Nov
24
Minor League News Roundup
ByWe actually have ourselves some minor league stuff to talk about, so let’s round it up in one post, bullet point style…
- The Yanks signed Dominican outfielder Eladio Moronta, a soon to be 21-year-old righty with “plus-plus speed, a strong arm and projectable power.” MLB had suspended Moronta earlier this year for lying about his age, and prior to the suspension it was believed he would receive a seven figure bonus. Instead, he settled for $570,000. One scout dropped a Raul Mondesi comp on him, which would be amazing. 30-30 guys don’t grow on trees.
- Baseball America took a look at best individual and average fastballs from the Arizona Fall League. Mike Dunn had the hardest individual pitch (96.6 mph) and best average velocity (93.85) among lefthanders this year, while Ian Kennedy averaged 90.66 with his heater, topping out 93.4.
- MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo named Jesus Montero and Zach McAllister the organization’s Hitter and Pitcher of the Year. I went with Manny Banuelos for Pitcher of the Year, but to each his own.
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The Tyler Austin Watch
Strasburg is a freak.
He’ll spend what, 2 months in the minors?
Seems about right. I don’t know if he has a good off speed pitch, if he does it’ll probably be about 2 weeks instead. Good for the Nats.
Doesn’t have a good off-speed pitch? Whaaa? His curve is not merely a 12-6, it is Fibonacci’s sequence from the mound to the plate.
Damn right it’s good for the Nats.
Josh Schmidt had a 1-hit shutout with 10 K’s tonight in the VWL.
Sounds good. Anytime you can add an up the middle player with good upside it’s a good thing.
Now go get Chapman Cashman!
If only Dunn could get the walks under control, he could be a power pitching version of Phil Coke (but w/o the gopher balls, hopefully).
Baseball America failed to mention that Casey Kelly was throwing balls from shortstop to first at 115.6 mph….with a slight tailing cut….with a reverse spin…..with a slight rise…..while steadily increasing in velocity.
They were offered Jesus Christ himself straight up for Casey Kelly – Theo denied it.
Could you imagine what would happen if Casey Kelly faced Ryan Westmoreland?
ARMAGEDDON!!!!
It’d be like Hector vs Achilles.
So someone would end up being dragged around a city after being killed then that guy’s father would come in tears to the tent of the victor to beg for the body of his son?
/geek’d
Yessir.
Wrote a 20 page paper about the Iliad and the Odyssey compared to contemporary American film using the Natural and the Searchers.
I enjoyed both epic poems, they were all about fucking shit up, killing stuff, and kidnapping/raping women.
And people tell me I need to get out more…
Seminar class my junior year. The entire grade was that paper.
Good times. Shit like that – the seminar classes – that’s the only part of school I enjoyed. 20 page papers?…eh, not so much. Better than fucking tests though. I hated tests.
And you know what the scout’s had to say? “Eh, Mo’s pitch is better.”
Apostrophe fail.
But the comment, sans misplaced apostrophe, stands.
So IPK is averaging 90.66 MPH. Let’s round that up to 91. Oh shit, no pitcher has ever succeeded at 91 MPH.
Bust.
Maybe he can make it as a middle reliever. Not sure if he’s gritty enough though.
RIP ART SAVAGE:
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....;fext=.jsp
Some scouts are saying that Cuban lefty Noel Arguelles might be a better investment than Chapman.
Why take the chance? Get both!
There’s the thinking I like!
Here is what noted player evaluator and freedom fighter Keith Law has to say about Arguelles:
Arguelles defected from the Cuban junior national team with current Red Sox prospect Jose Iglesias in the summer of 2008 and is just now at the point that he’s ready and able to sign with a major league team. Arguelles is 19 and already pitches with a solid-average fastball, although before he defected he had worked as high as 91-94 and probably will return there once he’s throwing on a regular schedule again. His changeup projects better than his curveball, with the change a potentially plus pitch. What everyone notices about Arguelles is his body — loose, lean, athletic, with good projection; his new agents took him underground for a few weeks to get him back into playing shape, and the results definitely have impressed. If he were an American high school or junior college player, he’d be a solid first-rounder with a chance to be a top-10 guy and probably would be a $4 million bonus baby. As a free agent, he should easily double that.
http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb.....id=4647444
So $8M or so for 6 major league years of control? I would think that is worth it for the Yanks. I like Aroldys more – he is certainly the shinier bauble – but I say Yankees should go for both, fuck it.
Hell yeah. The Yankees are not likely to be grabbing possible top-10 talent in the draft (or not ones without huge injury issues or immense signability issues). The absolute best way to stockpile young talent is through IFA. You absolutely grab those kinds of guys when you have the opportunity.
Fuck yup. Gotta take advantage of the system. Not my money obviously, but I see no reason why the Yankees would not do its utmost to sign talent like this (assuming the internal organizational evaluations of the aforementioned players are in agreement with the reports available to us) when it is available. Especially when its pitching.
Yes, if you could get any guy with that kind of upside for 8 million over 6 years… you have to pull the trigger, I don’t think anyone really knows what Chapman’s price is, but i’m guessing the Yankees will be right at the top in the middle of things.
I am very curious to see how the Chapman bidding goes. I couldn’t see him getting more than $25M … which is still pretty amazing.
[...] a clip of Eladio Moronta, the 20-year-old centerfielder the Yanks gave $570,000 earlier this week (thanks to Andy in Sunny [...]
[...] to GCL Blue Jays in 10 innings, walk-off style) Eladio Moronta, CF: 0 for 6, 3 K – the Yanks signed him for $570,000 back in November Cito Culver, SS: 2 for 5, 1 K – 16 for his last 44 (.364) [...]