I prefer Alonso to Smoak and am enamored with his swing. When watching Alonso in person, he crushed a home run to left field and looked pretty bored the rest of the night. He won’t be as good as his small sample in Cincy and PETCO will depress his numbers, but I’m sold on him as a pure hitter.
As for Smoak, I’m quickly losing faith. 24 is the magic age for a player who projects as a solid regular and Smoak fumbled the ball. With each season, his projection dims considerably.
JH
14 years ago
Just missed the chat, and taking advantage of your offer to answere a couple more questions in the comments…
Who’s your pick as top position player prospect in the Ms system: Franklin or Catricala?
Give me Franklin. Even if Catricala were to become a better pure hitter, his bat only profile means he’s going to have to mash while Franklin at SS or 2B would provide equal value with a lower offensive ceiling.
ray
14 years ago
Mike-thanks for the chat. Have you scouted Nick Castellanos and, if so, how does his power project? can he stay at third base, as I have read conflicting reports. Thanks.
I have yet to see Castellanos. I’m hoping for a ST or summer trip to Florida where Castellanos should spend the summer. Unfortunately, a lack of talent throughout the organization leaves a team like Lakeland more of a one trick pony.
Matt
14 years ago
Given your thoughts always on how valuable a proven pitcher is because so much can go wrong, what are your thoughts on the Cahill/Parker trade?
I’ve written about Parker here on Fangraphs and I came away feeling he was a bit underrated right now based on the pitcher I saw in person. In answering this question honestly, I will admittedly contradict myself a bit on the surface.
At this point, I think few would argue Gio > Cahill in terms of present performance and upside potential.
Cahill should be a good pitcher for a very long time based on his GB% and K/9, but his being a <90 MPH guy leaves me wondering where further improvement is going to come from.
For Gio, the walks stick out as an area in need of improvement. If he cuts his walks down by one per nine and maintains his K and GB rates, his value really spikes.
Of prospects the A’s received, Parker provides the best combination of track record, pedigree and big league readiness which leaves him a very safe pitcher at this point even with his injury history. This leaves me thinking Parker could post equivalent value at a fraction of the price immediately. I just can’t say the same about Zimmermann, Cole or any position player exchanged.
For that reason, I probably would have stood pat with Parker, but completely understand the Diamondbacks feeling a need to add a 200+ IP workhorse to complement Hudson, Kennedy and the next wave of DBacks prospects.
Thresh50
14 years ago
Hi Mike. Love your chats, but got home from work too late to ask this question live. I’m in a dynasty league and am trying to decide bewteen Profar and Gose. I know Profar seems like the obvious pick — plays shortstop, very high floor, high ceiling as well — but Gose looks to have 50 SB potential and if you balance an extra 30 SB with the hit to batting average, it’s not all that clear to me which one to pick. An important extra factor to consider is that if Gose gets to the majors a year before Profar, then I can pick up another prospect in the interim. I know you love both these guys, so I thought you’d be the perfect expert to ask. Could you tell me your thoughts please? Many thanks.
This is actually a tough one. In considering the cats, this is what I’m thinking…
BA = Adv. Profar
HR = Draw
RBI = Draw
SB = BIG adv. Gose
Profar gets the edge as well for positional value.
One thing to really consider though… Gose was very good in AA, but his K totals were still too high and he’s an unpolished product who may require another season in the minors.
Profar will be in the minors too, but his level of polish may allow him to earn promotions and establish himself as a big leaguer at about the same time Gose does.
The steals are tempting, but I’m still going Profar.
Jason
14 years ago
Great work, Mike…Will be drafting in my Strat league next month. Some prospecting is allowed but we have very shallow rosters. Three (related) questions:
1) Profar or Machado (if you could only have one, focusing more on overall value in the next 3-5 years);
2) Profar–ETA; and
3) Machado–ETA.
I take Profar personally due to my being 100% sure he sticks at SS and believing Machado has a pretty good chance of growing out of the position.
Even if Profar posts lesser offensive numbers (I’m not convinced he will), that positional guarantee is just so valuable to me.
Profar’s ETA is late 2013 for me.
Machado’s ETA is sometime in 2014.
Eminor3rdMember since 2019
14 years ago
Anyone the White Sox picked up for Quentin/Frasor slide into their top 10? 20? Thanks
Yes, the White Sox system has some interesting mid-level guys, but lacks upside. Simon Castro will be there somewhere and immediately became one of the biggest velocity arms in a system without many.
Hmm, this doesn’t look like a prospects chat with newman. Is it just me or is this a chat from last week?
OK, that was weird. Now it is. Please disregard my previous post
Mike,
What are your thoughts on two first baseman – Smoak and Alonso?
I prefer Alonso to Smoak and am enamored with his swing. When watching Alonso in person, he crushed a home run to left field and looked pretty bored the rest of the night. He won’t be as good as his small sample in Cincy and PETCO will depress his numbers, but I’m sold on him as a pure hitter.
As for Smoak, I’m quickly losing faith. 24 is the magic age for a player who projects as a solid regular and Smoak fumbled the ball. With each season, his projection dims considerably.
Just missed the chat, and taking advantage of your offer to answere a couple more questions in the comments…
Who’s your pick as top position player prospect in the Ms system: Franklin or Catricala?
Give me Franklin. Even if Catricala were to become a better pure hitter, his bat only profile means he’s going to have to mash while Franklin at SS or 2B would provide equal value with a lower offensive ceiling.
Mike-thanks for the chat. Have you scouted Nick Castellanos and, if so, how does his power project? can he stay at third base, as I have read conflicting reports. Thanks.
I have yet to see Castellanos. I’m hoping for a ST or summer trip to Florida where Castellanos should spend the summer. Unfortunately, a lack of talent throughout the organization leaves a team like Lakeland more of a one trick pony.
Given your thoughts always on how valuable a proven pitcher is because so much can go wrong, what are your thoughts on the Cahill/Parker trade?
I’ve written about Parker here on Fangraphs and I came away feeling he was a bit underrated right now based on the pitcher I saw in person. In answering this question honestly, I will admittedly contradict myself a bit on the surface.
At this point, I think few would argue Gio > Cahill in terms of present performance and upside potential.
Cahill should be a good pitcher for a very long time based on his GB% and K/9, but his being a <90 MPH guy leaves me wondering where further improvement is going to come from.
For Gio, the walks stick out as an area in need of improvement. If he cuts his walks down by one per nine and maintains his K and GB rates, his value really spikes.
Of prospects the A’s received, Parker provides the best combination of track record, pedigree and big league readiness which leaves him a very safe pitcher at this point even with his injury history. This leaves me thinking Parker could post equivalent value at a fraction of the price immediately. I just can’t say the same about Zimmermann, Cole or any position player exchanged.
For that reason, I probably would have stood pat with Parker, but completely understand the Diamondbacks feeling a need to add a 200+ IP workhorse to complement Hudson, Kennedy and the next wave of DBacks prospects.
Hi Mike. Love your chats, but got home from work too late to ask this question live. I’m in a dynasty league and am trying to decide bewteen Profar and Gose. I know Profar seems like the obvious pick — plays shortstop, very high floor, high ceiling as well — but Gose looks to have 50 SB potential and if you balance an extra 30 SB with the hit to batting average, it’s not all that clear to me which one to pick. An important extra factor to consider is that if Gose gets to the majors a year before Profar, then I can pick up another prospect in the interim. I know you love both these guys, so I thought you’d be the perfect expert to ask. Could you tell me your thoughts please? Many thanks.
I forgot to mention it’s a 4×4 league, with hitting categories of batting average, HR, RBI, and SB.
This is actually a tough one. In considering the cats, this is what I’m thinking…
BA = Adv. Profar
HR = Draw
RBI = Draw
SB = BIG adv. Gose
Profar gets the edge as well for positional value.
One thing to really consider though… Gose was very good in AA, but his K totals were still too high and he’s an unpolished product who may require another season in the minors.
Profar will be in the minors too, but his level of polish may allow him to earn promotions and establish himself as a big leaguer at about the same time Gose does.
The steals are tempting, but I’m still going Profar.
Great work, Mike…Will be drafting in my Strat league next month. Some prospecting is allowed but we have very shallow rosters. Three (related) questions:
1) Profar or Machado (if you could only have one, focusing more on overall value in the next 3-5 years);
2) Profar–ETA; and
3) Machado–ETA.
Hi Jason,
I take Profar personally due to my being 100% sure he sticks at SS and believing Machado has a pretty good chance of growing out of the position.
Even if Profar posts lesser offensive numbers (I’m not convinced he will), that positional guarantee is just so valuable to me.
Profar’s ETA is late 2013 for me.
Machado’s ETA is sometime in 2014.
Anyone the White Sox picked up for Quentin/Frasor slide into their top 10? 20? Thanks
Yes, the White Sox system has some interesting mid-level guys, but lacks upside. Simon Castro will be there somewhere and immediately became one of the biggest velocity arms in a system without many.