So this will be the kickstart to my look at position player prospects across baseball based on the SONAR score statistic that I’ve come up with. If you’re unfamiliar with it, I’d suggest starting HERE. As I’ve mentioned a number of times, the score is not meant to replace scouting reports or looking at a player’s physical tools. The score is meant to give another perspective, to evaluate what the player has done statistically, and how his numbers stack up based on his age, what league he played in, and his home park. As with every evaluation system, there will be guys who score very high and very low that won’t end up going in that direction as a prospect. This could be for any number of reasons, whether it could be injury related, switching to a new position, or anything else that impacts season to season changes. As I’ve stressed a number of times, prospect status is very fluid and subject to change quite quickly. After next season, I’m going to release a second version of SONAR, maybe called SONAR2, which will be a weighted score that takes two years of data into account, instead of just 1 this year. But I don’t have the time to go back and retroactively score all of 2008, so I’m just using the 2009 data for year 1, and then next year there will be regular SONAR scores, as well as SONAR2 scores. And again, even though I’ve stressed it a number of times, this is not meant to replace anything, its simply another data point, and something we’ll have to wait and see on to determine its effectiveness or use.

Check below and we’ll get started.

Continue reading SONAR Scores – 1B prospects →

As I posted on the SONAR dedicated page of the site, I’ve completed the offensive sheets for all 30 MLB teams, and you can find the links organized by division. If there are any errors with the links, please post in the comments section on the SONAR page. Now that I’ve finished all 30 sheets, I can start to look at the big picture, how the teams compare, and then begin to break it down position by position. I’ll also do a similar setup for all 30 teams with regard to the pitching side of things, before doing a cumulative rank of the 30 teams. After that, I’ll produce my top 15 prospects for each organization, which will be a combination of the SONAR scores as well as my own personal opinion based on the info I’ve gathered and my study of the prospects involved. So check below for more…

Continue reading SONAR Scores – Comparing the 30 teams →

Someone requested this, and it will definitely be interesting to look at. I have a big database of data for all 30 teams, which I want to try and put together, but I just haven’t had the time. But I can easily find the scores for Aumont, Gillies and Ramirez. I’ll also give the scores for Drabek, Taylor and D’Arnaud again, which I actually already gave before, but I’ll re-post them just for reference. Check below the fold..

Continue reading SONAR score comparison of prospects dealt →

By now I’m going to assume that you’ve seen my introductory piece on this new statistic I’ve created, which I’ve dubbed the SONAR Score. Because I don’t have to do a huge setup here explaining the premise of the entire project, I’m going to address a few quick points before getting to the pitching scores, then just dig right in. I won’t comment on everyone, obviously, because there are over 80 players on the sheet. Not all of these guys are legit prospects, obviously, but they are all scored on the same scale, all of the adjustments are applied, so including them does no harm. I also left Jason Knapp and Carlos Carrasco on the list as a point of reference, I’m well aware that they are no longer in the Phillies system. So, with that intro, lets get down to it.

Continue reading SONAR Scores – The pitchers →

While all of the focus over the last month or so has been on the Phillies quest to repeat as World Series champions, I’ve been spending an inordinate amount of time refining and working on a system that I’ve been building for 2 years now to analyze the performance of minor league players. The system has gone through a bunch of changes, there are aspects of it that I’m still not 100% happy with, but right now, its at a place that I like, and the last changes made to it will come over time, as I figure out better ways to improve it. And like all cool systems, it needed a name, so I give you the SONAR Score system, a system that tries to dig beneath the surface (Sonar, get it) to analyze minor leaguers. So, check below the fold for more.

Continue reading Introducing the SONAR Score →