Blake Sabol C/OF. DOB: 1/7/1998. B-L, T-R. 6'4", 225 lbs. Drafted 2019 Round 7(Pirates).
2022(AA): .281/.347/.486, 14 HR, 9 SB, 9.2 BB%, 26.0 K%, 412 PA.
2022(AAA): .296/.426/543, 5 HR, SB, 16.8 BB%, 21.8 K%, 101 PA.
It's always a challenge to know where to rank Rule 5 Draftees in the Top 50 Prospects list or whether to rank them at all. On one hand they are on the major league roster and getting as clean a shot at being on it on Opening Day as anyone will get. On the other hand a large majority aren't even in the organization by Opening Day let alone by the end of the season. Blake Sabol may have a better chance of sticking with the Giants than your average prospect. Most importantly he has hit at the highest levels of the minor leagues. Secondly, he has the most coveted of multi-positional skills, the ability to play catcher, although how well he plays the position seems to be a polarizing question. My roster analysis tells me the only way Sabol makes the 26-man roster is if he is the sole back up catcher and/or the Giants carry 14 position players. It does appear FZ intends to give him a chance do to just that.
If you want to learn more about Blake Sabol I recommend an interview with David Laurilia published on Fangraphs 11/22/2022 when he was still in the Pirates organization. Fun Fact: Blake's mom is Samoan and football player Troy Polalmalu is his second cousin.
If Sobol makes the team as the backup catcher, will that chase a very capable Austin Wynns (no options) off the roster? He's a very good piece to lose.
ReplyDeleteWynns is not on the 40-man roster. He signed a minor league deal after he was DFA'd.
Delete.....but now the Giants sign Roberto Perez for reasons that are not at all clear to me.
DeleteArgh, forgot Wynns was passed through waivers.
DeleteDon't you think he could have gotten a job as a backup somewhere? No one wanted to pay him? Maybe he wanted to stay in CA, born San Diego, college in Fresno, bounced around the east coast for, what, 8 years.
Good deal for SF.
Agree with you Doc about Roberto Perez. Either they picked him up as a depth piece or FZ hopes he can recreate 2019 when he hit 24 homers for Cleveland.. He is a career .209 hitter although he walks 11% of the time. He is also 34 YO. Hmmmm, long shot to be productive me thinks.
ReplyDelete"...ability to play catcher...although how well..."
ReplyDeleteThat seems to be the question with all the 'versatile' players.
What is the threshold for the team to say a player can play a certain position? It's asked here, given the need to improve our defense at many positions.
Take catching for example, as this is the subject of this post. Would an all-career-long, catching-nothing-but-catching backup be a better option, if we want to improve the D at that position?
We all have seen the upside of having many versatile players on the offense. But like in chess (or many other endeavors), you have to play O, as well as D. So, we have to examine the consequences on D.