#6 Prospect - Brandon Snyder

[Tony-OH]

With a tremendous second half of the 2008 season, the 21-year old former 1st round pick is hitting the way the Orioles envisioned and is the #6 prospect on the list.

[ChaosLex]

5-1 thus far. Only Rowell threw me for a loop.

[snatch311]

Tony,

Do you (yourself and the staff) feel like Snyder will stick at third?

Do you see his power developing sufficiently to make up for the plate discipline problems?

[Sports Guy]

Wow, this is a big shock to me.

I know Synder had a big second half but I still don't like him all that much as a prospect, in terms of one I see as a big contributor for us at the ML level.

He only walked 29 times this year....He did show good doubles power and did it in a tough doubles park, so that is nice but you would have figured he would have hit more homers.

I am not going to be a believer in Snyder until he does it in the upper levels and shows that his plate discipline improves.

I don't see how he can be higher than Reimold personally...or Erbe for that matter.

[JTrea81]

Wow, this is a big shock to me.

I know Synder had a big second half but I still don't like him all that much as a prospect, in terms of one I see as a big contributor for us at the ML level.

He only walked 29 times this year....He did show good doubles power and did it in a tough doubles park, so that is nice but you would have figured he would have hit more homers.

I am not going to be a believer in Snyder until he does it in the upper levels and shows that his plate discipline improves.

I don't see how he can be higher than Reimold personally...or Erbe for that matter.

Well as someone who loves to trade anybody 30 and over, you must know Reimold will be 25 in 6 days and he's rapidly approaching the end of his prospect status.

Snyder has the higher ceiling because he'll only be 22. Reimold will probably be #7 or #8 IMO...

[slappy12]

Wow, this is a big shock to me.

I know Synder had a big second half but I still don't like him all that much as a prospect, in terms of one I see as a big contributor for us at the ML level.

He only walked 29 times this year....He did show good doubles power and did it in a tough doubles park, so that is nice but you would have figured he would have hit more homers.

I am not going to be a believer in Snyder until he does it in the upper levels and shows that his plate discipline improves.

I don't see how he can be higher than Reimold personally...or Erbe for that matter.

Totally agree!! I don't see Synder on anybody's(BA, Sickels, BP, etc) top 10 list.

[orioole28]

Totally agree!! I don't see Synder on anybody's(BA, Sickels, BP, etc) top 10 list.

He was on my Top 10 list, does that count for anything??:laughlol: I actually had him 10th.

[hoosiers]

I think Snyder is comfortably a better prospect than Reimold.

Those last two months at Frederick were huge and should translate very well to Bowie.

I would not be surprised to see Snyder hit better than Reimold in the AFL.

[Sports Guy]

Reimold in Frederick(83 at bats as a 21 y/o and 415 at bats as a 22 y/o):

257/377/472/849....Reimold hit 25 homers and had 32 doubles. XBH every 8.7 at bats. He had 88 walks and a 134 k's. Obviously, the K's were bad but accompanied by a ton of walks.

THis year, in Frederick(Snyder was 21), he had 435 at bats. In those at bats, he posted a line of 315/358/490/848. Funny how they each had almost the same number of at bats and the same OPS.

Synder hit 1 more double(in 20 more at bats) but 12 less homers. He had a better K rate than Reimold did(but still high) but walked far less.

He obviously hit more for contact than Reimold did but will that continue as he moves up and continues to show poor plate discipline?

Defensively, if Synder needs to stay at first, he really has no advantage over Reimold in terms of position.

I guess if you compare them just like this, you see Synder comparing well in some areas and poorly in others but overall, it is pretty close and Synder did it at a slightly younger age.

That being said, Reimold is closer to the majors, has shown the proper adjustments at the higher levels and I think his ceiling is higher.

Tony can't yet grade Synder on what he has done at the higher levels, so he has to go with what he sees at the level but I think Reimold is more of a sure thing.

[Sports Guy]

Totally agree!! I don't see Synder on anybody's(BA, Sickels, BP, etc) top 10 list.

He should be top 10..i had him 9th.(of course, that's just basing it off what I read and stats..haven't seen him like Tony has)

I just don't think he should be higher than some of the other guys.

[Mackus]

Totally agree!! I don't see Synder on anybody's(BA, Sickels, BP, etc) top 10 list.

All of those were coming into 2008, right? I haven't seen any release for after the season. I imagine he'll be in most of the top 10's.

He had a big year and definitely re-established himself as a very good prospect. I think #6 is a bit high, but he's definitely in our top 10, and in our top 10 is pretty impressive. We've certainly got an above-average farm system.

[Tony-OH]

Reimold in Frederick(83 at bats as a 21 y/o and 415 at bats as a 22 y/o):

257/377/472/849....Reimold hit 25 homers and had 32 doubles. XBH every 8.7 at bats. He had 88 walks and a 134 k's. Obviously, the K's were bad but accompanied by a ton of walks.

THis year, in Frederick(Snyder was 21), he had 435 at bats. In those at bats, he posted a line of 315/358/490/848. Funny how they each had almost the same number of at bats and the same OPS.

Synder hit 1 more double(in 20 more at bats) but 12 less homers. He had a better K rate than Reimold did(but still high) but walked far less.

He obviously hit more for contact than Reimold did but will that continue as he moves up and continues to show poor plate discipline?

Defensively, if Synder needs to stay at first, he really has no advantage over Reimold in terms of position.

I guess if you compare them just like this, you see Synder comparing well in some areas and poorly in others but overall, it is pretty close and Synder did it at a slightly younger age.

That being said, Reimold is closer to the majors, has shown the proper adjustments at the higher levels and I think his ceiling is higher.

Tony can't yet grade Synder on what he has done at the higher levels, so he has to go with what he sees at the level but I think Reimold is more of a sure thing.

Snyder will need to be in his third year of Double-A baseball to be where Reimold is at right now, a 24-year old who hasn't played above Double-A. I can't tell if you're underestimating Snyder or just overestimating Reimold. Reimold has more power, no doubt, and Snyder is probably a 15-25 homer guy, but he's going to hit 30-40 doubles and will hit .285 or above when it's all said and done.

[Sports Guy]

Snyder will need to be in his third year of Double-A baseball to be where Reimold is at right now, a 24-year old who hasn't played above Double-A. I can't tell if you're underestimating Snyder or just overestimating Reimold. Reimold has more power, no doubt, and Snyder is probably a 15-25 homer guy, but he's going to hit 30-40 doubles and will hit .285 or above when it's all said and done.

I don't think he is going to be doing those things if he is walking 20 times a year...He will get attacked more by better pitchers at higher levels.

[orioole28]

Top Prospect had Snyder 6th during their Mid-Season Prospect Ranking in July and Snyder actually did better in the 2nd half of the season. So Tony actually right on, when ranking Snyder 6th.

[wildcard]

Tony, I can't really agree that Snyder has earned the right to pass Reimold as a prospect. He may some day, but he has not done it yet.

Snyder got almost 1/4 of his at bats at DH. He still commited 12 errors playing mostly first base. He does not show a level of accomplishment at a defensive position. It could hold him back. Add to that that he has not shown enough power to hold down a major league corner infield position and Snyder has alot to prove yet.

Don't get me wrong, I am not down on Snyder at all. He is 21, drafted as a high school player. He has time to develop. But he does not deserve to pass a more accomplished player like Reimold until he earns it.

Reimold has shown power at a higher level and commited only 4 error while getting almost all his at bats which playing in the outfield. He appears to be three good months from the majors if he can just do at AAA what he did at AA.

Health has been a problem for both these players and it has hindered their development. Hopefully that is behind them, but we don't know that for sure.

A major difference between these two players is that Reimold was drafted as a college player and Snyder as high school player. From that I would expect Snyder to take longer to develop. Thus his defense and power issues do not bother me yet. Nor does Reimold age. He started later in the minors and had some injury problems. That doesn't mean he does not have the talent to be a major league everyday player.

Tony, you have a huge advantage over me. I am looking at stats and you have seen the players play. So I guess I have to take your word that Snyder has a better chance for a better major league career. However, I do not think the stats support that analysis at this point is the two player's careers.