Prospect Stuff

[thedddd]

Sirius XM All-Star Futures Game rosters full of fresh faces in 2013 | MLB.com: News

Polanco and Herrera will be on the world team.

 

[steelparrot]

Meadows signed, reportedly around slot.


Nice to not have any Boras drama this year.

 

[Darkstone42]

Nice to get them both signed early. Now they don't have to lose an entire year of development.

Meadows's interview today made me like him even more. He seems like an upbeat kid, and a positive attitude can go a long way for his development.

 

[steelparrot]

Midseason Prospect Update: Top 50 Prospects - BaseballAmerica.com

Taillon 11
Polanco 13
Hanson 39

This years draft class wasnt eligible.

Next June could be real fun, two more blue chip prospects arrive in Pittsburgh.

Our outfield defense is gonna be sick when Polanco arrives, McCutchen being our worst defensive outfielder will be a very good thing

 

[thecrow124]

Midseason Prospect Update: Top 50 Prospects - BaseballAmerica.com

Taillon 11
Polanco 13
Hanson 39

This years draft class wasnt eligible.

Next June could be real fun, two more blue chip prospects arrive in Pittsburgh.

Our outfield defense is gonna be sick when Polanco arrives, McCutchen being our worst defensive outfielder will be a very good thing

Not to get ahead of ourselves, Polanco is still a prospect. And the problem with this scenario is that all 3 will be out of position. Polanco covers the most ground and should be in CF, Marte's arm screams RF and Cutch's arm plays better in LF.

 

[sychmd]

i wonder when they will move marte to center or RF. having him alternate to be in LF in PNC with all hte ground and RF on the road. unprecedented, but these are MLB players and should be able to adapt easily. having tabata in LF in PNC would be ok also to allow marte to be in RF all the time if marte cant go back and forth as needed.
polanco wont be up until 2015 i would think. maybe starting next year for a month in AA then going to AAA.
if he has a crazy month of july 13, goes to AAA in aug 2013 and an amazing ST in 14, then possible MLB in 14, but that is a lot of if's and not sure if rushing is necessary, esp if tabata is finally maturing.

 

[steelparrot]

They probably give Cutch a few more years in cf, but who knows.

2015 is more likely for Polanco, but next year is possible, depending on lots of things.

 

[thecrow124]

i wonder when they will move marte to center or RF. having him alternate to be in LF in PNC with all hte ground and RF on the road. unprecedented, but these are MLB players and should be able to adapt easily. having tabata in LF in PNC would be ok also to allow marte to be in RF all the time if marte cant go back and forth as needed.
polanco wont be up until 2015 i would think. maybe starting next year for a month in AA then going to AAA.
if he has a crazy month of july 13, goes to AAA in aug 2013 and an amazing ST in 14, then possible MLB in 14, but that is a lot of if's and not sure if rushing is necessary, esp if tabata is finally maturing.

Polanco doesn't really have much left to prove in the minor leagues. He has the single best hitting approach of any person in the organization including the major leagues and it has followed hi. Through the minor leagues. Barring a total colapse on his part, I can see him moving up to Indianapolis for the end of the season and playoffs this year and then spending time there next year until he forces a promotion to the major leagues. If he isn't up until 2015 there could only be 2 explations. 1. He fell flat or gets off to a very slow start next year. 2. Someone else steps up and plays spectacularly in RF not allowing him to be promoted.

I am not saying he needs to be rushed to the major leagues, b ut he is far enough advanced that he should not suffer from extended slumps and would be an upgrade over anyone we currently have playing RF.

That being said, I am all for letting Tabata keep trying then moving to Lambo if Tabata fails. Regardless Polanco is far and away the best option of the three, but all are good options at the current time.

 

[sychmd]

thanks crow. do you get to see polanco in person or are you looking at stats and sabermetrics to form your opinion. not arguing, just wondering.

 

[thecrow124]

thanks crow. do you get to see polanco in person or are you looking at stats and sabermetrics to form your opinion. not arguing, just wondering.

I will see him for the first time in Indianapolis probably next year. I live in Wisconsin so the odds of me seeing any of our prospects is slim until they reach Indianapolis or the majors. I judge 75% of what I say by what I read, Keith Law, Jim Callis, Tim Williams to a degree and a bevy of other scouts. The other 25% I base off of stats, but reserve a lot of judgement until a player has reached and performed at AA.

With Polanco, Baseball America has him ranked #13 midseason, and he is performing at AA. He walks almost as often as he strikes out, hits for power, almost never gets caught stealing. Keith Law had him top 25 midseason as well. Tim Williams jokingly said he could cover the entire outfield in 3 steps, I.e. the guy covers ground. He is also right now the exact type of guy we need batting leadoff in the major leagues.

The only reason I really bring up Tim Williams is because he covers the Pirates prospects and no one else. However, every team that comes through where he is watching he gets to see to that extent. He can better compare our prospects to other teams prospects at the same level. I do not however, consider him a scout and don't exactly put as much merit on his prospect reports as I would Keith Law or Jim Callis. However, he was high on Starling Marte, Alen Hanson, Polanco, Tyler Glasnow long before any other scout was. It did take him longer to come around on Nick Kingham, but he now has a lot of praise for him as well.

Anyway, that is a lot of words to say very little. I go a lot by what I read and a little by the numbers and see absolutely nothing until probably next year.

 

[element1286]

crow, did you used to live in Altoona? I remember back in the espn days you would give us updates, or maybe I'm thinking of someone else.

 

[thecrow124]

crow, did you used to live in Altoona? I remember back in the espn days you would give us updates, or maybe I'm thinking of someone else.

No that was someone else. I remember the updates, but can not remember who it was.

 

[element1286]

Gotcha, those were nice.

 

[Darkstone42]

Here's some video of Nick Kingham's curveball for your viewing pleasure.

[YOUTUBE]2w0pr2f-NJI[/YOUTUBE]

 

[thecrow124]

Here's some video of Nick Kingham's curveball for your viewing pleasure.

[YOUTUBE]2w0pr2f-NJI[/YOUTUBE]

I saw this a couple weeks ago, it appears to me that he has 2 distinct curves, the first one they showed, was a big sweeping curve that he throws in the zone for strikes. The other comes out of his hand looking like a fastball then drops out of the zone that he uses as a strike out pitch. I would put him right in between Taillon and Irwin as the top 3 curves in the system that I have seen video of.

 

[element1286]

Pittsburgh sports talk radio getting really bad right now. People who have never heard of Polanco want to trade him for Alex freaking Rios. Say the Pirates never add at the deadline that is why they keep collapsing, apparently they never heard of D Lee or Ludwick, or Wandy or Gaby or Snider.

 

[Darkstone42]

If Polanco were three or four years away, I could see credence to that argument. But he could be up as early as next year, and he'll be a better player than Rios if he keeps going on anything close to his current path.

 

[thedddd]

Yeah that is bad to trade Palanco for Rios. You know it is all Steeler fans who haven't watched the Pirates since the 70's.

 

[thedddd]

Anyway with Polanco I was thinking the worst case scenario if McCutchen gets hurt do we see him this year?

 

[element1286]

If Polanco were three or four years away, I could see credence to that argument. But he could be up as early as next year, and he'll be a better player than Rios if he keeps going on anything close to his current path.

Possibly, but Rios isn't even that good, plus he's owed a enormous sum of money, making his surplus value very low. If they really wanted him they should be using money as the main bargaining chip, not top 20 prospects.