Mark Appel a bust ?

[navamind]

Sickels on Appel:
Looking past the stat line: Mark Appel, RHP, Astros - Minor League Ball

 

[DragonfromTO]

you're all dying for an update so let's get at it. Appel appears to be heading in the right direction. 4 starts in AA and his ERA is under 4 ! Opposing batters are hitting a mighty 110 points BELOW what the Class A hitters were. Who knows why and who cares. The Astros have been following this thread and were smart enough to take my sage advice and move this kid to AA and act like he's on his way. Appel is holding up his end of the deal and all is looking well for the 'stros and the kid. Good for both. Maybe a couple more good starts and Appel gets his 1st cup of coffee in Sept sometime. Stay tuned gentlemen , i'll be back.

I suspect it's at least partly because Lancaster is a terrible place for pitchers (in a terrible league for pitchers).

 

[Loneranger]

I suspect it's at least partly because Lancaster is a terrible place for pitchers (in a terrible league for pitchers).

actually that whole league has always been known as a hitters league and the ballparks are pretty much the reason. I won't blame that for Appel's failure there but it didn't help. He simply shit the bed there and was hit everyway and everyday.

 

[gunnarthor]

He had his best start yesterday and looks better in his 6 AA starts. It'll be interesting to see how he finishes the year and how he performs in the AFL. Still, missing on Bryant looks like it might end up haunting the Astros.

 

[Loneranger]

He had his best start yesterday and looks better in his 6 AA starts. It'll be interesting to see how he finishes the year and how he performs in the AFL. Still, missing on Bryant looks like it might end up haunting the Astros.

ver trues especially when an organization is attempting to rebuild with home grown talent. There's no room to miss. The other option is to be the Yanks and pay no attn to who you draft and just go look for someone else's players.

 

[navamind]

Mark Appel Proved Wednesday The Big Stuff Is Back | FanGraphs Baseball

 

[ImSmartherThanYou]

You seem to have a really unhealthy obsession with a person you've never met, who's never caused you any problems, and who has never even faced your team or given you a reason to hate him as a player. Might be time to seek help.

 

[calsnowskier]

ver trues especially when an organization is attempting to rebuild with home grown talent. There's no room to miss. The other option is to be the Yanks and pay no attn to who you draft and just go look for someone else's players.

Am I missing the sarcasm tag on this post?

The Yankees were GREAT at drafting in the 90s and early 2000s. They got a bad rap on the FAs because they simply would not allow anyone to outbid them for the pieces they wanted. But their core was home-grown talent (or traded for as a prospect, in the case of Posada).

I am sure I just missed the sarcasm tag, though. Any Yankee fan should know that already.

 

[navamind]

 

[Loneranger]

You seem to have a really unhealthy obsession with a person you've never met, who's never caused you any problems, and who has never even faced your team or given you a reason to hate him as a player. Might be time to seek help.

and he rears his ugly head. Simple question: Who the fuck do you think you are? I've asked you this several times over the yrs on different boards but never get an answer. Do us all a favor and go back to whatever shithole you came from. Honesty , you're a hopeless douchebag and always have been.

 

[Loneranger]

Am I missing the sarcasm tag on this post?

The Yankees were GREAT at drafting in the 90s and early 2000s. They got a bad rap on the FAs because they simply would not allow anyone to outbid them for the pieces they wanted. But their core was home-grown talent (or traded for as a prospect, in the case of Posada).

I am sure I just missed the sarcasm tag, though. Any Yankee fan should know that already.

its safe to say I follow the Yanks as close as anyone. Make an attempt to pry yourself away from a couple of obvious ones and look at who they actually drafted and who helped them. Go back 25yrs and start looking. Pay close attn. to the last few yrs if ya have a moment.

 

[Loneranger]

back to Appel: he closes his AA visit with a 3.69 ERA in 6 starts. Most important he went from allowing about 6 hits/inn at Class A to less than a hit per inn. in AA. Good for him. Big year for Appel in `15 - he'll get a good look in the Spring so who knows what will happen.

 

[calsnowskier]

its safe to say I follow the Yanks as close as anyone. Make an attempt to pry yourself away from a couple of obvious ones and look at who they actually drafted and who helped them. Go back 25yrs and start looking. Pay close attn. to the last few yrs if ya have a moment.

I count International amateurs as drafted...

Jeter
Posada (granted, acquired in a trade, but he was a prospect)
Cano
Rivera
Williams
Arias
Soriano
Pettitt


That is just off the top of my non-Yankee-following head. Did they fill every possible spot on their roster? No. But they filled a good portion of their core through amateur scouting. For a team with the rep of the Yankees (big-spending bullies), they did a pretty good job at doing it the "right way" as well.

Sure, recently they have not done as well. That is the edd and flow of sports in general and baseball specifically.

 

[calsnowskier]

Ignoring Arias, that ends up being 1 star/superstar every 3 or 4 years. Then you still have the Arias', Hughes', Chamberlaines, Tabatas etc that help to fill in the roster as backups and occasional starters (or trade chips).

A team does not have to field all 9 positions from within to have a good system. Just produce the core, and a few fillers, then address the holes via FA. The Yanks have done that, for the most part, over the last 25 years.

As much as I hate the Yankees, I respect the hell out of them because they have done it with a large portion of good baseball management.

 

[Loneranger]

I count International amateurs as drafted...

Jeter
Posada (granted, acquired in a trade, but he was a prospect)
Cano
Rivera
Williams
Arias
Soriano
Pettitt


That is just off the top of my non-Yankee-following head. Did they fill every possible spot on their roster? No. But they filled a good portion of their core through amateur scouting. For a team with the rep of the Yankees (big-spending bullies), they did a pretty good job at doing it the "right way" as well.

Sure, recently they have not done as well. That is the edd and flow of sports in general and baseball specifically.

you're talking about a couple guys over the course of 20+ yrs - names are irrelevant , this is horrible production from ANY farm system no matter who runs the show. As a former minor league player I can tell you I understand the "ebb and flow" quite well and am on the side of 95% of the people out there : the Yanks system sucks and has for a very long time. Producing talent it not something that comes and goes and it isn't luck. It's a priority, it's way of doing business , it's the foundation of the whole organization. When all hell breaks loose there's always the system to bail us out. THIS is what nearly every team in MLB does and the Yanks aren't one of them. Their system is by most accounts in worse shape than it's been in 30 yrs. It's completely broken and doesn't hold a single prospect. There's no ebb and flow to it , the Yanks don't give a shit about it and it shows.

 

[calsnowskier]

you're talking about a couple guys over the course of 20+ yrs - names are irrelevant , this is horrible production from ANY farm system no matter who runs the show. As a former minor league player I can tell you I understand the "ebb and flow" quite well and am on the side of 95% of the people out there : the Yanks system sucks and has for a very long time. Producing talent it not something that comes and goes and it isn't luck. It's a priority, it's way of doing business , it's the foundation of the whole organization. When all hell breaks loose there's always the system to bail us out. THIS is what nearly every team in MLB does and the Yanks aren't one of them. Their system is by most accounts in worse shape than it's been in 30 yrs. It's completely broken and doesn't hold a single prospect. There's no ebb and flow to it , the Yanks don't give a shit about it and it shows.

I will grant that you follow the Yanks closer than I (just as I follow the Giants closer than you).

However, if an org is producing a star/superstar every 4 years or so, I think they are doing their job, at the very least. And it isn't like they have not graduated a single player outside of the stars/superstars (Arias, Chamberlain, Hughes, etc). Maybe I am misunderstanding what you are saying. Are you claiming that Pettitt, Jeter, Soriano, Posada, Rivera, Williams, Gardner, and Cano are/were not stars/superstars?

Fans often expect the entire roster to be home-grown and for the org to have a ROY candidate every year. That simply is not possible and is unreasonable to expect.

I am not claiming the Yankees are perfect. They did not sniff the playoffs this year despite having the second largest payroll in the bigs. However, they are on the downward-slope of their cycle right now. They are paying players (Jeter and Tex being the biggest examples) for what they did "yesterday".

They will be back.

 

[ImSmartherThanYou]

and he rears his ugly head. Simple question: Who the fuck do you think you are? I've asked you this several times over the yrs on different boards but never get an answer. Do us all a favor and go back to whatever shithole you came from. Honesty , you're a hopeless douchebag and always have been.

I'm not sure how to answer that silly question. Back to the point, why do you have such an unhealthy obsession with Mark Appel? It's really unhealthy to harbor such resentment for a random professional athlete who has never done anything to you.

 

[gunnarthor]

I'm not sure how to answer that silly question. Back to the point, why do you have such an unhealthy obsession with Mark Appel? It's really unhealthy to harbor such resentment for a random professional athlete who has never done anything to you.

Eh, it's not that big a deal. Fanboards are always obsessed with something. Appel is a good lighting rod b/c he hits a lot of the criteria needed to make criticizing him easy - potential #1 pick, refused to sign, "greedy", rich kid, experts rated him really high, failed to meet immediate expectations, "soft", preferential treatment from the team, bible thumper. Drafted by a team trying to prove it's smarther than your team. etc.

Frankly, having a thread on Appel is expected. I'm sorta surprised their aren't more threads on minor league guys.

 

[Loneranger]

Time for an update on my boy Appel. The 'Stros were pleased with his progress this Spring and now we're seeing why. 2 starts in AA and he's at 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA. Only allowed 1 HR and has 8 K's in 10 inn. Progress for sure and perhaps he's on his way to where he's supposed to be. A note to "stros fans ,both of you , there appears to be some pitching in the system, much more than just Appel, and there may be light at the end of the tunnel.