The River Cats season review has to start with David Villar IF not only winning the PCL MVP but graduating to the major leagues and finishing the season strong enough to not pick up Evan Longoria's option. The Giants are possibly lucky to have Villar at all after he was left off the 40-man roster and exposed to the Rule 5 Draft after a strong AA season in 2021. Fortunately the Rule 5 Draft was cancelled due to the agreement ending the lockout and Villar started his season in Sacramento where he raked. After a rough first call up to the majors, he went back to Sacramento, worked on some things and came back looking like a legitimate MLB player.
David Villar IF: DOB: 1/27/1997. 6'1", 215lbs. B-R, T-R. Drafted in 2018 Round 11 out of South Florida.
2022 AAA: .275/.404/.617, 27 HR, 15.0 BB%, 25.4 K%, 366 PA. MLB: .231/.331/.455, 9.9 BB%, 32 K%, 9 HR, 181 PA(.269/.327/.570 with 8 HR in 101 PA after return from AAA in Sept).
With Evan Longoria gone, we have to think Villar has the inside tract at the starting 3B job out of spring training.
Let's not forget the Luis Gonzalez OF started the season in Sacramento too. The White Sox cut him loose in 2021 when his season ended due to injury. FZ was willing to pay him to rehab and picked him up off waivers. He came back healthy in 2022 and put up a slash line of .289/.402/.539, 6 HR, 92 PA. He took off right away after his promotion but struggled later in the season and showed a noticeable lack of HR power at the MLB level so he is at a bit of a crossroads going into 2023. Not sure if he has an option for 2023.
Isan Diaz IF- .275/.377/.574, 23 HR, 7 SB, 347 PA. Diaz was acquired from the Marlins for cash on April 30. He was off and on the IL but performed well when healthy. The Giants added him to the 40-man roster this offseason so he'll get a look in spring training. He's always put up great numbers in the minors but his MLB BA is well under the Mendoza Line.
Sean Hjelle RHP was the big success story on the pitching side. He was the Giants second round draft pick in 2018 out of Kentucky(college) and has worked his way slowly up through the system.
If just one player every year came out of AAA and became a fixture on the MLB roster I would call that success. So many guys get stuck here or don’t get fair shakes when they do get called up and end up right back in AAA. Then they move around organizations for as long as they and their families can take it until they give up on the dream. There are a lot of talented players like Villar who just need a long enough look to stick but how long do you give them is the question. Easy to do in the first 2-3 years of the rebuild but hard to be patient with these guys in year five.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Graduating Villar, Gonzalez and Hjelle was a pretty good year for the Giants farm system. Maybe they add Casey Schmitt and Kyle Harrison in 2023?
DeleteGraduating Villar, Hjelle should enough, maybe, can only wait and see. Hope both will contribute .
DeleteThink Villar is most relevant, if he can establish himself next year, Think everyone will be happy.
DeleteLuis Gonzales - 'willing to pay him to rehab and picked him up off waivers.'
ReplyDeleteThat seems like a move a lot of us amateur fans would do. Wonder why more professionals haven't. Zero prospect/player acquisition (direct, or maybe immediate) cost*. And can only enhance one's talent-discovery reputation.
Isan Diaz - 'MLB BA well under the Mendoza line.'
There was a time not long ago, skeptical fans of the Giants would have labelled him an AAAA player already, not worthy of a spot on the 40 man roster.
*Maybe some opportunity cost.
For all the money they throw around, it seems a lot of MLB organizations are astonishingly penurious with even promising prospects. As for Diaz, he still has to prove he's not a AAAA player but if an opening occurs, I wouldn't mind the Giants giving him that chance.
DeleteFangraphs shows Luis Gonzalez with an option.
Deletehttps://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/depth-charts/giants
Not sure if Fangraphs has updated their options/service time numbers from last year yet. Great if it's true, at least for FZ.
DeleteHeliot Ramos seemed to have challenges moving from AAA to MLB. Are we more optimistic about his opportunities in 2023?
ReplyDelete2023 is probably close to a make or break year for Heliot. He should start in Sacramento and I would think he'll have to do better than last year to get another MLB shot.
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