Orioles have signed outfielder Francisco Peguero

[Ruzious]

We'll just have to see what happens, right? None of these guys competing for LF/DH are sure things. But they don't look like scrubs either. It'll be an interesting spring to see who fills out the 25 man roster opening day.

We must have different definitions of scrubs. I think all of the DH candidates can be viewed as scrubs at this point.

[Ruzious]

I'm sure that DD is aware that the PCL is a "hitter's league". It is still AAA, batting against pitchers one step from the majors. It is not like everyone hits .300 in the PCL. There were 15 qualifiers that hit .300 in the PCL last year.

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=l_bat&lid=112

Peguero was some 50 or 60 plate appearances short of qualifying. His .316 would have placed seventh in the league, if he had had enough at bats. Not that batting average is the best stat to be looking at. His OBP was .354. Let's see how he looks in the spring.

It looks like the Orioles will have a healthy competition to fill the LF, 2B, DH, and bench spots this year.

That link shows that ex-O castoff Matt Angle had an .806 OPS last year. 44 points better than Peguero.

[Number5]

That link shows that ex-O castoff Matt Angle had an .806 OPS last year. 44 points better than Peguero.

Good for him.

[Tony-OH]

Remember, Duquette was selling as much as buying to sign. He wanted the guy to sign so he told the agent what he wanted to here. The agent wants to here he has a chance to become a full-time player because that equates to more $$$. Duquette wanted another guy who was cheap and has some upside. Ultimately, Peguero will detemine his playing time by his performance.

[mdbdotcom]

That link shows that ex-O castoff Matt Angle had an .806 OPS last year. 44 points better than Peguero.

... and three years older.

[Frobby]

That link shows that ex-O castoff Matt Angle had an .806 OPS last year. 44 points better than Peguero.

Here are Angle's four years at the AAA level:

2010 NOR .260/.338/.303

2011 NOR .271/.347/.344

2012 ALB .303/.376/.412

2013 ALB .283/.374/.433

When you see Matt Angle with an ISO of .150, alarm bells should be going off.

That said, while the PCL is a hitter's league, Fresno (where Peguero played his home games) is not a hitter's stadium by PCL standards. Fresno's park factor is .965, compared to Albuquerque (where Angle played) at 1.23. http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/level-to-level/ (To be clear, the .965 for Fresno is compared to other stadia in the PCL, not all MiL stadia.) So, Peguero's numbers should not be nearly as inflated as Angle's, though I'm sure they are still inflated.

[Ruzious]

Here are Angle's four years at the AAA level:

2010 NOR .260/.338/.303

2011 NOR .271/.347/.344

2012 ALB .303/.376/.412

2013 ALB .283/.374/.433

When you see Matt Angle with an ISO of .150, alarm bells should be going off.

That said, while the PCL is a hitter's league, Fresno (where Peguero played his home games) is not a hitter's stadium by PCL standards. Fresno's park factor is .965, compared to Albuquerque (where Angle played) at 1.23. http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/level-to-level/ (To be clear, the .965 for Fresno is compared to other stadia in the PCL, not all MiL stadia.) So, Peguero's numbers should not be nearly as inflated as Angle's, though I'm sure they are still inflated.

After all that, what's your conclusion - that they're roughly similar scrubs?

[Frobby]

After all that, what's your conclusion - that they're roughly similar scrubs?

I don't judge players on stats alone. From what I can see, Angle is the more patient hitter, Peguero has more pop. With Lough on the team, I doubt the O's will pick their 4th OF (or a 5th OF) based heavily on defense. So, I see Peguero as a bit of a longshot.

[wildcard]

My feeling is that Duquette truly believes Peguero has the tools and talent to be a ML regular just not necessarily this year. So, he signs him with the idea that he'll probably be the 4th OF this year and maybe show enough to be in the mix for a starting job next year. You have a player who can under team control for 6 years. If you believe in the talent, you keep him in the organization and the only way to guaranty that is to keep him on the roster this year. I think he's better than 50/50 to make the team.

Sounds right to me.

[bobmc]

Francisco Peguero's team was eliminated from the postseason last night. Combining his regular season and postseason stats this Winter:

AB 149

R 23

H 51

2B 4

3B 1

HR 6

RBI 29

BB 3

SO 27

SB 10

CS 0

Thanks for following and reporting - look fwd to seeing him in ST! I guess you still don't walk off that island....:eektf:

(Playoff tix!) :slytf:

[weams]

Thanks for following and reporting - look fwd to seeing him in ST! I guess you still don't walk off that island....:eektf:

(Playoff tix!) :slytf:

No one ever has. It is all about bat speed and power. And despite what Brian Kenny may think, no one ever watched a game there with excitement over the base on balls.

[weams]

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=santan001car

Carlos Santana disagrees with you. I'm sure there are others.

He walked at age 18 while there?

It looked like that was something that he acquired as a minor leaguer. But I am sure you are right.

[weams]

BTW, here's a link to the batting leaders in the Dominican Summer League last year. I'm not sure which of these guys are top prospects but it's worth noting that most of the top hitters in the league exhibited pretty good plate discipline. Even in the Domincan!

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=l_bat&lid=130

I really think that axiom is specific to unsigned players. I do not doubt that they always had that ability in them if it is evidenced later. And besides, it might just be a humorous aside.

Are they already signed to contracts?

[weams]

The players in the Dominican Summer League? Yes. You have to be signed and affiliated with a ML team to play in that league.

Thanks. I thought so.

[byrdz]

BTW, don't know if this was posted, but here's some Peguero highlights. Bit of annoying music in the background so just mute.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/tNxcEZHaZzM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>