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 center field 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abdeljilill Sediki | 25 | R | 50/50 | 6/7/6/5/6 | 8/11/7 |
| Arvin Duggan | 21 | L | 50/60 | 6/7/7/6/7 | 10/10/11 |
This pairing carries a little bit of hope with it, right? The goal is that the bat of Arvin Duggan is ready for prime time, because the team really, really wants to super Hoover-Matic glove of his in center. Duggan, a native on Montreal, came to the organization via the trade that sent (now) Sacramento their starting catcher. It seems only reasonable the swap finally pay off. Duggan impressed in a 230 AB stint in AA Santa Clara last year, then stumbled after being promoted to Indianapolis before righting the ship in Gainesville, the team’s FPL affiliate.
So Much Depends
On A. Duggan...
In The Rain
Of course, Abdeljill Sediki is going to have something to say about that.
Sediki—who had been a rock-solid 3-WAR performer for the three years prior—played through an injury plagued 2042, registering only .6 WAR to go with his .253 batting average and .303 OBP. Those numbers are not acceptable, of course, but it’s also not out of line to think a 25-year-old player would bounce back to something like his old numbers. Still, if nothing else, the Nine have been public about thier financial situation going forward, and Sediki’s contract alone will likely force a move sometime.
BEST CASE PROJECTION: Duggan fleshes out in spring training and the pair platoon their way into excellence.
CONCERNS: Duggan’s developmental status is uncertain, and the team has shown the propensity to keep players in the minors longer than others. However, if the team rolls snake eyes, Duggan doesn’t develop and Sediki doesn’t recover. That would be bad.
Prospects
| Level | Player | Age | B | OVR | HITTING | DEFENSE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | Angel Ruiz | 23 | R | 45/45 | 5/5/2/6/5 | 10/11/11 |
| AA | Wes Grieve | 20 | R | 40/45 | 6/6/2/2/9 | 8/8/6 |
| AAA | Jim Hennessy | 24 | R | 35/40 | 6/5/2/4/7 | 8/6/6/ |
Angel Ruiz can flat-out play the hell out of the defensive side of the ball, and if he could hit much, he’d probably be in that list above. Alas, a .340 AAA OBP and an longish injury to Sediki got Ruiz a trial run in Yellow Springs last season that went only .188/.250/.229 well. He’s the injury insurance again this year, and we’re sure the Nine would like to see him prove he can at least hit lefties just a little, as he’d be a perfect partial platoon/defensive replacement kind of guy. Assuming, of course. Always assuming.
The other two guys … well … we worry. Grieve, who came to the team as an International signing a couple years back, looks like he should scratch out just enough offense to be playable if that range would bump one more notch. At 20, he could do it. Fingers crossed. Hennessy (24) was the team’s 12th rounder in that mega-deep class, and looks like he’s kind of almost tapped out of the idea of playing center field. His glove would make him a pretty good left fielder, though. Unfortunately, his bat seems to still scream center. Bottom line, I’m guessing that barring intervention from the outside, this his last year as a “prospect.”
| Level | Dark Horses | Age | B | OVR | HITTING | DEFENSE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA | Walt Neal | 22 | R | 40/40 | 4/5/2/6/4 | 9/9/11 |
| A | Gary Burr | 21 | L | 40/40 | 4/4/1/6/4 | 10/9/9 |
| A | Roberto Rojas | 19 | R | 30/40 | 4/4/3/4/6 | 8/8/6 |
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Rojas is a borderline Dark Horse. We left him on the list mostly because he’s 19 and if we take a shot of stiff bourbon and close our eyes, we can imagine him with a solid talent bump.
Anyone for seconds?
OVERALL FARM SYSTEM STATUS: Well. It’s okay. If you consider Duggan still in the prospect stage, which is fair, it’s pretty good. Either way, though, we’re about a season away from not having a serious CF prospect in the organization.