Offseason Notes for October 14th

One of baseball’s best shortstops is playing High-A ball.

1. Assorted Headlines
2. Arizona Fall League Action
3. Prospecting: John Sickels on Atlanta

Assorted Headlines
“Theo Epstein” and Compensation
I’ve placed quotation marks around Epstein’s name not because I suspect the former Boston GM of using a pseudonym, but rather because it’s part of a Google search to which I’ve linked because there are — as you will see — many internet thoughts on Theo Epstein and the compensation the Red Sox are seeking for his departure. If, as some have mentioned, Cub outfield prospect Brett Jackson is a possibility, that’s unfortunate for the Chicagos. Even if we assume that Jackson is only a top 76-100 hitting prospect, he’s likely worth almost as much in surplus value to the Cubs as the Cubs have agreed to pay Epstein over the next five years… Does that make sense? Wait a sec, I’ll read it over again… Okay, it mostly makes sense.

Maholm Either Will Be or Won’t Be Traded
The Pittsburgh Pirates hold a $9.75 million option on left-hander Paul Maholm for the 2012 season, but are waiting to make a decision on same, on account of they may be able trade Maholm. For me, they should trade him for Ryan Braun or Evan Longoria. Why don’t they just do that?

Diamondbacks Release Gutierrez
Juan Gutierrez had the distinction, in 2010, of being not-the-worst reliever in a historically poor Diamondback bullpen. He pitched well in 2011 (18.1 IP, 3.03 SIERA, 3.39 xFIP, 88 xFIP-), but dealt with shoulder injuries and, eventually, Tommy John surgery. It’s possible he won’t return until 2013, at this point.

Arizona Fall League
Arizona Fall League Action
This is the time in the show when we look at Arizona Fall League action.

Notable Performances
Here are some notable performances from said AFL action:

• Kansas City right-hander Nathan Adcock, 23, showed posted an excellent ground-ball rate (55.6% GB) this season pitching almost exclusively in relief for the Royals, but struck out only 13.6% of the batters he faced while walking 9.8%. Starting for Surprise on Thursday, things worked out differently for Adcock, who K’d seven of 12 opposing batters in three innings of work while walking only one.

• Ranger minor-leaguer, 23-year-old Johan Yan is a former infielder who converted to pitching 2009. The numbers from StatCorner suggest that he induces lots of grounders, with his rates having fallen in the 60% range in limited experience. Thursday night it was mostly a moot point: pitching out of relief, Yan struck out four of the seven batters he faced.

Prospecting: John Sickels on Atlanta
Prospect maven John Sickels has published his preliminary top-20 list for the Atlanta Braves. Below are some notable rankings, with comments from my own self.

4. Andrelton Simmons, SS, Grade B+: Simmons’ glove has basically broken Brian Cartwright’s OLIVER system the past couple seasons, rating him (i.e. Simmons) basically a +20-run shortstop each year. That’s enough to make him almost an average major-leaguer. Simmons also appears to possess good contact skills, having struck out in just 6.9% of his first 839 plate appearances; however, the power on contact remains weak.

6. Edward Salcedo, 3B, Grade B: If you ever wanted to know everything about Edward Salcedo, luckily Mike Newman has provided that sort of information.

8. Tyler Pastornicky, SS, Grade B-: With Alex Gonzalez entering free agency, Pastornicky is a candidate to play shortstop for the Braves in 2012. Or, at least that’s Carson Cistulli thinks in his head. Pastornicky, just 21, homered only six times in 512 plate appearances, but struck out in fewer than 10% of his plate appearances even after a promotion to Triple-A.