he hit his home runs. In Augusta. Where the power goes out.
ReplyDeleteDuvall had a very impressive season and if he keeps it going in SJ plus improves his D, yes, he's going to move up the rankings quite a bit by next year.
ReplyDeleteSfgiants has a Krukow interview up - he says 100 games for Wonderboy, Posey wants to catch 142, no restrictions on him as far as the injury, its all looking good. Hope you're staying fit Hector, you're going to have to prove out. If Krukow is to be believed, and I don't see why not in this case, the Brain Trust is drawing the brakes on Buster and will shift him to first or DH as appropriate. I just don't see how, if Hector rakes, they don't break camp with him.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure the injury risk is a reason for Buster to play 100 games vs 142 at catcher. I mean, all it takes is one game to have a career threatening injury like what happened last year. Now, if the ankle starts bothering him or if he's getting dinged up with foul tips and things like that, or if the legs are getting heavy, then maybe you take him out of the line of fire more often and let the bruises settle down a bit, but man, all it takes is one game for something like last year to happen.
ReplyDeleteNot that high on Dominguez due to age and position factor. I say send him to Fresno and see if you can get some puffed up PCL numbers out of him for trade value. Like Mr. Oropesa better and I see you have him up next.
ReplyDeleteTruth be told, I'm probably higher on Ricky in the long run than Dominguez, but that's true of several hitters in the Giants system who I have ranked lower. I ranked Chris one slot higher than Ricky mostly because of pro experience.
ReplyDeleteIt might be injury risk, or just resting his legs as he comes back. If its 30 games I think we can maybe get away with Stewie, but if its 50-60 I think they have to look heavily at the offense. Getaway games with Bochy produce some funny lineups, they produce better results than you expect, but I'd feel better with a better bat.
ReplyDeleteWhat are your thoughts on Adam Brett Walker from Jacksonville University. I see him on several mock draft boards and they have him listed as an outfielder? Power hitter with 5 tool possibilities? Similar to Chris but better athlete?
ReplyDelete