Tropical Tidbits 32.12 - Hello Port St. Joe

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The season is done, we've looked at all of the early offseason decisions that have to be made, now lets take a look at the Hurricane prospects working down in the Florida League.

Rotation

Kuang-yin Qiao (9/6/6 Talents): If the curveball develops, he could be a very difficult pitcher to hit. His flyball tendency is concerning, but it looks like he could have a floor as a solid reliever and a ceiling as a mid-rotation starter.

Belmiro Maanico (10/6/5 Talents): Flame-thrower with a nice fastball/slider combo. He also had a decent circle change and already gets swings and misses at 20. The big question is his control and just how high that walk rate will be.

Alejandro Ramirez (7/7/7 Talents): The most well-rounded pitcher in the Port St. Joe rotation, Alejandro is a lefty with the potential for three solid pitches and a ceiling of a solid #3/4 pitcher and with Carlos Lopez (6/7/5 Talents) falling apart, he has the potential to become the best pitcher taken by Jacksonville in the 2031 draft.

Kevin Fowler (5/7/8 Talents): Picked up in the comically bad 2027 draft, Fowler hasn't ever developed the elite control or marginal stuff needed to crack the big roster. Look up junkballer in the dictionary (is this still a thing?) and you'll see a picture of Fowler.

Jesus Lopez (8/6/6 Talents) / Glenn Johnston (8/6/6 Talents): Two very similar pitchers who are just slightly less than Qiao. Lopez has 3 plus pitches and is a groundball pitcher, but he's a righty with less than stellar HR and BB rates (plus, he has to develop the dreaded changeup to be a SP); Johnston is a lefty with a 100 mph fastball and decent curve, but that's about it. The slider and change are just 'meh' and he has a lot of control to develop at 23. Neither are high % prospects, but there is a little something there that is intriguing.


Bullpen

Fernando Ortiz (9/7/6 Talents): He'll be the closer down in Port St. Joe and his plus slider and solid fastball make him fairly hard on RHB. Might actually have a future in the bigs in the right spot.

Gabriel Gutierrez (9/6/6 Talents): Throws hard but lives on a cutter and curve. Probably a future in middle relief.

Jose Ramirez (8/7/5 Talents): Fairly well developed for a 20 year old, but the ceiling isn't there for anything better than middle/long relief.

Carlos Vazquez (7/6/7 Talents): Lefty with a plus change. He's only 21, so there's still a chance he finds something in his slider or cutter that makes him a viable middle reliever.

Bernard Melman (10/4/6 Talents): The slider is real, but the HR rate is downright frightening. At 19, you can dream on him, but a dream is all he is at this point.

Ernesto Medina (8/4/8 Talents): Potential for a plus fastball and plus changeup with above average control? Sign me up, right? Well....he has given up 31 HR in two seasons at the lowest levels of the minors at 21 and 22.

Ivan Flores (7/6/5 Talents):

Lineup

C Stephane Auclair (5/6/6/3/7 Talents) / Artie Brooks (5/6/4/5/6 Talents): Lefty, organizational depth catchers. Maybe one of them finds enough offense to be a September call-up one day.

1B Pablo Marquez (5/7/8/6/4 Talents): This former Crusader prospect is so close to being a BBA caliber player, but he's also so far away from being one that he was demoted to AA this year. He has solid power and discipline for a DH/1B, but just doesn't make any contact.

2B Arturo Barron (5/8/9/6/4 Talents): Basically Pablo Marquez (5/7/8/6/4 Talents) with the ability to be a Zimmer-caliber defender. Arturo has his flaws (namely, his contact and swing rates) but he has plus-plus power and is an amazing fielder at second.

3B Scott Davis (5/6/5/6/5 Talents): Organizational depth. He's a nondescript fielder with nondescript power and nondescript contact. If we still had the EBA, he'd be a perfect future EBA'er.

SS Ross Burnard (5/7/1/5/7 Talents) / Marcos Lopez (5/4/2/5/7 Talents): Neither one of these guys are players you want to rely upon. Burnard is at least a switch hitter with good feet (10 TDP) and slick glove (11 Err). Voitto Stromberg (5/5/4/8/7 Talents) probably should have been given a shot here in place of Lopez.

LF Luzvimindo Arbizo (6/6/5/8/8 Talents): Probably the most BBA-ready hitting prospect in the minors, there are plans of letting Arbizo battle Gonzales for playing time at 2B next year. In the meantime, he'll get a chance to expand his defensive knowledge and potential use as a utility player.

CF Zi-jing Lou (6/8/6/5/7 Talents): Probably better served as a 2B right now, but Lou is the closest thing to a CF prospect in the system. Underdeveloped for his age, but if he does figure it out, he could have a fairly long career in the majors.

RF Luis Claudio (6/7/6/4/8 Talents): More developed at the plate than Lou and he's only 18. Claudio isn't a star prospect, but he could make a solid #4/5 OF. May get some time in left to increase his flexibility as a bench player.

RF/DH RF Pedro Saldana (6/8/6/5/7 Talents): Is actually an okay fielder, but he'll probably spend most of the winter splitting time at DH with Esteban Hernandez (6/6/6/5/6 Talents). Hernandez is a righty with potential to be a solid hitter, but not the defense to actually be used anywhere.


Are they world beater? Nah, but there are some intriguing prospects in there and if a couple of them can turn into BBA fringe players, or even regulars, the Hurricanes will have to be happy.