Tuesday, February 12, 2013

DrB's 2013 Giants Top 50 Prospects: Honorable Mention Part 2

Jonathan Jones, 1B.  DOB: 2/15/1992.  6'4", 205 lbs.  B-R, T-R.
Rookie AZL:  .282/.354/.485, 6 HR, 11 BB, 54 K in 163 AB.

Drafted in round 23, 2011 out of Canada JC ball, Jones got just 17 AB in the AZL after the draft, so for all practical purposes, 2012 was his first pro experience.  He showed some power potential, but the K rate is frightful.

Randy Ortiz, OF.  DOB:  6/15/1993.  5'11", 170 lbs.  B-R, T-R.
Rookie AZL:  .247/.332/.330, 30 SB, 7 CS, 15 BB, 47 K.

DSL graduate.  Looks like another no-power/speed guy.  AZL numbers very similar to DSL except lower BA.  Needs to cut down on the K's.

Andrew Leenhouts, LHP.  DOB:  3/28/1990.  6'3", 195 lbs.  B-L, T-L.
Rookie AZL:  3-1, 4.38, 37 IP, 14 BB, 60 K's.

Tremendous K rate but definitely old for the league.  23'rd round draft pick in 2012.  No BA scouting report.

Emmanuel DeJesus, LHP.  DOB:  1/6/1994.  6'0", 175 lbs.  B-L, T-L.
Rookie AZL:  1-0, 5.91, 10.2 IP, 8 BB, 8 K's.

Disappointing year for the smallish LHP after a tremendous DSL campaign in 2011. He's still young, though.

Gabriel Cornier, C.  DOB:  6/10/1992.  6'0", 190 lbs.  B-S, T-R.
Rookie AZL:  .319/.394/.429, 12 BB, 26 K in 91 AB.

Switch-hitting catcher prospect in his 4'th professional season.  Had just 23 AB's in the AZL in 2011 after 2 seasons in the DSL.  This was, by far, his best season at the plate.  Switch-hitting catcher prospects are always interesting.

11 comments:

  1. Dr. B...I may have missed him but what are your thoughts on Nathaniel Javier? The kid we signed to a 350k signing bonus this year out of the Dominican republic.

    This looks like a glowing scouting report...

    3B NATHANIEL JAVIER

    6-3/185, R/R, 10/10/95, Santo Domingo, DR
    PG Grade: 10

    While Javier didn’t have the flash of some of the other top Dominican prospects, he might end up being the best all around player aside from Cabrera or Rijo eventually. While his 6-foot-3, 185-pound square shouldered, squared jawed look fits the young prospect prototype, Javier has a look about him that says, “I get this.” He has a very mature gait and rhythm to his demeanor and actions on and off the field and really carries himself like a ball player.

    Having tools helps, too. Javier has easy, low maintenance hitting mechanics, with a smooth right handed swing with plus bat speed. He’s the type who one can project to hit for both high average and big power in the future. He’s a prototype third baseman in his build and in his defensive tools as well. Javier runs a 7.10 60 and threw 87 mph across the infield with an easy, clean release and sound footwork. Unless he really gets big and slows down, he should have no trouble staying at the position for the next two decades.

    It’s somewhat of an uncomfortable comparison to make, as Josh Vitters hasn’t had huge success in the minor leagues since being the third pick in the 2007 draft (although he did hit .283-14-81 in AA as a 21 year old, which is certainly not bad), but Javier has a lot of the same tools, the same actions and the same profile that Vitters did as a 17-year old.

    http://www.perfectgame.org/articles/View.aspx?article=6812

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    1. BA will have a report on the Giants IFA activity in the next few days, but here's some of what's known:

      Raiby Barias 115K
      Argenis Rodriguez 160K
      Nathanael Javier 500K
      GUSTAVO CABRERA 1.3MM

      The big question on Javier will be can he hack third or will he move to first if his body "fills in". I think he's tall and skinny enough to hack it, but what do I know, I've only seen one video. Taller than Cabrera, he has the same broad shoulders and skinny frame. I think he's a great pickup. MLB's Mayo had him at #11, BA was a bit harsher on the grades.

      http://dplbaseball.com/dpl-news/nathanael-javier-signs-with-the-sf-giants/

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    2. I don't know much about Javier, but he sounds like a very interesting prospect. I will be doing a Dominican Dandies section after the Honorable mentions are done.

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  2. Some other young uns to watch out for in the DSL include Hengerber Medina, a 18 year old SS; and Kleiber Rivas, a 17 year old (lefty hitting) catcher.

    Some other relatively recent signees, and some bonuses paid:
    Keury Mella, 275K RHP
    Anthony Gomez, 200K RHH 3B
    Carlos (Eric) Valdez, 325K RHH RF
    Michael Santos, 250K, RHP (1/2012 signee)
    Royel Astacio, 150K, SH 3B

    Those guys are all for the 2011-12 period, don't count against the 2012 cap of 2.9MM. BA revealed that the Rays went over cap, and will face penalties next year. (Dave Cameron wrote a piece on this, basically whining that big market teams shouldn't get rewarded for fielding poor teams and the Rays shouldn't get penalized for success, ie MLB and ownership has put the upstart Rays in their place). My view? Boo hoo the Rays have to play by the rules, or actually, they don't want to play by the rules and they'll be penalized next year. With the sliding scale in place for successful teams, they are basically punting next year. Sounds good, if you can find enough talent to stock up on. But it is definitely debateable how much baseball talent exists in the world. How many guys are worth putting down nine figures on? And I'd point square to the Cards with the best draft pick of the past 20 years in Pujols as well as one of the top 5 prospects currently with Oscar Taveras, signed for 150K or so.

    Here's the DSL roster for 2012:
    http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_ros&cid=615
    Somehow GUSTAVO got placed on there. Interesting, he did not play.

    Michael Santos signing link:
    http://dplbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=304:louisville-slugger-tournament-series-recap&catid=1:latest-news

    Argenis Rodriguez signing link:
    http://dplbaseball.com/featured-post/argenis-rodriguez-signs-with-the-san-francisco-giants/

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    1. Are these our recent signings?

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    2. Thanks for the links and feedback Shankbone.

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  3. Dr. B,

    Just wondering what your take on the Michael Bourn 4/48 deal is compared to Pagan's 4/40? Do you think if the Giants knew Bourn would reduce his asking price to 4/48 that they would have preferred him at that price to Pagan's deal? Obviously you can't just go back in time and know these things and I'm comfortable with Pagan, but does Bourn offer more value at just 2mil more per year?

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    1. At that price, he'd probably be preferable to Pagan, but losing the 1st round pick for signing him would probably be the deal breaker.

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    2. I actually think Pagan is a more valuable player than Bourn. Bourn put up a crazy WAR last year, but even the Fangraphs people acknowledge it was mainly due to an unsustainable blip in UZR. Bourn might steal more bases, but I'm thinking the days of 60 steal seasons are about over for him. Pagan hit for significantly more gap power last year and has for his entire career. Pagan's SLG% was .440 last year and is .424 for his career while Bourn's SLG% was .391 last year and is .365 for his career. Pagan will give you 30 SB's per year which is only 10 less than what Bourn gave last year.

      I would take Pagan for the same price and at $2 M less per season, he's a bargain!

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    3. Plus Pagan throws in his chemistry for free!

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    4. Pagan scores almost automatically from 2B. He's an excellent baserunner, and his 2nd half fielding really improved. His arm is better than Bourn's, and like DrB said, he has significantly more gap power. I prefer Pagan at the same price personally, I think Bourn is a very overrated player.

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