Connolly: Duquette's Minor League

[weams]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

Matusz, Norris and Webb trades.

Webb was definitely a bad steer. Matusz was money.  

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Jammer7 said:

I don't think Sedlock was a bad pick, necessarily. He logged a lot of innings in college, though. But he was a power arm and well thought of. 

I was ready to give up on Cisco last year, honestly. He was out of shape and just looked lost in all phases. Based on what I have seen this year, I think he has turned his fortunes around to at least a back up role. I think he can certainly hit. His swing decisions are much more controlled. He looks much more fit and confident. 

I thought DJ Stewart was a questionable pick, and I was among many many fans who were critical of it at the time. He has certainly had a hot few weeks here, but his mechanical changes look to be outstanding and might just have saved his career. He's got T-Rex arms, so a one handed finish makes a lot of sense to get extension through the ball.  We'll see.

I thought Mountcastle was a great pick, since I have seen him several times live. He lives ten minutes from me. The defensive position change should have taken place sooner. 

Josh Hart (2nd round 2013) was a bust, but I did not think he was a bad pick at the time. There was some red flags, but based on what I had read at the time, I thought it was a decent pick. 

Folks love to throw around terms like bust in regards to players who don't end up excelling in the majors.

Josh Hart is what a bust looks like.  He topped out at A+ ball.

Folks like Sisco and Stewart aren't busts, those are success stories.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, weams said:

Webb was definitely a bad steer. Matusz was money.  

So was Webb.

[Jammer7]

11 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

From the article, here are a couple of things I found interesting..

Duquette/Rajisch guys - Mountcastle, Hays, Stewart, Mullins, Nunez, Sisco, Akin, Kremer, Means, Scott, Tate, Harvey, Santander, Mancini, Grayson Rodriguez, DL Hall, Baumann, Diaz, Hader, Yastrzemski, McKenna

2013 draft produced 11 major leaguers. That's crazy good, even if many aren't going to be studs.

I think player development has always been the issue here. Our draft guys weren't served well by that side of the house. It genuinely seems like that's the difference between Elias and the predecessors.

 

There is no doubt they drafted some solid guys, especially in lower rounds. Eleven major leaguers in one draft is remarkable. I think Dan occasionally drafted for need with guys who were not necessarily great overall talents, but could be solid and make contributions to the major league roster sooner than later. I think Sedlock, Stewart and Grenier were all with that in mind. Lower ceiling, higher floor guys.

[Philip]

58 minutes ago, Jammer7 said:

I don't think Sedlock was a bad pick, necessarily. He logged a lot of innings in college, though. But he was a power arm and well thought of. 

I was ready to give up on Cisco last year, honestly. He was out of shape and just looked lost in all phases. Based on what I have seen this year, I think he has turned his fortunes around to at least a back up role. I think he can certainly hit. His swing decisions are much more controlled. He looks much more fit and confident. 

I thought DJ Stewart was a questionable pick, and I was among many many fans who were critical of it at the time. He has certainly had a hot few weeks here, but his mechanical changes look to be outstanding and might just have saved his career. He's got T-Rex arms, so a one handed finish makes a lot of sense to get extension through the ball.  We'll see.

I thought Mountcastle was a great pick, since I have seen him several times live. He lives ten minutes from me. The defensive position change should have taken place sooner. 

Josh Hart (2nd round 2013) was a bust, but I did not think he was a bad pick at the time. There was some red flags, but based on what I had read at the time, I thought it was a decent pick. 

I’m certainly willing to wait and see on Sedlock, but he’s fallen a long way. Regarding Sisco, have you seen him run? I’m 57, and I have a pinched nerve in my thigh and I honestly think I can run faster. His defense was never very good( to be fair, Severino’s isn’t either) and he still has a big K rate. He’s fine compared to a replacement level catcher, I suppose, but I think he’s not long for the land of O’s.
But as I said, it’s all moot who acquired whom. We’ve got a new gang and their progress in development has shown to be pretty good so far.

And Mike won’t be trading any Comp Picks.

[Jammer7]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

Folks love to throw around terms like bust in regards to players who don't end up excelling in the majors.

Josh Hart is what a bust looks like.  He topped out at A+ ball.

Folks like Sisco and Stewart aren't busts, those are success stories.

Wasn't he the player that Buck asked him about Frank Robinson? And it resulted in Hart having to do an essay about Frank, I think.

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, Jammer7 said:

Wasn't he the player that Buck asked him about Frank Robinson? And it resulted in Hart having to do an essay about Frank, I think.

Don't recall.

[Jammer7]

9 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Don't recall.

Yep, found it. Very polarizing kid with scouts, but a nice kid.

https://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2014/02/sarasota-fla---owner-peter.html

[Moose Milligan]

Considering that Fat Pete didn't let him scout and sign in international markets, he did decent (not spectacular) job.  Much like MacPhail had fingerprints on the playoff teams of the 2010s, he'll have some fingerprints on these teams, too.

[DrungoHazewood]

2 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I don't think he did.

He had an 806 OPS in Bowie in 2018 and an 871 at Norfolk in 2019.  I'm not seeing an appreciable gain.  Walk rate was worse at AAA as was K rate.

An .871 in Norfolk in 2019 is the equivalent of a .559 in Dodger Stadium in '68.

[eddie83]

16 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

So was Webb.

So it’s Dan’s fault he was told to cut money?  

Davis was signed before 16 but they needed the money for Matusz?

[Can_of_corn]

23 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

So it’s Dan’s fault he was told to cut money?  

Davis was signed before 16 but they needed the money for Matusz?

Is it Dan's fault he signed the players in the first place?

Yes, yes it is.

For instance lots of folks questioned signing Matusz that year.

[Philip]

4 hours ago, eddie83 said:

So it’s Dan’s fault he was told to cut money?  

Davis was signed before 16 but they needed the money for Matusz?

Trading away a draft pick to save money is stupid, especially when so little money is involved. I think Matusz and Webb were both under 5 million. 

[Beef Supreme]

20 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

An .871 in Norfolk in 2019 is the equivalent of a .559 in Dodger Stadium in '68.

Awesome! Dook drafted Maury Wills but at Catcher!

[Tony-OH]

22 hours ago, Jammer7 said:

I don't think Sedlock was a bad pick, necessarily. He logged a lot of innings in college, though. But he was a power arm and well thought of. 

I was ready to give up on Cisco last year, honestly. He was out of shape and just looked lost in all phases. Based on what I have seen this year, I think he has turned his fortunes around to at least a back up role. I think he can certainly hit. His swing decisions are much more controlled. He looks much more fit and confident. 

I thought DJ Stewart was a questionable pick, and I was among many many fans who were critical of it at the time. He has certainly had a hot few weeks here, but his mechanical changes look to be outstanding and might just have saved his career. He's got T-Rex arms, so a one handed finish makes a lot of sense to get extension through the ball.  We'll see.

I thought Mountcastle was a great pick, since I have seen him several times live. He lives ten minutes from me. The defensive position change should have taken place sooner. 

Josh Hart (2nd round 2013) was a bust, but I did not think he was a bad pick at the time. There was some red flags, but based on what I had read at the time, I thought it was a decent pick. 

I'm going to nitpick here. I saw a few work out tapes of him and I could not believe he was a second round pick. Other than speed, he had no plus tool and I'll always remember watching him pull ground ball to second base during a BP session one after another. 

I never had major league talent, but let me tell you, my BP sessions in high school were typically line drive to left, left center, center, then left center as I tried to hot where pitches were thrown. he made absolutely no adjustments while cameras were on him and scouts were watching him.

If I were scouting him, I would have dropped him because of that. Now obviously i didn't get to see a lot of him so I don't know what else he did well, but he was a guy I never thought highly of and a guy i dropped from our Top 30 prospect list when BA still had him #4 in the organization. Let's just say I was an early adopter of him not being a prospect.