FanGraphs has Acquired Eric Longenhagen Prospects Chat for Cash

Eric A Longenhagen: Hello from Phoenix.

Eric A Longenhagen: I ranked all the traded prospects and, more importantly, there are link to all their scouting reports in this post: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/ranking-the-prospects-traded-during-dea…

Eric A Longenhagen: And if they don’t have a post of their own the report is just in that doc.

Calhoun: Am I the future DH for the Rangers, or can I actually play D in the outfield?

Eric A Longenhagen: DH for me

Pearced: Thoughts on Pannone? Solid back end starter?

Eric A Longenhagen: That’s probably his ceiling. Not sure how that fastball will play in the big leagues.

Joe Schlmo: Teoscar Hernandez a solid regular next year?

Eric A Longenhagen: I think so. Has hit well since finding footwork he was comfortable with in the box.

Dodger Fan: Where would you rank AJ Alexy in the Ranger’s system? Seems like he was moving up the ranks of the stacked Dodger system pretty quickly.

Eric A Longenhagen: Probably in the 12-20 range. I like him. How he lines up with the likes of Matuella, Speas, Cody and Hernandez kind of depends on how you feel about stuff vs pitchability or stuff vs injury history.

SForever: Is Arroyo going to be a productive regular in the bigs next year or is his place atop the Giant’s farm system just a sign of a weak group overall?

Eric A Longenhagen: It’s not a great group, but I like Arroyo in general and think he’s going to hit enough to play third every day even without much power.

Mac: Is Hendrik Clementina relevant? I was worried when I was typing “hendrik clementina fangraphs” and autofill suggested “hendrik clementina fanfiction” before I ever got to fangraphs.

Eric A Longenhagen: Sure. Several developmental hurdles, but he’s relevant.

Conrad: Though the Padres are trying to limit his innings this year, wouldn’t it seem like MacKenzie Gore is ready for the Midwest league?

Eric A Longenhagen: It seems that way based on the opinions of scouts here in AZ, but it’s easier to manicure his innings here and he has had some blister issues that I’d want to keep an eye on if I were SD. I think he’s just going to pitch every Monday down here.

Big Tuna: Which prospect improved their value the most at the deadline? (either by trade or trade of competition)

Eric A Longenhagen: Probably Teoscar, who gets a shot to play more regularly now.

Fred: Fair to say Fowler is a fourth outfielder of his speed doesn’t come back?

Eric A Longenhagen: Probably not, since losing speed could mean no more CF, and you should be able to play CF as a fourth OF. More likely a below avg regular in a corner if he returns and is suddenly slow.

Joel: What 2017 draftees have caught your eye so far in pro ball, either outperforming your expectations or severely underperforming?

Eric A Longenhagen: Heliot Ramos has looked great when I’ve seen him. Austin Beck has really struggled. Think he’ll be fine, but he’s pressing right now, visibly frustrated. The leap from NC high school ball to what he’s seeing now has been a lot.

Erix: Do you have Connor Greene thoughts?

Eric A Longenhagen: 70 fastball. I think that’s kind of it.

Larry: With Huascar Ynoa, does he have a chance to start?

Eric A Longenhagen: I think so.

Estuve: Call it right now (please) – who will be a better major leaguer, Hunter Greene or Luis Castillo?

Eric A Longenhagen: I’m taking Greene

ChiSox2020: Why is everyone so high on Dylan Cease? He’s 22 and doing OK in A ball.

Eric A Longenhagen: Throws hard, has curveball feel.

Jason: Can you even ballpark the value of Buxton right now if he were to be traded?

Eric A Longenhagen: Probably depends on who you’re asking. I’d be in on him if available.

jaysfan: What should we make of Starling Heredia’s physique? Where does he fit from a defensive perspective – now and by the time he debuts?

Eric A Longenhagen: He is thick for his age but he still runs well despite it and has kept it in check since turning pro. He has the speed for center field. I think he might stay there for a while, longer than I initially thought.

Gest: Would you ever advise a guy with 100ish to throw a 97ish two-seamer?

Eric A Longenhagen: Yes.

Nick: Have you seen any of the 2018 draftees yet? Nander De Sedas and Will Banfield look interesting.

Eric A Longenhagen: Some. Area Codes start this weekend so I’ll get a long look at a large section of the class.

Hank: Vlad Guerrero Jr’s Appy League numbers have spoiled me. I’m looking at Maitan’s start there and getting kind of concerned. Please talk me out of it.

Eric A Longenhagen: Have heard some negative things about how quickly his body has matured, his range at short. He was already a bit big last fall and was projected to move to third pretty quickly anyway, but I had someone put a 30 on his range there.

Billy Bob Thorton: Outlook for McMahon on the Rockies? Can he stick at 2B in Colorado or is he going to be a trade chip moving forward?

Eric A Longenhagen: Haven’t talked to anyone who think he’s better than a 40 defender at second base. But it sounds like he’s made some offensive adjustments and the output on that end seems real. Aided by the PCL, but he’s better than the guy we all saw in Fall League last year.

Bert Campaneris: Khalil Lee or Chase Vallot? Royals twitter community will greatly appreciate your input,  Eric. Thanks for chatting.

Eric A Longenhagen: Give me Lee

jaysfan: Joey Lucchesi put up some decent #s in AA but the K-rate took a step back. Is this a reflection of his lack of secondaries? Doe he still look like a reliever to you?

Eric A Longenhagen: I don’t think his funk/deception is as effective at Double-A. Throwing enough strikes to be considered a starter going forward, though.

Gest: Can you give me your rundown on Seuly Matias. Is he an exciting prospect?

Eric A Longenhagen: Football player’s build, think former Lions/Cowboys WR Roy Williams. Big power in BP. Body has filled out quickly, no longer has the speed for CF, erratic performance. Exciting, frustrating at times.

Cocobuttah: Could you arbitrarily rank Peter lambert, cody ponce, brett martin, chris rodriguez?

Eric A Longenhagen: Rodriguez, Lambert, Ponce, Martin

Ben: Top 3 Sleeper bachelor party cities?

Eric A Longenhagen: I’m that guy who doesn’t like Vegas, for anything, so with that in mind:

Eric A Longenhagen: San Diego, Seattle, Denver

Cocobuttah: How has chris siese looked so far?

Eric A Longenhagen: Smooth on defense in my looks, might outgrow short at some point, pushing a lot of contact the other way.

Brandon Johnson: If we could compare to what the Yankees gave up for Sonny Gray, what would a similar package have looked like from the Dodgers?

Eric A Longenhagen: This is a good question. Not sure there are clear parallel prospects in the Dodgers system. Mitch White and Kaprielian are somewhat similar in that their stuff has been better since college and they’ve dealt with injuries. Verdugo > Fowler so no comp there.

Bill: Any thoughts on the year Alec Hansen is having?

Eric A Longenhagen: Very encouraging that he’s throwing an acceptable number of strikes and has also been healthy. Was neither at OU.

Brian: Cubs fan, also a fan of middle infield prospects, been a tough year in the second respect only as a cubs fan (gleyber and Paredes…not exactly alike I know).  Anything new on Ademan since the offseason?  I know just finally in SB after the Paredes trade.

Eric A Longenhagen: Looked great during extended, has struggled to hit since he was assigned. Scouts split on ultimate defensive home (some think he’ll be a 2B but like the bat enough that that’s okay). I really like him.

Eduardo: Miguel Andujar seems like a pretty good bet to hit in the majors.  But what’s your opinion on his defense?

Eric A Longenhagen: 70 arm, he makes spectacular plays at times and head-scratching ones at others.

PF: What do you make of the Blue Jays’ business this trade deadline? Pannone seems really interesting by the stat line scouting no?

Eric A Longenhagen: He does, but the guy I think is very interesting is Samad Taylor. 70 runner, premium athlete, sneaky raw power for his size.

Sour beer: Jesus Sanchez or Estevan florial?

Eric A Longenhagen: Here gose nothing: Sanchez, but it’s close

J: How much has Mateo increased his stock with his performance in AA?  What position do you think he best fits at?

Eric A Longenhagen: As I wrote in the piece, I think he can be a 50 at short with polish but the recent speed demons who have been split decision between SS and CF all seem to end up in the outfield.

The Rookie: Andrew Heaney worth picking up in a keeper league? Not really a prospect anymore but hasnt had an extended stretch run yet

Eric A Longenhagen: Was 88-92 here in the AZL last week. I’d wait and see if that plus the secondaries are going to be enough.

Kiermaier’s Piercing Green Eyes: Let’s talk about the big trade from yesterday: the Rays acquired Tobias Myers from the Orioles for Tim Beckham. Who is this 2016 6th round pick with the 2.11 FIP in low A?

Eric A Longenhagen: Yes, let’s talk about this guy because I think he’s very interesting. Excellent athlete. Was a two-way player in high school and was committed to play both ways in college. Was a 6th rounder who took an under slot $225K (I think that’s right, if not it’s close). Has added some velo, sits comfortably in the low-90s, has some breaking ball feel, confident kid. Not very projectable body but I’m kind of intrigued by the overall package. Obviously the numbers are impressive so far.

Al: Haven’t heard much of Kyle Lewis since the injury last year, thoughts on him?

Eric A Longenhagen: Power is still in there, scouts who saw him rehabbing here in AZ didn’t think he looked healthy when he was promoted. Hoping to see him Saturday night.

PF: Best prospect traded at the deadline that no one’ stalking about?

Eric A Longenhagen: Luis Madero, Taylor and Myers are the ones I think are fun sleepers in this year’s group.

Jimmy BallGame: Thoughts on Sam Travis? Can he be a regular or is he a AAAA guy?

Eric A Longenhagen: Below average regular for me, falls short on power.

David W: Hey man, thanks for taking the time.   What can you tell me about the Braves’ Yunior Severino?  Seems like a major helium guy for 2018?

Eric A Longenhagen: Takes big, out-of-control swings. Has some power, 2B profile. Needs to hit.

Hank: Lucas Sims makes his big league debut tonight. His walk rate is way down this year and the Ks have remained. Any hope he can start?

Eric A Longenhagen: I had lost all hope for it at one point but he’s throwing strikes this year and  I’m always willing to re-evaluate.

PF: How much is the new soft cap deterrent (lowering draft picks if spend more than x amount a year) going to affect teams?

Eric A Longenhagen: This is a great and important question that I have not yet had time to consider or ask around about.

bringbackdelgado: Were Jorge Lopez’s AAA failures primarily Colarado Springs related? Everything at AA Biloxi was fine and his arsenal is relatively complete. Or will the control issues prevent him from a rotation future?

Eric A Longenhagen: Colorado Springs is, and I think it’s inarguable, just bad for your pitching prospects. His stuff is electric at times. I would have thought circumstances dictated Milwaukee give him a big league shot every fifth day but just tossing him into a playoff race with that sort of command is different.

Eric A Longenhagen: I think he’s probably a relief prospect at this point.

TKDC: Who did a better job trading Garcia, the Braves or the Twins?

Eric A Longenhagen: I like Huascar.

No Hay Anthony Banda: Are you concerned about Willie Calhoun’s extremely high IFFB% (30% this year, 35% last year) preventing him from hitting for a high AVG? Despite his awesome K%, about 25% of his PAs the past two seasons have ended in a K or infield pop-up.

Eric A Longenhagen: Yeah, I noticed that yesterday too and am not really sure what to make of it. Calhoun swings at a lot of stuff most people wouldn’t be able to hit at all and he finds a way to make it work, but I suppose it does cause some of his contact to be sub-optimal. I wonder if other hitting prospects whose bat-to-ball skills were so good that it cannibalized their approach (Josh Vitters is always who I think of) had similar IFFB rates

Mark: Have you seen Yordan Alvarez this year? Thoughts on his season so far?

Eric A Longenhagen: I have not, but it sounds like he’s a total stud. And if you read the site regularly you know I’m not one to get enthused about 1B prospects.

Johnny Coconuts: Does Lewis Brinson need to go back down? The plate discipline looks a little better but his only solid contact has been those two home runs.

Eric A Longenhagen: I don’t think he has anything left to learn at Triple-A, only way he gets better is in the big leagues. And if you get him regular at-bats now and he has time to make an adjustment, maybe he helps you in September. A talent like that quickly putting it together is what they need to compete with Chicago.

Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe: Who are a few minors guys who you think will have the greatest effect on the Wild Card races?

Eric A Longenhagen: Good question. Probably one of Tampa Bay’s prospects at Durham, Honeywell as the obvious one. NL race isn’t as much fun. I’d have liked to have seen Ildemaro Vargas get a look with Owings and Marte shelved for very different amounts of time.

Bean B.: I know Verdugo is a better defender, but do scouts/execs think of his bat in the same category as Calhoun? Is it fair to say that Calhoun’s batting profile translates to the bigs more than that of Verdugo’s?

Eric A Longenhagen: I think they’re relatively similar but Verdugo has a 70 arm and an actual defensive home

prospectlove: Why is there such little buzz on Jordan Yamamoto? Do you still feel that the lack of projection limits his upside to backend SP?

Eric A Longenhagen: Probably because that system has so many other good guys. Hell, that rotation has several other good prospects. Yamamoto is a potential 4/5 for me.

Ziggy: What’s Chance Adams‘ ceiling like?

Eric A Longenhagen: Mid-rotation

GraphsFan: What is the most common tool to be graded 80? What is the most rare?

Eric A Longenhagen: Fastball. Hit.

Prospect Idiot: Help me with some context?  Brandon Marsh and Starling Heredia are doing video game stuff in the Pioneer league.  Is that due to the launchpad environs?  Relative level?  Elite talent?  They look like superstars

Eric A Longenhagen: It is a hitter-friendly league

JSDee: If you were the Padres, would you have taken the same package for Hand that Detroit received for Wilson? If not, what better course could the Padres have done rather than keep the guy with 2+ years of control?

Eric A Longenhagen: I’d have taken that deal for Hand, yes.

Enlightening Round: What are your thoughts on Austin Hays? Middle of the order thumper?

Eric A Longenhagen: Power/speed, approach is very aggressive and I worry it will be exposed at upper levels

Saint: Any information on Dodgers RHP Melvin Jimenez? 6’0″, 170 lber out of DR in the Midwest League who *just* turned 18. Was in the DSL All-Star Game last year but didn’t come over for Instructs. Was in the AZL for all of 11.0 IP this season before his promotion to Great Lakes. From his last start, he’s a fastball/curve guy, didn’t see any changeups, but the curve looked impressive. Thoughts on a pitcher so young (he’d be starting his senior year of high school this coming fall) making it to full-season A-ball in his second season?

Eric A Longenhagen: 93-96 in AZL before promotion, have heard he’s touched higher than that. Below avg height and command, scout I spoke to only saw curveballs too. Relief risk, but the stuff is good.

Hector R: Are you a believer in Touki

Eric A Longenhagen: Yes. Even if he’s just a reliever I think he’s going to be an effective big leaguer.

jda: Brusdar Graterol’s only tool to rival his fastball is an 80-grade name.  He just was promoted to Elizabethtown.  How excited should we be about this kid?  I know he doesn’t belong in the Michel Baez tier of pop-up guys but is he close to a 45 for you despite the enormous risk/distance?

Eric A Longenhagen: Yes. Mid-90s, strong, athletic build.

Saint: Has Wes Rogers established himself enough this year to be back on the prospect map? Do you think the bat can progress enough to be a top-of-the-order hitter?

Eric A Longenhagen: He’s on my radar. Wrote him up recently: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/daily-prospect-notes-711/

Eric A Longenhagen: Obviously skeptical of his offensive output given his age relative to level but he has big league tools, even if it’s just as a unique reserve.

Babe Lincoln: How does KATOH (or KATOH+) factor into your analysis of each prospect?

Eric A Longenhagen: It flags guys I haven’t heard about from scouts, forces me to reconsider some guys if the rankings are very different from the visual consensus. Just another useful tool when you’re lining them up.

Dre: What’s your opinion Steven Brault? Solid 4/5 or bullpen?

Eric A Longenhagen: I thought he was athletic enough that he’d tighten up his command a bit more and pitch at the back of a rotation. Still has rashes of wildness.

P2F: Eric, I just want to take a moment to thank you for the great work you’ve done for FanGraphs thus far. I’m looking forward to reading the updated organizational lists. This is my first question I’ve ever asked you. Scouting information on this guy seems to be virtually impossible to find, so could you please provide an updated report on how Freddy Peralta looks this season? His numbers at AA so far have been pretty great. Is he a guy (or even a dude) yet?

Eric A Longenhagen: Thank you. Peralta has improved his conditioning since being traded by Seattle. Small, but a big strider, gets the most out of his fastball but, on pure stuff, it’s about average. Flashes plus breaking ball, average changeup. When he’s commanding his fastball he’s very effective overall. Chance to be a #4 on stuff.

Joe: Do you like any of Calvin Mitchell, Oneil Cruz, Connor Uselton, and potential breakout Mason Martin in the Pirates low minors to become at least an average everyday ML outfielder (if that is where you think they land defensively)?

Eric A Longenhagen: I like Mitchell’s feel to hit, Uselton’s power projection, Cruz just because he a freak physical specimen. Martin I’m not on (yet). All corner guys.

Saint: While Brailyn Marquez has been touched up some in a few of his starts, he’s still posting excellent peripherals: 32/5 K/BB in 25.1 IP. He’s a big lefty with interesting tools, any reports on how the young Cub farmhand looks?

Eric A Longenhagen: 89-94 with curveball feel

Eric A Longenhagen: Okay, that’s all for today. Thanks to the several hundred of you who came. Have a great week.