Daily Notes, Ft. A Possible Solution for Texas at First

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.

1. Texas First Baseman Someday, Maybe: Chris McGuiness
2. SCOUT Leaderboards: Arizona Fall League
3. Double-Video Situation: Chris McGuiness Homering

Texas First Baseman Someday, Maybe: Chris McGuiness
Chris McGuiness is a 24-year-old first base-type in the Texas system who has sat (sitted?) atop the SCOUT batting leaderboard (below) for almost the entirety of the Arizona Fall League season. He was also — again, per SCOUT — he was also one of the top hitters in the Double-A Texas League this season. In both cases — that is, both the Arizona Fall and Eastern Leagues — McGuiness has been old relative to his league/level (or, at least older than a prospect proper would be).

Here’s who Chris McGuiness is, in case you want to know: a 13th-round pick in 2009 out of The Citadel by the Boston Red Sox. Here’s who else: part of the package sent by Boston to Texas in the 2010 trade for catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Here’s who, also: a left-handed batter who hit .268/.366/.474 (.302 BABIP), 134 wRC+ in 530 plate appearances at Double-A Frisco this past season.

With the departure of Mike Napoli from the Rangers this offseason, there are more questions for the club at first base and DH than there have been in recent years. As things stand at the moment, some combination of Mitch Moreland, Mike Olt, and Michael Young is likely to fill the two roles. Purely as an exercise, I’ve listed below the 2013 OLIVER projections for all four players below.

Player	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA
Chris McGuiness	.238	.320	.416	.323
Mitch Moreland	.261	.320	.433	.327
Mike Olt	.248	.331	.485	.350
Michael Young	.285	.326	.402	.319

It appears, from this, as though McGuiness wouldn’t be the worst-case scenario as the left-handed part of a platoon for Texas either at first base or DH. Given that Moreland is eligible for arbitration in 2014, however, it’s also the case that he (i.e. McGuiness) could be a cheap replacement for him (i.e. Moreland) at that time.

SCOUT Leaderboards: Arizona Fall League
Below are the SCOUT leaderboards for the Arizona Fall League, current through Saturday. (Ages as of July 1st, 2012. Players listed with most recent team. Click here for more on what is SCOUT.)

SCOUT Leaderboard: Arizona Fall League Hitters (Overall)
Below is the current SCOUT batting leaderboard for the Arizona Fall League. SCOUT+ is calculated using regressed home-run, walk, and strikeout rates, where 100 is average and above 100 is above average.

Player	MLB	Age	PA	xHR%	xBB%	xK%	SCOUT+
Christopher McGuiness	Rangers	24	91	2.5%	11.5%	15.9%	122
David Adams	Yankees	25	80	2.3%	11.5%	17.3%	116
Nate Roberts	Twins	23	71	1.7%	11.5%	13.9%	116
Matt Szczur	Cubs	22	98	1.5%	11.6%	13.6%	115
Trayce Thompson	White Sox	21	59	2.1%	14.1%	20.8%	114
Kent Matthes	Rockies	25	84	2.6%	10.8%	19.5%	113
George Springer	Astros	22	73	2.3%	12.9%	20.9%	113
Josh Prince	Brewers	24	97	1.5%	12.2%	15.7%	112
Jonathan Schoop	Orioles	20	83	1.9%	13.9%	20.9%	112
Jeudy Valdez	Padres	23	71	2.0%	11.5%	17.9%	112

SCOUT Leaderboard: Arizona Fall League Hitters (Prospects)
Here is the SCOUT batting leaderboard for the Arizona Fall League, but only populated with players who are 22 or under — i.e. something more like “prospect” age relative to the league.

Player	MLB	Age	PA	xHR%	xBB%	xK%	SCOUT+
Matt Szczur	Cubs	22	98	1.5%	11.6%	13.6%	115
Trayce Thompson	White Sox	21	59	2.1%	14.1%	20.8%	114
George Springer	Astros	22	73	2.3%	12.9%	20.9%	113
Jonathan Schoop	Orioles	20	83	1.9%	13.9%	20.9%	112
Joe Panik	Giants	21	78	1.6%	10.1%	13.6%	112
Jonathan Singleton	Astros	20	103	2.1%	13.4%	21.6%	112
Nick Ahmed	Braves	22	70	1.7%	10.1%	15.3%	108
Logan Watkins	Cubs	22	22	1.9%	10.5%	17.7%	108
Ricky Oropesa	Giants	22	51	2.1%	13.0%	22.5%	108
Cory Spangenberg	Padres	21	34	1.9%	11.4%	18.8%	108

SCOUT Leaderboard: Arizona Fall League Pitchers (Overall)
Below is the current SCOUT pitching leaderboard for the Arizona Fall League. SCOUT- is calculated using regressed strikeout and walk rates where 100 is average and below 100 is above average.

Player	MLB	Age	G	GS	IP	TBF	xK%	xBB%	SCOUT-
Robbie Erlin	Padres	21	6	6	18.2	74	26.8%	9.6%	85
Mark Montgomery	Yankees	21	9	0	10.1	41	27.2%	10.2%	85
Chase Anderson	Diamondbacks	24	5	5	18.1	75	25.3%	10.0%	88
Kevin Quackenbush	Padres	23	10	0	10.0	37	25.0%	9.8%	89
Kevin Rhoderick	Cubs	23	9	0	9.1	35	24.6%	9.8%	90
Boone Whiting	Cardinals	22	6	6	21.1	91	24.5%	9.7%	90
Kevin Siegrist	Cardinals	22	5	4	15.0	60	24.6%	9.9%	90
Kyle Gibson	Twins	24	5	5	20.0	89	24.1%	9.5%	90
Nick Tropeano	Astros	21	10	1	14.0	56	24.5%	10.0%	90
Nicholas Bucci	Brewers	21	5	5	15.0	74	24.1%	9.6%	90

SCOUT Leaderboard: Arizona Fall League Pitchers (Starters)
Here is the SCOUT pitching leaderboard for the Arizona Fall League, but only populated with pitchers who’ve made at least half of their appearances as starts.

Player	MLB	Age	G	GS	IP	TBF	xK%	xBB%	SCOUT-
Robbie Erlin	Padres	21	6	6	18.2	74	26.8%	9.6%	85
Chase Anderson	Diamondbacks	24	5	5	18.1	75	25.3%	10.0%	88
Boone Whiting	Cardinals	22	6	6	21.1	91	24.5%	9.7%	90
Kevin Siegrist	Cardinals	22	5	4	15.0	60	24.6%	9.9%	90
Kyle Gibson	Twins	24	5	5	20.0	89	24.1%	9.5%	90
Nicholas Bucci	Brewers	21	5	5	15.0	74	24.1%	9.6%	90
James Paxton	Mariners	23	5	5	12.2	57	23.0%	10.1%	94
T.J. House	Indians	22	5	5	22.0	86	22.5%	10.0%	94
Dennis Tepera	Blue Jays	24	5	5	16.2	81	21.8%	9.5%	95
James Nelson	Brewers	23	6	5	18.0	80	22.6%	10.8%	96

Double-Video Situation: Chris McGuiness Homering
Here are two videos of Chris McGuiness homering this season in the Double-A Texas League.

First, in July:

Second, in August: