How much difference managers make in the success or failure of a ballclub is difficult, if not impossible, to quantify as is what differentiates a good manager from a not so good one. I will say, although I cannot prove it, I firmly believe that the Giants probably would not have won any championships in the last 6 years without Bruce Bochy in the dugout, let alone 3. He was that much of a difference maker, especially in the postseason. On the other side of the spectrum would be Matt Williams, who clearly contributed to the failure of a Washington Nationals team that many had projected to win it all this year. By the end of the season, Williams was not only making bad decisions in game management, he also lost control of the dugout and clubhouse. Which brings us to the Nationals hiring of Dusty Baker after the near merciful firing of Williams.
I am not going to get deep into whether Dusty Baker is a good manager or bad one. There are people on both sides of that argument, and I do not intend to try to settle it here. Dusty is not the greatest game tactician in the history of the game, but also is probably not the worst. He does seem to have a knack for managing superstars with big egos. He also seems to have a knack for keeping players motivated and playing hard while simultaneously running a laid back and relaxed dugout and clubhouse. Those are qualities that may well be exactly what the Washington Nationals need.
The problem with Dusty's hiring is what went on just before he was offered the job and accepted. The Nationals first choice was apparently Bud Black, but the offer they made to him was so low-ball he was insulted and turned it down flat. OK, hear me out on this. When it comes to spending on players, the Nationals are the polar opposite of penny-pinchers. When it comes to salary inflators in MLB, the Nationals are as responsible as any, probably more than most. A few years ago they redefined the value of a second tier OF with the Jayson Werth signing. Just last year, they made an obvious attempt to buy a championship with a contract for Max Scherzer that will pay him $15 M in the year 2029! Now, with that much money on the line, why on Earth would you low ball your first choice for manager to the point of insulting him? I mean, they have just experienced the meltdown of a very expensive team that was expected to be one of the top 3 teams in all of MLB because of bad management. And if they don't believe the manager is that much of a difference maker, why-the-heck did they fire Williams?
Look, I don't know if Bud Black is a better manager than Dusty Baker or not. Black's teams in San Diego never did much, but he was never given a competitive team to manage, so it's impossible to know. Baker might be a better manager for all I know. The point, though, is that the upper management of the Washington Nationals apparently THOUGHT Bud Black would be a better manager, because they offered him the job first. They ended up giving Baker more than they offered Bud Black but Baker's deal is still a paltry sum as MLB maangers go. It might have cost them more than they gave Dusty to get Black signed, but no matter what it would have cost, the difference between their offer to Black and what it would have taken to not only sign him, but make him feel good about it, is clearly not going to make or break the team's financial bottom line.
In short, why spend all that money on a team you clearly think has a chance to win a championship and then settle for less than your number one choice to manage it? It makes you think that maybe the Nationals problems run a lot deeper than whatever Matt Williams did or didn't do out of the Manager's Office last year.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
2015 Giants Depth Charts: Shortstop
Shortstop is one of the most interesting positions in the Giants organization with one of the better MLB shortstops topping the depth chart and several top prospects working their way up the ladder in the minors. As always, these lists reflect my opinion.
MLB
Brandon Crawford
Ehire Adrianza
Kelby Tomlinson
Matt Duffy
When healthy, Brandon Crawford is one of the better shortstops in MLB, having just completed a breakout season. He is 2 seasons away from free agency. Whether to try to sign him to a long term extension figures to be one of the bigger and more controversial decisions Bobby Evans is going to have to make in the near future. Adrianza is a superior defensive SS, but has not showed much at the plate in limited action. Tomlinson played a lot of SS in the minors and will likely be a super-utility guy in 2016. Duffy is entrenched at 3B making in unlikely he would move to SS even with a prolonged Crawford injury.
AAA
Carlos Triunfel
The onetime uber prospect with the Mariners is disaster option stashed in AAA.
AA
Rando Moreno
I'm intrigued by Moreno who hit surprisingly well in Richmond. He's going to have to get out of the way of the Arroyo train, so he'll presumably move up to Sacramento.
High A
Christian Arroyo
Ydwin Villegas
Arroyo was the best and most consistent hitter for San Jose in 2015, and he's destroying AFL pitching. The big question remains whether he can field the position at higher levels, but the bat is good enough that he has a case for being the Giants top overall prospect. Villegas is a terrific defender, but the bat has never come around.
Low A
Travious Relaford
Kelvin Beltre
Evan Potter
Relaford had an uninspiring season in Augusta. Beltre is listed on the roster, but can't seem to stay healthy. Potter was a late round 2015 draftee.
Short Season.
CJ Hinojosa
Touted HS prospect who had a mediocre college career at Texas. Looked great in his pro debut in Salem-Keizer. BA named him the best late round draftee taken at #11 by the Giants. Had a late injury which put him on the 60 day DL. Not sure what that was about, but I think he has a chance to jump to San Jose in 2016.
Rooke AZL
Jalen Miller
Hector Santiago
Miller was the Giants 4'th round draft pick out of HS. Started off hot at the plate but faded as the AZL season progressed. Santiago is a later round HS draftee out of PR. He's more of a project.
DSL
Manuel Geraldo
Jose Rivero
Geraldo is the guy I am watching. Love his size, switch-hitting and stat lines. Rivero will probably repeat the DSL in 2016, but seems to have some potential.
SIGNEE
Lucious Fox
Fox was signed to the largest bonus the Giants have ever given an undrafted international prospect . He may have the highest ceiling of any current Giants prospect and should be in the discussion for top Giants prospect. Some analysts think he will end up in CF.
The Giants have 2 huge decision looming in the next 2 seasons: 1. What to do about Brandon Crawford's impending free agency after the 2017 season? 2. What position is Arroyo going to play in the major leagues? Those two questions are going to be forced at about the same time. That is why GM's get paid the big bucks.
MLB
Brandon Crawford
Ehire Adrianza
Kelby Tomlinson
Matt Duffy
When healthy, Brandon Crawford is one of the better shortstops in MLB, having just completed a breakout season. He is 2 seasons away from free agency. Whether to try to sign him to a long term extension figures to be one of the bigger and more controversial decisions Bobby Evans is going to have to make in the near future. Adrianza is a superior defensive SS, but has not showed much at the plate in limited action. Tomlinson played a lot of SS in the minors and will likely be a super-utility guy in 2016. Duffy is entrenched at 3B making in unlikely he would move to SS even with a prolonged Crawford injury.
AAA
Carlos Triunfel
The onetime uber prospect with the Mariners is disaster option stashed in AAA.
AA
Rando Moreno
I'm intrigued by Moreno who hit surprisingly well in Richmond. He's going to have to get out of the way of the Arroyo train, so he'll presumably move up to Sacramento.
High A
Christian Arroyo
Ydwin Villegas
Arroyo was the best and most consistent hitter for San Jose in 2015, and he's destroying AFL pitching. The big question remains whether he can field the position at higher levels, but the bat is good enough that he has a case for being the Giants top overall prospect. Villegas is a terrific defender, but the bat has never come around.
Low A
Travious Relaford
Kelvin Beltre
Evan Potter
Relaford had an uninspiring season in Augusta. Beltre is listed on the roster, but can't seem to stay healthy. Potter was a late round 2015 draftee.
Short Season.
CJ Hinojosa
Touted HS prospect who had a mediocre college career at Texas. Looked great in his pro debut in Salem-Keizer. BA named him the best late round draftee taken at #11 by the Giants. Had a late injury which put him on the 60 day DL. Not sure what that was about, but I think he has a chance to jump to San Jose in 2016.
Rooke AZL
Jalen Miller
Hector Santiago
Miller was the Giants 4'th round draft pick out of HS. Started off hot at the plate but faded as the AZL season progressed. Santiago is a later round HS draftee out of PR. He's more of a project.
DSL
Manuel Geraldo
Jose Rivero
Geraldo is the guy I am watching. Love his size, switch-hitting and stat lines. Rivero will probably repeat the DSL in 2016, but seems to have some potential.
SIGNEE
Lucious Fox
Fox was signed to the largest bonus the Giants have ever given an undrafted international prospect . He may have the highest ceiling of any current Giants prospect and should be in the discussion for top Giants prospect. Some analysts think he will end up in CF.
The Giants have 2 huge decision looming in the next 2 seasons: 1. What to do about Brandon Crawford's impending free agency after the 2017 season? 2. What position is Arroyo going to play in the major leagues? Those two questions are going to be forced at about the same time. That is why GM's get paid the big bucks.
Monday, November 2, 2015
Thoughts on the Kansas City Royals and the World Series
I have to admit that I felt just a tad guilty last year when the team I rooted for crushed the KC Royals Cinderella Story. Not guilty enough to wish the Giants had lost, mind you, but just a tad guilty. Today that guilt is gone as the Royals got a second chance to live their dream. This time, they made it come true! There was another reason why I was hoping the Royals would win this year's Fall Classic. They are so similar to the Giants in so many ways, I feel their success helps validate the success the Giants had in 2010, 2012 and 2014, something many baseball writers have called into question as being due mainly to luck. Let's take a closer look at how these two organizations are so similar:
1. Both organizations were led by GM's who were ridiculed, despised and even hated by what is known as the "Sabermetric Community." The "Sabermetric Community" is an informal community of people who study baseball statistics for a living. They have developed very sophisticated mathematical analyses of baseball statistics to the point where they predict how players and teams will perform with surprising accuracy. There is a growing trend for baseball General Managers(GM's) to openly rely on these Sabermetricians in their decision-making. Brian Sabean of the Giants and Dayton Moore of the Royals are not among those GM's. Needless to say, that makes some people in the "Sabermetric Community" dismissive and even angry.
2. The 3 Giants championship teams and the Royals of the past two seasons did not hit many HR's and did not draw many walks, two key components of run production in classic Sabermetric thought. All of those teams scored more runs than expected based on Sabermetric formulas, not just in the postseason but in the regular season too!
2015 Royals: 24'th in HR's, Tied for last in BB%, 7'th in Runs.
2014 Royals: 30'th in HR's, 30'th in BB%, 14'th in Runs.
2014 Giants: 17'th in HR's, 21'st in BB%, 10'th in Runs.
2012 Giants: 30'th in HR's, 15'th in BB%, 4'th in Runs.
2010 Giants: 10'th in HR's, 21'st in BB%, 17'th in Runs(OK, this one may have been a more conventional result).
3. Both the Giants and Royals teams had low strikeout rates on offense.
2015 Royals: 30'th
2014 Royals: 30'th.
2014 Giants: 16'th
2012 Giants: 27'th
2010 Giants: 18'th
3. The Giants and Royals postseason teams featured strong pitching, not just from their starting pitchers but from all 12-13 members of the pitching staffs. Both teams "overspent" to acquire strong and deep bullpens. I guess you could sum this up with the term Pitching Depth. All of these teams had exceptional pitching depth!
4. The Giants and Royals both field exceptional defensive teams as measured by defensive metrics, a relatively new Sabermetric tool.
2015 Royals: #1 in MLB in Defensive Runs Saved and by a large margin(almost twice their closest pursuer in the category).
2014 Royals: 4'th in Defensive Runs Saved.
2014 Giants: 10'th in Defensive Runs Saved.
2012 Giants: 4'th in Defensive Runs Saved.
2010 Giants: 10'th in Defensive Runs Save.
As you can see from the numbers, it is not difficult to see the striking similarities in both teams approach to the game and to develop a list of common denominators of what made them winning teams:
1. Avoiding Strikeouts.
2. Good pitching including exceptional pitching depth and exceptional bullpens.
3. Excellent team defense by currently used defensive metrics such as Defensive Runs Saved and UZR.
Notice that these common denominators do not include hitting for power or drawing walks. This seems to be the part that sticks in the craw of the "Sabermetrics Community." In both cases, some of the low HR totals come from playing in home ballparks that suppress HR's, but it is also a byproduct of the philosophy of avoiding K's. If you take a lot of pitches waiting for the perfect pitch to mash, and if you don't get it, take the walk, you are going to get a whole lot more 2-strike counts. You cannot get a third strike unless you get to two strikes first. "Selective" hitters and teams are going to strike out more than aggressive ones just from that simple math. On the other hand, if you swing at first hittable pitches and guard the plate on 2 strikes, you are not going to hitting the ball with the "sweet spot" on an uppercut bat path as often, so both walks and HR's will be suppressed.
On the other hand, there are advantages to putting the ball in play a lot, especially for great defensive teams. Balls in play provide opportunity for taking extra bases, which walks do not. They also give opposing teams more opportunities to not make plays(we are not just talking about errors here, but plays made). This creates a greater gap between Defensive Runs Saved when the opponent is a poorer than average fielding team.
What is most mystifying about the displeasure and disdain of the "Sabermetric Community" toward the Royals and Giants is both teams appear to validate the newest, hottest metric out there, defensive metrics! You would think writers on sites like Fangraphs, which is the mother ship of defensive metrics, would be dancing jigs and doing victory laps over the correlation with teams that shine on defensive metrics and also win championships. Some of the articles today, seemed to be grudgingly moving in that direction, but man, for a community that proclaims how cutting edge they are and how much their mission is to advance our understanding of statistics, many of those writers still seem awfully stuck in "Moneyball" stats which are now, what, 15 years old or more?
Oh, and you had to feel just a bit sorry for the Mets who just couldn't seem to do anything right by the end of the series. Yes, Lady Luck does play a role in winning championships. No team gets enough wins to make the postseason then survives the playoff gauntlet without a lot of things going right for them. The Mets had Lady Luck on their side in the first two rounds but she turned her back on them with a vengeance in the World Series. All I can say is "Keep your heads up, Met's fans! You'll get another chance in 2017 after the Giants win it all again in 2016!"
1. Both organizations were led by GM's who were ridiculed, despised and even hated by what is known as the "Sabermetric Community." The "Sabermetric Community" is an informal community of people who study baseball statistics for a living. They have developed very sophisticated mathematical analyses of baseball statistics to the point where they predict how players and teams will perform with surprising accuracy. There is a growing trend for baseball General Managers(GM's) to openly rely on these Sabermetricians in their decision-making. Brian Sabean of the Giants and Dayton Moore of the Royals are not among those GM's. Needless to say, that makes some people in the "Sabermetric Community" dismissive and even angry.
2. The 3 Giants championship teams and the Royals of the past two seasons did not hit many HR's and did not draw many walks, two key components of run production in classic Sabermetric thought. All of those teams scored more runs than expected based on Sabermetric formulas, not just in the postseason but in the regular season too!
2015 Royals: 24'th in HR's, Tied for last in BB%, 7'th in Runs.
2014 Royals: 30'th in HR's, 30'th in BB%, 14'th in Runs.
2014 Giants: 17'th in HR's, 21'st in BB%, 10'th in Runs.
2012 Giants: 30'th in HR's, 15'th in BB%, 4'th in Runs.
2010 Giants: 10'th in HR's, 21'st in BB%, 17'th in Runs(OK, this one may have been a more conventional result).
3. Both the Giants and Royals teams had low strikeout rates on offense.
2015 Royals: 30'th
2014 Royals: 30'th.
2014 Giants: 16'th
2012 Giants: 27'th
2010 Giants: 18'th
3. The Giants and Royals postseason teams featured strong pitching, not just from their starting pitchers but from all 12-13 members of the pitching staffs. Both teams "overspent" to acquire strong and deep bullpens. I guess you could sum this up with the term Pitching Depth. All of these teams had exceptional pitching depth!
4. The Giants and Royals both field exceptional defensive teams as measured by defensive metrics, a relatively new Sabermetric tool.
2015 Royals: #1 in MLB in Defensive Runs Saved and by a large margin(almost twice their closest pursuer in the category).
2014 Royals: 4'th in Defensive Runs Saved.
2014 Giants: 10'th in Defensive Runs Saved.
2012 Giants: 4'th in Defensive Runs Saved.
2010 Giants: 10'th in Defensive Runs Save.
As you can see from the numbers, it is not difficult to see the striking similarities in both teams approach to the game and to develop a list of common denominators of what made them winning teams:
1. Avoiding Strikeouts.
2. Good pitching including exceptional pitching depth and exceptional bullpens.
3. Excellent team defense by currently used defensive metrics such as Defensive Runs Saved and UZR.
Notice that these common denominators do not include hitting for power or drawing walks. This seems to be the part that sticks in the craw of the "Sabermetrics Community." In both cases, some of the low HR totals come from playing in home ballparks that suppress HR's, but it is also a byproduct of the philosophy of avoiding K's. If you take a lot of pitches waiting for the perfect pitch to mash, and if you don't get it, take the walk, you are going to get a whole lot more 2-strike counts. You cannot get a third strike unless you get to two strikes first. "Selective" hitters and teams are going to strike out more than aggressive ones just from that simple math. On the other hand, if you swing at first hittable pitches and guard the plate on 2 strikes, you are not going to hitting the ball with the "sweet spot" on an uppercut bat path as often, so both walks and HR's will be suppressed.
On the other hand, there are advantages to putting the ball in play a lot, especially for great defensive teams. Balls in play provide opportunity for taking extra bases, which walks do not. They also give opposing teams more opportunities to not make plays(we are not just talking about errors here, but plays made). This creates a greater gap between Defensive Runs Saved when the opponent is a poorer than average fielding team.
What is most mystifying about the displeasure and disdain of the "Sabermetric Community" toward the Royals and Giants is both teams appear to validate the newest, hottest metric out there, defensive metrics! You would think writers on sites like Fangraphs, which is the mother ship of defensive metrics, would be dancing jigs and doing victory laps over the correlation with teams that shine on defensive metrics and also win championships. Some of the articles today, seemed to be grudgingly moving in that direction, but man, for a community that proclaims how cutting edge they are and how much their mission is to advance our understanding of statistics, many of those writers still seem awfully stuck in "Moneyball" stats which are now, what, 15 years old or more?
Oh, and you had to feel just a bit sorry for the Mets who just couldn't seem to do anything right by the end of the series. Yes, Lady Luck does play a role in winning championships. No team gets enough wins to make the postseason then survives the playoff gauntlet without a lot of things going right for them. The Mets had Lady Luck on their side in the first two rounds but she turned her back on them with a vengeance in the World Series. All I can say is "Keep your heads up, Met's fans! You'll get another chance in 2017 after the Giants win it all again in 2016!"
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Giants Depth Charts: Third Base
Before the 2015 season started, third base looked like a yawning gaping black hole for the foreseeable future, a position that would almost certainly have to be filled from outside the organization. Matt Duffy changed all that! Now, the depth behind Matt Duffy is a bit suspect as it is not clear that anyone on the current roster could fill in if The Duffman were to get injured, but as long as Duffy is healthy, he is likely to play all but a handful of innings at the position for the next 5 seasons or so. While there is not much MLB ready depth, the organization is surprisingly strong at the position, particularly in the lower minors.
MLB
Matt Duffy!
AAA
There are not third basemen listed on the Sacramento roster. I suppose Carlos Triunfel might be more of a 3B than SS, but he's listed as a SS.
AA
Mitch Delfino.
A lot of Giants fans and others are writing off Mitch Delfino. I believe that is a mistake. Although is .256 BA with little power is not impressive, his 8.3 BB% is quite good and his 14.6 K% is stellar. Delfino is someone who I think could blossom with a promotion to Sacramento.
High A
Ryder Jones
Jonah Arenado
Brandon Bednar
Ryder Jones stats don't jump out at you and he doesn't look like much of an athlete. I saw him play twice in 2015 and he squared the ball up at least 6 out of 8 AB's in those two games. I think the bat will develop if he can play the position at the higher level. The Giants gave a clue as to who will be the starting 3B for SJ with the promotion of Jonah Arenado for the postseason. The promo to High A could be a challenge, but he more than held his own in Augusta. Bednar seems to be a potential utility IF.
Low A
Will Callaway.
Jonah Arenado played the position most of the season. Callaway seems like more of an organizational player at this point.
Short Season
Jose Vizcaino, Jr
Miguel Gomez
With Arenado already on the SJ roster, it looks like Viz and Gomez may have to fight it out for playing time in Augusta. Gomez is also a catcher so may split time between the positions again.
Rookie AZL
Nathanael Javier
Mark Weist
Javier can't seem to stay on the field and Weist had a disappointing pro debut.
DSL
Francisco Medina
Medina is listed as a SS but played most of his games at 3B for the DSL Giants. He showed prodigious power for the DSL, but had trouble sustaining contact rates. I'm thinking the Giants may keep him in the DSL to prevent him from getting overwhelmed while working on making more consistent contact.
SUMMARY
Matt Duffy seems to have a lock on the position as long as he can stay healthy. MLB ready depth is thin, but the organization has depth at the position in the lower minors.
MLB
Matt Duffy!
AAA
There are not third basemen listed on the Sacramento roster. I suppose Carlos Triunfel might be more of a 3B than SS, but he's listed as a SS.
AA
Mitch Delfino.
A lot of Giants fans and others are writing off Mitch Delfino. I believe that is a mistake. Although is .256 BA with little power is not impressive, his 8.3 BB% is quite good and his 14.6 K% is stellar. Delfino is someone who I think could blossom with a promotion to Sacramento.
High A
Ryder Jones
Jonah Arenado
Brandon Bednar
Ryder Jones stats don't jump out at you and he doesn't look like much of an athlete. I saw him play twice in 2015 and he squared the ball up at least 6 out of 8 AB's in those two games. I think the bat will develop if he can play the position at the higher level. The Giants gave a clue as to who will be the starting 3B for SJ with the promotion of Jonah Arenado for the postseason. The promo to High A could be a challenge, but he more than held his own in Augusta. Bednar seems to be a potential utility IF.
Low A
Will Callaway.
Jonah Arenado played the position most of the season. Callaway seems like more of an organizational player at this point.
Short Season
Jose Vizcaino, Jr
Miguel Gomez
With Arenado already on the SJ roster, it looks like Viz and Gomez may have to fight it out for playing time in Augusta. Gomez is also a catcher so may split time between the positions again.
Rookie AZL
Nathanael Javier
Mark Weist
Javier can't seem to stay on the field and Weist had a disappointing pro debut.
DSL
Francisco Medina
Medina is listed as a SS but played most of his games at 3B for the DSL Giants. He showed prodigious power for the DSL, but had trouble sustaining contact rates. I'm thinking the Giants may keep him in the DSL to prevent him from getting overwhelmed while working on making more consistent contact.
SUMMARY
Matt Duffy seems to have a lock on the position as long as he can stay healthy. MLB ready depth is thin, but the organization has depth at the position in the lower minors.
Friday, October 30, 2015
Blogger's Note
I am attending a conference out of town. Most likely no new posts until 11/1 or 11/2. Thanks for reading everybody!
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Giants Depth Charts: Second Base
I was surprised to find that second base has thinned out some organization wide. Part of that is the graduations of Joe Panik and Kelby Tomlinson. Some is due to departures of players like Jeremy Sy and Ryan Jones. The good news is that 2B seems to be a relatively easy position to transition to. Not that it's an easy position to play, but it does not require the tools that other positions like SS require. Again, this depth chart is my opinion of where players stand in the Giants organization.
MLB
Joe Panik
Kelby Tomlinson
Ehire Adrianza
With Panik and Tomlinson being so good and both relatively young, it probably does not matter that the position has thinned a bit down in the minors.
AAA
Brandon Hicks
The Giants caught lightning in a bottle once with Hicks. It seems unlikely to happen again.
AA
Austin Slater
Slater is one of the better up and coming hitters in the organization. He's getting extra AB's in the Arizona Fall League. I expect to see him in Sacramento in 2016.
High A
John Polonius
Probably an organizational player at this point.
Low A
Richard Rodriguez
DSL veteran finished the season strongly for Augusta. A bit old for Augusta at age 23.
Short Season
Richard Amion
Late round draftee from 2014. Has a lot of speed but needs to hit more consistently.
Rookie AZL
Kevin Rivera
Tyler Brown
Rivera is a project who seemed to make some progress in 2015. Brown was a teammate of Phil Bickford's in JC ball. He had a great AZL campaign and at age 20 is not all that old for the league. Brown is an interesting prospect who I will be watching for in 2016.
DSL
Robert Antunez
Manuel Geraldo
Antunez' numbers seem kind of nondescript to me. Geraldo is listed as a SS but played 2B most of the first half of the season before moving back to SS. I really like Geraldo a lot based on his size and numbers. I look forward to seeing what he can do in the States.
MLB
Joe Panik
Kelby Tomlinson
Ehire Adrianza
With Panik and Tomlinson being so good and both relatively young, it probably does not matter that the position has thinned a bit down in the minors.
AAA
Brandon Hicks
The Giants caught lightning in a bottle once with Hicks. It seems unlikely to happen again.
AA
Austin Slater
Slater is one of the better up and coming hitters in the organization. He's getting extra AB's in the Arizona Fall League. I expect to see him in Sacramento in 2016.
High A
John Polonius
Probably an organizational player at this point.
Low A
Richard Rodriguez
DSL veteran finished the season strongly for Augusta. A bit old for Augusta at age 23.
Short Season
Richard Amion
Late round draftee from 2014. Has a lot of speed but needs to hit more consistently.
Rookie AZL
Kevin Rivera
Tyler Brown
Rivera is a project who seemed to make some progress in 2015. Brown was a teammate of Phil Bickford's in JC ball. He had a great AZL campaign and at age 20 is not all that old for the league. Brown is an interesting prospect who I will be watching for in 2016.
DSL
Robert Antunez
Manuel Geraldo
Antunez' numbers seem kind of nondescript to me. Geraldo is listed as a SS but played 2B most of the first half of the season before moving back to SS. I really like Geraldo a lot based on his size and numbers. I look forward to seeing what he can do in the States.
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Giants Depth Charts: First Base
The Giants have never invested a lot in the first base position, at least since they drafted Will Clark #2 overall. They invest in pitching and up-the-middle positional talent and then fill in 1B with whatever undervalued good field mediocre hitter they can put there. It should come as not surprise, then, that 1B might be the thinest position at all levels of the organization. I mean, toward the end of last season, they found themselves with Ehire Adrianza playing there only to see him get hit in the face with a batted ball! Again, these depth charts are my opinion.
MLB
1. Brandon Belt
2. Buster Posey
Since Buster Posey's day job is Starting Catcher, and there is no number 3, I think you would have to say that 1B depth is a problem here.
AAA
There are no first basemen listed on the current AAA roster.
AA
Ricky Oropesa
Ricky hit 17 HR's in 2015 which tied him for 3'rd in the Eastern League. Most of those dingers came during 2 hot streaks. Hopefully he gets a chance to move up to Sacramento in 2016.
HIGH A
Brian Ragira
Angel Villalona
Angel V's bat came alive in August and the Cal League postseason, but he looked woefully out of shape. Ragira played mostly DH and had a very disappointing season.
LOW A
Chase Compton
Skyler Ewing
Ewing did a faceplant after a promising pro debut. Compton looks like an organizational player.
SHORT SEASON
Chris Shaw
John Riley
Scott Price
Chris Shaw looks like he may be the premier power hitting prospect in the organization. Look for him to skip Low A and start next season in San Jose. Riley moved out from behind the plate and played 1B and DH. He slashed .320/.433/520 in August for Salem-Keizer. He may be a sleeper in the system. Price looks like an organizational player.
Rookie AZL
There are no first basemen currently listed on the roster.
DSL
There are no first basemen currently listed on the roster. Robinson Medrano played the position in 2015. He is not listed as a participant in Instructional League.
MLB
1. Brandon Belt
2. Buster Posey
Since Buster Posey's day job is Starting Catcher, and there is no number 3, I think you would have to say that 1B depth is a problem here.
AAA
There are no first basemen listed on the current AAA roster.
AA
Ricky Oropesa
Ricky hit 17 HR's in 2015 which tied him for 3'rd in the Eastern League. Most of those dingers came during 2 hot streaks. Hopefully he gets a chance to move up to Sacramento in 2016.
HIGH A
Brian Ragira
Angel Villalona
Angel V's bat came alive in August and the Cal League postseason, but he looked woefully out of shape. Ragira played mostly DH and had a very disappointing season.
LOW A
Chase Compton
Skyler Ewing
Ewing did a faceplant after a promising pro debut. Compton looks like an organizational player.
SHORT SEASON
Chris Shaw
John Riley
Scott Price
Chris Shaw looks like he may be the premier power hitting prospect in the organization. Look for him to skip Low A and start next season in San Jose. Riley moved out from behind the plate and played 1B and DH. He slashed .320/.433/520 in August for Salem-Keizer. He may be a sleeper in the system. Price looks like an organizational player.
Rookie AZL
There are no first basemen currently listed on the roster.
DSL
There are no first basemen currently listed on the roster. Robinson Medrano played the position in 2015. He is not listed as a participant in Instructional League.
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