Transaction Update
Still here, just waiting for the regular season to start.
Meanwhile, yesterday we got an idea as to who we probably won’t see north of Florida anytime soon (60-Day I.L. unless otherwise specified):
- RHP Pablo Aldonis
- LHP Jake Bennett
- RHP Christian Cifetelli
- LHP Peyton Glavine
- RHP Reid Schaller (full season)
- RHP Seth Shuman
- LHP Jared Simpson
- LHP Erik Tolman
- RHP Tyler Yankosky
As noted previously, since the MLB doup d’état, transaction information seems to be flowing faster and more freely. It’s almost as if there were something else influencing these decisions.
Pablo Aldonis showed real promise but could not get through a full season.
there have been postings regarding Also Ramirez finally being healthy and one about Denaburg having to pitch through a hernia last year.
until I see them on a mound I’ll try not to get my hopes up.
I didn’t realize Schaller went down with a serious injury. He was pitching into late August, and I just assumed he’d been shut down or something. That’s a devastating injury, as at age 27, this should’ve been his prove-it season…
Also, what’s up with Seth Shuman? He got injured in July 2022 and hasn’t pitched since then. I don’t think any injury has a 21+ month recovery time…
the data I saw showed he did not have his TJ until 3/23. I guess they were exploring other options over surgery
On another note, I’m really disappointed with Dylan Crews’ spring. While James Wood, and increasingly Trey Lipscomb, have garnered attention this Spring, Crews’ performance has been a big dud. After going 0 for 2, his line has dropped to .133/.278/.300 in 36 PA. Yes, it’s a very small sample size (Alex Call is playing like a young Barry Bonds…), but it’s especially discouraging that Crews isn’t getting overpowered by major league quality starters, but most of his playing time has come late in games against fringe relievers. Maybe he’s working out some kinks, but unlike a guy like Gallo or Abrams, who’ve earned starting roles and can use the month to get in the zone, Spring Training is still ultimately a showcase for him to prove to coaching/management that he’s worth the hype. Just to compare him to the other two college bats that went in the top 10 in 2023, Langford is famously hitting .388/.446/.796 (that last number is SLG, not OPS) and Jacob Wilson, who went 6th, is hitting .438/.471/.563.
Another thing that has me worried is that his extremely polished bat, hasn’t looked particularly advanced. He is walking at a good rate (11%), but worryingly he’s struck out a third of the time, and an extreme righty/lefty split: .372 OPS vs RHP vs .891 vs LHPs, which I didn’t realize might be an issue for him.
Altogether, this makes me feel a lot more certain about putting Wood ahead of Crews this winter in my prospect rankings (as did most other readers here). It’s looking increasingly like Crews might not be as refined as predicted. That doesn’t make him a bad prospect at all. But maybe proclamations that “He’s the best college hitter I’ve seen in a long time,” might have been a bit hyperbolic.
But I hope Crews goes on a tear in Harrisburg to start the season and make this all look like needless worrying.
I think they’ve done Crews a disservice by keeping him in MLB games this long. Agree that his struggles don’t make him a bad prospect, just not ready to hit this level of pitching. He’s barely even played at AA.
You never know when things are going to click. Lipscomb struggled in the AFL but has shined in spring games, increasingly against MLB pitching. If he doesn’t make the club out of the spring, he’s definitely put himself on the radar for an early call-up.
Wood homered again today, albeit not off an MLB guy.
I think the blogosphere is in need of the season to start. I know I am.
Do these 60-day/full season IL guys count towards the limit of 135 (?) minor league players. If not, that would be a reason to officially get them on the 60 day list. (There were other teams doing these types of transactions yesterday and today).
Good point.
No, they do not. The offseason limit is 175 (down from 190), the in-season limit is 165. They’re allowed to put up to 15 players on the 60-day I.L.
For the MASN Commenters lurking, 165 spread over five levels is pretty thin:
AAA — 28
AA — 28
A+ — 30
A- — 30
CPX — 30
That’s 146, which means there’s roughly 19 “extra” players available, of which some may actually be hurt (*gasp*).
It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to realize (A) this could be dangerous (B) we may see some sketchy sh!t in July/August. Don’t forget the FCL will be almost done when the Draft takes place. The kind of collegiate pitchers who could conceivably pitch in Low-A this year will be likely near some sort of innings limit, which means teams may ask guys who really need the FCL/AZL to get back up to speed (the non-CWS, second-tier college pitchers) will get, um, thrown to the wolves. Alternately, this may end up being a boon for indy-league guys, even though it should be patently obvious that they’ll be just eating innings.
I agree that this situation isn’t healthy for baseball. When the union agreed to include minor leaguers, it did so at the considerable expense of hundreds of jobs.
I must admit, though, that there’s a contrarian part of my brain that argues that maybe it’s good to force teams to be more brutally honest about who still has a chance to make it and who doesn’t. A Tanner Roark who literally comes out of nowhere (and a stint in an indy league) is one in 1,000, maybe more. I guess Souza is another who probably would have been released in current times who came back to really make it, but it’s difficult to think of too many more in the Nats’ system in recent years.
while minor league baseball is first and foremost a farm system and the harsh reality is that so few will make it to the show, make no mistake this is just about cutting costs once again. you need to field a complete squad to develop players, it doesn’t help pitchers if your fielders cannot get outs and it doesn’t help hitters if pitchers are worn down and can’t find the plate.
beyond that is the elimination of the dreams of kids who’ve dedicated their early lives to this great game. MiLB is so much more
than what is available in any other sport, both for the players and the communities that have supported it for over 100 years. I don’t expect it to ever return and that is tragic.
I certainly agree that organizations have to field complete teams to give them the best impressions of the true prospects. One could question whether that’s actually being done, though. The Nats have fielded several bad-to-awful minor-league teams in the last few years. You wonder why they’ve kept some supposedly decent Latin prospects on truly terrible Dominican League squads.
I’ve had the same thought regarding the potential for the indy-leagues but unless some big pockets get in the game it will be an uphill fight.
Penultimate round of cuts announced, and surprisingly Lipscomb isn’t on it…
Is Lipscomb playing himself into a starting role? And if so, is it at 2B or 3B?