ProspectFK — CPL #9 ← FREE KRAUT!

ProspectFK — CPL #9 60

13 Mar 2012  |  lenscrafters  |f(k) · Rosterbating

Apologies for the delay in getting this one up; I’ve had an extremely busy week. We’ll try to pick up the pace on these so hopefully we can have some semblance of a list by the Japan series. Chris Carter was the winner of CPL #8. Vicmal de la Cruz and Dan Straily are now on the list.

CPL #1
CPL #3
CPL #4
CPL #5
CPL #6
CPL #7
CPL #8

1. Michael Choice
1. Jarrod Parker
3. A.J. Cole
4. Brad Peacock
5. Sonny Gray
6. Tom Milone
7. Derek Norris
8. Chris Carter

Overview:

  • Everyone in the community is invited to participate.
  • Voting is set to logged in users only.
  • Nominations mentioned in comments go to next round’s poll.
  • Nominations do not have to be who you want to vote for next – just who you think deserves to be under consideration. Don’t be shy, please nominate!

—————
[poll id=”11″]

Raul Alcantara, SP; Scouting Reports: Sox Prospects
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6′ 3″, Weight: 180 lb.
Born: December 4, 1992 in Barahona, DO (Age 19)

Year Age Tm Lg Lev ERA G GS GF CG SHO IP HR BB SO HBP WP BF H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB
2010 17 Red Sox DOSL FRk 3.28 13 13 0 1 0 60.1 1 8 34 2 3 251 9.1 0.1 1.2 5.1 4.25
2011 18 2 Teams 2 Lgs Rk-A- 2.20 13 13 0 0 0 65.1 0 12 50 4 1 251 6.6 0.0 1.7 6.9 4.17
2011 18 Red Sox GULF Rk 0.75 9 9 0 0 0 48.0 0 6 36 3 1 167 4.3 0.0 1.1 6.8 6.00
2011 18 Lowell NYPL A- 6.23 4 4 0 0 0 17.1 0 6 14 1 0 84 13.0 0.0 3.1 7.3 2.33
2 Seasons 2.72 26 26 0 1 0 125.2 1 20 84 6 4 502 7.8 0.1 1.4 6.0 4.20
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/2/2012.
—————

Collin Cowgill, OF; Scouting Reports: John Sickels
Bats: Right, Throws: Left
Height: 5′ 9″, Weight: 185 lb.
Born: May 22, 1986 in Lexington, Kentucky, US (Age 25)

Year Age Tm Lg Lev Aff G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
2008 22 2 Teams 2 Lgs A-A- ARI 70 326 280 52 74 16 4 12 45 6 0 37 78 .264 .366 .479 .845 134 6 8 1 0 0
2008 22 Yakima NORW A- ARI 20 95 79 21 24 3 1 11 28 5 0 12 17 .304 .415 .785 1.200 62 2 3 1 0 0
2008 22 South Bend MIDW A ARI 50 231 201 31 50 13 3 1 17 1 0 25 61 .249 .346 .358 .705 72 4 5 0 0 0
2009 23 Visalia CALL A+ ARI 61 260 220 39 61 9 5 6 36 11 4 29 49 .277 .373 .445 .819 98 6 7 0 4 3
2010 24 Mobile SOUL AA ARI 131 577 502 89 143 34 4 16 83 25 9 57 73 .285 .360 .464 .825 233 23 8 0 10 1
2011 25 Reno PCL AAA ARI 98 456 395 95 140 24 8 13 70 30 3 51 63 .354 .430 .554 .984 219 9 2 7 1 0
4 Seasons 360 1619 1397 275 418 83 21 47 234 72 16 174 263 .299 .383 .490 .873 684 44 25 8 15 4
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/8/2012.
—————

Vicmal de la Cruz, OF; Scouting Reports
Bats: Left, Throws: Left
Height: 6′ 0″, Weight: 185 lb.
Born: November 20, 1993 in Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional, DO (Age 18)

Year Age Tm Lg Lev Aff G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
2011 17 Athletics DOSL FRk OAK 58 235 192 29 61 13 5 1 28 10 5 37 27 .318 .438 .453 .891 87 1 5 0 1 1
1 Season 58 235 192 29 61 13 5 1 28 10 5 37 27 .318 .438 .453 .891 87 1 5 0 1 1
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/13/2012.
—————

Grant Green, SS/OF; Scouting Reports:
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6′ 3″, Weight: 180 lb.
Born: September 27, 1987 in Fullerton, California, US (Age 24)

Year Age Tm Lg Lev Aff G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
2009 21 Stockton CALL A+ OAK 5 20 19 2 6 1 0 0 3 1 0 1 5 .316 .350 .368 .718 7 1 0 0 0 0
2010 22 Stockton CALL A+ OAK 131 606 548 107 174 39 6 20 87 9 5 38 117 .318 .363 .520 .883 285 14 7 3 10 2
2011 23 Midland TL AA OAK 127 587 530 76 154 33 1 9 62 6 8 39 119 .291 .343 .408 .750 216 14 6 6 6 2
3 Seasons 263 1213 1097 185 334 73 7 29 152 16 13 78 241 .304 .353 .463 .816 508 29 13 9 16 4
A+ (2 seasons) A+ 136 626 567 109 180 40 6 20 90 10 5 39 122 .317 .363 .515 .878 292 15 7 3 10 2
AA (1 season) AA 127 587 530 76 154 33 1 9 62 6 8 39 119 .291 .343 .408 .750 216 14 6 6 6 2
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/8/2012.
—————

Miles Head, 1B/3B; Scouting Reports: Sox Prospects Scouting the Sally
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6′ 0″, Weight: 215 lb.
Born: May 2, 1991 in Griffin, Georgia, US (Age 20)

Year Age Tm Lg Lev Aff G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
2009 18 Red Sox GULF Rk BOS 10 32 29 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 .103 .188 .103 .291 3 1 0 0 0 0
2010 19 Lowell NYPL A- BOS 65 272 229 21 55 16 2 1 35 1 1 30 36 .240 .328 .341 .669 78 6 4 1 8 0
2011 20 2 Teams 2 Lgs A-A+ BOS 129 557 495 88 148 37 2 22 82 4 4 50 109 .299 .372 .515 .887 255 14 9 0 3 2
2011 20 Greenville SALL A BOS 66 298 263 61 89 25 1 15 53 4 2 30 53 .338 .409 .612 1.022 161 4 3 0 2 1
2011 20 Salem CARL A+ BOS 63 259 232 27 59 12 1 7 29 0 2 20 56 .254 .328 .405 .733 94 10 6 0 1 1
3 Seasons 204 861 753 110 206 53 4 23 117 5 5 83 153 .274 .351 .446 .797 336 21 13 1 11 2
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/2/2012.
—————

Dan Straily, SP; Scouting Reports:
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6′ 2″, Weight: 220 lb.
Born: December 1, 1988 in Springfield, Oregon, US (Age 23)

Year Age Tm Lg Lev Aff ERA G GS GF CG SHO IP HR BB SO HBP WP BF HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB
2009 20 Vancouver NORW A- OAK 4.12 16 11 1 0 0 59.0 5 18 66 5 2 256 0.8 2.7 10.1 3.67
2010 21 Kane County MIDW A OAK 4.32 28 28 0 0 0 148.0 13 61 149 7 10 623 0.8 3.7 9.1 2.44
2011 22 Stockton CALL A+ OAK 3.87 28 26 0 0 0 160.2 10 40 154 14 5 683 0.6 2.2 8.6 3.85
3 Seasons 4.09 72 65 1 0 0 367.2 28 119 369 26 17 1562 0.7 2.9 9.0 3.10
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/13/2012.

60 thoughts on “ProspectFK — CPL #9”

  1. lenscrafters Mar 13,2012 2:02 pm

    Btw, if I’ve been AWOL for a while and there hasn’t been a new CPL in a week, someone else is absolutely welcome to put one up. Just copy/paste and add a new poll.

  2. nevermoor Mar 13,2012 2:41 pm

    Can anyone convince me that Green has enough upside as a non-SS to be better here than Cowgill?

    There’s an outside chance I just throw up my hands and pick Vicmal too.

    "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
    • lenscrafters Mar 13,2012 2:57 pm || Up

      As said in the last thread, it depends on how much stock you place in scouting reports. For the most part, it seems as if the “experts” still believe in Green’s tools and breakout potential and ranked him 5-10 on A’s lists. FWIW, these are Green’s and Cowgill’s aggregate rankings.

      I also think people are making too big of a deal out of SS -> CF. We shouldn’t forget that CF is still a premium position.

      • aardvark Mar 13,2012 5:02 pm || Up

        This. I’m going Green over Cowgill for the following reasons:
        Concerns that Cowgill will never be more than a 4th outfielder
        CF is a premium position
        Green was a year younger at AA.

        I am excited about de La Cruz and Alcantara, but I don’t feel that I can put them ahead of green or cowgill at this point.

      • PaulThomas Mar 13,2012 8:05 pm || Up

        We also shouldn’t forget that there’s no actual evidence that Grant Green is or ever will be a competent center fielder.

        • colin Mar 13,2012 8:10 pm || Up

          Right, it seems equally likely that Cowgill will play center.

          • grover Mar 13,2012 8:30 pm || Up

            I don’t see how you can say equally likely. Even the more pro-Cowgill scouting reports only give him an outside shot of sticking in CF.

        • grover Mar 13,2012 8:28 pm || Up

          Actually, early scouting reports have been fairly positive about his move to CF. If he loses a step it could be a problem, but so far his routes and instincts have held up.

        • danny Mar 14,2012 10:49 am || Up

          What would you consider “evidence?”

          From BA’s top 30 A’s prospects:

          Green had to learn his new position on the fly, though he has the athleticism to handle center field and shows solid range. His average arm was a question mark at shortstop but not an issue in center field. He’s working to stretch his arm out to make the longer throws required there.

          From BA’s top 20 TL prospects:

          The biggest moment of his season came in mid-July, when he made the move from shortstop to center field. He made three errors while learning the position but generally acquitted himself well….Most scouts believe Green is athletic enough to handle center field, though they note that he seems to put more energy into his work at the plate than he does in the field. He was an adequate shortstop and some think he could handle second base as well; the Athletics appear set there with Jemile Weeks. Green has solid-average speed and an average arm.

          From BP’s Top 11 A’s prospects:

          He was always an error-prone shortstop, but Green impressed by taking to center field quickly, and earned good reviews in both center and right in the Arizona Fall League. He’s an average runner, and his arm is average to a tick above…Green’s future might depend on his ability to stay in center field. He doesn’t have the power normally associated with a corner outfielder, and with just average speed, his range is limited.

          From a BP chat in January 2012:

          John (Tupelo): Where does Grant Green stick position wise? If this is a rebuilding year for Oakland (isn’t every year?) then will he get some ABs?

          Kevin Goldstein: The outfield with a solid shot at center; I wouldn’t be shocked to see him in September.

          • grover Mar 14,2012 12:36 pm || Up

            ‘ello danny!

            Good quotes.

          • PaulThomas Mar 20,2012 8:37 pm || Up

            The parts of this that actually talk about tools, i.e. the parts that interest me, are not particularly promising (average arm and average speed). The rest is, basically, speculation.

            • danny Mar 22,2012 8:40 am || Up

              I’m not sure how one can read those reports and still conclude “there’s no actual evidence that Grant Green is or ever will be a competent center fielder.” The first one basically says that Green has the athleticism, range, and arm to play a competent CF.

              • DFA Mar 24,2012 11:06 am || Up

                And yet the BP report says limited range.

                In play, run(s)! Talk dirty to me gamecast, talk dirty. - Nevermoor
    • DFA Mar 13,2012 3:02 pm || Up

      Im seriously considering picking Vicimal. Love the upside. Love the K/BB. Wary of the kid being super far away and stupid unreliable DSL stats.

      In play, run(s)! Talk dirty to me gamecast, talk dirty. - Nevermoor
  3. SPWC Mar 13,2012 6:06 pm

    De La Cruz for me, for what little it’s worth.

    I’m gonna vote for Miles Head next.

    \"Weren\'t you already aware the Kay is already writing everyone\'s story? We\'re all just characters who believe we are real. Things make more sense now, don\'t they. Be honest.\"- DMOAS
    • PDXAthleticsfan Mar 14,2012 12:16 pm || Up

      Seems a bit old for a prospect.

      ” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen>

      A soliloquy of fresh-sounding ideas which would probably be disastrous.
  4. PaulThomas Mar 13,2012 8:01 pm

    I pretty much dislike all the rest of these guys for one reason or another (well, except de la Cruz, who’s just nothing to me at this point) so I picked Straily. What the hey.

    • colin Mar 13,2012 8:11 pm || Up

      I was trying to figure out where we got Straily and why I have never heard of him. 24th round pick… nice.

    • lenscrafters Mar 14,2012 1:05 pm || Up

      It seems like every year someone makes an argument for one of these old, late round, college pitchers with good numbers but are ignored by scouts. And it seems like every year they flame out by the time they reach AA. So I’ll have to see Straily repeat his numbers in the higher levels before I even consider paying him any mind.

      I don’t see much difference between him and AJ Griffin, who happened to struggle mightily upon promotion to AA. His K rate fell by half.

      • PaulThomas Mar 20,2012 8:39 pm || Up

        Well last year’s belle of the ball, Matt Thomson, blew his arm out. So, not much that could be done about that one.

        FWIW, Straily is by no means “old”. He was young for a college prospect when drafted; 2012 is his fourth season in the minors but his seasonal age is only 23.

        Scouting reports seem decent enough on the fastball; don’t know much about his offspeed pitches.

  5. lenscrafters Mar 14,2012 12:56 pm

    Speaking of Green, what do you guys think of this? Warning: AN link

    It set off my BS radar instantly.

    • PDXAthleticsfan Mar 14,2012 1:07 pm || Up

      Not enough data. Doing an analysis based on one “pre-change” pic and one “post-change” pic sets off my BS radar. It could very well be legit, or it could be BS.

      If there were links to any quotes from him or coaches about re-working his swing, I’d put more stock in it.

      A soliloquy of fresh-sounding ideas which would probably be disastrous.
    • colin Mar 14,2012 1:10 pm || Up

      It’s hard to tell if there’s something there or not. I can see the differences between the stills, but they are only two swings, so who knows if it’s really a systematic change. Are there any quotes from Green or his coaches to back up the claim that he is changing his mechanics?

      • PDXAthleticsfan Mar 14,2012 1:13 pm || Up

        What he said;)

        A soliloquy of fresh-sounding ideas which would probably be disastrous.
      • lenscrafters Mar 14,2012 1:30 pm || Up

        The OP linked to quotes in his post:

        “We worked a lot in the (Arizona) Fall League, redoing my whole stance and swing pretty much completely,” said Green, the A’s sixth-ranked prospect according to Baseball America. “We widened out (my stance), gave me a little better load, a little bit of a leg kick. So when I do connect with the ball, rather than getting that warning-track power, we’ll be able to leave the yard.”

        The problem with this is that it has the tenor of most other spring training fluff pieces. He may as well by talking about how he’s in the best shape of his life or that he added 15 pounds of muscle to hit more home runs, etc. It’s not impossible that a stance/swing adjustment could unlock significantly higher production (see Jose Bautista); it’s just incredibly rare.

        The problem with the OP’s analysis is that

        1) Like you guys said, it’s a sample of two swings.

        2) The angles for the two pictures he’s using are different. It’s much easier to see pronounced change with the angle he’s using for the second photo when it may not be significant at all in reality.

        3) None of this addresses Green’s plate discipline and pitch recognition issues, both of which affects his ability to hit and hit for power far more than any swing/stance change can.

        4) It reeks of post hoc analysis.

        • PDXAthleticsfan Mar 14,2012 1:38 pm || Up

          Given the quote, I would at least give some credence that the analysis is at least plausible (small sample size skepticism remains). And you’re right, it doesn’t help #3, which, unless it can be addressed, and I’m not sure it can, will limit Green’s ceiling.

          A soliloquy of fresh-sounding ideas which would probably be disastrous.
        • bwh Mar 14,2012 2:06 pm || Up

          I agree that there is a fluffy aspect to the articles, but the video clearly shows Green is doing something differently in his swing now, and it certainly looks like he’s been working on what he said he’s been working on.

          1. Well I can’t really do anything about that, there’s not a ton of video of Grant Green’s new swing.

          2. The angles are slightly different, but again that’s just out of a lack of available video. It is clear that his hands and head are much further back in his new setup, and the only real issue the angle difference would cause is in the stance photo, where the increased width of Green’s new stance isn’t as obvious.

          3. By all accounts, Green didn’t have “plate discipline issues” in the sense that he was a wild free swinger (though with his K/BB ratios one might infer that). Goldstein:

          While he’s hardly a free swinger, he could use better plate discipline.

          Going off that report, I’d say that he probably does have room to improve his plate discipline, but that a quieter head will certainly help with that and the issue isn’t as bad as the K/BB ratio would imply.

          4. I don’t know how it’s post hoc at all. I mean, he made adjustments and I was trying to illustrate them. His before swing is not a major-league caliber swing. I dare you to find any decent MLB hitter who is that upright at the point of contact, and who has that weak of a load as Green does in the Futures Game swing. I mean, those are clear flaws and he looks to be trying to fix them.

          • DFA Mar 14,2012 3:10 pm || Up

            2 I think the best thing to do with a lack of evidence is to say you know why there isn’t enough evidence rather than to make a bunch of conclusions on bad evidence like a clearly different camera angle

            In play, run(s)! Talk dirty to me gamecast, talk dirty. - Nevermoor
            • bwh Mar 14,2012 3:28 pm || Up

              The camera angle isn’t that different. And it doesn’t affect the fundamental things I pointed out, which are:

              A – He’s substantially increasing his load prior to the pitch coming in. Meaning, he’s turning his hips considerably more pre-pitch to create torque – torque is created when the hips clear through the hitting zone and the front shoulder turns in towards the catcher – your lower body and upper body are moving in opposite directions which creates batspeed when you whip your hands through the hitting zone. His left knee is clearly bent much further back in the after picture than in the before.

              B – He’s far far less upright at the point of contact than he was before. Look at the angle of his back at contact, and the position of his right shoulder relative to his belt buckle for reference. That isn’t affected by the camera angle.

              These things are all evident in the two images, the camera angle doesn’t affect them. The swings are clearly different, and the difference certainly isn’t a function of the camera angle. The slightly askew camera angle makes his new stance look more narrow than it is, which makes his adjustments look less pronounced than they actually are, so if anything the camera angle undermines the scope of his swing changes. It’s not ideal, but it’s not such a massive problem that it means you can’t learn anything by comparing the two swings side by side.

        • colin Mar 14,2012 2:07 pm || Up

          huh, somehow I missed the link to that article.

          • colin Mar 14,2012 2:14 pm || Up

            Oh, it sounds like bwh added the link after I read the article, which explains why I didn’t see it. Anyway, reading that helps me make sense of the whole thing.

        • Einstein on the Beach Mar 14,2012 5:07 pm || Up

          #3 is the big one here for me, in that I’m perfectly willing to believe all the swing analysis, and I find it very interesting, but I would need to see some evidence to be convinced that people that “fix” their swings or change their swings in general then become better at hitting.

          That said, I voted Green, as we’re basically to the point that due to his pedigree, I think he does have the best chance to just suddenly become a better player than he is.

    • bwh Mar 14,2012 1:21 pm || Up

      Hi. I took your advice and just added in some links with quotes referencing Green’s swing adjustments. I thought it was almost common knowledge that Green was making some big adjustments to his swing, and I wanted to clarify what those were, and the problems his old swing caused in terms of balance/leverage. But if people were unaware of the fact that he’s making changes, I’ll have to clarify that point.

      It’s always been clear his hands are as good as anyone’s, but his swing was always upright and stiff and I always thought when watching him that there’s a lot of unlocked potential in his swing. I was just trying to detail what my concerns were with his old swing, and why his new swing is much better suited to power and pitch recognition.

      I do wish there were more video of his new swing, but he’s only been working on it in the AFL and in Spring Training (where he evidently hit a bomb to dead center the other day) so there’s not very much video available.

      • lenscrafters Mar 14,2012 1:34 pm || Up

        Hi there. Your comment has been approved so all your comments will start showing up now.

        I want to clarify that while I’m critiquing your work, it’s nothing personal. I appreciate the work you did on that post.

        • bwh Mar 14,2012 2:10 pm || Up

          I take no offense. I’m not a swing mechanics expert, but I played through high school (years ago) and I come from a baseball family, so I know a bit of what I’m looking for. I’m just on a fairly futile crusade to combat the “stats only” prospect evaluation that is so rampant on the internet/AN, and here apparently (how the fuck is Tom Milone #6? He throws 86 mph! There’s not a single team in baseball who would take Tom Milone or Dan f’ing Straily over Grant Green).

          I’m trying to give people a little more to go on than K/BB ratios and a slashline for their prospect evaluation (not that those stats are irrelevant, but they are certainly only a small piece of the puzzle).

          • aardvark Mar 15,2012 8:22 am || Up

            I think that you’ll find a wide diversity of perspectives on here. There are definitely those that eschew scouting reports (and make some good arguments for doing so), but I think you’ll find most people here taking a balanced approach. I think for us casual fans it’s easier to use the statistical information in our evaluation. We can review and evaluate that data, but we don’t get to see many of these kids play and the video is often limited. Even when we do see them we may not have the background to effectively scout them.

            • bwh Mar 15,2012 2:34 pm || Up

              There’s no good argument for ignoring scouting reports/scouting in general, but aside from that I understand the nature of internet prospect rankings. Of course it’s always going to lean to stat-oriented projection, though that is often incredibly misleading with prospects (lolMLE’s). And I don’t give much if any credence to PECOTA/ZiPS etc. for players with less than about 2 years of Major League experience.

      • PDXAthleticsfan Mar 14,2012 1:48 pm || Up

        Welcome bwh.

        Honest question: As presented, the changes Green made have a lot of upside (better power, recognition, balance, etc) with no downside. So why wouldn’t any baseball player change their stance accordingly, aside from the usual superstitious, don’t change what’s working even after I’ve failed miserably for the last two seasons stuff.

        A soliloquy of fresh-sounding ideas which would probably be disastrous.
        • bwh Mar 14,2012 1:56 pm || Up

          I referenced it in my post. Green didn’t “fail miserably” in 2010, and not even really 2011 (he failed, but not miserably). I’m guessing the A’s didn’t want to mess with the swing of a shortstop who just slugged .520 in his first pro season. After his regression in 2011, it’s evident that he did have adjustments to make.

          I don’t know why a player wouldn’t do this. Probably because they can’t? Every hitter is unique, they just need to find what works for them. Green’s upright stance/swing clearly wasn’t conducive to balance or power.

          • Tutu-late Mar 14,2012 2:02 pm || Up

            Sweeney is a great example of a player with potential, knows what is needed to change, yet unable/unwilling to do so.

            • PDXAthleticsfan Mar 14,2012 2:06 pm || Up

              I fear that Barton is the same way.

              A soliloquy of fresh-sounding ideas which would probably be disastrous.
            • ptbnl Mar 14,2012 3:59 pm || Up

              Paging Bobby Crosby.

              If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
              • PDXAthleticsfan Mar 14,2012 4:02 pm || Up

                I’ve been suppressing Bobby Crosby comments in this entire sub-thread – too easy a target.

                A soliloquy of fresh-sounding ideas which would probably be disastrous.
                • Tutu-late Mar 14,2012 4:20 pm || Up

                  He had that whole “RED DOT” thingy going on.

              • Future Ed Mar 14,2012 6:52 pm || Up

                Reading this comment didn’t make me mad.

                Progress

                I have $5. No I don\'t.
      • rubesandbabes Mar 14,2012 2:20 pm || Up

        Hi bwh!

        Count me as someone not too dialed in on the latest with Green’s swinging. Yes, it would really be great if he notched up his power. Even better could he play corner infield sometime soon.

        Thanks post and effort with the colored lines. I hope so.

        No Badges For This Game
      • aardvark Mar 15,2012 7:50 am || Up

        I remember now that I had heard about Green changing his stance. It was completely off my radar in voting on these prospects though.

  6. rubesandbabes Mar 14,2012 2:47 pm

    Voting for Green.

    Have no basis to evaluate the Latin non-drafted prospects, but hopeful they are more promising than closer guys like Michael Taylor, for example…Yordy!

    Hard not to notice the non-interest here in top guys like Taylor, Donaldson, Stassi, Shipman, the other Parker…

    Big team roster crunch: Is Carter gonna lose his career to Manny and Smomes? Who’s the backup first baseman(?). Also at third? Don’t Know?

    No Badges For This Game
    • vignette17 Mar 14,2012 8:04 pm || Up

      I’m guessing both out of options Allen and Kila make the team. And although it’s stupid, I think Smomes is the pre-Manny DH. Interestingly enough, if you sort by spring OPS, Kila, Smith, Gomes, Carter, and Allen are all in a row.

      • rubesandbabes Mar 14,2012 9:40 pm || Up

        The team is lining up 4 DH’s: Smomes, Carter, and Manny. Carter is not really winning the battle at the moment.

        I have to think Smomes will be a much bigger part of the story than just a pre-Manny DH platoon. Maybe Manny never does make it all the way back.

        Smith is sorta the team’s best hitter, an actual major leaguer. It just seems like the manager is gonna have a lot of days where he takes a long look around the room to see if anyone can possibly inspire enough confidence to make the lineup…pretty sure Smith is gonna play a lot.

        Out of Spring it’s gonna be Crisp, Reddick, Smith, Gomes + one more player.

        No Badges For This Game
  7. vignette17 Mar 14,2012 8:08 pm

    To me, Green has 3 issues:

    1) Lack of power
    2) Subpar K/BB
    3) Position change

    Cowgill also has three:

    1) Age
    2) Position
    3) Whether the stats are merely Reno inflated

    Green has better tools as the tiebreaker.

    • grover Mar 14,2012 8:21 pm || Up

      The stats were absolutely Reno inflated… how much is the question.

  8. bear88 Mar 17,2012 12:06 am

    I’m starting to think the A’s are out of actual prospects at this stage. They’re too young, or haven’t performed well, or look like fourth outfielders at best. Hopefully, some of these guys will blossom – or others will emerge.

    But at this point, with no enthusiasm, I’ll pick Cowgill.

  9. aardvark Mar 17,2012 3:24 pm

    Eight legitimate prospects is a pretty good tally for a team.

    • PaulThomas Mar 20,2012 8:47 pm || Up

      Not really, when you just gave up three average to above-average major leaguers in order to get them. (For that matter, even Carter is the product of a majors-for-prospects trade.)

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