INTRODUCTION:
As noted elsewhere, after a very active draft season, I’m reviewing the organization’s prospect depth by position—both because it’s fun, and so that I can spend some time getting my head around all these guys. It’s a lot of work, probably…and we’ll see how far I get. I’ll probably do some form of depth charts. These will be my views rather than the game’s views. Bottom line, I still don’t trust OOTP’s algorithms particularly far when it comes to determining overall values of players. This means your mileage may vary relative to mine. I’ll focus on the prospects, and probably go into some fringy guys, too. I’m not going to list every single player in the organization, but by talking about some guys I’m guessing that I’ll expose the depths of the fact that I tend to see more players as prospects than the average guy—just like I’ll discount some players at the top end when they are young (assuming that they’ll bust some), I’ll often look at a younger guy missing some things and give them the benefit of the doubt.
Plan for success, I always say, and adjust down.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT AT 2B
Here’s where I admit it was nice to have Angel De Castillo around—a true switch-hitter who could handle the defensive regimen. Today we’re watching Lucas McNeill butcher the position as he struggles at the plate, and waiting for Horrible Bob Frazier to get over his kiddoe struggles and prove that he can handle the stresses of a big-league career. Theoretically, this should all work out. But we don’t play the game on theory. And the fact is that, while we’ve got a few guys around, none of them are going to contribute like De Castillo.
This is also a bit of a difficult conversation because I know we’ll see a few guys who are currently playing SS or 3B in my system slide over. So I’ll do my best to include them here in some form.
Anyway, here’s how I see our organization depth chart today:
DEPTH CHART
AAA - Tai hoi Zhu (**) – RHB 7/7/4/6/8 (7/6/8/8 Def)
R - Roberto Viramontas (**.5) – RHB 7/8/3/6/8 (8/6/9/7 Def)
A - Juan Lopez (***) – RHB 6/8/8/4/8 (8/7/5/6 Def)
AAA – Miguel Fernandez – (**) RHB 7/8/5/5/5 (6/5/4/6 Def)
R – Alan Willis – RHB 7/9/1/3/9 (3/4/5/4 Def) << NEW
AA – Robinson Gonzalez – (*.5) RHB 6/7/5/6/7 (4/7/5/6 Def)
SA – Sergio Martinez (*.5) – SHB 6/7/8/5/5 (1/4/4/1 Def)
At 22, Chinese-born Tai hoi Zhu is probably the option of choice if we need to dig down into the minors right now. He’ nursing a strained hamstring as I type, but he’s had a nice little progression through the organization since being found as a middling half-star in the IC back in 2032. I was hoping to see the range (and error, for that matter) bump up a notch, which would make him a serviceable fielder as well as a touch above league average kind of hitter at the shortstop role. Alas, we may be looking at pushing him over to second pretty soon, where he should hit for average, and with a little pop. Not a superstar, but the kind of player you like to have around in his cheap seasons.
Zhu has another issue blocking his future at the shortstop position, but we’ll get into that in just a moment.
Roberto Viramontas, the next guy on the list is also playing another position. He had a nice enough year as a 17-year-old in rookie ball (108 OPS+), and manages the field okay. But he has the same possible issue as Tai hoi Zhu in that there’s this guy named Dong-po Thum in the organization, and I’m hoping that he can handle the shortstop role. We’ll cover him in that article, but we’re making lots of movement right now with the idea that Thum will be successful in acquiring the shortstop role. Hence Viramontas will play either third or second this year…probably bits of both. With luck, he’ll move up to Short-A before year end, and be playing at A or AA next year.
Then we come to Juan Lopez.
You may remember him as the cornerstone of a deal that raised flames and brimstone for some time, a deal that saw us pick up a pair of young center fielders for a catcher, a workable 1B, and a blah, blah, blah. At the time, Lopez was a sexy-sexy beast of 17 years old in the Jackrabbit’s International complex. Today, well … let’s just say the starts don’t shine quite so bright. Yeah, we see he's still got 3 stars, butis numbers have never been interesting, and as he nears 22 years of age, he hasn’t been able to get out of single A, his defense has eroded in the outfield, pushing him to second base, and his Contact/Eye combo is worrisome. Other GMs seem to see it, too, as I've had him in a couple offer packages, and I get kind brush-offs in his general direction (Do you bite your thumb at Juan Lopez, sir?). Bottom line, Lopez is still a prospect, but he’s not a top prospect anymore and if he takes any more development hits, he could slide off this list completely. In the meantime, Eric Fabre …
Miguel Fernandez, on the other hand, has quietly gone about making himself into a real prospect. Seeing that he’s been hitting everywhere, I’ve been trying to get him as many reps in the field as I could since we drafted him back in 2034, and the defense has been slowly bumping in a little. Offensively, he’s got a little pop and won’t strike out a ton. Again…not a superstar, but he’s a guy who could make a platoon look pretty good, especially if I can pair him with a LHB that can play defense. Those grow on trees, though, am I right?
Alan Willis came in the draft this year, and while his contact/gap/avk is nice, that’s about it. He’s the definition of a hacker in the field. There’s also the fact that he seems to want a couple million bucks to forgo his schooling, which, at present I’m not really inclined to give him…but we’ll see.
I keep overlooking this Robinson Gonzalez guy, who’s currently toiling away in AA. He’s not rangy in the field, which hurts him. But he’s slowly been bumping just a little, and growing just the same, and he hits everywhere he goes. We’ve had him around since 2033, and he’s just now at 21 years old. What can I say? Every time I look at him, I like him more. If he gets another bump or so in a place or two, he’s going to be a player I’ll have some fun with. Otherwise, he’s just been fun to root for.
Finally, we get to Sergio Martinez, last year’s 7th rounder. He struggled a bit in Rookie ball, but we need a guy to handle second at Short A, and he’s going to turn 19 next week. Tag, he’s it. Offensively, he’s got some tools. And he’s a switchie who can already hit right handers okay. Did I mention we could use a lefty hitting 2B in the organization? [grin] At the end of the day, it’s too early for me to really place Martinez up the chain much. His defense needs to bump, but I’m suspecting it will as long as I can get him time on the field. His patience could be better. But he’s a guy I’ve got my eye on, and I wouldn’t bet against him making some cash someday.
DARK HORSE: RHB Gerald Hilliard (5/6/2/8/6 – 9/7/3/7): This guy has been on the DFA, waiting to be released more times than once since my scouts dragged h him out of Guam. (Aside: I like Guam. Just the sound of it. I once wrote a story about a girl whose mother was from Guam. People seemed to like it). I picture Gerald as a military brat. In his time with us, Hilliard has grown outstanding plate discipline, and a rangy glove at second base. He turns a pretty good double play. His numbers still say he’s a dark horse, but I’m rooting for him about as strongly as any guy I’ve had, so the day we do eventually have to DFA/cut him, will be a bittersweet day.
