ZIPS projections too 100 prospects..

[Inside Pitch]

ESPN Insider article...

Ohtani not ranked due to the lack of statistical info..

Four Angels...

#61 - Jahmai Jones
#63 - Jo Adell
#71 - Chris Rodriguez
#93 - Taylor Ward!

So...   You know the system is doing well when you have multiple outlets using vastly different systems and measures all listing multiple guys as top 100 guys...

http://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/22319407/who-does-zips-project-top-100-prospects-2018

 

 

 

[SoWhat]

Is ESPN the only ones not including Ohtani in their rankings?

[Inside Pitch]

Seems that way -- I think with ZIPS its just a lack of data...   

[SoWhat]

Taylor Ward at 93?

Wait, does Keith Law and ESPN have separate top 100 prospect lists? I always thought they were the same.

Anyway, It's crazy to see so many of the Angels prospects from Adell all the way down to Ward, Barria and Rodriguez  on various top prospect lists. The system is so much deeper than I thought before all these lists came out this month. 

[Ohtaniland]

In Japan,  Ohtani was a paid professional baseball player. He was a starter. I’m willing to bet that he does not consider himself a prospect. 

I also don’t expect to see him spending any time in the minor leagues unless something has drastically gone wrong. He was signed to play here on the big club so he shouldn’t be considered a prospect. 

[Angel Oracle]

Taylor Ward at #93 overall?    Did Dipussy influence ZIPS?

[Second Base]

Taylor Ward is a top 100 prospect.

VALIDATION!!!

[Inside Pitch]

4 hours ago, SoWhat said:

Taylor Ward at 93?

Wait, does Keith Law and ESPN have separate top 100 prospect lists? I always thought they were the same.

Anyway, It's crazy to see so many of the Angels prospects from Adell all the way down to Ward, Barria and Rodriguez  on various top prospect lists. The system is so much deeper than I thought before all these lists came out this month. 

They are both ESPN -- Keith Law is the tools guy -- ZIPS is the stats driven MLE type of deal..   

So with ZIPS.... basically, what they do is they look at every player they have data on to try to formulate a projection..  So basically based on minor league performances -- and their projected performances based off those numbers Ward would be the 93 most productive prospect at the MLB level this year....   

They don't mean much, but it's nice to see a wide spread of prospects showing up on different lists.    So from a stats and tools standpoint -- our guys are projecting well.

[oater]

5 hours ago, Scotty@AW said:

Taylor Ward is a top 100 prospect.

VALIDATION!!!

It may just be me, but I find the rankings of catching prospects to be humorous.  Once in a blue moon a Buster Posey comes along that everyone recognizes as great.  For the most part, however, the highly rated minor league prospects are decent hitters with questionable defensive skills.  The reality is that the majority of good major league catchers start with solid defensive skills and develop a decent offensive game, like Yadier Molina. 

[Second Base]

8 hours ago, oater said:

It may just be me, but I find the rankings of catching prospects to be humorous.  Once in a blue moon a Buster Posey comes along that everyone recognizes as great.  For the most part, however, the highly rated minor league prospects are decent hitters with questionable defensive skills.  The reality is that the majority of good major league catchers start with solid defensive skills and develop a decent offensive game, like Yadier Molina. 

This ^

[wopphil]

We are a little tough on Taylor Ward on here. His career minor league line is .272/.366/.375/.741. That's not a bad line for a catcher. And while he isn't young, be isn't exactly old either. 

Marr Thaiss, by contrast, has a career minor league line of .280/.370/.418/.788. And that is as a first baseman.

[Inside Pitch]

4 minutes ago, wopphil said:

We are a little tough on Taylor Ward on here. His career minor league line is .272/.366/.375/.741. That's not a bad line for a catcher. And while he isn't young, be isn't exactly old either. 

Marr Thaiss, by contrast, has a career minor league line of .280/.370/.418/.788. And that is as a first baseman.

To that end...

.240/.339/.400...   Those are the career minor league averages from age 23-25 for a former Golden Spikes Award winning catcher who went on to multiple all star games and was named the Captain of a WS team with Manny and Papi..  https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=varite001jas

Catchers are notoriously slow to develop.   HS catchers still have the lowest graduation rate of any position player -- Ward was a college guy but the point is it's a volatile position.   When you consider Jason Varitek put those career minor league numbers up at a time when offense was significantly more rampant it makes what Taylor Ward has done easier to swallow.

In some ways, Ward catches shit for having been thrust into the situation he was..  namely... the first round pick of a franchise with a floundering farm system.  The fan base wanted/needed someone to get excited about..  Taylor Ward isn't exciting -- he may yet be useful and if that happens -- props, Jerry.

[eaterfan]

2 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

To that end...

.240/.339/.400...   Those are the career minor league averages from age 23-25 for a former Golden Spikes Award winning catcher who went on to multiple all star games and was named the Captain of a WS team with Manny and Papi..  https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=varite001jas

Catchers are notoriously slow to develop.   HS catchers still have the lowest graduation rate of any position player -- Ward was a college guy but the point is it's a volatile position.   When you consider Jason Varitek put those career minor league numbers up at a time when offense was significantly more rampant it makes what Taylor Ward has done easier to swallow.

In some ways, Ward catches shit for having been thrust into the situation he was..  namely... the first round pick of a franchise with a floundering farm system.  The fan base wanted/needed someone to get excited about..  Taylor Ward isn't exciting -- he may yet be useful and if that happens -- props, Jerry.

The slow start didn't help either. I think he was basically written off by fans and media.

[Angel Oracle]

2 hours ago, wopphil said:

We are a little tough on Taylor Ward on here. His career minor league line is .272/.366/.375/.741. That's not a bad line for a catcher. And while he isn't young, be isn't exactly old either. 

Marr Thaiss, by contrast, has a career minor league line of .280/.370/.418/.788. And that is as a first baseman.

I wasn't being tough on Ward, as much as ribbing Dipussy for acting like Ward was the next Johnny Bench, when drafting Ward two rounds before he should have been picked.

I can still see Ward having a decent to solid enough MLB career.