29 replies to this topic

[BaltBird 24]

For cash considerations. Could be a solid utility guy. Appears to have very good walk rate and some power.

[mdrunning]

Somebody has to play the infield at Norfolk.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Yeah likely destined for Norfolk if he clears waivers. His numbers in the limited Philly ABs were interesting. Struggled in Det last year though. Seems like he may be really good AAAA depth if we can get him through waivers

[mikezpen]

Yeah. I'd say that.

[BobPhelan]

Somebody has to play the infield at Norfolk.

This.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Claimed Livan Soto off waivers from LAA today too.

[makoman]

Claimed Livan Soto off waivers from LAA today too.

In 2 minutes of research, seems like he’s capable of playing SS and is LHB but can’t hit. Has options at least.

[RichardZ]

Rankings
Organization Prospect Rankings


Team Logo of Los Angeles Angels
Ranked Los Angeles Angels #26 prospect in 2023
BA Grade/Risk: 40/High

Track Record: Soto was one of 12 international amateurs who signed with the Braves but were later declared free agents by MLB due to the Braves' violations of international signing rules. Soto signed with Angels for $850,000 shortly after and progressively worked his way up the system, leading up to a breakout 2022. Soto hit a career-high.281 at Double-A in 2022 and earned a September callup to the Angels, where he hit .400 (22 for 55) in 18 games.

Scouting Report: Soto is a defense-first middle infielder whose hitting ability is slowly improving. He has solid pure contact skills and finds the barrel with ease from the left side. He rarely swings and misses and should hit for contact, but it's often soft contact. He rarely impacts the ball and his power is below-average due to his small frame. The Angels tweaked Soto's hand position to allow for more separation and an inclined swing path, but the results have only changed slightly. He has solid plate discipline and gives competitive at-bats, leading to high walk and low strikeout rates. Soto is one of the best defensive infielders in the Angels system with twitchy actions, soft hands, and advanced instincts at shortstop. He has an average arm strength that plays up with a quick release and good internal clock.



The Future: Soto may be a bench option for the Angels in 2023. He will have to impact the ball more to garner attention as a utility option.

Scouting Grades Hit: 50. Power: 30. Speed: 50. Fielding: 55. Arm: 50.

Team Logo of Los Angeles Angels
Ranked Los Angeles Angels #22 prospect in 2021

[dude]

The Maton and Soto adds are interesting.

 

I know everyone seems to think Holliday is OD, but if he's not, then you need (maybe more want) a LHed compliment to pair with Mateo.

 

SS Mateo / Henderson

3B Henderson / Westburg

2B Westburg / [LHed bat...Frasier, Maton, Soto, Vavra]

 

Maton or Soto makes more sense on this roster than Urias, so maybe it's a setup for a trade.

 

I don't have much opinion about either.  Maton was interesting in Philly before the trade to Detroit in the Gregory Soto deal.  It's crazy how bad nearly everyone in the Tigers lineup was last year.  When everyone is going bad, it's probably not all on the individual players so in that respect, I like Maton as a LHed, cost/service controlled option for the bench.  They both are similar (not so directly) as Vavra, but we don't seem to trust Vavra's defense anywhere.

[RichardZ]

Maton is the backup plan if Holliday doesn't have a good spring and goes to Norfolk. Urias and Westburg would get the bulk of the 2B/3B starts. Mateo is SS/OF in either scenario. If Holliday makes it, Maton goes on waivers.

Soto is the Norfolk SS if Holliday makes it, super utility at Norfolk if Holliday doesn't make it.

Maton may or may not make it to Norfolk. Same with Nevin. Maybe Maton, Nevin, Hilliard, all get waived the end of ST to see if they can get them through.

[dude]

Maton is the backup plan if Holliday doesn't have a good spring and goes to Norfolk. 

 

Related here (because of Maton) but probably more relevant elsewhere...

 

...but...what does "have a good Spring" mean?  Statistically?  

[RichardZ]

Related here (because of Maton) but probably more relevant elsewhere...
 
...but...what does "have a good Spring" mean?  Statistically?  

You’d have to ask Mike Elias but swinging the bat well, not chasing, and making solid contact is probably more important than hitting.350. Having said that, I’d guess good plate discipline numbers, making the DP and few mistakes on defense, and having good numbers in the traditional sense (.300+, .800+,) would be considered a good spring.

[dude]

side note: Nick Maton's older brother, Phil Maton, signed a 1+/6.5M deal with the Rays for 2024.

 

If Nick makes the Orioles (LHed bat) his brother is a RHRP so we could see that matchup this year.

[BobPhelan]

Interesting that the team listed him as an OF when they posted the transaction.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

You’d have to ask Mike Elias but swinging the bat well, not chasing, and making solid contact is probably more important than hitting.350. Having said that, I’d guess good plate discipline numbers, making the DP and few mistakes on defense, and having good numbers in the traditional sense (.300+, .800+,) would be considered a good spring.

Will have so much to do with how he looks. Does he belong. Little observational things. Im not surprised dude doesnt understand the "scouting" aspect of evaluating a player.

[Mackus]

You’d have to ask Mike Elias but swinging the bat well, not chasing, and making solid contact is probably more important than hitting.350. Having said that, I’d guess good plate discipline numbers, making the DP and few mistakes on defense, and having good numbers in the traditional sense (.300+, .800+,) would be considered a good spring.

 

I doubt that they'll be basing the decision at all on his batting average or OPS.  Those stats may also be good (or bad) and go the same direction as their decision, but I'm sure they're gonna look at offensive measurables that can even more precisely isolate skill, like exit velocity and chase rate and what he's doing with certain pitches.  Their self-scouting of his defense will also be a big factor.

[makoman]

Will have so much to do with how he looks. Does he belong. Little observational things. Im not surprised dude doesnt understand the "scouting" aspect of evaluating a player.

Right the stats won’t matter much if at all. It’s all the rest, 99% of which none of us will see.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

I doubt that they'll be basing the decision at all on his batting average or OPS. Those stats may also be good (or bad) and go the same direction as their decision, but I'm sure they're gonna look at offensive measurables that can even more precisely isolate skill, like exit velocity and chase rate and what he's doing with certain pitches. Their self-scouting of his defense will also be a big factor.

Quality of ABs and yes his D will be big too. And the thing is you can have him go do live round ABs vs GRod, Burnes, Bradish, etc. Will mean as much or more than any AB he would have against a random AAA guy in a ST game

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Quality of ABs and yes his D will be big too. And the thing is you can have him go do live round ABs vs GRod, Burnes, Bradish, etc. Will mean as much or more than any AB he would have against a random AAA guy in a ST game

Same goes for all these young players. Im not even trying to be an AHole here. I dont get how some people dont understand what you can learn from ST. Not necessarily any of the actual ST games but the work the team does in house. I would be a pig in s**t if I could just walk around the Os complex at ST and watch all the work they do in house. Thats the exciting stuff. Not the ST games.

[russsnyder]

Same goes for all these young players. Im not even trying to be an AHole here. I dont get how some people dont understand what you can learn from ST. Not necessarily any of the actual ST games but the work the team does in house. I would be a pig in s**t if I could just walk around the Os complex at ST and watch all the work they do in house. Thats the exciting stuff. Not the ST games.

Good post.

I would have loved to watch them work with O'Hearn last spring. The hitting coaches had to spend a lot of time in the cage and video room working out the issue he had with his crouch. Kudos to O'Hearn. That had to be tough with all the muscle memory he had to work through.