Ed Howard SS, HS. B-R, T-R. 6'2", 185 lbs.
Glowing scouting reports but tools don't quite come up to other high schoolers on this list. 6.76 60-yard dash, 79 MPH FB velocity, 88 MPH IF velocity. 95 MPH exit velocity is impressive pop. Scouts rave about his physical projection but and there is definitely some there. Physically reminds me of Jalen Miller or a younger Howie Kendrick. Nice prospect, but not one I would necessarily draft in the first round over a college prospect.
*********************************************************************************
DrB's Updated 2020 Draft Board:
1. Austin Martin SS, College(Vanderbilt).
2. Spencer Torkelson 1B, College(Arizona St).
3. Emerson Hancock RHP, College(Georgia).
4. Cole Wilcox RHP, College(Georgia).
5. Jordan Walker 3B, HS.
6. Zac Veen OF, HS.
7. Robert Hassell OF, HS.
8. Pete Crow-Armstrong OF, HS.
9. J.T. Ginn RHP, College(Mississippi St).
10. Jared Kelley RHP, HS.
11. Mick Abel RHP, HS.
12. Austin Hendrick OF, HS.
13. Cade Cavalli RHP, College(Oklahoma).
14. Ed Howard SS, HS.
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
DrB's 2020 Giants Top 50 Prospects: #1 Joey Bart
Joey Bart C. DOB: 12/15/1996. B-R, T-R. 6'3", 235 lbs.
A+: .265/.315/479, 12 HR, 5 SB, 5.6 BB%, 19.9 K%, 251 PA.
AA: .316/.368/.544, 4 HR, 8.0 BB%, 24.1 K%, 87 PA.
AFL: .333/.524/.767, 4 HR, 7 BB, 21 K, 86 PA.
I saw Joey Bart play in San Bernardino just before his promotion to AA. Everybody in my party had the same reaction: He's a big guy! He's not hard to pick out on a ball field because he's the biggest player. The Fangraphs scouting report(I must say, Eric Longerhagen and Kiley McDaniel create by far the most colorful scouting reports I have ever read) compares his size to ex-footballer Mike Alstott, of all people! When Bart was fully healthy and not having to deal with a manager who hated him(I don't know for sure if Billy Hayes hated him or not, but SOMETHING was going on there!), he was bashing baseballs into oblivion. He dominated AA, usually a very tough assignment for Giants position prospects, after his promotion. He then made a mockery of the Arizona Fall League until his AFL season was cut short by another fractured bone in his hand from a HBP. He previously suffered a fractured hand near the beginning of the Cal League season.
For all his awesome power and breathtaking hot streaks, what really stands out in the Fangraphs scouting report is his defense behind the plate and leadership. "....lateral quickness and ground game of a small-framed catcher. He's quick out of the crouch and throws accurate lasers to second base." "...a rousing vocal leader at times and a calming presence at others." MLB Pipeline pretty much backs up the Fangraphs scouting report, but with less colorful language.
The Giants have no reason to rush Joey Bart. I suspect he'll start the season back in AA Richmond with opportunity for midseason promotion to AAA and maybe even to the Giants later in the season. It would not shock me to see him playing other positions to create versatility as he joins the Giants while Buster Posey is still finishing up his career. I can just imagine a guy his size chasing down fly balls in LF. If I had to pick a hitter who just might hit one into the Big Glove at Oracle Park, it would be Bart. Can't wait to see him try.
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
DrB's 2020 Giants Top 50 Prospects
Since there were so few suggested changes, rather than rewrite the list in a new post, I edited the Preliminary list and changed the title to reflect it as the final list. I added C Ricardo Genoves at #41 and added OF Heath Quinn and IF Abiatal Avelino to the Honorable Mention list. Adding Genoves forced LHP Bryce Tucker from #50 to Honorable Mention.
Hot Stove Update: The Stove Stays Hot
The Hot Stove kept humming with several lower level, yet significant, signings:
The Mets signed RHP Rick Porcello to a 1 yr/$10 M contract. Citi Field offers a friendly pitching environment in which to recover from his ugly 5.52 ERA last year with the Red Sox.
OF Avisail Garcia signed a 2 yr/$20 M deal with the BrewCrew. The seems like both too much and too little for a guy who has a high ceiling but has been plagued by inconsistency his whole career. He's a guy I thought Farhan might take a flyer on, but maybe Farhan only wants 1 year deals?
The Astros re-signed RHP Joe Smith, 2 yrs/$8 M. Smith is an above average sidearming setup reliever.
The Twins were reportedly nearing a deal with RHP Sergio Romo for 1 year/$5 M guaranteed with options that could make it 2 yrs/$10 M. Believe it or not, Romo will turn 37 years old before the start of the season. Really, the Boy from Brawley has had a most remarkable MLB career. If he completes both years of this contract, he will have earned just under $45 M over the course of his career and good for him! I read someplace where when he left Brawley to go play baseball the locals told him he'd be back just like all the others. Romo's reply was he'd be back alright, but not like all the others! Man, did he ever make good on that!
The Rays signed Japanese slugger Yoshitomo Tsutsugo for $12 M(unclear for how long). There's a 20% posting fee which brings the cost to the Rays to $14.4 M. Tsutsugo is listed as a 3B/OF, but is reportedly defensively challenged at any position. By the numbers, he sure can hit, though. He's a lefty hitter who is 28 years old.
Lastly, the Reds signed LHP Wade Miley for 2 yr/$15 M with on option for a 3'rd year for $10 M with a $1 M buyout. Miley is 33 yo but coming off a couple of strong seasons with the Brewers and Astros.
I think the main value in listing these deals is seeing what the market is paying for right now. Any of these deals seem like ones that might fit into Farhan's plan to compete now while rebuilding longterm.
The Mets signed RHP Rick Porcello to a 1 yr/$10 M contract. Citi Field offers a friendly pitching environment in which to recover from his ugly 5.52 ERA last year with the Red Sox.
OF Avisail Garcia signed a 2 yr/$20 M deal with the BrewCrew. The seems like both too much and too little for a guy who has a high ceiling but has been plagued by inconsistency his whole career. He's a guy I thought Farhan might take a flyer on, but maybe Farhan only wants 1 year deals?
The Astros re-signed RHP Joe Smith, 2 yrs/$8 M. Smith is an above average sidearming setup reliever.
The Twins were reportedly nearing a deal with RHP Sergio Romo for 1 year/$5 M guaranteed with options that could make it 2 yrs/$10 M. Believe it or not, Romo will turn 37 years old before the start of the season. Really, the Boy from Brawley has had a most remarkable MLB career. If he completes both years of this contract, he will have earned just under $45 M over the course of his career and good for him! I read someplace where when he left Brawley to go play baseball the locals told him he'd be back just like all the others. Romo's reply was he'd be back alright, but not like all the others! Man, did he ever make good on that!
The Rays signed Japanese slugger Yoshitomo Tsutsugo for $12 M(unclear for how long). There's a 20% posting fee which brings the cost to the Rays to $14.4 M. Tsutsugo is listed as a 3B/OF, but is reportedly defensively challenged at any position. By the numbers, he sure can hit, though. He's a lefty hitter who is 28 years old.
Lastly, the Reds signed LHP Wade Miley for 2 yr/$15 M with on option for a 3'rd year for $10 M with a $1 M buyout. Miley is 33 yo but coming off a couple of strong seasons with the Brewers and Astros.
I think the main value in listing these deals is seeing what the market is paying for right now. Any of these deals seem like ones that might fit into Farhan's plan to compete now while rebuilding longterm.
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Hot Stove Update: A Giants Legend Moves On
Well, that's it folks. Madison Bumgarner's time with the Giants has run out after one of the better runs in Giants history. Today we learned that he will be playing for division rival D'Backs for at least the next 5 years. That's the times we are living in. The days of players spending an entire career with the team that signed them and brought them up through the minors is over. We'll have to be satisfied with getting the best of Bumgarner's career as well as Buster's, Timmy's and Cainer's. Hey! We got all of Cainer's career and could get all of Buster's too!
The Giants have had some great pitchers in the organization starting with Christy Mathewson then Carl Hubbell. I grew up in the Marichal/Perry era. Bumgarner is special out of all those because not only was he an ace level pitcher, without his postseason heroics, it is likely the Giants would not have won any World Series during his career let alone 3. For all his greatness, Juan Marichal never won a World Series(not his fault).
So yeah, this is a sad day. What make it harder to swallow is the contract he ultimately signed seems to be well within Giants budgetary constraints and within the performance levels he can reasonably expected to produce over the next 5 seasons. It would not put the Giants in danger of having to pay a payroll tax either in 2020 or in subsequent years. In short, re-signing Bummy to this contract(5 year/$85 M) would not halt or delay any "rebuild" in any way shape or form. OK, maybe the extra draft pick turns into a Hall of Famer, but it's highly unlikely.
On the other hand, I am not going to lead the "fire Farhan" charge over this. Bummy has a ton of mileage on his arm and large longterm contracts haven't exactly worked out well for the Giants over the past decade, so I understand the argument for letting him go. I've made it myself! I actually really like the deals Farhan made at the Winter Meetings. In fact, I was just thinking of writing a post about how the Giants should be included in those lists of Winners of the Winter Meetings! Hopefully Farhan has a few more of those up his sleeve and will re-allocate money that might have been used to sign Bummy for other good things.
One more thing: I wish Bummy the best, but not his team. I think he may find that he misses pitching half of his games in Oracle Park.
*********************************************************************************
The Rangers traded Delino DeShields and RHP Emmanuel Clase to the Indians for RHP Corey Kluber. Kluber missed most of last season with injuries, although the main one was a freak fracture of his arm on a comeback liner so should not have a lasting impact. Of some concern, is the loss of velocity he showed prior to the injury. This seems like a light return for a pitcher of Kluber's stature. This shows how tough it is to trade a player without proof of current health. If he does bounce back, the Rangers have built themselves a formidable starting rotation to open their new ballpark with.
*********************************************************************************
CORRECTION: I corrected a mistake in the text above in which I originally said Juan Marichal never pitched in a postseason game. A reader pointed out he pitched in the NLCS in 1971 against the Pirates. I could be mistaken, but I think he also may have pitched in the 1962 World Series against the Yankees.
The Giants have had some great pitchers in the organization starting with Christy Mathewson then Carl Hubbell. I grew up in the Marichal/Perry era. Bumgarner is special out of all those because not only was he an ace level pitcher, without his postseason heroics, it is likely the Giants would not have won any World Series during his career let alone 3. For all his greatness, Juan Marichal never won a World Series(not his fault).
So yeah, this is a sad day. What make it harder to swallow is the contract he ultimately signed seems to be well within Giants budgetary constraints and within the performance levels he can reasonably expected to produce over the next 5 seasons. It would not put the Giants in danger of having to pay a payroll tax either in 2020 or in subsequent years. In short, re-signing Bummy to this contract(5 year/$85 M) would not halt or delay any "rebuild" in any way shape or form. OK, maybe the extra draft pick turns into a Hall of Famer, but it's highly unlikely.
On the other hand, I am not going to lead the "fire Farhan" charge over this. Bummy has a ton of mileage on his arm and large longterm contracts haven't exactly worked out well for the Giants over the past decade, so I understand the argument for letting him go. I've made it myself! I actually really like the deals Farhan made at the Winter Meetings. In fact, I was just thinking of writing a post about how the Giants should be included in those lists of Winners of the Winter Meetings! Hopefully Farhan has a few more of those up his sleeve and will re-allocate money that might have been used to sign Bummy for other good things.
One more thing: I wish Bummy the best, but not his team. I think he may find that he misses pitching half of his games in Oracle Park.
*********************************************************************************
The Rangers traded Delino DeShields and RHP Emmanuel Clase to the Indians for RHP Corey Kluber. Kluber missed most of last season with injuries, although the main one was a freak fracture of his arm on a comeback liner so should not have a lasting impact. Of some concern, is the loss of velocity he showed prior to the injury. This seems like a light return for a pitcher of Kluber's stature. This shows how tough it is to trade a player without proof of current health. If he does bounce back, the Rangers have built themselves a formidable starting rotation to open their new ballpark with.
*********************************************************************************
CORRECTION: I corrected a mistake in the text above in which I originally said Juan Marichal never pitched in a postseason game. A reader pointed out he pitched in the NLCS in 1971 against the Pirates. I could be mistaken, but I think he also may have pitched in the 1962 World Series against the Yankees.
Saturday, December 14, 2019
DrB's 2020 Giants Top 50 Prospects List
The end of the Winter Meetings is the traditional start day for DrB's Giants Top 50 Prospect list to be unveiled. We then write up profiles of each prospect on a daily basis. There may be more changes before the start of the season since Farhan seems to be interested in taking on more bad contracts for prospects, but there is no indication of when those trades might occur and if we wait too much longer, we run the profiles into Spring Training. This preliminary list is your opportunity to suggest additional names or moving prospects up or down the list. I do take reader comments into account and have made changes as result in prior lists.
As always, I advise readers to not get too hung up on the exact order(although we do take the rankings seriously). The main objective of the exercise is to allow readers to become more familiar with prospects we may be rooting for at Oracle Park in the future.
I try to consider both ceiling and proximity to the majors in my rankings. This is always challenging because it's the proverbial apples and oranges. How do you compare a player like Jaylin Davis who is on the 40 man roster and who the Giants clearly want to give a serious chance to this season with, say, Alexander Canario who has shown both tools and performance but is still in the lower minors?
With that preamble, here is the preliminary list, subject to extensive editing before it is finalized in a future post:
1. Joey Bart C
2. Heliot Ramos OF
3. Marco Luciano SS
4. Hunter Bishop OF
5. Logan Webb RHP
6. Mauricio Dubon SS/2B
7. Will Wilson SS/2B
8. Seth Corry LHP
9. Alexander Canario OF
10. Jairo Pomares OF
11. Luis Matos OF
12. Luis Toribio 3B
13. Tyler Rogers RHP
14. Sean Hjelle RHP
15. Jaylin Davis OF
16. Dany Jimenez RHP
17. Melvin Adon RHP
18. Camilo Doval RHP
19. Gregory Santos RHP
20. Jake Wong RHP
21. Chris Shaw OF/1B
22. Conner Menez LHP
23. Caleb Baragar LHP
24. Aramis Garcia C
25. David Villar 3B
26. Logan Wyatt 1B
27. Sandro Fabian OF
28. Tristan Beck RHP
29. Grant McCray OF
30. Diego Rincones OF
31. Franklin Labour OF
32. Trevor McDonald RHP
33. Blake Rivera RHP
34. Rayner Santana C
35. Victor Bericoto OF/1B
36. Tyler Fitzgerald SS
37. Matt Frisbee RHP
38. Caleb Kilian RHP
39. Kai-Wei Teng RHP
40. Frankie Tostado 1B
41. Ricardo Genoves
42. Garrett Frechette 1B
43. Connor Cannon 1B
44. Prelander Berroa RHP
45. Dilan Rosario SS
46. PJ Hilson OF
47. Jacob Heyward OF
48. Jalen Miller 2B
49. Ryan Howard IF
50. Jesus Tona RHP
Honorable Mention(no particular order): Ismael Munguia OF, Kervin Castro RHP, Garrett Cave RHP, Conner Nurse RHP, Bryce Fehmel RHP, Carter Aldrete 2B/1B, Yorlis Rodriguez 3B, Armani Smith OF, Kwan Adkins OF, Sonny Vargas LHP, Ghordy Santos SS/2B, Richgelon Juliana OF, George Bell OF, Jesus Gomez LHP, Juan Sanchez LHP, Javeyon Williams OF, Najee Gaskins OF, Sam Selman LHP, Enderson Franco RHP, Joe McCarthy OF, Bryce Tucker LHP, Heath Quinn OF, Abiatal Avelino IF.
As always, I advise readers to not get too hung up on the exact order(although we do take the rankings seriously). The main objective of the exercise is to allow readers to become more familiar with prospects we may be rooting for at Oracle Park in the future.
I try to consider both ceiling and proximity to the majors in my rankings. This is always challenging because it's the proverbial apples and oranges. How do you compare a player like Jaylin Davis who is on the 40 man roster and who the Giants clearly want to give a serious chance to this season with, say, Alexander Canario who has shown both tools and performance but is still in the lower minors?
With that preamble, here is the preliminary list, subject to extensive editing before it is finalized in a future post:
1. Joey Bart C
2. Heliot Ramos OF
3. Marco Luciano SS
4. Hunter Bishop OF
5. Logan Webb RHP
6. Mauricio Dubon SS/2B
7. Will Wilson SS/2B
8. Seth Corry LHP
9. Alexander Canario OF
10. Jairo Pomares OF
11. Luis Matos OF
12. Luis Toribio 3B
13. Tyler Rogers RHP
14. Sean Hjelle RHP
15. Jaylin Davis OF
16. Dany Jimenez RHP
17. Melvin Adon RHP
18. Camilo Doval RHP
19. Gregory Santos RHP
20. Jake Wong RHP
21. Chris Shaw OF/1B
22. Conner Menez LHP
23. Caleb Baragar LHP
24. Aramis Garcia C
25. David Villar 3B
26. Logan Wyatt 1B
27. Sandro Fabian OF
28. Tristan Beck RHP
29. Grant McCray OF
30. Diego Rincones OF
31. Franklin Labour OF
32. Trevor McDonald RHP
33. Blake Rivera RHP
34. Rayner Santana C
35. Victor Bericoto OF/1B
36. Tyler Fitzgerald SS
37. Matt Frisbee RHP
38. Caleb Kilian RHP
39. Kai-Wei Teng RHP
40. Frankie Tostado 1B
41. Ricardo Genoves
42. Garrett Frechette 1B
43. Connor Cannon 1B
44. Prelander Berroa RHP
45. Dilan Rosario SS
46. PJ Hilson OF
47. Jacob Heyward OF
48. Jalen Miller 2B
49. Ryan Howard IF
50. Jesus Tona RHP
Honorable Mention(no particular order): Ismael Munguia OF, Kervin Castro RHP, Garrett Cave RHP, Conner Nurse RHP, Bryce Fehmel RHP, Carter Aldrete 2B/1B, Yorlis Rodriguez 3B, Armani Smith OF, Kwan Adkins OF, Sonny Vargas LHP, Ghordy Santos SS/2B, Richgelon Juliana OF, George Bell OF, Jesus Gomez LHP, Juan Sanchez LHP, Javeyon Williams OF, Najee Gaskins OF, Sam Selman LHP, Enderson Franco RHP, Joe McCarthy OF, Bryce Tucker LHP, Heath Quinn OF, Abiatal Avelino IF.
Friday, December 13, 2019
Scouting the 2020 Draft: Jordan Walker
Jordan Walker 3B, HS. B-R, T-R. 6'5", 210 lbs.
One thing that makes draft scouting fun is finding unexpected things when you click on a name that shows up on a list. It's kind of like opening presents at Christmas. When you do it for awhile, a lot of these kids start to have a certain sameness about them. Then there are kids like Jordan Walker who make you almost gasp when you see the video. He's unusually tall for a left-sided infield prospect but athletic enough to stay at 3B long term. On the other hand he has enough speed to play CF with an arm good enough to pitch. He literally could play any position on the field except catcher.
By the numbers, Walker runs a 6.56 60-yd dash with 93 MPH FB velocity off the mound, 92 MPH IF velocity and 100 MPH Exit Velocity. PG describes him as "long and strong" with "plenty of room to get stronger." He's got a fairly simple set up and swing, but as with all tall hitters, the natural length could be a problem. I've read comps to Jayson Werth. He reminds me of Jo Adell from a couple of drafts ago. Love this kid.
I wonder if Farhan Zaidi's faith in player development might make him more likely to draft high upside kids like this? I mean, why invest in all those player development people if you aren't going to leverage that into drafting kids with sky high ceilings then trusting the development guys to get them there? If that's the strategy, I could see the Giants going against the grain and drafting a Zac Veen or Jordan Walker at #13 if they are there due to teams ahead of them taking safer college players. Walker could be a tough sign, though, as he is reportedly an excellent student with a verbal commitment to Duke.
*********************************************************************************
DrB's Updated 2020 Draft Board:
1. Austin Martin SS, College(Vanderbilt).
2. Spencer Torkelson 1B, College(Arizona St).
3. Emerson Hancock RHP, College(Georgia).
4. Cole Wilcox RHP, College(Georgia).
5. Jordan Walker 3B, HS.
6. Zac Veen OF, HS.
7. Robert Hassell OF, HS.
8. Pete Crow-Armstrong OF, HS.
9. J.T. Ginn RHP, College(Mississippi St).
10. Jared Kelley RHP, HS.
11. Mick Abel RHP, HS.
12. Austin Hendrick OF, HS.
13. Cade Cavalli RHP, College(Oklahoma).
One thing that makes draft scouting fun is finding unexpected things when you click on a name that shows up on a list. It's kind of like opening presents at Christmas. When you do it for awhile, a lot of these kids start to have a certain sameness about them. Then there are kids like Jordan Walker who make you almost gasp when you see the video. He's unusually tall for a left-sided infield prospect but athletic enough to stay at 3B long term. On the other hand he has enough speed to play CF with an arm good enough to pitch. He literally could play any position on the field except catcher.
By the numbers, Walker runs a 6.56 60-yd dash with 93 MPH FB velocity off the mound, 92 MPH IF velocity and 100 MPH Exit Velocity. PG describes him as "long and strong" with "plenty of room to get stronger." He's got a fairly simple set up and swing, but as with all tall hitters, the natural length could be a problem. I've read comps to Jayson Werth. He reminds me of Jo Adell from a couple of drafts ago. Love this kid.
I wonder if Farhan Zaidi's faith in player development might make him more likely to draft high upside kids like this? I mean, why invest in all those player development people if you aren't going to leverage that into drafting kids with sky high ceilings then trusting the development guys to get them there? If that's the strategy, I could see the Giants going against the grain and drafting a Zac Veen or Jordan Walker at #13 if they are there due to teams ahead of them taking safer college players. Walker could be a tough sign, though, as he is reportedly an excellent student with a verbal commitment to Duke.
*********************************************************************************
DrB's Updated 2020 Draft Board:
1. Austin Martin SS, College(Vanderbilt).
2. Spencer Torkelson 1B, College(Arizona St).
3. Emerson Hancock RHP, College(Georgia).
4. Cole Wilcox RHP, College(Georgia).
5. Jordan Walker 3B, HS.
6. Zac Veen OF, HS.
7. Robert Hassell OF, HS.
8. Pete Crow-Armstrong OF, HS.
9. J.T. Ginn RHP, College(Mississippi St).
10. Jared Kelley RHP, HS.
11. Mick Abel RHP, HS.
12. Austin Hendrick OF, HS.
13. Cade Cavalli RHP, College(Oklahoma).
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