153 replies to this topic

[BobPhelan]

The minor league version of 3 Up, 3 Down has arrived.

 

https://baltimorespo...rm-may-10-2021/

[Mike B]

Good Stuff Bob!  I look forward to reading this weekly.  It is nice to be able to check the minor league sites to see how the prospects are doing.

[BSLChrisStoner]

This was article #6,000 for the site! Thanks Bob.

[BobPhelan]

This was article #6,000 for the site! Thanks Bob.

I thought I saw confetti when I pushed publish.

[BobPhelan]

The big guns showed out this week.

 

https://baltimorespo...rm-may-17-2021/

[BSLRoseKatz]

If Adley/Gunnar/Grayson is the On Fire trio every week we're gonna be back to contending pretty quickly lol

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Nice to see three of the four teams off to hot starts out of the gate. Norfolk is bad but the other teams are all well over .500

[Old Man]

I caught an interview on 105.7 last night, they were talking with Patrick Dorrian, a third baseman down at Bowie.

 

He sounds like a good kid, with the right attitude. Just trying to stay loose, enjoy the game and have fun, put the barrel on the ball and making contract.

 

He also said after not playing last season, gives them a renewed appreciate for the game they love. 

 

Note, not his exact words, but trying to capture what he said.

[Mike B]

Nice to see the top guys showing up.  Norfolk seems to have everyone struggling but it is early.

[BobPhelan]

This one has been much more fun to write every week...

 

https://baltimorespo...rm-may-24-2021/

[BobPhelan]

Minors > Majors

 

https://baltimorespo...rm-june-1-2021/

[Old Man]

Nice to see some positive baseball news with this organization, even ifs AA and below. It gives us hope that help is coming.

[BSLRoseKatz]

Kevin Smith is nice to see, it'd be pretty encouraging if we got multiple useful players from trading a pair of decent but hardly spectacular relievers last year 

[makoman]

Kevin Smith is nice to see, it'd be pretty encouraging if we got multiple useful players from trading a pair of decent but hardly spectacular relievers last year 

Should I be happy or sad if the 2020 deadline turns out to be a better return than 2018?

[Mike B]

Should I be happy or sad if the 2020 deadline turns out to be a better return than 2018?

Yes! 

[BobPhelan]

Some under the radar guys with nice weeks.

 

https://baltimorespo...rm-june-7-2021/

[BSLRoseKatz]

Sounds like Rizer is...a riser

[BSLSteveBirrer]

Rizer sounds like he is getting something going but at the risk of sounding like a broken record I have a hard time getting excited about a guy on track to make it to the majors by the time he is 26. I guess some guys just are slow to get it going?

[JeremyStrain]

Rizer sounds like he is getting something going but at the risk of sounding like a broken record I have a hard time getting excited about a guy on track to make it to the majors by the time he is 26. I guess some guys just are slow to get it going?

Some?

I mean sometimes you have senior signs or injury pushed guys that you really don’t get until they are 22. Then generally you are talking guys with a tool or something raw that needs work. Playing at 23 for a year and making changes, if they stick and really improve you are talking AA at 24, AAA at 25, ML at 26? Not a terrible timeline. Just depends on the guy and situation. Maybe there was a poorly timed injury, like junior year of college. Or maybe they were a backup behind a star in college and didn’t really get playing time but flashed something, see that with SEC seniors sometimes.

I dunno. Not that far out of the realm though, just not what you’re used to thinking young hotshot prospects. Guys that earn their way up can be great ML too though.

[Mackus]

Rizer sounds like he is getting something going but at the risk of sounding like a broken record I have a hard time getting excited about a guy on track to make it to the majors by the time he is 26. I guess some guys just are slow to get it going?

 

Traditionally I think you're absolutely right.  There are occasionally good players who didn't debut until 26 or even 25 years old (Luke Scott is the example I always go to, didn't debut until 27), but most guys who are good enough to make a big impact have arrived before then.  Some kick around and struggle for a while before figuring it out, but they at least did well enough in the minors to get the call by 24 or 25.  Also gotta be clear who you're talking about, plenty of guys debut late and have short or medium length careers as bench players and RP, that's not unique.  But a late-debuting guys who then developing into starting level guys is less common.

 

But I do think that this current class of minor league players has to be viewed slightly differently because of the lost year and the short draft in 2020 (and subsequent huge draft class of mid-round talent in 2021).  That's gonna cause some guys to arrive later than expected through no fault of their own.  These aren't guys who had opportunities to earn promotions but didn't do enough, these guys just flat didn't have the same opportunity.  And now that they are back playing, they're being graded on a curve because they are older than you'd like to see at any given level, so you demand more of them and only promote them if they meet it.  I think the next several years of minor leaguers across baseball are going to be noticeably different than usual.