Melewski article on Maikol Hernandez

[Frobby]

A few nice quotes from Elias and Alou in here:

https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2022/03/hes-no-1-a-look-at-the-orioles-top-international-prospect.html

Melewski is going to rank our top 20 international prospects over the next couple of days.  

[Just Regular]

Good read.    I googled Venezuelan shortstops afterward as the combination of his homeland and the hopes for a Machado/A-Rod-sized tool kit...I couldn't think of any Venezuelan SS that big.

Vizquel is the one I always think of first, and Elvis Andrus, Alcides Escobar, Eduardo Escobar and Cesar Izturis are a few others about 6 foot or less, matching my prior.

Some bigger guys were Carlos Guillen, Wilmer Flores, Marwin Gonzalez and Asdrubal Cabrera.

A generation or two ago, B-Ref listed Dave Concepcion 6-2, 155!!

At Maikol's age, MIguel Cabrera might still have been a SS prospect.

 

[MurphDogg]

4 hours ago, Just Regular said:

At Maikol's age, MIguel Cabrera might still have been a SS prospect.

He was. Cabrera played the majority of his games at shortstop through his age 18 season.

[Frobby]

Melewski out with his list of international prospects 2-10 today.

2.  Basallo

3. De Los Santos

4. Taveras

5. Prieto

6. Arias

7. Deson 

8. Rangel

9. Chace

10. Pinto

https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2022/03/young-catcher-heads-next-part-of-the-international-prospects-list.html

I’d have Pinto much higher.   
 

[LookinUp]

I'll read the 2-10 bit, but I don't like that Hernandez is our #1 guy on this list because I think there's a huge assumption made that he can be made into a hitter. I don't doubt that his exit velos are good and that his size is plus, but the bat to ball part of the game is massive and he hasn't demonstrated an innate ability to hit yet. That's a huge yellow flag for me now. It would be a red flag but I concede he's very young.

That said, I haven't looked, but 'd wager all of our top hitting prospects were better hitters at the same age.

[RZNJ]

On 3/4/2022 at 12:06 PM, Frobby said:

Melewski out with his list of international prospects 2-10 today.

2.  Basallo

3. De Los Santos

4. Taveras

5. Prieto

6. Arias

7. Deson 

8. Rangel

9. Chace

10. Pinto

https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2022/03/young-catcher-heads-next-part-of-the-international-prospects-list.html

I’d have Pinto much higher.   
 

Either this list is underrating Deson and Pinto or we are in for some great stories on the International side.  Interesting to see Chace ahead of Pinto.

[jabba72]

interesting that Melewski rates Chace and Rangel ahead of Pinto, but acknowledges P

2 hours ago, RZNJ said:

Either this list is underrating Deson and Pinto or we are in for some great stories on the International side.  Interesting to see Chace ahead of Pinto.

Chace and Rangel ahead of Pinto. We'll see about that, I hope he's right because the O's need all the starters they can find right now. All it takes is for Pinto to be moved to the pen and one of the other two to stick as a SP for the list to look accurate. 

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, RZNJ said:

Either this list is underrating Deson and Pinto or we are in for some great stories on the International side.  Interesting to see Chace ahead of Pinto.

Melewski does a great job of writing about the minors, but wouldn't put any credence into this list.  He's got the names right for the most part, but he's never seen any of these players and really, no one can accurately rank these guys at this point. 

It's all for fun though. At this point, he could be right or could be wrong, but at the end of the day, he's got people talking and with nothing else going on, why not?

 

[RZNJ]

4 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Melewski does a great job of writing about the minors, but wouldn't put any credence into this list.  He's got the names right for the most part, but he's never seen any of these players and really, no one can accurately rank these guys at this point. 

It's all for fun though. At this point, he could be right or could be wrong, but at the end of the day, he's got people talking and with nothing else going on, why not?

 

You don't believe that Melewski did this ranking on his own, do you?    I'd say that this is with strong input from Koby Perez, Felipe Alou, someone else or a combination of these guys.   In fact, I think this is one of those guys doing the ranking and him just putting it in print.

[Hazmat]

7 hours ago, RZNJ said:

Either this list is underrating Deson and Pinto or we are in for some great stories on the International side.  Interesting to see Chace ahead of Pinto.

And don't forget about Elio Prado who missed the entire 2021 season.

[Frobby]

36 minutes ago, Hazmat said:

And don't forget about Elio Prado who missed the entire 2021 season.

Prado didn’t even make Melewski’s 11-20 list.   https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2022/03/going-deeper-on-the-os-international-prospects-list.html

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, RZNJ said:

You don't believe that Melewski did this ranking on his own, do you?    I'd say that this is with strong input from Koby Perez, Felipe Alou, someone else or a combination of these guys.   In fact, I think this is one of those guys doing the ranking and him just putting it in print.

Here is what Melewski said he did:

I talked to several in the game that I won’t cite here, as most gave some very extensive and extremely helpful opinions knowing they were speaking under the condition of anonymity. Just like when we talk to a scout, as I may have for these upcoming stories. They provide great information and opinions without attaching their names to something.

https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2022/03/tough-day-for-the-game-but-excited-about-a-project-coming-soon.html

[Tony-OH]

3 hours ago, RZNJ said:

You don't believe that Melewski did this ranking on his own, do you?    I'd say that this is with strong input from Koby Perez, Felipe Alou, someone else or a combination of these guys.   In fact, I think this is one of those guys doing the ranking and him just putting it in print.

Who knows? Honestly, I'm just saying that no one should get upset over someone being ranked over someone else since most of these guys haven't played a full season of minor league league baseball.

[BohKnowsBmore]

23 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Melewski does a great job of writing about the minors, but wouldn't put any credence into this list.  He's got the names right for the most part, but he's never seen any of these players and really, no one can accurately rank these guys at this point. 

It's all for fun though. At this point, he could be right or could be wrong, but at the end of the day, he's got people talking and with nothing else going on, why not?

 

 

15 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Who knows? Honestly, I'm just saying that no one should get upset over someone being ranked over someone else since most of these guys haven't played a full season of minor league league baseball.

I would imagine it's generally an amalgamation of early prospect status / signing bonus, hype from the org, buzz around camp, etc. compiled into list format. Like you said, not really useful as a ranking tool or something to worry about. It does have some utility, though, in helping more casual fans (those that want to do a double click on prospects in the org, but aren't religiously refreshing OH) have a sense of who's who and which names to be on the lookout for over the coming years.

[Tony-OH]

34 minutes ago, BohKnowsBmore said:

 

I would imagine it's generally an amalgamation of early prospect status / signing bonus, hype from the org, buzz around camp, etc. compiled into list format. Like you said, not really useful as a ranking tool or something to worry about. It does have some utility, though, in helping more casual fans (those that want to do a double click on prospects in the org, but aren't religiously refreshing OH) have a sense of who's who and which names to be on the lookout for over the coming years.

Absolutely. Melewski gave a nice little piece for the casual fan to know some names that they may not know. All I was saying that it was probably not a useful exercise to start debating the rankings.