taylorblakeward

How dare you, sir

24 current, four defunct

re: Quero vs. Cartaya Performance has it's merit but I was able to see both Quero and Cartaya this year and Cartaya is definitely the better of the pair on projection. Quero is more polished than Cartaya at the moment but the ceiling is barely being reached on Cartaya. He's also a better defender which will push him heavily on the catcher board. If Quero was a sure thing catcher, it may be a different story but I think there's a lot of questions about Quero's defensive abilities (he's definitely young when you see him catch and a lot of development remaining -- I also think he can stay at catcher but won't be challenging anyone for Gold Gloves anytime soon). I think based on performance, Quero might get some T100 conversation, but I wouldn't be stunned if he didn't make the winter update and was just outside. Too much resting on the bat for a position where defense is the primary focus.

As you noted, too much variance so it's not really fair to equate overall talent to other clubs because kids are at different stages of development.

A lot of that hinges on how they do in Spring/Extended. Team has shown aggression in putting players stateside (i.e., Denzer Guzman and Cristian Garcia) who had lesser performances in the DSL. There's also the new political scheme of baseball which kind of pushes kids to higher levels quicker thanks to the lessened amount of rookie ball affiliates so I wouldn't rule out someone going to IE but I would be doubtful on it.

Alright all, time to walk the dog and make dinner. I'll come back and get whatever questions I missed later tonight. Hope you enjoy your Tuesdays

Sam Bachman could if he's healthy and Ky Bush might be borderline

I'll go Syndergaard because he's a year younger but that's the only reason and it's not even a full year but like seven months.

I think they're still in decent position. I'll say 40%

Ooph, there's probably some I can say and some I can't. Kole Calhoun always led to some entertaining verbal sparring but it was all good natured. Collin Cowgill and I got into it once and the next day we laughed it off. Johnny Giavotella was always good for something like translating Spanish improperly and for those of who knew it was a good joke. I don't think I can top DiGi's. One of the better ones was (without giving away who it was), I was covering a game at Inland Empire and I got on Instagram for like 5 minutes and noticed that one of the players in the lineup had messaged me midgame and liked my photo. I messaged him back and between at bats he would message me back. I looked in the dugout and noticed he had to have gone to the clubhouse and for whatever reason was checking his phone. I asked him about it a few days after and found out he needed to be with his phone because his girlfriend (maybe wife?) was about to go into labor, but I found it peculiar still. There's plenty of stories I can't share from High Desert which include some of the players trying to stop a fight between midget wrestlers and some of our staff... Also, one of the better ones was a young kid from the Dominican who had just arrived in the USA. I picked him up for a mall signing or something like that and the first thing he did when he got in the car was asked where there were hookers and if I could take him after. That was a tough one to explain to a kid whose culture kind of allows that openly. I'm sure there's better stuff but I'd say those are the ones that kind of popped for me.

Pitchers are throwing more strikes and trusting their stuff in the zone. I reached out to some friends in Atlanta and it seems this was preached and is somewhat evident in how Ian Anderson and Max Fried attack. As for hitters, I suppose they're more aggressive than in the past but I'm not as confident in that one as I am with the changes to pitching. One thing that I really like is that even though there are swing changes occurring it's not every dude and happening multiple times a season

That's a tough one. We've never seen someone of this caliber and you are going to be paying for two different players. Of course you're looking to the future with extensions and contracts but based on his performance since his debut he matches up almost identically to Giancarlo Stanton at the plate and Joe Musgrove on the mound. How much are those guys worth combined if they were both 29 at free agency? Personally, I'd go shorter term with higher AAV (record-breaking like 5/240) as opposed to a lengthy 10 year contract that simmers around 450M. I could see the Angels going either direction with it, but I do worry about how his body will hold up once he gets into his 30's (more mid 30's, but still).

It's probably a cop out but you have to look at the top of the draft. Sam Bachman has massive upside but I still feel like he'll be a high-leverage reliever in the long run. Ky Bush has impressed a lot and I think with some progress to his third and fourth pitches he could be looking at near mid-rotation upside (I'll put a No. 4 on him right now which is 50-grade). Ryan Costeiu is kind of a darkhorse but I like what he brings as a two-pitch dude with a firey attitude. Probably mid-relief but still, I dig it.

I hope so. It's too small a sample to take anything serious with what he's done in Tempe but with his offensive upside I'd like to see him in person more regularly (I'll probably go to Tempe for a weekend but I hate going in August/September when it's a billion degrees). I guess that's more of a selfish reasoning but I could also see them getting his late-season development towards Single-A where he'll probably start next year.

It really hasn't been. They're pretty much league average across the board. Bullpen usage hasn't been my favorite but I could say the same thing for the Dodgers and Braves and Astros and whoever who are near the top of the league. It's a tricky road to run and I would never want the manager's decisions falling in my lap. I would say the biggest disappointment has been shortstop which I felt the Angels needed to address over the winter to a higher caliber. I LOVE Andrew Velazquez, like, near obsession, but you can't run him out every day with .300 OBP and feel comfortable having him turn over the lineup.