Minor Leagues in 2021

[pachyderm]

Interesting minor league free agent pick up - Giants signed 1st baseman Kyle Mottice. He had a nice OPS and steals a few bases but has yet to hit a home run in 297 professional at-bats. Odd numbers from a 1st baseman.

No homers but he hits for average... This future Brandon Belt...

 

[LHG]

View attachment 263390

No homers but he hits for average... This future Brandon Belt...

Except Belt hit quite a few home runs in his brief minor league career.

And I dug around and that 1st baseman label on Mottice is quite deceiving. He's played more at 2nd base (50 games) in his minor league career than 1st base (13 games). Heck, he's played almost as many games at shortstop (10 games) than at 1st base.

 

[LHG]

This guy would have probably appeared on the 2020 team, had he not had TJ last year - https://www.radio.com/weei/sports/red-sox/source-red-sox-sign-former-mariners-pitcher-matt-carasiti

 

[LHG]

I researched a bit more on whether the AZL and GCL leagues will still be around in 2021 and found this statement at the end of this article:
"Facilities based leagues- the Gulf Coast league and the Arizona rookie league will continue to be operated by MLB clubs, who are limited to 180 minor league players under contract."

Examining Minor league baseball’s new structure

Here are the big winners and losers after minor league restructuring

www.blessyouboys.com

Edit: Assuming the 180 minor league players is an accurate number, and counts DSL players but not 40 man rostered players, the Giants will have some cutting to do. I estimate that they have around 250 minor leaguers under contract right now.

 

[catman]

I researched a bit more on whether the AZL and GCL leagues will still be around in 2021 and found this statement at the end of this article:
"Facilities based leagues- the Gulf Coast league and the Arizona rookie league will continue to be operated by MLB clubs, who are limited to 180 minor league players under contract."

Examining Minor league baseball’s new structure

Here are the big winners and losers after minor league restructuring

www.blessyouboys.com

Edit: Assuming the 180 minor league players is an accurate number, and counts DSL players but not 40 man rostered players, the Giants will have some cutting to do. I estimate that they have around 250 minor leaguers under contract right now.

Interesting read. A couple of teams here in Iowa are not going to have their contracts with the Midwest League renewed. Clinton and Burlington will be without teams. I suppose the only reason Beloit is continuing is because the Midwest League office is there.

 

[catman]

View attachment 263390

No homers but he hits for average... This future Brandon Belt...

How well does he throw? He looks like a fairly good left fielder to me, especially with his ability to get on base.

 

[LHG]

How well does he throw? He looks like a fairly good left fielder to me, especially with his ability to get on base.

He'll most likely be a middle infielder for the org. If he can keep up that on base and play multiple positions decently, he may have a future in the big leagues.

 

[LHG]

Interesting read. A couple of teams here in Iowa are not going to have their contracts with the Midwest League renewed. Clinton and Burlington will be without teams. I suppose the only reason Beloit is continuing is because the Midwest League office is there.

Who knew Tiger fans could be so knowledgeable? Just kidding.

My pet peeve is Fresno getting bumped from AAA to low A. No other city is getting that kind of bump and, per this article, they were the 29th best in average attendance. I don't know how many AAA cities ranked higher but it their facility is nice. The surrounding area, however, is not.

 

[catman]

Who knew Tiger fans could be so knowledgeable? Just kidding.

My pet peeve is Fresno getting bumped from AAA to low A. No other city is getting that kind of bump and, per this article, they were the 29th best in average attendance. I don't know how many AAA cities ranked higher but it their facility is nice. The surrounding area, however, is not.

I've followed the Midwest League for almost 30 years, and am a Twins' fan.
Not really sure why Fresno got dropped like that, but from what I've heard, the ballpark is murder on pitching. Maybe they decided to drop it to make decisions on which pitchers are ready for the bigs easier? In Class A, these decisions don't really matter as much. They just look at the kid's velo and spin-rate. Missing bats is not as important there.
And, by the way, I've played and coached baseball for around 60 years.

 

[catman]

He'll most likely be a middle infielder for the org. If he can keep up that on base and play multiple positions decently, he may have a future in the big leagues.

Middle infield? He looks like he can run, but are his hands quick enough to handle 2nd or short? How about his footwork? He is low enough in the minors that he could repeat a level without hurting anything, and learn the position on the fly.
Missing out on last year could definitely hurt his development.

 

[catman]

I will definitely keep my eye on this kid. He looks like a perfect Oakland A. OPS is a very important stat to them and defense doesn't really make a whole lot of difference.

 

[LHG]

I've followed the Midwest League for almost 30 years, and am a Twins' fan.
Not really sure why Fresno got dropped like that, but from what I've heard, the ballpark is murder on pitching. Maybe they decided to drop it to make decisions on which pitchers are ready for the bigs easier? In Class A, these decisions don't really matter as much. They just look at the kid's velo and spin-rate. Missing bats is not as important there.
And, by the way, I've played and coached baseball for around 60 years.

Middle infield? He looks like he can run, but are his hands quick enough to handle 2nd or short? How about his footwork? He is low enough in the minors that he could repeat a level without hurting anything, and learn the position on the fly.
Missing out on last year could definitely hurt his development.

I saw that you are a Twins' fan so I assumed you'd appreciate a Tigers' fan joke. By the way, I cut my first baseball teeth on Twins' minor league ball. When I first got into baseball, Fresno did not have any minor league teams (I grew up in that region) and the closest team was 45 minutes south in Visalia. They just so happened to be affiliated with the Twins then. I missed some of the bigger stars that went through there but got to see a few future Twins' players in Visalia.

Very cool that you have all that baseball experience. I was never good enough to make a high school team, let alone coach. Being a big fan of the sport, I envy those who had enough talent to make it at any level above little league.

I don't know how Mottice looks on defense. I haven't read any scouting reports or seen him play. Hopefully, he does well. His bat looks promising for a middle infielder.

 

[catman]

Like I said, he looks like the perfect Oakland A. He gets on base and doesn't give away at bats. He looks like he was hurt by missing last season.

 

[catman]

He has played middle infield, both in college and professionally. He looks like one of those guys that could sneak up on the league and do well.
In 50 minor league games at 2B, he has made only 1 error. He played 10 games at short and made a couple of errors there. He looks like he could be a good fielder at either and could be a decent option.

 

[LHG]

MLB To Experiment With Rule Changes In Minor Leagues

The 2021 minor league season will see some new and altered rules at the various levels of playing, according to …

www.mlbtraderumors.com

 

[pachyderm]

MLB To Experiment With Rule Changes In Minor Leagues

The 2021 minor league season will see some new and altered rules at the various levels of playing, according to …

www.mlbtraderumors.com

bigger bases...?

 

[LHG]

Rosters announced for Richmond and San Jose. Its hard to have an idea where guys should be, with last year's layoff, but some of these assignments seem really odd.

Giants set initial 2021 Flying Squirrels roster

Ahead of Tuesday’s season opener, the initial 2021 Richmond Flying Squirrels roster has been set by the San Francisco Giants, the team announced on Saturday.

www.milb.com

2021 San Jose Giants Roster Announced

San Jose, CA\- The San Jose Giants have unveiled their roster in anticipation of the 2021 season. Highlighting the roster is San Francisco Giants #1 prospect Marco Luciano, who is joined by four other members of the top 10 players in the system according to MLB.com. In total, 10 of

www.milb.com

 

[pachyderm]

Rosters announced for Richmond and San Jose. Its hard to have an idea where guys should be, with last year's layoff, but some of these assignments seem really odd.

Giants set initial 2021 Flying Squirrels roster

Ahead of Tuesday’s season opener, the initial 2021 Richmond Flying Squirrels roster has been set by the San Francisco Giants, the team announced on Saturday.

www.milb.com

2021 San Jose Giants Roster Announced

San Jose, CA\- The San Jose Giants have unveiled their roster in anticipation of the 2021 season. Highlighting the roster is San Francisco Giants #1 prospect Marco Luciano, who is joined by four other members of the top 10 players in the system according to MLB.com. In total, 10 of

www.milb.com

RAMOS IS A SQUIRREL !?!?

 

[LHG]

RAMOS IS A SQUIRREL !?!?

Before spring training, its where I thought he'd start the season but after his showing in big league camp, I expected his assignment to be Sacramento. I also thought Vince Fernandez would go there too. It means a bunch of minor league free agents are going to occupy the AAA outfield, at least on opening day. LaMonte Wade and Jaylin Davis are on the big league IL and Steven Duggar is with the Giants and Luis Alexander Basabe, to my knowledge, won't be ready to go May 4th so I don't know who's playing outfield for Sacramento.

 

[pachyderm]

Before spring training, its where I thought he'd start the season but after his showing in big league camp, I expected his assignment to be Sacramento. I also thought Vince Fernandez would go there too. It means a bunch of minor league free agents are going to occupy the AAA outfield, at least on opening day. LaMonte Wade and Jaylin Davis are on the big league IL and Steven Duggar is with the Giants and Luis Alexander Basabe, to my knowledge, won't be ready to go May 4th so I don't know who's playing outfield for Sacramento.

Me too.

I bought a Squirrel lid in his honor...