Third base is a position at the crossroads for the Giants as we await the outcome of the Pablo Sandoval negotiations. If Pabs remains with the Giants, the position is nailed down for the next 6 years or so. If not, while an immediate replacement might have to come from outside the organization, there are interesting possibilities for the future in the lower levels of the farm system.
MLB Starter: Open pending Sandoval's decision.
MLB Reserve: Joaquin Arias- .254/.281/.301, 3.9 BB%, 11.3 K%, .285 BABIP, 204 PA. Arias hit just .188 in the first half last year then turned it completely around and hit .355 in the second half. He has no power and does not walk much, but does make contact and is a positive defender at 3B. His overall line for the season is about what you might expect in a stable sample size with a positive BABIP regression to around .300. Nice reserve player, but probably not the guy you want starting at 3B for you.
AAA: Adam Duvall- .298/.360/.599, 27 HR, 7.6 BB%, 20.8 K%, 394 PA. Duvall hit just .192 in 77 PA in the majors, but he also hit 3 HR's which projects to 23 over 600 PA's. You would expect the BA to improve with MLB experience. The big problem for Duvall is on defense where he still struggles with throwing accuracy which may limit him to 1B.
Chris Dominguez- .274/.307/.460, 21 HR, 21 SB, 4.7 BB%, 27.1 K%, 496 PA. Dominguez is a big guy with almost unlimited power potential. He is amazingly versatile for such a big guy playing multiple positions with Fresno including a significant amount of time at SS. He doesn't walk much, but he strikes out a lot. His 1 hit in 18 MLB AB's was a HR which pretty much sums up what most people would expect him to do at that level. He's 28 yo so no spring chicken as a prospect.
AA: Vacant. Mario Lisson is a minor league FA. He hit .266/.370/.467, 18 HR, 11 SB, 12.0 BB%, 20.6 K%, 451 PA. Am I crazy to think that he should be in the mix at 3B if Pablo ends up leaving?
Ricky Oropesa played some 3B in 2014, but his main position is still probably 1B.
High A: Mitch Delfino- .289/.333/.424, 12 HR, 6.0 BB%, 13.5 K%, 571 PA. High contact hitter with some power. I think the bat will play at higher levels. Should move up to AA Richmond next year.
Low A: Ryan Tuntland- .195/.298/.288, 11.9 BB%, 32.3 K%, 235 PA. 3 true outcomes with no power. Gotta either start hitting some dingers or start making contact with the ball.
Short Season: Ryder Jones- .243/.293/.393, 3 HR, 6.0 BB%, 17.9 K%, 117 PA. Jones actually played most of the season at SS in Augusta where he hit .220/.272/.339, 7 HR, 4.5 BB%, 23.3 K%, 399 PA. Jones started the season strong and finished strong. He struggled mightily in between. He acknowledged that the daily grind of a pro season took some adjusting to. You have to think that trying to handle the rigors of playing SS at a new level took its toll too. Look for a strong bounceback in 2015.
Rookie AZL: Jonah Arenado- .250/.340/.304, 10.0 BB%, 20.6 K%, 209 PA. Arenado got valuable PA's and held his own. I would expect to see him in Salem-Keizer next summer.
Nataniel Javier- .172, 5 singles in 29 AB, 11 K's, 0 BB's. Roid Boy looked a bit overmatched in a tiny sample size after completing his suspension. Will he be the starting 3B for the Arizona Giants in 2015?
DSL: Kelvin Beltre- .235/.430/.441, 3 HR, 7 SB, 23.7 BB%, 11.7 K%. Beltre is listed as a SS, but I feel like his future is at 3B. Showed both power and speed early in the DSL season then disappeared from the boxscores. Was he injured or was it a case like Michael Santos where he was pulled to work on nutrition and conditioning? I expect him to surface in Arizona in 2015.
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For a lot of reasons I'm thinking Sandoval will be gone: Big, long contract. Too much risk for the money. Boston is, reportedly, 'all in' on signing Sandoval. The stench of the Barry Zito contract. Etc.
ReplyDeleteSo I'm thinking outside the box with the Depth Chart for this position -- Duffy & Sanchez.
Yes, I know Duffy's been discussed at SS and 2B by many fans, but I I think he might be worth a look at 3B. He's got a decent arm, well within the 3B 'necessary arm strength' range, and he's shown himself to be a good contact hitter so he'd might do well as the #1/#2 (depending on Pagan's health) hitter. Defensively, he doesn't have SS range, but he's been a good defender within his range. So I don't see why not take a chance. At worst we can send him back down for more seasoning.
So far, Sanchez has been a mixed bag at catcher. But he might be able, like many catching prospects, to transition to 3B. He's got the arm for it. He's pretty young and could well be worth the risk of retraining because, frankly, I don't see him making the 25-man roster unless Susac or Posey hits the DL.
And, of course, we could always try to sign a FA or make a trade.
After seeing Duffy make some throws at SS, I have serious questions about whether he has the arm for 3B.
DeleteAgree 100%. Duffy has a slingshot type arm, not a 3B cannon. Maybe he upgrades it, but not likely.
DeleteI think there is such a small sample size to see if Duffy can be productive at the MLB level. He tore up AA but I think he still can go to AAA and get better. After winning a World Series we shouldn't be putting band-aids at positions and putting an unproven player like Duffy or converting Sanchez to 3B is a risk. We obviously have a decent window right now to compete with our core players. Why risk wasting time in this window where we could be adding more rings to Posey and Bumgarners hands. Trading for a guy like Trevor Plouffe will give us similar numbers to Sandoval and he is very cost controlled for a few years. If you don't believe me look at his numbers. He offers a little pop in his bat and is a decent defender. Keeping the cost down allows us to go strong at a SP or LF. When we have 3 big shoes to fill plus maybe adding to the bullpen, there isn't enough money to go around unless we choose 1 or 2 cost controlled options. I think anybody but Carbonell, Williamson and Beede should be in play for Trevor.
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with what you're saying, Roger. But if Plouffe offers similar value production-wise and is cheaper and under team control for a few years, wouldn't it cost a lot to pry him from Minnesota?
DeleteLucky
I totally agree. He may be hard to pry away. But, the Twins are rebuilding and are probably two years out from contending. Their top 2 prospects took a step back last year. Byron Buxton only played 31 games and Miguel Sano was out the entire year. Besides Hughes and Gibson they don't really have much pitching. Crick and 2 other decent prospects might be enough to get into a conversation. This is just for conversational purposes as we have no idea what the Twins would want in a trade. I just think that picking up the phone versus trying to stick an unproven piece in there would be a better move.
DeleteIt feels like all 3 championships have been Band-Aid championships.
DeleteI guess that makes it even sweeter, and more for Zaidi to 'study.'
Still, I agree that we should make us as healthy as possible and let Bochy's managerial WAR (is there such a thing, fpr managers are not that important per Billy Beane) make up for any Band-Aid shortage.
Do we even know that Minnesota would trade Plouffe?
DeleteOf the names listed, Lisson and Delfino catch my attention the most. Lisson, in particular, seems like someone who could be in the mix next year (if brought back) simply because of how he performed in a pitchers environment in AA...good OBP, good power. If he were a lefty, I'd say let him and Duvall compete/platoon.
ReplyDeleteDelfino is not ready, but I look forward to seeing how he progresses through the system.
So we're back to square one: no real internal replacements (at least none that overwhelm) and a FA market that we probably shouldn't take part in (unless it means a cheaper player who'd change positions to cover 3B). So unless we trade for someone, what makes more sense? Make do with what we got and piece meal it, with the intention of upgrading offensively in LF to compensate? Or go out and spend the big bucks?
Lucky
The latest rumor is that Felipe Alou is pushing hard to sign Yasmany Tomas AS A 3B! Just think about that for a minute. That would mean moving on from Pablo and probably crater what Boston would be willing to pay since no other team's are close. On the other hand, leaking that little tidbit might be a ploy by the Giants to get Pablo to drop his price.
DeleteCrawford to third...done.
ReplyDeleteI could live with a Adrianza/AAA slugger/Arias patch. Although Adrianza at short and Crawford at 3B might make more sense, I could see Boch keeping the established guy at his spot.
DeleteDuvall is well ahead above Dominguez in terms of offense, but if big D played a legit SS, that plus his rocket arm is enough to keep it close.
Hanley Ramirez anyone?
ReplyDeleteMaybe if his market craters and he is willing to take a 1 year, rebuild his rep deal.
Deleteclubhouse cancer
Deleteno thank you
bacci