Off Topic
As members of the Yellow Springs Nine head to Fools Gulch for Spring Training, it’s time for us baseball writers to have fun taking a look at the players in the organization and pretend like we know who it going to make a difference. In the past we’d wait until later in the year and do a prospect review, but this time we figured why not go full Monty and do it all at once, right?
Today we’re going to talk about the second base position, focusing first on the guys we expect to see in Yellow Springs, and then a few others down deeper in the organization who could crack the lineup over the next several years.
Yellow Springs
| Player | Age | B | OVR | HITTING | DEFENSE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dong-po Thum | 25 | R | 80/80 | 9/9/5/6/9 | 9/9/12/7 |
| Blaine Tyler | 23 | R | 60/70 | 6/7/8/6/5 | 6/8/9/6 |
As far as we can tell, the rumors are all true—Dong-po Thum is moving to second base. The team traded Roberto Viramontas in December, leaving a hole, and has not made a countering move to fill it. The leaves Thum and possibly Blaine Tyler to cover second and thid, and given the configuration the team went with in last post season, it’s hard to imagine seeing Tyler patrolling the position.
Dong-po outs 2B
Under his Thum
So, yes, as good as Virtamontas was, Thum will be better.
Of course, that’s only half the equation. Is the team better with Tyler at third and Thum at second, or was the Viramontas/Thum situation better? Defensively, we like the current idea better. Thum—a Zimmer glove at third, is really a shortstop in disguise. He should be a notch up on Viramontas. Tyler will notch down at third, but the value of second is considerably higher.
One should probably note that we might see a bit more of Lucas McNeill at second base if Thum needs a spell. McNeill’s LHB could play in a few situations as long as the glove wasn’t too badly needed. (shiver).
BEST CASE PROJECTION: Thum does what Thum does. Wins a Puckett and a Zimmer, and comes in third in Sawyer Silk voting.
CONCERNS: If Thum gets hurt, the drop-off could be devastating.
Prospects
| Level | Player | Age | B | OVR | HITTING | DEFENSE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA | Frederick Manchild | 20 | R | 35/45 | 6/3/1/4/6 | 10/6/4/11 |
| AAA | Juan Varela | 21 | S | 40/40 | 6/6/3/5/7 | 7/6/6/6 |
| AAA | Sergio Martinez | 24 | S | 40/40 | 5/6/5/4/7 | 5/8/5/6 |
The good news is that Frederick Manchild, 2041’s second round draft pick, had a very nice year split between a repeat of R-ball (.376/.502/.454) in Short-A Cat Island (.444/.535/.556). He followed that up with equally an eye-popping winter ball stint (.419/.471/.484). Add it up and you’ve got a skip year candidate. Expect Manchild in AA Santa Clara to start the year. To put it bluntly, the team loves his glove already, and if those offensive numbers stick in a league where the breaking pitches get breakier, the second base position gets suddenly a bit brighter.
The bad news is that if Manchild isn’t for real, the rest gets more pedestrian than some would like.
Yes, Varela is probably a major league player. As a switchie, he’s even more interesting, but as a guy who hits better right handed, makes one ponder playing time. Match him with Martinez, though, and you’ve got something that’s at least of some interest. Martinez is a switchie who hits RHP better, a factor that has even seen him spend a season with the parent club. Bottom line, if the team needed to press the pair into service, they could probably do the job—but that’s about it.
It may be of note that young Israel Puente has moved off these charts.
| Level | Dark Horses | Age | B | OVR | HITTING | AB/ARM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA | Lorenzo DeJesus | 24 | L | 40/40 | 4/5/4/5/6 | 7/10/5/7 |
| IC | Ralph Brannerman | 18 | R | 20/35 | 5/4/1/6/6 | 6/5/4/5 |
| R | Lee Lee | 20 | R | 20/25 | 3/5/3/6/5 | 5/6/4/6 |
Yes, talk about your dark horses. Of these, Brannerman in the Ineternaional Complex may be the most intriguing, He’ll need a bump to the glove to avoid being ugliness defined out there, but it could happen. DeJesus projects to be a better than average defensive player, though his arm limits him to second. His bat needs some lightning to strike, and at age 24 it needs to strike fast. One can argue Lee Lee, who is just now stepping out of the complex, shouldn’t be on the list at all.
OVERALL FARM SYSTEM STATUS: After being a role with some depth for several seasons, the Nine’s second base farm consists of one true prospect in Manchild, and a couple solid fill guys in Varela and Martinez. Don’t be surprised if the Nine look to restock soon.