Shaun Anderson, RHP. DOB: 10/29/1994. 6'4", 225 lbs. Drafted 2016 Round 3, #88 Overall(Red Sox).
2018 AA: 6-5, 3.45, 94 IP, 8.90 K/9, 2.11 BB/9, 1.31 GB/FB.
2018 AAA: 2-2, 418, 47.1 IP, 6.46 K/9, 2.09 BB/9, 1.32 GB/FB.
Shaun Anderson is a horse! Have I ever said that before? He was the other half of the return for Eduardo Nunez from the BoSox. Big strong kid with the stamina to go deep into games. Anderson doesn't have one pitch that blows people away but he has an advanced mix of 3 above average pitches which he can command. Scouting report comes from Baseball Census who saw him in the same game I did late 2017 in San Bernardino where he allowed just 1 baserunner in 6 IP with 7 K's. His FB sits in the low 90's but has late downward break. His slider also shows late life and the changeup is a nice complementary piece he can use against LH batters. His numbers slipped a bit after a second half promotion to AAA, but 1. It was later in the season. 2. The PCL is very tough on pitchers. 3. Many of the guys he faced had been playing all season in AAA and/or the majors and they were all getting better over the season too.
I expect Anderson to start the 2019 season in AAA Sacramento. A promotion to the Giants will depend on his performance and team needs. I see him as a guy who can eat innings as a #4 SP in MLB.
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The other half of the Nunez trade. This trade shows how both teams can benefit from a trade of a veteran for prospects. Certainly, it might be too early to tell if Anderson and Santos can prove to be valuable assets for the Giants, but their ranking as the 6th and 7th best prospects in the organization gives us hope
ReplyDeleteThe proverb a bird in hand is worth two in the bush normally implies having something, even if it is a lesser quantity, is better than taking the chance of losing it in order to attain something else that seems more desirable.
ReplyDeleteAnderson and Santos were acquired, indirectly but consequently, for Adalberto Mejia.
Despite injuries in 2018, Mejia @ 25 yo has "arrived" and might well be in the 2019 Giants' starting rotation had he not been traded for the useful but fielding compromised Eduardo Nunez.
Anderson and Santos are still prospects however promising.
Making trades for immediate hoped for benefit did Bobby Evans last year. He also was the GM who traded Mejia the year before.
Zaidi is, apparently, looking for 3 or more birds in the bush.
Is there some universe where Adalberto Mejia has "arrived?". If there is, it's not the one I seem to be living in!
DeleteIf arrived means Mejia has thrown in the major leagues, he is correct. He may or may not be in the Twins rotation in 2019.His K/BB rate is still not very good.
DeleteWhat did Bobby Evans in was the unfortunate clash of an ownership's desire to stay under the CBT against a front office philosophy of filling team needs with expensive 'proven' players. Bobby did quite well for 2018 - he kept SF under the CBT and put a competitive team on the field but bad luck for him key injuries ruined the season - Mac, Cueto, Posey, Melancon, Belt, Strickland (ugh). Enter Zaidi and his team of analysts to identify inexpensive less-proven players to restock the organization, supplement the 2019 roster and re-grow a sustainable winning team. It is all going to be OK!
ReplyDeleteI would add a very large dose of bad luck to Bobby Evans resume. As for Zaidi, I'm rooting hard for him to succeed and there is indeed plenty of time left this Hot Stove season to get it done, but right now I'm not seeing it.
DeleteNor is anyone else. However, I'll whithhold judgement until I see the Opening Day roster.
DeleteAnon seems to be saying that baseball teams should be governed by shopworn adages. His test case hardly proves that: Mejia has indeed arrived, and has been mediocre for two seasons, with a low K rate, a borderline worrisome BB rate, and an undistinguished FIP. Maybe he would have been a candidate for the Giants’ rotation in 2019, but Anon doesn’t even try to show that having him there would be a good thing.
ReplyDeleteWhat Zaidi is looking for, with over a month left to go before pitchers and catchers even report, we don’t know. So far he has aimed to build player inventory without losing anyone, i.e., no trades, just acquisitions, including two players—Venditte and Ventura—whose play he himself observed with LAD last year. He is “apparently” saving his team’s resources for a time when he can see how the market plays out and can observe some of the players he’s inherited; and with those ample resources, insure that birds in the bush have a high likelihood of becoming birds in hand.
Saying Mejia has arrived is like saying that Kendrys Flores and Luis Castillo have each arrived because they've each had stints in the majors since being dealt for Casey McGehee. I think most Twins fans would gladly send him back for Nunez. Just the same as I'm glad we dealt him for a guy who brought us two prospects who are each within two years of either joining the team or being used as top notch trade bait. This AAA season will be the one that tells for Anderson.
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe Luis Castillo really has arrived and probably Bobby Evans himself would like to have the McGehee trade back.
DeleteI can't imagine Evans negotiated any trade that didn't have Sabean's approval.
ReplyDeleteMejia may have well have been in Twins' rotation last year but for multiple injuries. He's been around for parts of 3 years and had his first cup of coffee a couple years ago.
Not saying Mejia is better than Anderson just that the Giants traded him for Nunez and the Red Sox traded Anderson for Nunez. A common denominator, one is in the major leagues and one is not. If Anderson turns out to be better than Mejia good for the Giants, but prospects are prospects and until they pitch in the major leagues they will be prospects however promising they are.
Santos? Wake me up in a couple years when he gets to AA.
Go back to the original metaphor: the bird in hand may not be great, but he is in hand and the 2 in the bush aren't. Far fewer players make it to the big leagues than make it even to AAA. Mejia is also the only lefty starter that the Twins have. Healthy, he will be in the 2019 rotation.
Here is Adalberto Mejia's career MLB line so far:
Delete6-7, 4.11, 122.2 IP, 7.19 K/9, 3.96 BB/9, 4.54 FIP, 5.15 xFIP.
Last season he put up a shiny 2.01 ERA in all of 22.1 IP with a 5.24 K/9 and a 3.63 BB/9.
If that is your "bird in the hand", I'll take the prospects and hope for better.
Not exactly throwing myself down the stairs over losing him.
Ty Blach has a better career FIP and xFIP than Mejia by a fairly wide margin mainly due to much better groundball rate and a lower walk rate.
DeleteAmen
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