It's an off day for the Giants and no minor league games tonight either. I thought I'd try something I've been toying with in my mind for awhile. Q/A's seem to be popular on other blogs. Let's try it here. Might be great or it might bomb.
I'l try to answer any baseball related question, Giants, MLB, Prospects, draft, fantasy, whatever is on your mind, baseball related of course.
Fire away. Feel free to join in the discussion at any time.
Showing posts with label Prospects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prospects. Show all posts
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Scouting the Trade Deadline: Giants Acquire Carlos Beltran
Brian Sabean was in a position where he was going to get heat no matter what he did. With the Giants in first place in the NL West because of the best pitching staff in baseball top-to-bottom, but one of the worst offenses, staying in first place to the end of the season was not a given and winning in the playoffs seemed like a downright longshot. Stand pat and Sabean would be criticized heavily for failing to take advantage of the opportunity window this pitching staff is giving him. Make the trade and a bunch of obsessive nerds who do things like read minor league boxscores every day would be railing that he mortgaged the future of the team for a "rental."
First, let's take a look at what the Giants are getting in Beltran: Make no mistake. Carlos Beltran is a difference maker with a batting line of .289/.391/.513 with 15 HRs. He didn't do that in a bandbox park either. Citi Field is a serious ballpark and a tough place to hit, especially for power. He also has a track record of excellent play in the postseason with a cumulative OPS of 1.302 in 22 games. He is not just a good hitter. He was the best available hitter as the trade deadline approached. His only downside is a history of injuries but he has played in 98 of 104 games this year. Many teams wanted him. The Pirates apparently had a deal done for him but he exercised his no-trade clause to block that trade. Apparently Beltran thinks the Giants have a better chance of winning than the Pirates. There are no guarantees in baseball, or life for that matter, only probabilities. Beltran significantly increases the probability that the Giants will be able to repeat as World Series Champions.
Now let's take a look at what the Giants gave up in Wheeler: Zack Wheeler was the Giants first round draft choice in 2009, #5 overall. He is an excellent pitching prospect who I have raved about on this blog. Great size. Great velocity. Great K rates. Strong ground ball tendencies. Those are elite qualities. The only downside is a relatively high walk rate that will have to come down before he can become a MLB ace, but he's young enough that he still has plenty of time to correct it. As with all young pitchers, he is an injury risk but no higher than average. Again, there are no certainties in baseball, but Zack Wheeler will probably be a #1 or #2 MLB starting pitcher some day. The Giants gave up a lot.
Although I hate losing a prospect like Wheeler, I think this is a trade Sabean had to make. When you have a window of opportunity, you have to go for it. Winning 2 WS in a row is a pretty rare accomplishment unless you are the Yankees. It would make this Giants era one of the best of all time. Beltran makes that possibility significantly more likely. Zack Wheeler will not pitch in the major leagues for at least 2 years. Who knows what the landscape will look like then? I believe the Giants have the resources to hang onto the core of their pitching staff long term, but if not they can be traded prior to free agency much like the Mets just did with Beltran. 2 years is plenty of time to reload the farm system with pitching prospects and the Giants do know how to find pitching.
In summary, I give the trade a thumbs up while admitting it is a close call and admitting the Giants paid a big price.
BTW, for another opinion about the trade, look up Jeff Passan's article on yahoo.com. He does an interesting compare and contrast with the Cardinals and the Rasmus trade. Guess which one he likes better!
First, let's take a look at what the Giants are getting in Beltran: Make no mistake. Carlos Beltran is a difference maker with a batting line of .289/.391/.513 with 15 HRs. He didn't do that in a bandbox park either. Citi Field is a serious ballpark and a tough place to hit, especially for power. He also has a track record of excellent play in the postseason with a cumulative OPS of 1.302 in 22 games. He is not just a good hitter. He was the best available hitter as the trade deadline approached. His only downside is a history of injuries but he has played in 98 of 104 games this year. Many teams wanted him. The Pirates apparently had a deal done for him but he exercised his no-trade clause to block that trade. Apparently Beltran thinks the Giants have a better chance of winning than the Pirates. There are no guarantees in baseball, or life for that matter, only probabilities. Beltran significantly increases the probability that the Giants will be able to repeat as World Series Champions.
Now let's take a look at what the Giants gave up in Wheeler: Zack Wheeler was the Giants first round draft choice in 2009, #5 overall. He is an excellent pitching prospect who I have raved about on this blog. Great size. Great velocity. Great K rates. Strong ground ball tendencies. Those are elite qualities. The only downside is a relatively high walk rate that will have to come down before he can become a MLB ace, but he's young enough that he still has plenty of time to correct it. As with all young pitchers, he is an injury risk but no higher than average. Again, there are no certainties in baseball, but Zack Wheeler will probably be a #1 or #2 MLB starting pitcher some day. The Giants gave up a lot.
Although I hate losing a prospect like Wheeler, I think this is a trade Sabean had to make. When you have a window of opportunity, you have to go for it. Winning 2 WS in a row is a pretty rare accomplishment unless you are the Yankees. It would make this Giants era one of the best of all time. Beltran makes that possibility significantly more likely. Zack Wheeler will not pitch in the major leagues for at least 2 years. Who knows what the landscape will look like then? I believe the Giants have the resources to hang onto the core of their pitching staff long term, but if not they can be traded prior to free agency much like the Mets just did with Beltran. 2 years is plenty of time to reload the farm system with pitching prospects and the Giants do know how to find pitching.
In summary, I give the trade a thumbs up while admitting it is a close call and admitting the Giants paid a big price.
BTW, for another opinion about the trade, look up Jeff Passan's article on yahoo.com. He does an interesting compare and contrast with the Cardinals and the Rasmus trade. Guess which one he likes better!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Blast from the Past: Tagg Bozied
Before I get started with Tagg Bozied's story, I'd like to give a shout out to El Lefty Malo, at www.leftymalo.com, for a great interview with a writer named Dan Fost who has recently written a book on the Giants called Giants Past and Present. Go over and take a look!
When Kendry Morales broke his leg in a celebration at home plate Saturday, it brought back memories of an almost identical incident that happened to a San Diego Padres prospect name Tagg Bozied several years ago. Bozied is one of those players who are living proof of just how hard it is to make it to the major leagues of baseball, let alone be a star player at that level. He's also living proof that one fateful moment can make all the difference in the world between ultimate success or failure in a career.
Robert Tanios "Tagg" Bozied originally hails from Sioux Falls, SD, my wife's hometown. He was originally drafted out of high school by the Minnesota Twins in the 50'th round in 1997. Rather than sign, he chose to play college baseball at the University of San Francisco where, as a sophomore, he won the Big West Conference Triple Crown with a .412 BA, 30 HR's and 82 RBI's.
The next season was good, but not as spectacular at .359 with 14 HR's and 52 RBI's. The Twins again drafted him this time in the second round. Again, he did not sign and returned to school for his senior year. His stat line regressed a little more to .335 with 12 HR's was drafted in 2001 in the third round by the San Diego Padres. He eventually signed with the Padres and played well for the High A Lake Elsinore Storm in 2002 putting up a .298/.377/546 line with 15 HR's. A midseason promotion to AA did not go as well where he hit .214/.268/.389.
The Padres must have liked what they saw in his bat, because Tagg was promoted to the AAA Portland Beavers for the 2003 season where he hit .273/.331/.431 with 14 HR's. Back at Portland for the 2004 season, Bozied started off red hot with a .315/.374/.629 line with 15 HR's in 57 games. Tagg was starting to get national attention as a top prospect and looked like he was headed for a MLB call up with the Padres when disaster struck on July 19.
The Beavers were playing Pacific Coast League rivals, the Tacoma Rainiers and Tagg hit a game winning walk-off grand slam HR. As he came around to score, he jumped on home plate and was mobbed by his teammates. During the celebration, he somehow tore the patellar tendon in his left knee which required surgery and a long rehab to repair.
Tagg missed the rest of 2004 and only played in 26 games in 2005. The Padres released him after the 2005 season. Since then, he has played for a series of organizations including the Mets, St. Louis Cardinals and Florida Marlins. He's put up decent numbers with each organization, but not quite good enough to induce a MLB call up. For one thing, he is now considered to be too old for a prospect and organizations would rather give their opportunities to younger players who they perceive as having more potential. Tagg Bozied is now 31 years old and playing in the Phillies organization still chasing the dream that has eluded him, largely because of that one fateful moment of celebration after hitting a game winning grand slam home run, now all those years ago.
When Kendry Morales broke his leg in a celebration at home plate Saturday, it brought back memories of an almost identical incident that happened to a San Diego Padres prospect name Tagg Bozied several years ago. Bozied is one of those players who are living proof of just how hard it is to make it to the major leagues of baseball, let alone be a star player at that level. He's also living proof that one fateful moment can make all the difference in the world between ultimate success or failure in a career.
Robert Tanios "Tagg" Bozied originally hails from Sioux Falls, SD, my wife's hometown. He was originally drafted out of high school by the Minnesota Twins in the 50'th round in 1997. Rather than sign, he chose to play college baseball at the University of San Francisco where, as a sophomore, he won the Big West Conference Triple Crown with a .412 BA, 30 HR's and 82 RBI's.
The next season was good, but not as spectacular at .359 with 14 HR's and 52 RBI's. The Twins again drafted him this time in the second round. Again, he did not sign and returned to school for his senior year. His stat line regressed a little more to .335 with 12 HR's was drafted in 2001 in the third round by the San Diego Padres. He eventually signed with the Padres and played well for the High A Lake Elsinore Storm in 2002 putting up a .298/.377/546 line with 15 HR's. A midseason promotion to AA did not go as well where he hit .214/.268/.389.
The Padres must have liked what they saw in his bat, because Tagg was promoted to the AAA Portland Beavers for the 2003 season where he hit .273/.331/.431 with 14 HR's. Back at Portland for the 2004 season, Bozied started off red hot with a .315/.374/.629 line with 15 HR's in 57 games. Tagg was starting to get national attention as a top prospect and looked like he was headed for a MLB call up with the Padres when disaster struck on July 19.
The Beavers were playing Pacific Coast League rivals, the Tacoma Rainiers and Tagg hit a game winning walk-off grand slam HR. As he came around to score, he jumped on home plate and was mobbed by his teammates. During the celebration, he somehow tore the patellar tendon in his left knee which required surgery and a long rehab to repair.
Tagg missed the rest of 2004 and only played in 26 games in 2005. The Padres released him after the 2005 season. Since then, he has played for a series of organizations including the Mets, St. Louis Cardinals and Florida Marlins. He's put up decent numbers with each organization, but not quite good enough to induce a MLB call up. For one thing, he is now considered to be too old for a prospect and organizations would rather give their opportunities to younger players who they perceive as having more potential. Tagg Bozied is now 31 years old and playing in the Phillies organization still chasing the dream that has eluded him, largely because of that one fateful moment of celebration after hitting a game winning grand slam home run, now all those years ago.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Spring Training Update: Trade Winds
Roster crunches throughout baseball has a bunch of teams looking to make trades, not the least of which are the Giants. These aren't going to change the balance of power in the NL West, but it makes for interesting speculation from roster watchers. Let's try to break it down:
The Giants are looking for a utility IF who can play both 2B and SS. That tells you something about both Kevin Frandsen and Juan Uribe and possibly about how long the Giants think Freddy Sanchez is going to be out.
The Giants are looking to trade Fred Lewis and Frandsen, which also tells you something about Frandsen.
The D'Backs would be willing to part with Augie Ojeda, but not for either FLew or Kevbo. The D'Backs are looking for pitching.
Joe Pun on azgiants.com mentioned that the Giants bullpen candidates are being heavily scouted by other teams.
Playing armchair GM for a minute, here's what I'd try to do:
1. Find a couple of teams that might want FLew or Frandsen. Be willing to accept a low-minors prospect with some promise who's struggled, kind of the same idea as Darren Ford. Who knows, they might get lucky again.
2. Trade a surplus bullpen arm or two for Ojeda or some other middle infielder who can play SS.
Of course, this begs the question of what happens when Sanchez comes back, but the Giants are anxious to win early this year as they feel last year's slow start might have cost them a playoff spot, so they may decide to worry about what happens when Sanchez comes back, when he actually comes back. Wouldn't be the first time the Giants have played it that way.
Farm Report: I recommend checking out Joe Pun's latest photo gallery from yesterday's low A/Hi A matchup against the A's. A couple of comments on the pics:
Edward Concepcion looks like a pitcher to me. Almost a perfect power pitcher's body. Nice looking form too!
I was surprised at how thin Wendell Fairley looks. I'm not sure where I got this idea, but I had him envisioned as at least slightly overweight, but in this pic, he looks like he has significant room to fill out.
Late entry: New round of options: Darren Ford to AA, Francisco Peguero to Augusta(I was hoping to see him in San Jose. Sometimes these assignments change at the last minute so we'll see). Jesus Guzman and Tony Pena to minor league camp.
Late entry: Now comes word that Kevbo has, indeed, been traded to the Boston Red Sox, of all teams! The Giants get either the proverbial PTBNL or cash. So, that shoe has dropped. Maybe I'll do a Kevin Frandsen prospect retrospective when I can put it together. It was a great story while it lasted. I wish him all the best with his new team. If anybody deserves to find a niche, it's The Kevin.
The Giants are looking for a utility IF who can play both 2B and SS. That tells you something about both Kevin Frandsen and Juan Uribe and possibly about how long the Giants think Freddy Sanchez is going to be out.
The Giants are looking to trade Fred Lewis and Frandsen, which also tells you something about Frandsen.
The D'Backs would be willing to part with Augie Ojeda, but not for either FLew or Kevbo. The D'Backs are looking for pitching.
Joe Pun on azgiants.com mentioned that the Giants bullpen candidates are being heavily scouted by other teams.
Playing armchair GM for a minute, here's what I'd try to do:
1. Find a couple of teams that might want FLew or Frandsen. Be willing to accept a low-minors prospect with some promise who's struggled, kind of the same idea as Darren Ford. Who knows, they might get lucky again.
2. Trade a surplus bullpen arm or two for Ojeda or some other middle infielder who can play SS.
Of course, this begs the question of what happens when Sanchez comes back, but the Giants are anxious to win early this year as they feel last year's slow start might have cost them a playoff spot, so they may decide to worry about what happens when Sanchez comes back, when he actually comes back. Wouldn't be the first time the Giants have played it that way.
Farm Report: I recommend checking out Joe Pun's latest photo gallery from yesterday's low A/Hi A matchup against the A's. A couple of comments on the pics:
Edward Concepcion looks like a pitcher to me. Almost a perfect power pitcher's body. Nice looking form too!
I was surprised at how thin Wendell Fairley looks. I'm not sure where I got this idea, but I had him envisioned as at least slightly overweight, but in this pic, he looks like he has significant room to fill out.
Late entry: New round of options: Darren Ford to AA, Francisco Peguero to Augusta(I was hoping to see him in San Jose. Sometimes these assignments change at the last minute so we'll see). Jesus Guzman and Tony Pena to minor league camp.
Late entry: Now comes word that Kevbo has, indeed, been traded to the Boston Red Sox, of all teams! The Giants get either the proverbial PTBNL or cash. So, that shoe has dropped. Maybe I'll do a Kevin Frandsen prospect retrospective when I can put it together. It was a great story while it lasted. I wish him all the best with his new team. If anybody deserves to find a niche, it's The Kevin.
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