State of the System: Corner Infield - Grade B+

[Legend_Of_Joey]

Seamus Curran? Really?

[ScGO's]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

I think it’s fair to say he won’t stick at SS but I also don’t think you can put him at third for the purposes of your exercise quite yet either.

My bigger issue is that you have Mountcastle and Mancini listed here.  Neither can play third and both can’t play first.  One has to be at DH or in LF.

In other words, I think by adding both of them plus Henderson, you are “cheating”. (For lack of a better word)

I like the potential of Mayo but he is obviously years away and we just don’t know anything yet.

I can see where you come up with your grade by including everyone but I think it’s a bit of a stretch at the moment.

I think even with the inclusion of all of these guys, I wouldn’t be as generous as a B+ but I think a B would be fair.

I do wonder though...when you are doing this, how much consideration are you giving for how far away a player is?  Or do you just strictly do it on talent?

Its the breadth of talent across the whole system including depth and talent,  plus the philosophy/plan being put in place for filling the position.

[DrungoHazewood]

15 minutes ago, ScGO's said:

I included him because his presence in the organization at 27 tells me they will do what they can to push him up for a cup of coffee at some point for the fan fare.

If they wouldn't call up little Yaz because he was a light on the resume, I would be very surprised and a bit disappointed if they called up Ryan Ripken after not hitting in AA at 26.  He's a complete non-prospect.

[Moose Milligan]

D+  with Davis.  C without.  

[LookinUp]

I think part of the issue here is how we grade.

Let's talk just about either Mancini or Mountcastle. I'd argue they're close in value, though Mancini's cost would bring him down some. But on talent alone, what do you grade them at? For me, at best it's an A-. Neither is a gold glover, so we're going strichtly off of their bats. Is either a top of the game type of player? Sure they're really good hitters, but I cannot give either of them an A alone. If you have a strong A+ category, I suppose there's an argument at 1B.

So beyond them, we have Gunnar, Welk and Mayo, IMO. In a year, Gunnar might look like a top 100 guy, but now he's a kid that we've never seen play. Welk's a small school guy who's old for his level. Mayo is all about projection. 

Again, in a year you might have a case that we're set at these two positions. For now, we're in the C+ range IMO because we appear to have 1B locked up with good to very good production for the next several years. That's valuable. 3B is a black hole for at least another 2 years, and probably more. That's not good.

[murph]

On 10/2/2020 at 1:47 PM, Legend_Of_Joey said:

Seamus Curran? Really?

He said players of note and I would say that his name alone is noteworthy!  

[murph]

On 10/2/2020 at 12:33 PM, Philip said:

When discussing the state is the system, I think it’s best to divide it into tears, the present, the short term future, and the far future, or 21, 22 and 23-24.

The near future shows us with a plethora of first base/DH types, and not much else. A couple of years out, things look a lot better, but I’ve said this before, I think Mike is going to be really scrounging around for middle infield help.

Kept restarting reading your post thinking you were bringing humor of some sort into the post, but alas I am slow, after a few restarts, I realized you meant tiers.  Now I am in tears for taking so long to figure that out.  

[HowAboutThat]

44 minutes ago, murph said:

Kept restarting reading your post thinking you were bringing humor of some sort into the post, but alas I am slow, after a few restarts, I realized you meant tiers.  Now I am in tears for taking so long to figure that out.  

I have a problem on my iPhone and that the site locks up after a few minutes and I can’t make any changes, I came back later and noticed that but I thought it was kind of funny because it could actually work both ways.

[murph]

22 minutes ago, Philip said:

I have a problem on my iPhone and that the site locks up after a few minutes and I can’t make any changes, I came back later and noticed that but I thought it was kind of funny because it could actually work both ways.

I find posting from my phone is so difficult for many reasons, I generally only do so when on the laptop.  iPhone tries to "help" too much.  

[Can_of_corn]

1 hour ago, murph said:

He said players of note and I would say that his name alone is noteworthy!  

I was rooting hard for Seamus.

Of course even if he could hit he isn't a corner infielder.

[jamalshw]

I've got Mountcastle clumped in the OF for now and cannot count him twice so I have C-/D+ right now. If you add in Mountcastle to consideration, the grade jumps to a solid C.

First base isn't an issue (though Nunez is a flawed defender and Mancini is still a question until he shows he's back to being himself), but 3B is a bit of a black hole. Ruiz is a placeholder. Down the road, I like Gunner, but he's still a SS though he probably ends up at 3B, but cannot consider him there, yet. Mayo is interesting. Welk is fun to root for given his draft position. There are some pieces to watch, but it's certainly lacking right now.

[maybenxtyr]

On 10/2/2020 at 1:47 PM, Legend_Of_Joey said:

Seamus Curran? Really?

Hey now! He was my daughter's favorite here in Salisbury. He is a really nice young man though.

[ScGO's]

On 10/2/2020 at 1:47 PM, Legend_Of_Joey said:

Seamus Curran? Really?

Easy on the big guy.  He has played every season at a younger age than his leagues average.  He has ++ power and he will be 23 at Frederick this season.   Analytics and new baseball philosophy may help his game too. Can't sell just yet. 

[ScGO's]

On 10/2/2020 at 2:04 PM, DrungoHazewood said:

If they wouldn't call up little Yaz because he was a light on the resume, I would be very surprised and a bit disappointed if they called up Ryan Ripken after not hitting in AA at 26.  He's a complete non-prospect.

Agreed, but if they play next season, I bet you he gets a cup of coffee if he can OPS over .700 at AA/AAA. That's why he is a player of note, to essentially say "this is Ripken's kid, lets put a watch out for a PR stunt in 2021 or 2022."

[ScGO's]

7 hours ago, jamalshw said:

I've got Mountcastle clumped in the OF for now and cannot count him twice so I have C-/D+ right now. If you add in Mountcastle to consideration, the grade jumps to a solid C.

First base isn't an issue (though Nunez is a flawed defender and Mancini is still a question until he shows he's back to being himself), but 3B is a bit of a black hole. Ruiz is a placeholder. Down the road, I like Gunner, but he's still a SS though he probably ends up at 3B, but cannot consider him there, yet. Mayo is interesting. Welk is fun to root for given his draft position. There are some pieces to watch, but it's certainly lacking right now.

I considered him for both.  He had influence on the OF and 1B grade, but overall, I considered him more for the Corner Infield grade.