The Official Los Angeles Angels 2017 Minor League Statlines & Prospects thread

[John Smith]

5 hours ago, totdprods said:

David Fletcher has been promoted to AAA. Jose Rojas promoted to AA.

Jordan Zimmerman assigned to Inland Empire 66ers from Burlington Bees.

[John Smith]

16 hours ago, Scotty@AW said:

For those of you that are wondering (myself, Doc, and a couple others), I was able to get in touch and find a scouting report on Sean Isaac.  For those of you that don't know Isaac, he's an undrafted free agent that has tossed 45 innings between A Ball and AAA this year, striking out 59! hitters, with an overall ERA of 1.20! and a WHIP at 1.13.  

Isaac sits 90-91 on the radar gun and his go to pitch is a splitter that could rival Shoemaker's.  He hasn't been able to develop a change up or breaking ball good enough to be a go-to pitch yet, which is why he's staying in relief.  He has a standard over the top delivery, low effort.  This is his first time working in relief. 

Round 35    Sean Isaac    RHP    Vanguard (Calif.)    CA

http://mlb.mlb.com/team/draft.jsp?c_id=ana&year=2016

[Dave Saltzer]

44 minutes ago, John Smith said:

Round 35    Sean Isaac    RHP    Vanguard (Calif.)    CA

http://mlb.mlb.com/team/draft.jsp?c_id=ana&year=2016

Wasn't Rojas from Vanguard as well? Maybe scouting Rojas, they saw something in him, or vice versa. Congrats to Rojas on the promotion. Not a typical "power" 3B,but the guy just keeps on hitting for average. It Scioscia would be open to an unorthodox situation at 3B (which, generally speaking, is not something Scioscia likes), it could give the team more options on where to invest money. 

[Second Base]

19 minutes ago, Dave Saltzer said:

Wasn't Rojas from Vanguard as well? Maybe scouting Rojas, they saw something in him, or vice versa. Congrats to Rojas on the promotion. Not a typical "power" 3B,but the guy just keeps on hitting for average. It Scioscia would be open to an unorthodox situation at 3B (which, generally speaking, is not something Scioscia likes), it could give the team more options on where to invest money. 

I think right now we have a monopoly on Vanguard prospects.

[John Smith]

Rojas, Isaac Make Strides in Angels Minor League System

"Sean Isaac and Jose Rojas were chosen in back to back"

http://www.vanguardlions.com/SIDHelp/m/a|6149.php

Vanguard U is in Costa Mesa, so the Angels didn't have to go too far.

[John Smith]

41 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

I think right now we have a monopoly on Vanguard prospects.

Brandon Sandoval 7 CF

Orem Owlz

Status: Active

• Age: 22 (June 24, 1995)
• Birthplace: Fallbrook, CA
• Bats/Throws: R/R Ht: 6' 1" Wt: 180
• Draft: Round 27 (2017, LAA)
• School: Vanguard, CA

[Second Base]

57 minutes ago, John Smith said:

Brandon Sandoval 7 CF

Orem Owlz

Status: Active

• Age: 22 (June 24, 1995)
• Birthplace: Fallbrook, CA
• Bats/Throws: R/R Ht: 6' 1" Wt: 180
• Draft: Round 27 (2017, LAA)
• School: Vanguard, CA

Yup, that's why I said it.  

[Dave Saltzer]

5 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

Exactly, although I haven't seen much except that one Fangraphs comment.

Usually I try to find the balance between, on one hand, folks like @Scotty@AW and @Brent Maguire, who are both far more knowledgeable than I about prospects and scouting and pay attention to the Angels farm far more closely than BA et al, but are also inherently more biased than BA etc, and on the other hand, BA and other "asshole publications" (to quote @Chuckster70), who may be more objective but also don't follow the org as closely. Scotty has been saying the farm is deeper than people think for a year or two now and, to be honest, I didn't really buy it. I do think he was being a bit too rosy, but that he was partially correct and the last two drafts have really fulfilled his perspective.

Feeling left out. Not sure if it's because if that's because I'm not such a Homer for the system and it's a good thing or not. 

[Dave Saltzer]

4 hours ago, Scotty@AW said:

I swear they're reading my articles  Both are good moves. Rojas has the sort of bat that you just keep challenging until he stops hitting. When you're drafted in the 36th round there are no expectations.

And Fletcher has answered every question minor league ball has, except one.  Will he be a starting 2B in the majors or will he be a utility infielder? 

That is the biggest question and something I really hope to see in Salt Lake. 2B has been a black hole for us for years. And, there aren't any really good Fa solutions. It's to the point where I hope we both buy and sell right now to solve 2B long term. Even if it means giving up a current piece, we might need to do that to solve 2B. But, if Fletcher her man man the spot for a while, that would be a very good solution. 

[Dave Saltzer]

I want to point out that there appears to be a different philosophy going on in player development. Under Abe Flores, years ago, players pretty much went 1 level per year. Under Dipoto, some players were jumped over levels, and some earned promotions. Players were challenged to the level where they could play, although some struggled. Now, under Eppler, there seems to be more of a systemic movement, with levels of players moving up to fill similar positions. It's more of a ripple effect. A little less aggressive than some of Dipoto's moves, but a more organized approach. It's a subtle change. 

[Angelsjunky]

5 hours ago, Scotty@AW said:

 I think where I am being misunderstood here, is that I felt the farm was deeper, but lacked upside talent. We have a lot of fringe major leaguers on the farm. That couple drafts have restocked the farm with some upside.

Fair enough. It seems now what is keeping it from being a top 10 farm system is the maturation of those higher end prospects. In other words, there's a lot of depth (which is basically synonymous with quantity) and now there's a lot of upside (quality); but what isn't there yet is what we could call fruition - that is, the talent rising to the top and being near major league ready.

1 hour ago, Dave Saltzer said:

Feeling left out. Not sure if it's because if that's because I'm not such a Homer for the system and it's a good thing or not. 

Haha, sorry Dave - you're definitely in the same category, although maybe lower profile because you don't post as much as Scotty. You also don't have the annoying tendency to use a double-slash line of BA/OBP and leave out SLG, so that's a good thing

[Dave Saltzer]

I think it was Scott who said it's going to take several more years before our system will get any recognition it in (maybe we will be ranked 25th or so for the next 2+ years), and I fully agree. There is a lot of herd mentality that occurs in the rankings and definite group-think that happens. I have met many of the guys who do it, and cover the minors, and that is definitely the case. Everyone says how bad our system is, so when they go to ser them, they look for the bad, find it, and recognize firm what they believe to be true. They don't give out system a second look, so between the bias coming into their one visit per year, their bias based on where players were ranked (I have written several times about the shiney new toy phenomenon), and the fact that they never return to see if there have been any changes, it explains a lot about our rankings. If it were me, I'd say we are an upper 20s system now (maybe 23rd or 24th), and could reach the high teens if and when these guys mature (and if we conyinue to add to them year in and year out). And, I would be very happy with that as a fan. We've been killed for so long without any international talent that we would be very hard to rank anywhere higher. And, I hope we dont ever get to the point where the Major League team sucks so badly that we have so many high end picks to get to be a top 5 organization. But, with good domestic and international drafting, we should be able to maintain  a system in the high teens and still have  championship clubs in the Majors. 

[Inside Pitch]

The Angels IMO earned their rankings..   They drafted poorly, they shuttered themselves from the international market and wortst of all IMO they failed to take advantage of the loopholes as they pertained to Cuban players in particular.  They just didn't have the number of lottery ticket types and players teams could wish on that other clubs had..  

What the Angels do deserve credit for at least through the Reagins years is developing players...   When they did get a guy that showed some glimpses of talent they tended to convert them into players - that's where they were extremely underrated IMO and the exact opposite of what was going on in Seattle and other teams.  There were some teams that drafted really really well only to see those players hit a wall or fail to develop.   I think a lot of that success was because players where groomed to play a certain way and the transition from minors to majors was pretty seamless -- something that was clearly not the case under the previous regime and seems to have been addressed under Eppler.

Tracking the farm is fun again...      

 

[John Smith]

7 hours ago, John Smith said:

Jordan Zimmerman assigned to Inland Empire 66ers from Burlington Bees.

•  
• Steve Wendt‏ @steve_wendt

   

 

Jordan Zimmerman's 4th hit of the night is a grand slam in the top of the 7th. @66ersBaseball leads 16-7. Zimmerman's Cal League debut.

[tdawg87]

Thaiss had 2 more hits tonight. He definitely hasn't missed a step. Though he has just one XBH so far at Mobile. 

[Second Base]

9 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

Thaiss had 2 more hits tonight. He definitely hasn't missed a step. Though he has just one XBH so far at Mobile. 

He's hitting better in AA than he ever did in Advanced A. So whatever the opposite of missing a step is, that's what he's done.

[John Smith]

Mobile BayBears‏Verified account @Mobile_BayBears  26m26 minutes ago

More

Osmer Morales has been promoted to Salt Lake and is scheduled to make his first Triple-A start today. More details: http://atmilb.com/2uotr6c 

[Angel Oracle]

On 7/15/2017 at 0:04 AM, Scotty@AW said:

Sometimes, you only need one pitch, if it's good enough.

Mariano Rivera approves of this.

[totdprods]

Last night was a good night for Angels prospects:
Salt Lake:
David Fletcher, AAA debut: 1-4 with a double. 
Jefry Marte: 3-4, hitting .333 in his last 10 games. 
Cesar Puello only went 1-4. He's still hitting .462 in his last 10 games. Dios mio.

The big standout to me though, Deolis Guerra, threw 2 scoreless innings. Very quietly, Deolis has been dominating AAA, and really wasn't pitching bad in the majors aside from a rough appearance or two. In AAA: 21 IP, 14 H, 3 ER, 1 HR, 3 BB, 19 K, .182 BAA, 1.29 ERA, 0.81 WHIP. We may see him again if any RPs get dealt.

Mobile:
Michael Hermosillo: 1-4
Matt Thaiss: 2-5, hitting .409/.417/.455/.871 in 5 AA games so far.
Zach Houchins: 3-4, now hitting .342 in his last 10 games. Respectable .263/.324./417/.740 line. I get some late-bloomer prospect vibes from him still.
Jose Rojas, AA debut: 1-4

Adam Hofacket could be entering the '18 bullpen depth before long. 2 more scoreless innings last night. 
On the year, between A+/AA, 46.2 IP, 2.70 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, only 8 walks to 45 Ks, only 3 HR allowed.

Inland Empire:
Brennon Lund: 3-5, 2B, BB, RBI, SB, hitting .386 last 10 games
Jordan Zimmerman, A+ debut was a huge one as mentioned: 4-6, 3B, GS HR, 5 RBI

Burlington:
Jahmai Jones: 2-3, BB, HR (8) - has hit 3 HRs in last 10 games
Carlos Salazar: 2 IP, 3 K, 0 BBs (relief prospect recently acquired; career 200.1 IP, 184 BB, 227 K. Can Angels rein him in?)

Orem:
Leonardo Rivas: 2-5, 4 RBI
Chris Rodriguez: 5 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (turning things around after disastrous first two starts)

AZL Angels:
Jordon Adell: 2-4, 2B, .423/.444/.654/.1098 in 7 games
Nonie Williams is playing SS after starting the season at DH
Andrew Bailey: 1 IP, 1 K
Wilkel Hernandez: 5 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 K, 1.76 ERA on the year
Hector Yan: 2 IP, 1 BB, 4 K another raw arm that could be one to watch. 18 year old lefty making the jump stateside

Jimmy Barnes: 1-3, slashing .280/.333/.460/.793 on the year. He missed all of 2016, but he's 20, 6'4", and 190, and was one of our ultra-toolsy, raw, athlete picks a couple years back. He has a ways to go, but could jump into the fold quickly if he does.





 

[Second Base]

38 minutes ago, totdprods said:

Last night was a good night for Angels prospects:
Salt Lake:
David Fletcher, AAA debut: 1-4 with a double. 
Jefry Marte: 3-4, hitting .333 in his last 10 games. 
Cesar Puello only went 1-4. He's still hitting .462 in his last 10 games. Dios mio.

The big standout to me though, Deolis Guerra, threw 2 scoreless innings. Very quietly, Deolis has been dominating AAA, and really wasn't pitching bad in the majors aside from a rough appearance or two. In AAA: 21 IP, 14 H, 3 ER, 1 HR, 3 BB, 19 K, .182 BAA, 1.29 ERA, 0.81 WHIP. We may see him again if any RPs get dealt.

Mobile:
Michael Hermosillo: 1-4
Matt Thaiss: 2-5, hitting .409/.417/.455/.871 in 5 AA games so far.
Zach Houchins: 3-4, now hitting .342 in his last 10 games. Respectable .263/.324./417/.740 line. I get some late-bloomer prospect vibes from him still.
Jose Rojas, AA debut: 1-4

Adam Hofacket could be entering the '18 bullpen depth before long. 2 more scoreless innings last night. 
On the year, between A+/AA, 46.2 IP, 2.70 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, only 8 walks to 45 Ks, only 3 HR allowed.

Inland Empire:
Brennon Lund: 3-5, 2B, BB, RBI, SB, hitting .386 last 10 games
Jordan Zimmerman, A+ debut was a huge one as mentioned: 4-6, 3B, GS HR, 5 RBI

Burlington:
Jahmai Jones: 2-3, BB, HR (8) - has hit 3 HRs in last 10 games
Carlos Salazar: 2 IP, 3 K, 0 BBs (relief prospect recently acquired; career 200.1 IP, 184 BB, 227 K. Can Angels rein him in?)

Orem:
Leonardo Rivas: 2-5, 4 RBI
Chris Rodriguez: 5 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (turning things around after disastrous first two starts)

AZL Angels:
Jordon Adell: 2-4, 2B, .423/.444/.654/.1098 in 7 games
Nonie Williams is playing SS after starting the season at DH
Andrew Bailey: 1 IP, 1 K
Wilkel Hernandez: 5 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 K, 1.76 ERA on the year
Hector Yan: 2 IP, 1 BB, 4 K another raw arm that could be one to watch. 18 year old lefty making the jump stateside

Jimmy Barnes: 1-3, slashing .280/.333/.460/.793 on the year. He missed all of 2016, but he's 20, 6'4", and 190, and was one of our ultra-toolsy, raw, athlete picks a couple years back. He has a ways to go, but could jump into the fold quickly if he does.





 

It definitely seems as if Swanson from the Cards (Eppler as well) have implemented a promotion schedule that fits our prospects needs. Generally speaking, they begin the year at one level, and once the all-star break rolls around and we've signed all the draft picks, they reassess a player based on his growth, not necessarily the numbers and then promote accordingly.

There are some exceptions (Lund, Montgomery and Castillo promotions). 

The biggest question I have is how they'll be treating Jo Adell. Will they hold him in AZ and make him do a stint in Orem next year simply because that's what they've done with every prospect or will they promote him according to how he performs?

I'm fine with them keeping Jo in AZ this year just so he can get his reps in a controlled environment, but if he continues to perform like this, he needs to be in Burlington next year.

[stormngt]

On 7/15/2017 at 3:48 PM, Dave Saltzer said:

Wasn't Rojas from Vanguard as well? Maybe scouting Rojas, they saw something in him, or vice versa. Congrats to Rojas on the promotion. Not a typical "power" 3B,but the guy just keeps on hitting for average. It Scioscia would be open to an unorthodox situation at 3B (which, generally speaking, is not something Scioscia likes), it could give the team more options on where to invest money. 

Sean Figgins, Alberto Callaspo are orthodox 3b?

[Second Base]

Jo Adell is 2-3 with 2 HR's so far on the night. 

Time to send him to Burlington. Ridiculous.

[AngelsLakersFan]

5 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

Jo Adell is 2-3 with 2 HR's so far on the night. 

Time to send him to Burlington. Ridiculous.

The translation to professional ball is always the first big question for young guys like Adell. With such a strong start to his pro career you gotta wonder how high he would go if the draft were redone today.

[Inside Pitch]

38 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

Jo Adell is 2-3 with 2 HR's so far on the night. 

Time to send him to Burlington. Ridiculous.

So -- it's not that he's potentially good..  it's that the competition sucks..   right?  (poking fun at his critics not you)

[tdawg87]

Adell is of legal age, right? Asking for a friend.

The friend is my penis btw.