Steamer Projects: Los Angeles Angels Prospects
Earlier today, polite and Canadian and polite Marc Hulet published his 2014 organizational prospect list for the Los Angeles Angels.
It goes without saying that, in composing such a list, Hulet has considered the overall future value those prospects might be expected to provide either to the Angels or whatever other organizations to which they might someday belong.
What this brief post concerns isn’t overall future value, at all, but rather such value as the prospects from Hulet’s list might provide were they to play, more or less, a full major-league season in 2014.
Other prospect projections: Arizona / Baltimore / Chicago AL / Houston / Miami / Minnesota / New York NL / San Diego / San Francisco / Seattle / Toronto.
Steamer Projections: Angels Batting Prospects
Below are the current 2014 projections for select Angels batting prospects. All projections have been prorated to 550 plate appearances (and 450 for catchers) for sake of uniformity. Defensive figures (denoted by Def) account both for positional adjustment and UZR, and are presented relative to league average. Note that, in many cases, defensive value has been calculated entirely by positional adjustment based on the relevant player’s minor-league defensive starts in 2013. Prospects are listed in order of projected WAR. The symbol # denotes the relevant prospect’s ranking on Hulet’s list. Figures might diverge slightly (although not signficantly) from those which appear on player pages.
| # | Name | Age | POS | PA | BB% | K% | BABIP | wRC+ | BsR | Off | Def* | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taylor Lindsey | 22 | 2B | 550 | 5.8% | 15.4% | .286 | 96 | 0 | -2 | 2 | 1.9 |
| 7 | Alex Yarbrough | 22 | 2B | 550 | 4.1% | 16.9% | .299 | 86 | 0 | -9 | 2 | 1.2 |
| 2 | C.J. Cron | 24 | 1B | 550 | 3.7% | 15.1% | .285 | 102 | 0 | 1 | -10 | 1.0 |
| 4 | Kaleb Cowart | 22 | 3B | 550 | 6.6% | 21.8% | .280 | 75 | 0 | -16 | 2 | 0.5 |
| 15 | Zachary Borenstein | 23 | COF | 550 | 5.8% | 20.0% | .263 | 86 | 0 | -9 | -6 | 0.4 |
| 10 | Eric Stamets | 22 | SS | 550 | 4.1% | 13.2% | .260 | 58 | 0 | -26 | 6 | -0.2 |
| 6 | Jose Rondon | 20 | SS | 550 | 3.7% | 12.5% | .219 | 32 | 0 | -42 | 6 | -1.9 |
| 13 | Natanael Delgado | 18 | COF | 550 | 3.6% | 21.0% | .217 | 30 | 0 | -44 | -6 | -3.3 |
Steamer Projections: Angels Pitching Prospects
Below are the 2014 projections for select Angels pitching prospects. Projections for starting pitchers have been prorated to 150 innings; for relievers, to 50 innings. Prospects are listed in order of projected WAR, which has been calculated by using kwERA — that is, an ERA estimator which utilizes only strikeouts and walks — so as to remove the vagaries of park effects, and probably also because the author has no idea what he’s doing. Listed ages are as of June 30, 2014. The symbol # denotes the relevant prospect’s ranking on Hulet’s list. Figures might diverge slightly (although not signficantly) from those which appear on player pages.
| # | Name | Age | Hand | IP | K% | BB% | kwERA | kwERA- | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | R.J. Alvarez | 23 | RHP | 50 | 27.8% | 13.5% | 3.59 | 93 | 0.8 |
| 11 | Nick Maronde | 24 | LHP | 50 | 19.8% | 12.0% | 4.37 | 113 | 0.3 |
| 12 | Reid Scoggins | 23 | RHP | 150 | 12.9% | 11.1% | 5.09 | 132 | -0.3 |
| 5 | Mark Sappington | 23 | RHP | 150 | 12.0% | 12.0% | 5.31 | 137 | -0.6 |
| 9 | Austin Wood | 27 | LHP | 150 | 10.7% | 11.5% | 5.41 | 140 | -0.7 |
Notes
• Despite having, as noted by Marc Hulet, one of the weaker systems in baseball, the Angels do seem to have a few younger players with reasonably high floors, at least. The question for all three of Taylor Lindsey, Alex Yarbrough, and C.J. Cron would appear to be if the quality of their offensive production can compensate for their defensive shortcomings — to which comment the author will append a reminder that most of the defensive projections above include only positional adjustment and not any sort of runs-saved component.
• Despite whatever the future holds for him, Zachary Borenstein will always have the distinction of having finished third among all minor-league hitters in 2013 by a wOBA estimator based on fielding-independent offensive stats.
• It’s probably not what anyone would call a “best case scenario” for a club’s top-two pitching prospects by projected WAR both to have a future in relief work only. This does appear, however, to be the case for the Angels, as right-hander R.J. Alvarez and left-hander Nick Maronde are the only two Angels pitching prospects projected to produce positive WAR figures. The former struck out nearly 40% of Cal League batters last year.
Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.
Polite, Canadian AND polite. The perfect trifecta. 🙂
As an Angels fan I find this so depressing … Taylor Lindsey does offer some hope as we could possibly move Kendrick and not see a huge drop off. I’m surprised his projections are as good as they are.
It’s a good article, but at the same time it’s diverting attention from the fact that the Angels have a full starting lineup’s worth of young players under club control outside of Pujols and Hamilton. And these players are productive enough to support Trout. It was even more-so before the Bourjos and Trumbo trades. The Angels’ future is secure enough at the Major League level to let their farm system re-develop. They’re not splurging on aging veterans for a bunch of open roster spots like the Yankees have been doing. The Angels had a real good draft in 2013, and may have a better one in 2014. The stability on their active roster will allow them to regroup at the minor league level while still being able to build a team that can win now.
C’mon Indians prospects. I have at least 20 Cleveland Steamer jokes on reserve for that one.
you’ve got the wrong austin wood on there.
For effect – Morin > Maronde
Agree about Morin…K% 28.4 and BB %3.7 in 70 MILB innings. Thoughts on why left off list?
Brandon would was a big prospect and so was Mcpherson
Good article. What I find interesting is though is that even in 2013 the Angels still brought up young players who made a big impact on the big league club, a couple of which even made a case to replace key veterans (Grant Green, Kole Calhoun). The Angels may be lacking in the top 100 prospect list, but they’re proving that successful major leaguers can come from anywhere, and don’t have to be hyped like Trout, Haper, Machado, Strasburg, and Harvey. The amount of club control they have over their young players, as well some of their veterans, will provide them with enough stability on their active roster to allow them to continue building to win now while allowing their farm system to redevelop. Last year’s draft was a great start, and I see it continuing in 2014.