All posts by giventofly41

Reader Top 30, #17

Close vote yesterday, with Antonio Bastardo edging out Quintin Berry, and Joe Bisenius gaining some support as well. Should be a close vote today.

01. Carrasco
02. Cardenas
03. Savery
04. Costanzo
05. Outman
06. Carpenter
07. Marson
08. Donald
09. Drabek
10. Happ
11. Harman
12. Golson
13. Jaramillo
14. E Garcia
15. Brown
16. Bastardo

Continue reading Reader Top 30, #17

Pat Overholt update; not good

Here’s a snippet from a Baseball America AFL report today

Numbers aside, Overholt is a reliever. His stuff tended to flatten out, often after just three innings in Double-A in a starting role. And while his slider is viewed by many in the organization to be the best in the system, it wasn’t impressive Tuesday.

“I didn’t see enough of it today to say it was a good slider,” said one scout from a National League club. “He didn’t throw it enough to really say if it was good or bad, but the ones he did throw were fringy.

“I wound up comparing him to (Nationals closer) Chad Cordero after seeing him today as not being a real velocity guy, but a guy who has a heavy ball with some arm side sink that comes right at you. But I didn’t see a guy who would be a go-to guy coming out of your bullpen. He’s not that kind of a Cordero, but his ball is really heavy. I didn’t see that kind of stuff from him with the breaking ball, but he’s got good sink (with the fastball) at times.”

A 2005 22nd-round pick out of Santa Clara, Overholt had never started in pro ball until this season.

“It seems like he could be good in short spurts with a two-pitch mix,” said another NL scout. “But he shouldn’t mess with more than that.”

I liked Overholt heading into last season as a reliever, the Phillies chose to start him, and it looks like it may have set his ETA back a year. I noted his great groundball tendencies when he was on top of his game, and that is confirmed by the scout who noted the “heavy ball” he throws. Overholt is a possible 6/7th inning guy at this point, but probably not until mid 2008 or later.

Reader Top 30, #16

Another close vote yesterday, as I suspect they all will be from here on out, with Dominic Brown just edging out fellow toolsy OF D’Arby Myers and Antonio Bastardo.

01. Carrasco
02. Cardenas
03. Savery
04. Costanzo
05. Outman
06. Carpenter
07. Marson
08. Donald
09. Drabek
10. Happ
11. Harman
12. Golson
13. Jaramillo
14. E Garcia
15. Brown

Continue reading Reader Top 30, #16

Winter League Update

Just a little update on our players in the AFL and Hawaiian Winter League

AFL

Greg Golson: 20 AB — .250/.238/.400 — 0 BB — 3 K — 3 XBH
Mike Costanzo: 17 AB — .059/.200/.235 – 3 BB – 10K — 1 XBH (HR)
Tuffy Gosewich: 6 AB — .333/.333/.333

Josh Outman: 2 IP — 2 ER — 2 H — 1 BB — 2 K — 1 HR
Joe Savery: 2 IP — 0 ER — 1 H — 1 BB — 2 K
Joe Bisenius: 4 IP — 0 ER — 1 H — 1 BB — 4 K
Pat Overholt: 2.2 IP — 2 ER — 2 H — 1 BB — 2 K

HWL

Ronald Hill: 9.1 IP — 9 ER —  14 H — 6 BB — 9 K
Andrew Cruse: 11.0 IP — 4 ER — 10 H — 4 BB — 6 K

Reader Top 30, #15

Edgar Garcia wins yesterday’s duel, and today we round out the top 15. Still a handful of quality prospects left, should be interesting to see how the next 5-6 spots pan out.

01. Carrasco
02. Cardenas
03. Savery
04. Costanzo
05. Outman
06. Carpenter
07. Marson
08. Donald
09. Drabek
10. Happ
11. Harman
12. Golson
13. Jaramillo
14. E Garcia

Continue reading Reader Top 30, #15

Reader Top 30, #14

Before we get to today’s vote, just a quick programming note. Hopefully in the next week or two I’ll be posting a Q/A with Joe Savery and another one with Keith Law from EPSN.com. Not sure when yet, but keep an eye out for them in the coming days. Jason Jaramillo wins the vote at #13. I saw a few people questioning how a “backup catcher” can be that high. I think that’s a bit harsh, to be honest. Jaramillo’s 2007 OPS was killed by an awful May, and if you remove that month, his overall numbers look a bit better. When considering prospects, you have to not only calculate how good they can be, but what the likelihood is of them reaching their potential. The odds of Jaramillo being a major leaguer are much better than that of, say, Dominic Brown, at this point in time. That’s not to say Brown isn’t a prospect, but maybe a few people just like the probability of JJ over the high ceiling of Brown.

Anyway, onto today’s vote. Update

01. Carrasco
02. Cardenas
03. Savery
04. Costanzo
05. Outman
06. Carpenter
07. Marson
08. Donald
09. Drabek
10. Happ
11. Harman
12. Golson
13. Jaramillo

Continue reading Reader Top 30, #14

Reader Top 30, #13

Today we vote for lucky #13. So far, looking at the list you guys produced, we have a solid Top 12, and we have another handful of guys who should at least contribute at the major league level at some point. My list is going to look different, but so far, I think this has gone well.

01. Carrasco
02. Cardenas
03. Savery
04. Costanzo
05. Outman
06. Carpenter
07. Marson
08. Donald
09. Drabek
10. Happ
11. Harman
12. Golson

Continue reading Reader Top 30, #13

Reader Top 30, #12

Truckin’ right along. You know the drill by now. Yesterday’s vote at #11 was the closest we’ve had yet

Harman – 11, Jaramillo – 9, Golson – 9

01. Carrasco
02. Cardenas
03. Savery
04. Costanzo
05. Outman
06. Carpenter
07. Marson
08. Donald
09. Drabek
10. Happ
11. Harman

Continue reading Reader Top 30, #12

Reader Top 30, #11

JA Happ in a runaway yesterday, with some support building for Golson and Harman. It seems like Edgar Garcia is the lost prospect this winter. I might just take a closer look at him and do a writeup, but I don’t want to influence the voting. So, go ahead and vote for #11 today

01. Carrasco
02. Cardenas
03. Savery
04. Costanzo
05. Outman
06. Carpenter
07. Marson
08. Donald
09. Drabek
10. Happ

And here’s a reminder for the eligibilty

For the purpose of this poll, consider “eligibility” to be less than 50 AB/25 games for a position player, and less than 25 IP/20 games as a pitcher.

So, here is where a few other guys stand

Mathieson: 37 IP. Not eligible
Zagurski: 25 G. Not eligible

Reader Top 30, #10

As I suspected, Kyle Drabek won in convincing fashion yesterday, and today we round out the top 10. What I find interesting, and maybe it’s just me, is that our Top 10 already seems deeper than it did last year. Still lots of quality guys remaining, this vote should be interesting.

01. Carrasco
02. Cardenas
03. Savery
04. Costanzo
05. Outman
06. Carpenter
07. Marson
08. Donald
09. Drabek

Place your vote for number10

And here’s a reminder for the eligibilty

For the purpose of this poll, consider “eligibility” to be less than 50 AB/25 games for a position player, and less than 25 IP/20 games as a pitcher.

So, here is where a few other guys stand

Mathieson: 37 IP. Not eligible
Zagurski: 25 G. Not eligible