Jason Donald ranked #17 in AFL

Other Stuff

Can’t say I agree with him ranking this low, but I’m not all that surprised. Scouting excerpt

He can do it all as Donald split his AFL days playing second, third and short. He doesn’t have a dynamic tool, but one scout raved, “When you look at this list five years from now, he’s going to be a good ball player.” He squares the ball up, makes hard contact and shows power.

32 thoughts on “Jason Donald ranked #17 in AFL”

  4. What did people think about Dustin Pedroia before this year? Did you see the deal he got yesterday? He certainly seems like an equivalent player to Donald to me. It would be a wonderful problem if he hits well in spring training, starts for Utley in April and hits .300 until Chase comes back. What then? Can you say third base??? All the kid does is hit and compete.

    Like

  5. Ironically, you’re not the first person to make the Pedroia/Donald comparison. Pedroia wasn’t the highest rated prospect until they gave him a shot. They said the same stuff about Jed Lowrie too and apparently Boston knew what it was doing with both.

    Like

  6. Had to rank No. 1 on someone’s poll as the best hitting utility infielder in the AFL:

    From the R-Phils web site:
    “Jason Donald played even better than he did in Reading and the Olympics. Donald hit .407 (37-91) with 23 R, 12 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR and 17 RBI in 25 games. He also played two new positions, second (6) and third (9), in addition to appearing at his natural shortstop nine times. He made just three errors, two at third and one at second. Donald was 2nd in the AFL in hitting, doubles, extra-base (19) hits and OPS (1.223). He was 4th with a .476 OBP, and third with a .747 slugging%. He also won the Darnell Stenson Award for sportsmanship.”

    Like

  7. This seems in line with BA’s usual preference for athletic types. It would be interesting to go back and see what they actually thought of Pedroia; my guess is you’d find comments like “does nothing superbly but everything pretty well,” which is pretty close to how they characterize Donald.

    Like

  8. The Arizona Fall League is a hitters league, so that may skew the perceptions a bit. If you look in the BA prospect section there is an article on Players compared to League Average, or like that. In that it shows that many hitters did quite well. Donald was 2nd in adjusted OPS to Tyler Flowers who was higher rated. Others ahead are quite talented. List seems about right. But it’s not a bad showing, regardless.

    Like

  9. I have said this since the All Star break on the Phillies forum but no one really wants to hear it. We have Taylor, Donald, Coste/Marson, and now Mayberry who are all RH Hitters why in the world are we going after someone for BIG bucks? No matter how Marson produces let him back up Ruiz and let Coste platoon in LF with Stairs and Jenkins. Let Donald or Bruntlett hold down 2B until Utley comes back (if he misses time). If Donald is ready and fills in nice then you have flexibility in case Marson just isnt getting it done put Coste back in as back up and Donald in LF.

    Like

  10. Do they know he bakes cookies. check the splits there is no
    weakness left/right monthly
    nuttin honey

    Like

  11. ba. once again proves its vast knowledge of soccer. besides the obvious stats which are outstanding is their a category for heart and grit. to put it bluntly their idiots. but have faith my fellow fans donald WILL have the last laugh. try comparing him to a healthy ryan zimmerman . maybe one day soon he will be as good defensively,i really dont doubt it. by the way i love coste too but he is not an outfielder.as i have said many times ba rankings mean very little. i mean did it take a genius to know david price was good. i am beginning to think it is controlled by the yankee red sox cabal.

    Like

  12. dustin pedroia 2004 draft day scouting report:
    PHYSICALLY MAXED OUT. SMALL, SCRAPPY FRAME W/ AVG STRENGTH FOR SIZE. SIMILAR TO DAVID ECKSTEIN. EVEN STANCE W/ FLEXED KNEES. SMALL LOAD & WEIGHT SHIFT. STEPS IN BUCKET. AVG BAT SPEED, EVEN PLANE BAT CONTROL W/ CONSISTENT CONTACT. HITS WHERE PITCHED. LOTS OF DOUBLES TO GAPS. INSTINCTIVE DEFENDER W/ SOFT HANDS, WORKS GROUND-UP, BALL DISAPPEARS. PLAYS WELL ABOVE TOOLS. HEADSY BASEBALL RAT W/ PLUS INSTINCTS. KNOWS HOW TO PLAY THE GAME. GUY YOU WANT ON YOUR TEAM. DOES WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN.

    Like

  14. I’d be careful in comparing Donald — or anyone for that matter — to Pedroia. As the scouts love telling us, Pedroia’s superb hand-eye coordination basically makes him a freak of nature. It’s a little bit like when everyone compares a control pitcher to Greg Maddux; yes, they’re similar types of pitchers, but Maddux is a completely unique pitcher.

    That being said, Donald acquitted himself well in the AFL, and I’m not the least bit perturbed by the BA rankings, which as dajafi noted above, usually give greater weight to things like athleticism and upside. Someone like Flowers might look great now, but if he struggles at all climbing the ladder — after all, even at 22 years old, he hasn’t yet hit AA — and gets moved off catcher (which is likely), then Donald will prove to be the more valuable MLB player.

    Like

  15. he doesn’t have the “flashy” tool box like every scout and team wants so bad, who cares wherever the guy goes he rakes the ball, thats all that matters

    Like

  16. some times i feel like this is arguing who would win in a fight – superman or batman. it just seems so arbitrary. #17 vs. #9 vs. #5. i mean, how can they possibly look at a guy next to another guy and rank someone who performs worse against the same competition as better? i just don’t get it.

    Like

  17. This isn’t figureskating so there’s no reason to get to worked up about it. BA is more useful, IMO, in judging talent at the lower levels where we don’t know as much about the players. We know what we have in Donald.

    Like

  18. What caught my attention was Donald’s home runs in the AFL which would project to over 30 in an 162 game schedule. This year Donald did hit 22 homers in 130 games in all kinds of venues and situations: 2 in 5 Grapefruit league games, 14 in 92 EL games; 1 in 8 Olympic games; and 5 in 25 AFL games.

    Like

  19. Rickey – AFL is a hitter’s league, so I’ve heard, but if Donald can produce 20+ HR a year that’d be amazing.

    Like

  20. In 2007, he was the number 7 prospect in the Red Sox chain according to BA. The author mentioned the Eckstein comparison although he said Pedroia had more pop and less speed than the gritty one.

    Also mentioned his exceptional eye hand coordination which allowed him to make contact well despite swinging from his heels.

    Spped, range and arm strength all below average. Good instincts; sure handed; needs to get stronger.

    Like

  21. 2nd in batting average, 2nd in OPS = 17th best player.

    I’ve never been a math guy but that seems off. They keep putting him down and he keeps hitting and getting better. I hope that trend continues all the way through his Major League career…he’ll be the perfect Philadelphian.

    Like

  23. john from philly.ne Says:

    ba. once again proves its vast knowledge of soccer. besides the obvious stats which are outstanding is their a category for heart and grit. to put it bluntly their idiots

    Great lines John. What would Utley be without heart and “true
    grit” After all he was rated average defensively at draft day
    supposedly the kiss of death
    The more they say he cant the more he does and he is cheap

    Like

  25. nepp,great description of don. you guys have to read the book i wrote with g. schter of the hof. 10 greatest hitters,pitchers. 5 greatest seasons,5 best teams. its not for sale here but if pp says its ok im ok with somehow getting my e-mail to anyone who wants a copy free. pp any suggestions?

    Like

  26. I’m so tired of Philly prospects not getting respect, I believe Donald is a notch below Pedroia and Utley as far as where he could be as a major leaguer but thats saying alot. How many middle infielders hit .300 with extra base power and are versatile enough to play 3 positions. If he was in NY or Bos hed be the next coming but since hes in Philly he gets no respect just like Howard Utley and Hamels did until they got to the majors. This system produces nothing but allstars and MVPs so screw these critics.

    Like

  29. i guess i can give a brief synopsis of my book, its a slow day. what i did was give every hof,er same abs as aaron,same innings as spahn,put them in era with every thing equal 50-70 and came up with projections,and me it is much more complicated than it sounds. i.e. if ruth had the same ab,s as aaron he would have hit app.1100 hrs 32oo rbis he is not any big revelation by far the greatest hitter of all time. same thing with pitching walter johnson #1 grove#2 alexander #3 mathewson#4. winning pct. of teams wins era shutouts etc. greatest season ty cobb 1911 led EVERY offensive cat. 2nd in hrs by 1. 8 of 9. greatest team 1907 cubs every member of staff had eras below 2.00. tinker to evers to chance.very b.jamesish but with different conclusions.100 pages very difficult read but worth it.much more and free here.

    Like

  30. I wonder how Ty Cobb would do in today’s game? I wonder how far his career average would drop from the .367 that he posted in his era?

    Though considering everything, he might not like the current “diversity” in the game.

    Like

  31. John from philly the only thing is in those days. You can correct me if I am wrong. Wasn’t it a policy that starter stayed in games longer, and relief pitchers were normally former starters who got older and couldn’t start anymore.But then again there wasn’t dilute talent. thirty teams makes the talent not as strong. Yet there were no african americans or latin players either, So its hard to use those stats as accutate. I believe you can’t compare different times in baseball . and get a accurate account of what would have happen.

    Like

  32. many players thought like cobb. his average would have dropped app. 15 points but thats wny you have to read the book.compare him to every player of his time and he was the most dominant. its based on projections what would hornsby etc do today. or what would gywnn have hit in 1920. no doudt .400 as far as pitching pitchers threw 400 innings in the 1870s there were 2 man staffs the mound was 50 feet until 1890.but thats why i wrote the book. up until ww2 k,s were 30% of today.thats why pitchers of the past dont have huge so numbers.in the great game of 1920 between brooklyn and the braves 26 innings 1-0 both pitchers went all the way.400 pitchers each.it would be too long to explain but you can compare different eras.by the way i also spent time talking with johhy lee of the negro league museum in kc. not his opinion but mine that race was not the factor most people think. i.e. compare mays,mantle,and musial.i saw all 3 but the best hitter of that group was musial, no question.he led in every stat.categorie.1948 the greatest post war season. anyway its purpose is fun and discussion.

    Like

Comments are closed.