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 right 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ricardo Mendoza | 21 | L | 70/70 | 8/9/7/3/9 | 6/5/7 |
| Bret Powers | 22 | R | 45/65 | 8/8/8/4/6 | 5/11/8 |
Let’s face it, Mendoza is really a left-fielder or a first baseman. He excels at either, and the Nine have used him there at times. Still, his arm makes him better suited to right than Rex Foster, so RF is his regular slot. The guy can hit well enough that it probably doesn’t matter. Regardless of what you think, Mendoza hit 24 homers on his way to posting a 1.074 OPS and 4.1 WAR last year, then signed a front loaded contract to help the team gather their financial ducks in a row.
Imagine Mendoza
Healthy?
We’re happy as hell to have him out there.
This season, he’ll platoon with Bret Powers, who finally arrives after we traded good arms for him last year. Powers is the big right handed bat we’ve needed for a season or two in order to counteract the lefties out there. He hit .291 in Indy last year, with 19 homers in 461 plate appearances. His arm makes him a bona fide right fielder, so you might see him in defensive roles, too. The fact is that he could really probably use another bit of time in the minors (note that 45/65 overall rating). So we’ll see how things go in Fool’s Gulch before signing all the papers. Powers will certainly be up this year, and with journeyman Benton Allen around the only real question is whether that will be in April, May, or July.
BEST CASE PROJECTION: Mendoza and Powers hit it off and blast opposing pitchers.
CONCERNS: Powers struggles in the spring. Or Mendoza gets hurt again.
Prospects
| Level | Player | Age | B | OVR | HITTING | DEFENSE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA | Sazui Kawashima | 20 | L | 30/45 | 8/7/4/6/7 | 4/7/9 |
Everyone knows Kawashima is going to be able to hit. He’s doing that everywhere he goes, which includes Gainesville of the FPL winter leagues. The question is whether he can field. There’s also a question as to whether he cares enough to make it all happen. The Nine sent him a trainer in the off-season, and reports were not encouraging. Still, the team is interested enough in his talent that they’ve suggested that if the numbers are there again, they’ll do it again next off season.
Count us not holding our breaths, despite the obvious talent.
| Level | Dark Horses | Age | B | OVR | HITTING | DEFENSE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA | Pedro Arenal | 23 | R | 20/30 | 5/5/3/5/5 | 5/8/8 |
| A | Bultossa Baka | 21 | L | 25/30 | 5/5/1/5/6 | 6/6/8 |
| R | Jack O’Connor | 18 | L | 20/25 | 5/6/3/1/9 | 6/7/10 |
Baka—last year’s 19th round pick—rings in with some reasonable expectation, though. He’s been steady in his move through the system, and a testing out at A-ball could bring benefits. We’ll see that the dev-o-beast does with him. Please, dev-o-beast, be kind. I’d love to see a 19th rounder do good. Then there’s O‘Connor, who is super young and has a couple interesting ratings, so why not throw him on the pile? We’ll come back to him after R-ball is over and see what happened.
OVERALL FARM SYSTEM STATUS: If you’re banking on Kawashima as your big ticket item, you’re in some potential trouble. Assuming Powers is up, we’re banking on Kawashima as our big ticket item.