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

[Inside Pitch]

2 hours ago, m0nkey said:

Is it “he’s only 18, he has plenty of time to get in shape” or “he’s only 18 and he’s already looking out of shape”?

I think it's a case of he's 18....  Get used to this being his shape....   The dude may just be fluffy...  So long as he doesn't go Dimitri Young on them and he puts in the work it won't matter.  But, there is no way he stays at SS.

[Stradling]

2 hours ago, m0nkey said:

Is it “he’s only 18, he has plenty of time to get in shape” or “he’s only 18 and he’s already looking out of shape”?

It’s “he’s a foreign 18, which means he’s 21”

[Second Base]

I think 3B can be a bit chubby as long as the athleticism is there as a fielder. Vlad Guerrero Jr. is heavy, but defensively he's adequate at 3B because of his arm and general athleticism. 

Even when Maitan was skinny, he was seen as a candidate to move to third base. Now that he's a chubby bunny, the move will likely come in A Ball rather than AA. 

There's only one reason why he was ever signed in the first place, and that's his bat. It's supposed to be pretty special. As we've seen hundreds of times already, weight has little bearing on someone's ability to hit. 

[Angel Oracle]

11 hours ago, Scotty@AW said:

I think 3B can be a bit chubby as long as the athleticism is there as a fielder. Vlad Guerrero Jr. is heavy, but defensively he's adequate at 3B because of his arm and general athleticism. 

Even when Maitan was skinny, he was seen as a candidate to move to third base. Now that he's a chubby bunny, the move will likely come in A Ball rather than AA. 

There's only one reason why he was ever signed in the first place, and that's his bat. It's supposed to be pretty special. As we've seen hundreds of times already, weight has little bearing on someone's ability to hit. 

M-Cab = exhibit A.

[Chuck]

14 hours ago, Scotty@AW said:

I think 3B can be a bit chubby as long as the athleticism is there as a fielder. Vlad Guerrero Jr. is heavy, but defensively he's adequate at 3B because of his arm and general athleticism. 

Even when Maitan was skinny, he was seen as a candidate to move to third base. Now that he's a chubby bunny, the move will likely come in A Ball rather than AA. 

There's only one reason why he was ever signed in the first place, and that's his bat. It's supposed to be pretty special. As we've seen hundreds of times already, weight has little bearing on someone's ability to hit. 

@Scotty@AW check your PM. 

[Second Base]

5 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

@Scotty@AW check your PM. 

Yup!

[Docwaukee]

stop whispering in each others ears ladies and share.  

[Second Base]

See if this resonates with anyone....

Big time Venezuelan prospect signs at age 16 as a shortstop.  He's thin but tall, and has some serious thunder in his bat.  Most folks think he's going to be a superstar someday.   He skips over playing in the Dominican Summer League altogether and comes straight stateside as a 17 year old shortstop.  In his very first taste of professional ball, he doesn't really hit.  No power or speed to speak of, and now there are serious questions as to his ability to remain at shortstop.  

The next season, at age 18, his team allows him to play some shortstop, but because of his frame, it's becoming increasingly obvious that he won't stick there long, so the transition to third base begins.  On the offensive side of things, he still isn't driving the ball the way everyone thought.  Then the next season as a 19 year old, he makes the full transition over to third base and is pretty decent over there.  At the plate, he's finally just beginning to fulfill all that potential.  It isn't coming in the batting average, on base percentage or home run department, but he does manage to drive 43 doubles, which is just a taste of what's to come. 

Finally, at age 20 he puts it all together and bats .365 with all sorts of power and increasingly solid defense at third base despite his expanding waste band.  He earns a promotion to the major leagues and learns to play LF on the fly.

By the time he's 22, he's established himself as a full fledged superstar in the major leagues and a better than thought defensive third baseman.  However, by the time he's 25, it's clear that as he just keeps growing, he's quickly outgrown third base and makes the move across the diamond over to first base, which really isn't that big of deal because his bat plays up anywhere you put him on the diamond.  He eventually became a gold glove finalist at first base anyway, so the move seemed to be beneficial for all parties. 

If you guessed that I'm talking about Miguel Cabrera, then you're right.

And if you guessed that I'm referring to Kevin Maitan's career path so far, you're also right. 

As soon as Maitan was declared a free agent, Eppler got on the phone with his agent and sent a member of the front office to Venezuela to meet with Maitan immediately.  I'm not talking about a casual, "Oh hey, nice bumping into you, we're interested in employing you some time."  I'm talking "We want to sign you this very second.  Here's how much we'd like to offer you, and here's where we see your career headed in our organization.  Here's the contract, here's a pen, here's a cell phone with our GM waiting for your call."

That's how bad Billy Eppler wanted Kevin Maitan.

Maitan will probably continue to play shortstop this season as an 18 year old in Rookie Ball, but he'll also start taking grounders at second and third base.  Then at age 19 in A Ball, Maitan will make the full switch to third base, and do better at the plate than he did the past two seasons, but still not blowing others away like they thought he would when he was 15 or 16.  Then at age 20 in Advanced A ball, Maitan will erupt offensively and the Cal League won't be able to contain him.  He'll earn a promotion to AA by May and lay waste to that level as well, earning an August/September promotion to the big leagues.  By the time he's 21, he'll be the starting third baseman and hitting in the middle of the lineup.  By the time he's 25, he'll end up moving off of third base and across the diamond over to first base.

I think Kevin Maitan is going to be a star in the major leagues.  So does Billy Eppler, and he makes a living at being right about these things. 

[Docwaukee]

2 hours ago, Scotty@AW said:

See if this resonates with anyone....

Big time Venezuelan prospect signs at age 16 as a shortstop.  He's thin but tall, and has some serious thunder in his bat.  Most folks think he's going to be a superstar someday.   He skips over playing in the Dominican Summer League altogether and comes straight stateside as a 17 year old shortstop.  In his very first taste of professional ball, he doesn't really hit.  No power or speed to speak of, and now there are serious questions as to his ability to remain at shortstop.  

The next season, at age 18, his team allows him to play some shortstop, but because of his frame, it's becoming increasingly obvious that he won't stick there long, so the transition to third base begins.  On the offensive side of things, he still isn't driving the ball the way everyone thought.  Then the next season as a 19 year old, he makes the full transition over to third base and is pretty decent over there.  At the plate, he's finally just beginning to fulfill all that potential.  It isn't coming in the batting average, on base percentage or home run department, but he does manage to drive 43 doubles, which is just a taste of what's to come. 

Finally, at age 20 he puts it all together and bats .365 with all sorts of power and increasingly solid defense at third base despite his expanding waste band.  He earns a promotion to the major leagues and learns to play LF on the fly.

By the time he's 22, he's established himself as a full fledged superstar in the major leagues and a better than thought defensive third baseman.  However, by the time he's 25, it's clear that as he just keeps growing, he's quickly outgrown third base and makes the move across the diamond over to first base, which really isn't that big of deal because his bat plays up anywhere you put him on the diamond.  He eventually became a gold glove finalist at first base anyway, so the move seemed to be beneficial for all parties. 

If you guessed that I'm talking about Miguel Cabrera, then you're right.

And if you guessed that I'm referring to Kevin Maitan's career path so far, you're also right. 

As soon as Maitan was declared a free agent, Eppler got on the phone with his agent and sent a member of the front office to Venezuela to meet with Maitan immediately.  I'm not talking about a casual, "Oh hey, nice bumping into you, we're interested in employing you some time."  I'm talking "We want to sign you this very second.  Here's how much we'd like to offer you, and here's where we see your career headed in our organization.  Here's the contract, here's a pen, here's a cell phone with our GM waiting for your call."

That's how bad Billy Eppler wanted Kevin Maitan.

Maitan will probably continue to play shortstop this season as an 18 year old in Rookie Ball, but he'll also start taking grounders at second and third base.  Then at age 19 in A Ball, Maitan will make the full switch to third base, and do better at the plate than he did the past two seasons, but still not blowing others away like they thought he would when he was 15 or 16.  Then at age 20 in Advanced A ball, Maitan will erupt offensively and the Cal League won't be able to contain him.  He'll earn a promotion to AA by May and lay waste to that level as well, earning an August/September promotion to the big leagues.  By the time he's 21, he'll be the starting third baseman and hitting in the middle of the lineup.  By the time he's 25, he'll end up moving off of third base and across the diamond over to first base.

I think Kevin Maitan is going to be a star in the major leagues.  So does Billy Eppler, and he makes a living at being right about these things. 

I want to believe this.  I really do.  Oorah and all that.   There are so many more guys who are well regarded that start off being terrible and end up being terrible than there are Miguel Cabreras.  Especially guys who don't stay in shape or are known to be largely uncoachable.  

Cabrera was in A+ for his 19yo season and ranked the 12th best prospect in baseball after that season.  As much as I consider Miggy to be somewhat of a douche, the guy is probably a HOFer and the best hitter in baseball for the better part of 5 years.  

I'm on board with you in regard to Adell and most others.  

Maitan has a lot to prove.  I am totally inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt for now, but I'm gonna need to see some progression this year.  

 

[Second Base]

3 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

I want to believe this.  I really do.  Oorah and all that.   There are so many more guys who are well regarded that start off being terrible and end up being terrible than there are Miguel Cabreras.  Especially guys who don't stay in shape or are known to be largely uncoachable.  

Cabrera was in A+ for his 19yo season and ranked the 12th best prospect in baseball after that season.  As much as I consider Miggy to be somewhat of a douche, the guy is probably a HOFer and the best hitter in baseball for the better part of 5 years.  

I'm on board with you in regard to Adell and most others.  

Maitan has a lot to prove.  I am totally inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt for now, but I'm gonna need to see some progression this year.  

 

There likely will be some progression, but I think part of the story was also to show that Cabrera's breakout didn't come until he was 20.

Maitan's breakout might not comeback until 20 or 21, but lots of folks think it'll come. 

Plus I think it's just the day and age we live in. If twitter existed, or arm chair GM's paid nearly as much attention to prospects 20 years ago as they do now, Cabrera probably would've had a ton of doubters who would reference his terrible offensive performance at age 17 and the fact that he clearly can't stay at SS.

And I think Cabrera is particularly important here because he is who Maitan has drawn comparisons to. But I think we'll need to be patient with him. It might not happen at 18, but I think at some point it will.

[Docwaukee]

5 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

There likely will be some progression, but I think part of the story was also to show that Cabrera's breakout didn't come until he was 20.

Maitan's breakout might not comeback until 20 or 21, but lots of folks think it'll come. 

Plus I think it's just the day and age we live in. If twitter existed, or arm chair GM's paid nearly as much attention to prospects 20 years ago as they do now, Cabrera probably would've had a ton of doubters who would reference his terrible offensive performance at age 17 and the fact that he clearly can't stay at SS.

And I think Cabrera is particularly important here because he is who Maitan has drawn comparisons to. But I think we'll need to be patient with him. It might not happen at 18, but I think at some point it will.

That just seems like such an extreme example to me.  Cabrera is such an exception due to his amazing talent.  Kudos if you're seeing something similar and calling it this early.   I'm actually getting more of a Valbuena vibe.  

[taylorblakeward]

On 3/25/2018 at 5:51 PM, Scotty@AW said:

His face, legs and arms look a lot better than last year, so he has lost some weight. Still has a belly. As for the swing, first thing I did first, his timing is off. It doesn't matter what sort of swing he has, if he doesn't have his timing down he won't hit much. He still has good extension and the reports remain true that the ball comes off his bat different than others.

But he's raw, his timing is off and physically he isn't where he needs to be yet. He was always going to move to third base anyway.

Swing is ugly, very close to an arm bar which is something that can be fixed but takes time to mentally get yourself out of that funk - a lot of work ahead of him

[Docwaukee]

1 hour ago, taylorblakeward said:

Swing is ugly, very close to an arm bar which is something that can be fixed but takes time to mentally get yourself out of that funk - a lot of work ahead of him

we've seen a bar 'ish' type swing work a lot depending on what the hands do next and how it all clears.  his are really far back.  almost over his back foot with a high left elbow.  we used to say that the chicken wing makes a slow swing.  Although Pujols does that and always has yet his hands aren't as far back and he goes knob to ball whereas Maitan (in the video on the previous page) is doing that push sweep.  

check out this video him though:

https://www.mlb.com/video/top-intl-prospects-maitan/c-652787983

I don't know what happened, but that's a nice swing from both sides of the plate right there.  Someone's been messing with this kid big time.  In that prospect video he's way more compact and loose.  and thin btw.  

[Docwaukee]

as an aside.  I can see from that previous video why they were anointing him the next Miggy/Chipper.  damn.  I hope he can get back to that.  

[totdprods]

Not Angels related, but it was pretty cool (aside from the obvious sting) seeing the Jays deploy an infield of Guerrero, Bichette, and Biggio last night. 

[Chuck]

4 hours ago, totdprods said:

Not Angels related, but it was pretty cool (aside from the obvious sting) seeing the Jays deploy an infield of Guerrero, Bichette, and Biggio last night. 

Wow, that is super cool. Didn't know Biggio's son was a prospect in the Jays' org as well. 

[eaterfan]

Here's some mixed comments on Angels prospects from Longerhagen today:

 

1:09	Guy Person: Anyone you’ve seen recently you want to mention?

1:09	Eric A Longenhagen: Maitan. No bueno. Trent Deveaux looks tremendous.

[Angel Oracle]

Did Atlanta's development people mess with Maitan's swing?

[Docwaukee]

2 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Did Atlanta's development people mess with Maitan's swing?

someone did.  the current one looks like the aborted swing baby of Will Clark and Griffey jr.  I've seen better swings in the lair of a dominatrix.  It looks like he's playing cricket.  

[m0nkey]

13 hours ago, totdprods said:

Not Angels related, but it was pretty cool (aside from the obvious sting) seeing the Jays deploy an infield of Guerrero, Bichette, and Biggio last night. 

Vlad jr hit a walk off homerun in Montreal 

[Second Base]

Maitan's swing looks completely different than when he was an amateur. 

The Angels will hopefully help him get it ironed out. They're pretty good with reclamation projects as far as pitchers go. I don't know of many hitters they've brought in and helped tweak their swing, but anything is better than what we've seen the Braves do to him.

[Angel Oracle]

The Bravos are a total mess.  Luckily for them, the even biggest mess Fish are in the same division. 

[Angelsjunky]

From a Fangraphs chat, re: Jose Soriano:

Eric A Longenhagen: Yep. Looks great. Mid-90s, is in great shape, plus breaking ball. He’s only done it an inning at a time so far this spring (I’ve seen both his starts) but if he holds that kind of stuff for 5-6 innings early in the year he’s a top 100 guy.

[Angelsjunky]

I also saw that Deveaux comment. Does he play AZL later this year, so we can see some actual pro stats? WOuld love to see him in Cedar Rapids (A) by 2019 at age 19, but that might be a bit too optimistic.

[oater]

2 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

I also saw that Deveaux comment. Does he play AZL later this year, so we can see some actual pro stats? WOuld love to see him in Cedar Rapids (A) by 2019 at age 19, but that might be a bit too optimistic.

Cedar Rapids?  Keep up with the times.