Questions for Daver, Randar and other scouts

[rdivaldi]

Originally Posted by Randar68

Brice in CF scares the crap out of me!

Hasn't Brice been primarily a LF or RF for the past 2 years?

[Randar68]

Originally Posted by rdivaldi

Hasn't Brice been primarily a LF or RF for the past 2 years?

Mostly LF, IIRC

[whitesoxglenn]

Does anyone know what is up with Ricardo Nanita this year???...I have not heard much about Nanita, and I have been high on Nanita since the article about Nanita in Baseball America last year!!!

[Daver]

Originally Posted by whitesoxglenn

Does anyone know what is up with Ricardo Nanita this year???...I have not heard much about Nanita, and I have been high on Nanita since the article about Nanita in Baseball America last year!!!

Last time I checked he was hitting .370 or so in the Sally league, his defense is still on the very raw side however.

[rdivaldi]

Originally Posted by Daver

Last time I checked he was hitting .370 or so in the Sally league, his defense is still on the very raw side however.

After an impressive 4- 4 showing last night he's up to .429. It's beginning to look like the jump from Kannapolis to Winston-Salem is pretty daunting for these kids.

[Randar68]

Originally Posted by rdivaldi

After an impressive 4- 4 showing last night he's up to .429. It's beginning to look like the jump from Kannapolis to Winston-Salem is pretty daunting for these kids.

Well, Nanita played in a Florida JuCo and only played one year at Florida International, IIRC. He jumped from Great Falls to Winston-Salem along with Brian Anderson. That's quite a jump for such a raw young player, like Nanita is. Hopefully he works the loop out of his swing in Kanny and finishes his season with some success in W-S.

[rdivaldi]

Originally Posted by Randar68

Well, Nanita played in a Florida JuCo and only played one year at Florida International, IIRC. He jumped from Great Falls to Winston-Salem along with Brian Anderson. That's quite a jump for such a raw young player, like Nanita is. Hopefully he works the loop out of his swing in Kanny and finishes his season with some success in W-S.

Considering his stellar play last year, I can understand the exuberance that the org had in promoting him to Winston-Salem, he's also not all that young (23). I hope they can get him back up to WS soon.

[Rex Hudler]

Originally Posted by Randar68

44:29 K:BB ratio, you had it reversed.


That ios not terrible, but he's basically playing at a level just slightly above what he played at in College, and only Casey Rogowski has been hitting anything consistently in W-S, it's not like he's overly protected hitting in that line-up.

Do Anderson and Borchard have higher ceilings than Reed? I'd say yes on both counts, but I'd also say that Reed had a higher likelihood of success or of being a good regular MLB contributor. One was a sure thing with a low likelihood of that turning into a star, and the other 2 have star potential with a lower likelihood of reaching it.

First of all, hello..... I never knew there was a minor league thread at WSI, so I am a little late in chiming in here. But I do feel the need to address one thing.

High A ball is not "slightly above Division I baseball". I love college baseball and see much SEC Baseball every year. But in no way is the quality of baseball in the major college conferences even close to high A. Yes, the best players (maybe 1-2 per team) at that level could take a shot at High A. But the rest are not close.

Think of it this way.... Most college rosters have 2-4 kids per year get drafted max. The rest either never get drafted or they get drafted a year or two later. Kids that are freshman and sophomores would not likely be in high A if they had signed out of high school instead. Only a rare few. Many of the college juniors and seniors never even make it to high Class A. Most never get drafted at all. College baseball is good baseball and it is very exciting to watch, but your best teams would have difficulty competing in low Class A, if that. Most are probably more comparable to Advanced Rookie leagues.

[Randar68]

Originally Posted by Rex Hudler

First of all, hello..... I never knew there was a minor league thread at WSI, so I am a little late in chiming in here. But I do feel the need to address one thing.

High A ball is not "slightly above Division I baseball". I love college baseball and see much SEC Baseball every year. But in no way is the quality of baseball in the major college conferences even close to high A. Yes, the best players (maybe 1-2 per team) at that level could take a shot at High A. But the rest are not close.

Think of it this way.... Most college rosters have 2-4 kids per year get drafted max. The rest either never get drafted or they get drafted a year or two later. Kids that are freshman and sophomores would not likely be in high A if they had signed out of high school instead. Only a rare few. Many of the college juniors and seniors never even make it to high Class A. Most never get drafted at all. College baseball is good baseball and it is very exciting to watch, but your best teams would have difficulty competing in low Class A, if that. Most are probably more comparable to Advanced Rookie leagues.

Here is my point. Even in high A-ball, you have many raw 20-22 year olds, akin to most starting players in major D1 programs. Are their ceilings as high? not most of the time. The best players from D1 can make the jump to High-A ball and it is only a slight adjustment for them. I think Pac-10, SEC, and Big 12 baseball is a better level of competition than low A ball, but I clearly said it's not to the level of High A, slightly below.

I stand by my assessment.

[Fungo]

Originally Posted by Randar68

Here is my point. Even in high A-ball, you have many raw 20-22 year olds, akin to most starting players in major D1 programs. Are their ceilings as high? not most of the time. The best players from D1 can make the jump to High-A ball and it is only a slight adjustment for them. I think Pac-10, SEC, and Big 12 baseball is a better level of competition than low A ball, but I clearly said it's not to the level of High A, slightly below.

I stand by my assessment.

First off, I respect both Randar's and Rex's opinions. I happen to stumble across this as I was browsing the pages of Baseball America. This is from the Ask BA section, Jim Callis anwsers and deals with pitchers...

• What do you think good college baseball (Big 12, SEC, ACC, Pac-10) is equivalent to for pitchers? Is it like a pitcher facing a Double-A team? Because when you use aluminum bats, it obviously enhances a hitter's ability.
  

I love and respect college baseball as much as just about anyone. I was BA's primary guy on the college beat from 1989-97 and I've vacationed at the College World Series every summer since. But I wouldn't come close to likening college baseball to Double-A.

The top college players, maybe a handful each year, could step in to pro ball and handle Double-A. On the highest level of college baseball, teams might have a couple of players who could hold their own in high Class A and a few who would be ready for low Class A, but the majority of them would be equivalent to short-season and upper-level Rookie ball players. Of course, even the best college teams are going to have several players who aren't even going to play pro ball. On a whole, I'd say the upper echelon of college baseball is equivalent to short-season ball, maybe low Class A if you're looking at it from the pitching side and want to give them extra credit for facing aluminum bats. But even the most powerful college lineups are not the equal of a high Class A lineup. They might be in the middle of the lineup, but not from one through nine.

[Rex Hudler]

Originally Posted by Randar68

Here is my point. Even in high A-ball, you have many raw 20-22 year olds, akin to most starting players in major D1 programs. Are their ceilings as high? not most of the time. The best players from D1 can make the jump to High-A ball and it is only a slight adjustment for them. I think Pac-10, SEC, and Big 12 baseball is a better level of competition than low A ball, but I clearly said it's not to the level of High A, slightly below.

I stand by my assessment.

Randar, I know you know your stuff, but you are off here. Most starting players in major D-I programs never get to high A, so they can't be compared to some of the players that have made it there. Take National Champion CS-Fullerton for example...... how many of their players on this team were drafted this year? how many are likely to be drafted in the next two years? If they are lucky, out of 25-30 players, maybe a dozen will be drafted not just this year but over the next 3 years. Of those dozen, chances of more than 6-8 of those players even making it to High A are slim. That considers players this year and the development of players over the next two years, not what their talent level is right now.

I love college baseball, but I think Jim Callis backed me up here. The best college teams would have difficulty competing at Low A, because at least half their players would not even be good enough for that level at the time. The best players in college baseball can step in and compete, but overall, the talent is nowhere near deep enough to compete at those levels as a team.

[Randar68]

Originally Posted by Rex Hudler

Randar, I know you know your stuff, but you are off here. Most starting players in major D-I programs never get to high A, so they can't be compared to some of the players that have made it there. Take National Champion CS-Fullerton for example...... how many of their players on this team were drafted this year? how many are likely to be drafted in the next two years? If they are lucky, out of 25-30 players, maybe a dozen will be drafted not just this year but over the next 3 years. Of those dozen, chances of more than 6-8 of those players even making it to High A are slim. That considers players this year and the development of players over the next two years, not what their talent level is right now.

I love college baseball, but I think Jim Callis backed me up here. The best college teams would have difficulty competing at Low A, because at least half their players would not even be good enough for that level at the time. The best players in college baseball can step in and compete, but overall, the talent is nowhere near deep enough to compete at those levels as a team.

The best college players dominate at their level. Moving to Winston-Salem from Arizona or Oklahoma, IMO, is very similar a step as Kannapolis to W-S. There are other differences, like length of season, etc, but that's just my feeling on it. You expect a short adjustment period and then success.

[The Tom]

What kind of stuff does Gio Gonzalez have. From what I gather, he relies on a killer curve. What kind of velocity does he project as he gets older? Also, I'm getting contradictory reports on McCarthy. Some say he's power pitcher and other's say he's a finesse guy. Which is he?

[Randar68]

Originally Posted by The Tom

What kind of stuff does Gio Gonzalez have. From what I gather, he relies on a killer curve. What kind of velocity does he project as he gets older? Also, I'm getting contradictory reports on McCarthy. Some say he's power pitcher and other's say he's a finesse guy. Which is he?

McCarthy has the body of a power pitcher but relies more on finesse. He has pinpoint control, and he still projects to add some velocity if he continues to fill out his rail-thin frame. He does need to pitch inside better, he has good stuff, but excellent control. He's only 20 and is now in High A ball after dominating in Kannapolis save for a start or 2.

Gio Gonzalez has a wicked curve, but he throws 3 pitches for strikes with a 88-91 mph fastball and a nice change-up. He's very polished for his age, although some concern exists about his frail frame and his mechanics.

[California Sox]

By and large I tend to agree that the best players from college ball can jump quickly to high A. In White Sox history, Robin bypassed high-A, Frank dominated in his brief stay, Reed dominated in half a season as did Brian Anderson. Here's the question: Josh Fields is really struggling. I know it is waaaay to early to panic, but is he not as advanced as a hitter as most thought? Thanks.