SB Nation User Blog: rayver723

Eveland and Smith

rayver723 — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:52:35 -0000

both lefties came over in the haren deal. have had impressive spring trainings. eveland seems to have cemented his spot as the 5th starter and Smith probably the next SP to be called up at some point during the season. of course sample size is everything...

Eveland: 15in/16h/2er/4bb/14k's/1.2 era
Smith: 13in/9h/2er/3bb/9k's/1.38era

Keith Law was at today's game: From his BLOG :

* Dana Eveland continued his bid for a spot in the Oakland rotation with another strong outing, ripping through five innings against the Royals without giving up a run. His fastball was down a bit from his previous start, as he pitched mostly at 88 but threw some fastballs as low as 85 mph. But his secondary stuff was strong, including a curveball with good depth and a sharp slider that he used as his out pitch. Even more impressive was the presence of a clear pitching plan: get ahead with curveballs and fastballs, put hitters away with the slider, show the changeup to lefties and see if they'll chase it off the outside corner. Eveland reminds me a lot of Ted Lilly, with a little less fastball and an inferior changeup; both are lefties who reached the majors with shaky control and reputations as head cases, both feature four-pitch repertoires, and both have multiple weapons to get swings and misses. Lilly blossomed as a starter when he went to the big ballpark in Oakland and didn't have to worry about giving up fly balls. The same could be true for Eveland this year.

Is Greg Smith for real?

rayver723 — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 01:12:27 -0000

Greg Smith has been absolutely awesome this spring. He came over in the Haren trade.One of the many candidates for the 5th SP spot with Braden/Gio/Meyer/Saarloos/Eveland etc He's been complimentd on his savvy and deception so far this spring. Very athletic and has actually hit well for a pitcher, sort of a lefty Micah Owings type. He seemingly has dominated the opposition with ease and has all but locked up the fifth starter spot. The only question that remains is to determine whether he is in a spring hot streak or he is the real deal and could be a potential #3 Sp type or fall into the category of back rotation filler? i was thinking maybe a similar type SP to noah lowry (healthy and better control) What do you guys think?

Ken Rosenthal wrote this about Smith a couple days ago:

Left-hander Greg Smith, part of the A's six-player return for Haren, is drawing raves for his deception and savvy.

interview with Farhan Zaidi (which is Scout Premium content):

Greg Smith, to me, has been one of the most impressive players in camp. From his first bullpen, you could tell that this is a guy who has a plan and is not throwing for the [speed] guns at all. It is easy to lump him in with a lot of the other finesse lefties that you see coming up through the minors and having a lot of success. Some of those guys are trick-pitch guys; some of those guys are just doing it with their savvy. But he's really a mix of all of those things. He can get it up to 90-91 when he wants to, but he is probably more comfortable working in the mid- to high-80s. That is when he can spot his fastball the best.
...
Obviously, he is not on the roster yet. He's definitely a candidate to be the fifth starter, but it isn't something that will definitely happen at the start of the season.

Poll

Is Greg Smith for real?

spring training breakout prospects

rayver723 — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:24:49 -0000

so which prospects have you noticed during spring training??

so ths is a time you get to finally see certain top prospects play, but the nat'l media get a hold of them and find more about them. well i'll start it off. in the past week or so gammons/olney have reported on henry rodriguez. some mentioned he's been the best pitcher that the cactus league has seen in 2 seasons w/ a high 90's FB and devastating breaking pitch. Olney calls him the best prospect in the cactus league.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/sports/ci_8543671

Knoedler, a nonroster player who was catching Sunday when Rodriguez was clocked at 100 mph against Milwaukee, said Rodriguez also has shown good command of a slider and changeup.

But it's Rodriguez's fastball -- Knoedler likes to describe it as "easy cheese" -- that is generating the buzz.

"Give the guy a chance to get a few innings under his belt, and he can be special for a long, long time," Knoedler said. "There's nobody in this camp with an arm like his. He's got a lightning bolt in his arm."

top 5 pitching farm systems

rayver723 — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 20:05:41 -0000

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2008/265726.html

Looking solely at pitchers, the rankings would be much different. Here are my top five organizations in terms of mound prospects, with their overall ranking in the Handbook in parentheses:

Rays (1). Tampa Bay has the best overall farm system because it has a strong balance between hitters and pitchers, and as a group, the arms are more impressive. David Price, Wade Davis and Jake McGee all ranked in the top 17 on our overall Top 100 Prospects list, and Jeff Niemann snuck on at the end. Besides frontline pitchers, the Rays also have plenty of depth with Jeremy Hellickson, Chris Mason, Glenn Gibson, Juan Salas, Alex Cobb, Eduardo Morlan and Josh Butler. The rich may get richer, too, as Tampa Bay has the No. 1 overall pick in the June draft and could target Missouri righthander Aaron Crow or San Diego lefthander Brian Matusz.
Yankees (5). The obvious guys are Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy, who were spectacular in brief big league stints last year and are counted on heavily for 2008. Alan Horne, Jeff Marquez and Ross Ohlendorf all could contribute in New York this year as well, while Andrew Brackman, Mark Melancon and Humberto Sanchez and Dellin Betances all combine upside with medical question marks.
Orioles (16, will move up a couple of spots after the Erik Bedard trade, though Adam Jones doesn't count as a prospect). Chris Tillman, part of the Bedard deal, is a Top 100 prospect, as are Radhames Liz and Troy Patton, part of the Miguel Tejada trade. A year from now, Jake Arrieta and Chorye Spoone could be Top 100 guys, and Pedro Beato and Brandon Erbe have power arms. Garrett Olson is a lefty who knows how to pitch, though he nibbled too much in his big league debut.
Rangers (4). Eric Hurley will pitch in the majors this year, and Matt Harrison may join him, but the strength of the Texas system is very young arms. Neftali Feliz, Michael Main, Blake Beavan, Neil Ramirez, Fabio Castillo, Tommy Hunter and Wilmer Font have yet to reach full-season ball, while Kasey Kiker has advanced to low Class A and Omar Poveda has made five starts in high Class A.
Athletics (27, will move up to around 10 after trading Dan Haren and Nick Swisher for a slew of prospects). The best arms in Oakland's system are recent trade acquisitions Gio Gonzalez, Brett Anderson and Fautino de los Santos. Adding them to the previous inventory that included Trevor Cahill, James Simmons, Henry Rodriguez and Andrew Bailey put the A's past the Twins, Rockies, Indians and Dodgers for the last spot on this top five.

Giants scout Crede, now Johnson?

rayver723 — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:45:44 -0000

interesting turn of events these past couple days...first we hear about white sox scouts watching lowry. now today we find out 2 giants scouts are watching dan johnson. a Johnson/Crede combo would be pretty solid, basicaally better than anything on the current roster. what do you think is traded for them?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/05/SPP8VE9CI.DTL

Johnson could draw attention from teams such as the Mets and Giants (San Francisco had two scouts at Oakland's game Wednesday), who might be looking for a first baseman, but the A's haven't been in any rush to move him because they've believed he will hit. He's out of options, so if Sweeney were to stick past mid-April, the A's would have to trade Johnson or waive him, unless they went with three outfielders plus Jack Cust or dropped down to 11 pitchers, which is unlikely.

Future Shock Organizational Rankings, Part 2

rayver723 — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:22:55 -0000

1. Tampa Bay Rays
Last Year's Ranking: 1
Why They're Unchanged: Evan Longoria's full-season debut went even better than expected, and they added No. 1 overall pick David Price to the system.
Strengths: Yes. There are just tons of prospects everywhere, as 20 of MLB's 30 teams don't have one prospect ranked higher than Tampa's fifth-rated player.
Weaknesses: It's hard to figure out what to do with all of this talent. Seriously, they're not just No. 1, they're No. 1 by a mile.
Outlook for 2009 Ranking: Unchanged. Even with Longoria in the big leagues, the Rays have more than enough talent to remain at the top, and once again, they have the first overall pick in June.

2. Oakland Athletics
Last Year's Ranking: 23
Why They're Up: Their rebuilding process got off to excellent start, as the Dan Haren and Nick Swisher deals brought in a bevy of excellent prospects to restock the system.
Strengths: Their High-A rotation will have three Top 100 prospects, and there are more arms worth noting at nearly every level in the system; Daric Barton is ready to step in at first base; Carlos Gonzalez is nearly ready as a five-tool outfielder.
Weaknesses: Infielders.
Outlook for 2009 Ranking: It's hard to go up, but most of their talent, especially the pitching, has a maturation date of 2009 and beyond.

3. Texas Rangers
Last Year's Ranking: 22
Why They're Up: Deadline deals filled the system with prospects, as six of Top 11 weren't with the organization at the beginning of year; Chris Davis turned into legitimate power-hitting prospect.
Strengths: Young power arms; high-tools prospects; catching.
Weaknesses: Left-handed pitching; outfielders.
Outlook for 2009 Ranking: Holding the line, if not going up, as only Eric Hurley might lose eligibility.

4. Boston Red Sox
Last Year's Ranking: 11
Why They're Up: Clay Buchholz became the top pitching prospect in the game, Jacoby Ellsbury grabbed the center field job, and they had a strong '07 draft.
Strengths: Right-handed pitching; toolsy outfielders.
Weaknesses: Catching; pure power prospects.
Outlook for 2009 Ranking: Down significantly, as Buchholz and Ellsbury move to the majors and leave no elite prospects in their wake.

5. Los Angeles Dodgers
Last Year's Ranking: 5
Why They're Unchanged: Clayton Kershaw became the top lefty prospect in the game, and the '07 draft added even more pitching depth; Chin-Lung Hu added an offensive game to supplement his already Gold Glove-caliber defense.
Strengths: Andy LaRoche and Hu make one of the top left sides in the minors, and there are more third basemen and shortstops to brag about beyond them; power arms.
Weaknesses: Outfield prospects; catchers; right-side infielders.
Outlook for 2009 Ranking: Little movement, but possibly down if the Dodgers do the right thing and make LaRoche their everyday third baseman this year.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7204

AL 08 Rookie SP's

rayver723 — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 08:13:01 -0000

I wont include hughes/joba/bucholz/price/mcgee/davis because thats been talked about already. they are in the elite area, but how about the next tier of rookie pitchers that may get chances in 08, they ranked in that 20-60+ range by BA..how would you rank them their upside long term?

their BA rankings
Nick Adenhart (24)
Ian Kennedy (45)
Adam Miller (29)
Gio Gonzalez (26)
Nick Blackburn (56)
Luke Hochevar (63)

Future Shock Giants Top 11 Prospects

rayver723 — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:34:41 -0000

Five-Star Prospects
1. Angel Villalona, 3B/1B
Four-Star Prospects
2. Henry Sosa, RHP
Three-Star Prospects

Tim Alderson, RHP
Madison Bumgarner, RHP
Wendell Fairly, OF
Nick Noonan, SS/2B
Nate Schierholtz, OF

Two-Star Prospects

John Bowker, OF
Pablo Sandoval, C
Clayton Tanner, LHP
Charlie Culberson, SS/2B

Just Missing: Wilber Bucardo, RHP; Manny Burriss, SS; Eugenio Velez, UT

1. Angel Villalona, 3B/1B
DOB: 8/13/90
Height/Weight: 6-3/200
Bats/Throws: R/R
Acquired: NDFA, 2006, Dominican Republic
2007 Stats: .285/.344/.450 at Rookie-level (52 G); .167/.231/.167 at Short-season (5 G)

Year In Review: Seen by some as the best pure Latin American hitter in years, the 16-year-old looked to be worth every penny of his $2.1 million bonus in his pro debut.
The Good: For a 17-year-old, Villalona's offensive potential is nearly off the charts. His raw power is nearly unseen in a teenager, but he's also an adept hitter with excellent bat control, and many international evaluators specifically noted his mature approach and excellent pitch recognition. He's an average runner, and his top non-hitting tool is a plus-plus arm.
The Bad: Young and massive, Villalona is far from done growing, and will likely play his way off of third base in short order. It's not a long-term concern, as the bat will play anywhere, but it does reduce his value a bit. His fielding, baserunning, and feel for the game are all a bit raw, but not especially so for his age and experience.
Fun Fact: Villalona has an early sense of the Bay Area rivalry, as in seven games against the Arizona Rookie League Athletics, he went 14-for-31 (.452) with seven extra-base hits.
Perfect World Projection: An impact middle-of-the-order run producer.
Timetable: Villalona is already getting work at first base in spring training, and the Giants are considering making the move across the diamond now to avoid any distractions from his offensive development. He'll make his full-season debut in Low-A--he doesn't turn 18 until August.

* http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7176

draft comp picks

rayver723 — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 04:10:53 -0000

anyone have the 08 draft order?

if a type B FA signs a minor league deal, does the other team get a pick or not? i'm asking beause this...

The Jays are close to signing Shannon Stewart to a minor league contract, FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports.
The team already has a respectable platoon set up, with Matt Stairs set to bash right-handers and Reed Johnson starting versus lefties and acting as a defensive replacement. If Stairs is going to play the majority of the time, Johnson, who covers his weaknesses better, makes more sense as the other half of the platoon. Stewart was surprisingly solid as a regular for the A's last season, but we're not sure how he fits here, unless the Jays think they can trade Johnson for a quality prospect. He's never been particularly good against lefties (699 OPS last year, 654 in 2005), and he doesn't cover nearly as much ground as Johnson these days.
Source: FOXSports.com

roster crunch/players out of options

rayver723 — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 19:18:16 -0000

so barring any changes, there seems to be an OF roster crunch. do all make the team? or do we see a trade sometime during spring training using the OF/pitching to get some 1b/3b depth? what do you think happens? both davis/lewis stick as 4th/5th OF's, Ortmeier at 1b?

The Giants confirmed that Fred Lewis, Rajai Davis and Dan Ortmeier are all out of options this spring.
There's not going to be enough at-bats for both Lewis and Davis while the starting outfielder are healthy, so ideally, one could back to the minors to play regularly. However, that probably won't happen. At the moment, all three players are penciled in for roster spots. Ortmeier could get the majority of the time at first base initially. Because so much of the competition is out of options, Nate Schierholtz appears to have no real chance of making the team.
Source: San Jose Mercury News
Related: Dan Ortmeier, Nate Schierholtz, Rajai Davis