2022 Minor League Thread

[CDAV45]

Lets take the "snub" of Gavin Williams as a good thing/ silver lining.

Plenty of top 100 prospects fail to impact in MLB.
Plenty of non-top 100 prospects have huge impacts after making it to the bigs (exhibit A - Jose Ramirez, exhibit B - Shane Bieber, exhibit C - Cody Allen)

Hopefully Gavin uses this as motivation to prove himself and do even better moving forward..

Ehhhhh. MLB.com's list is one of the most irrelevant out there. Williams will be in most other list I suspect. If he's not then the guys providing the information to these rankings really don't know shit.

On a different note. How many more outings will Bibee get in LC before getting sent to Akron? What he's doing is kinda ridiculous and isn't being challenged much as of yet. The real challenge is finding a spot for him in a rotation that already has Espino, Williams, Allen, Curry, Gaddis, Burns and Cantillo. I'm mean talk about an embarrassment of riches. That's just stupid.

 

[MadThinker88]

Ehhhhh. MLB.com's list is one of the most irrelevant out there. Williams will be in most other list I suspect. If he's not then the guys providing the information to these rankings really don't know shit.

On a different note. How many more outings will Bibee get in LC before getting sent to Akron? What he's doing is kinda ridiculous and isn't being challenged much as of yet. The real challenge is finding a spot for him in a rotation that already has Espino, Williams, Allen, Curry, Gaddis, Burns and Cantillo. I'm mean talk about an embarrassment of riches. That's just stupid.

While I doubt Williams is in Lake County much longer, he is still pitching for LC. Bibee won't move up to Akron before Gavin Williams (barring an injury to Gavin).

In-season roster movement has a domino effect up and down the system: what spot is being moved into/ who loses playing time at the next level? How does the spot being vacated get filled?? To comment on that last part: the recent results of Lenny Torres leave much to be desired...

So long as Gavin Williams & Tanner Bibee remain healthy and are getting regular work (and getting deeper into games) we should be happy.
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One other item to remember: although the full season affiliates started about a week or so after the MLB clubs, their season now extends past mid- September without playoffs. A call up by 6/19 still gives a player a half season at that next level.

 

[CDAV45]

While I doubt Williams is in Lake County much longer, he is still pitching for LC. Bibee won't move up to Akron before Gavin Williams (barring an injury to Gavin).

In-season roster movement has a domino effect up and down the system: what spot is being moved into/ who loses playing time at the next level? How does the spot being vacated get filled?? To comment on that last part: the recent results of Lenny Torres leave much to be desired...

So long as Gavin Williams & Tanner Bibee remain healthy and are getting regular work (and getting deeper into games) we should be happy.
--------------------------------------------------------
One other item to remember: although the full season affiliates started about a week or so after the MLB clubs, their season now extends past mid- September without playoffs. A call up by 6/19 still gives a player a half season at that next level.

I thought Bimbo said that Williams was getting promoted, and I didn't say that Bibee should be headed to Akron. I was wondering how many more outings like he's had until he forces the issue?

In season roster movement does have a domino effect and I think that there are a few spots in the Columbus rotation being held by roster fodder. Either way, the SP in the system is really starting to get top heavy and the arms are extremely impressive. There's room for promotions and I'm sure they will happen in due time.

 

[KluberSociety]

I'm not nearly as worried about pitchers getting promoted as hitters.

You could probably keep a pitcher in A+ and work on stuff there to the degree where they can then pitch in the MLB. Not optimal but it's a lot different than hitters who need to see better pitching. The strike zone and baseballs and mound dimensions don't change.

 

[CATS44]

The MLB top 100 has only 23 pitchers on it.

Not many of them are below AA, and only one of those is in his first season of pro ball.

I'm not sure that seven games in the lower levels...esp a pitcher...'qualifies' a prospect to be considered top 100 immediately.

 

[sportscoach]

I thought Bimbo said that Williams was getting promoted, and I didn't say that Bibee should be headed to Akron. I was wondering how many more outings like he's had until he forces the issue?

In season roster movement does have a domino effect and I think that there are a few spots in the Columbus rotation being held by roster fodder. Either way, the SP in the system is really starting to get top heavy and the arms are extremely impressive. There's room for promotions and I'm sure they will happen in due time.

He is getting promoted it seems like. Though the announcement from I think it was twitter didn't go with the same timing as what is actually happening, so there is some confusion...

Either way, Bibee is pretty much saying, Williams isn't better than me and I can prove it. Nobody has qualms with that and if they get promoted near each other, that's fine with me.

I'm not nearly as worried about pitchers getting promoted as hitters.

You could probably keep a pitcher in A+ and work on stuff there to the degree where they can then pitch in the MLB. Not optimal but it's a lot different than hitters who need to see better pitching. The strike zone and baseballs and mound dimensions don't change.

I am going to contradict you here a bit. AA is the level prospects prove they can play in the bigs or they go to die as prospects in a sense. We don't need to rush development at all, but you also want to see them at AA because of how competitive and how much of a step up it becomes. So it is a when do we want to see them face the adversity of AA?

 

[Gson]

He is getting promoted it seems like. Though the announcement from I think it was twitter didn't go with the same timing as what is actually happening, so there is some confusion...

Either way, Bibee is pretty much saying, Williams isn't better than me and I can prove it. Nobody has qualms with that and if they get promoted near each other, that's fine with me.

Promotion is a combination of ability/performance and opportunity.. If Bibee is promoted before Williams, it might be that Bibee was on his normally scheduled/regular rest at a time an arm was needed in AA, simple as that..

 

[AZ_]

@BimboColesHair

Buy or Sell Milan Tolentino as a future MLB Top 100?

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

@BimboColesHair

Buy or Sell Milan Tolentino as a future MLB Top 100?

I like to look at how prospects are doing compared to their age and level rather than just looking at the raw numbers.

Tolentino, at age 20, leads the Carolina League in batting average (.379) and OBP (.479). He is third in OPS (.988). Both guys ahead of him in OPS were first round picks.

He's stolen 8 bases in 9 attempts. He is 0.8 years below league average.

If he's not a future Top 100 I don't know why.

Edit:

The guy directly above him in OPS is Pete Crow-Armstrong, who is currently #97 in MLB's Top 100. Crow-Armstrong is four months younger than Tolentino and their hitting stats are nearly identical playing in the same league and facing the same pitching.

Crow-Armstrong: .372/.463/.584/1.047
Tolentino: .379/.479/.509/.988

Crow-Armstrong is center fielder while Tolentino is a shortstop. Crow-Armstrong was the #19 overall pick in 2020 while Tolentino was the #124 pick.

At this point there's not much difference between them, except Crow-Armstrong is an outfielder with a little more pop while Tolentino is a shortstop. I'd say Tolentino is on the fringe of the Top 100 right now considering Crow-Armstrong is #97.

 

[petes999]

Tolentino is just our #27th prospect but yeah, if he keeps this up sb top 100 at some point but doesn’t have hype of CA so needs a full year plus bump to LC to prove he is for real.

MiLB is showing Akron game for free. Mention Brennan is now #30 prospect via pipeline (they graduated Kwan) ... so no major rework. Funny to see Naylor-Valera-Tena-Brennan batting order because it seems to out of walk but guys are producing.

 

[Criznit]

I like to look at how prospects are doing compared to their age and level rather than just looking at the raw numbers.

Tolentino, at age 20, leads the Carolina League in batting average (.379) and OBP (.479). He is third in OPS (.988). Both guys ahead of him in OPS were first round picks.

He's stolen 8 bases in 9 attempts. He is 0.8 years below league average.

If he's not a future Top 100 I don't know why.

Edit:

The guy directly above him in OPS is Pete Crow-Armstrong, who is currently #97 in MLB's Top 100. Crow-Armstrong is four months younger than Tolentino and their hitting stats are nearly identical playing in the same league and facing the same pitching.

Crow-Armstrong: .372/.463/.584/1.047
Tolentino: .379/.479/.509/.988

Crow-Armstrong is center fielder while Tolentino is a shortstop. Crow-Armstrong was the #19 overall pick in 2020 while Tolentino was the #124 pick.

At this point there's not much difference between them, except Crow-Armstrong is an outfielder with a little more pop while Tolentino is a shortstop. I'd say Tolentino is on the fringe of the Top 100 right now considering Crow-Armstrong is #97.

Tolentino is working his way into decent prospect standing, could argue he has been our best A ball bat without much trouble.. But Crow-Armstrong is certainly a better prospect at this point.. Track record (or lack of one) plays a part here as well.

Tolentino is in the top 150-175ish while I Crow-Armstrong is closer to a top 75 guy than top 100 guy IMO.

Let's see if Milan's approach at the plate doesn't waver and he has actual base stealing speed. Hopefully he is included in the 1st wave of promotions, he deserves it.

 

[Gson]

Tolentino is working his way into decent prospect standing, could argue he has been our best A ball bat without much trouble.. But Crow-Armstrong is certainly a better prospect at this point.. Track record (or lack of one) plays a part here as well.

Tolentino is in the top 150-175ish while I Crow-Armstrong is closer to a top 75 guy than top 100 guy IMO.

Let's see if Milan's approach at the plate doesn't waver and he has actual base stealing speed. Hopefully he is included in the 1st wave of promotions, her deserves it.

PCA has a better pedigree at this point..(and the accompanying bonus) and that matters to the list generators who, per @CDAV45 correctly states they don't know shit...

 

[Criznit]

PCA has a better pedigree at this point..(and the accompanying bonus) and that matters to the list generators who, per @CDAV45 correctly states they don't know shit...

Well I would certainly trade 1.5 Tolentinos for 1 Armstrong right now.

I also don't know shit.

EDIT - I have always been a fan of PCA so I am "biased".

 

[BimboColesHair]

@BimboColesHair

Buy or Sell Milan Tolentino as a future MLB Top 100?

On the fence for me.

He needs to move to 2B full time, IMO. If he keeps playing SS he'll get dinged by any scouting service that sees him play. Has a lot of Tyler Freeman in his game offensively, though with a lesser emphasis on putting the ball in play as much as possible. Not your traditional young LHH who likes to pull the ball a clear majority of the time, he hits the ball hard to all fields pretty equally which makes him tough to handle at the lower levels right now.

Keep in mind Freeman was not a top 100 prospect at 20 years old in A ball himself. Played 61 games at that level that year and moved to High-A after the All-Star break. And really that age 20 season where Freeman performed in A ball, earned a promotion, then did more of the same, hit, at the High A level and entered 2020 projected to be in AA at 21 is what put him on the map as a top 100 prospect.

Not out of the realm that Tolentino earns a promotion to Lake County the 2nd half of the season, continues to produce, and vaults onto lists. But this is an unknown Cleveland prospect drafted during the Covid draft. He's going to stay under the radar nationally for a bit.

 

[Criznit]

@BimboColesHair

Hey if you're still around any updates on Josh Wolf?

Edit looks like he has been throwing to live batters in AZ, just curious and sorry if I missed an update.