https://www.minorleagueball.com/2018/2/11/1...spects-for-2018

Discuss.

We need to get some clarity on Jimenez’s arm because I’ve seen it listed as plus to below average.

Burdi will be up at the start of 2019. Don't like the B- on Blake, but everyone seems to be down on the 20 year old who is all of 3 months older than Robert.

Burdi will be up at the start of 2019.

 

I thought "End of 2019" was odd as well. Isn't he supposed to be back by the end of 2018? I would assume he'd go right to AA or AAA and finish there, starting 2019 in Chicago. Or even if he gets the whole year off, I could still see him either making the 2019 team out of ST or maybe pitching 2 weeks in AAA before getting the call. By all rights, the dude is ready.

John hasn't been able to attend any games in years, and his rankings have been pretty bad in parallel. Innacuracies and weird stuff bleed in. He seems like a nice enough guy, but I wouldn't put a lot of weight on his rankings. He's very, very stat-focused and tends to pick out specific numbers without context.

 

Also, I'm fairly sure Yermin Mercedes won't even get a starting gig in the minors this year (barring injury).

 

John hasn't been able to attend any games in years, and his rankings have been pretty bad in parallel. Innacuracies and weird stuff bleed in. He seems like a nice enough guy, but I wouldn't put a lot of weight on his rankings. He's very, very stat-focused and tends to pick out specific numbers without context.

 

Also, I'm fairly sure Yermin Mercedes won't even get a starting gig in the minors this year (barring injury).

 

Could they rotate Smith and Mercedes in AAA? He's 24 years old, so we might as well test him at AAA vs. letting him sit on the bench while Zavala and Collins play at AA

Could they rotate Smith and Mercedes in AAA? He's 24 years old, so we might as well test him at AAA vs. letting him sit on the bench while Zavala and Collins play at AA

They also have Alfredo Gonzalez on the 40-man roster, and he's ready for AAA. He'd get a slot over Mercedes without much doubt.

 

Then there is the Collins/Zavala problem - they both belong at AA, but wouldn't get enough playing time there together.

 

My Big Board shows the following for catchers, as my best guesses at this point (starter, backup):

 

MLB; Castillo, Narvaez

AAA: Smith, Gonzalez (in more of a platoon)

AA: Collins, Mercedes (Collins likely to move up quickly if he does well)

A+: Zavala, Schroeder (Zavala would move up quick too, he's too much for the level but needs PT)

A: Skoug, Perez

 

Unassigned to open year: Hickman (likely Great Falls), Alfaro (Great Falls or AZL), Colina (likely AZL), and a collection of org soldiers as depth (Austin, O'Dowd, Nolan, D-Gonzalez, McGinnis)