Quietly lost in the transaction shuffle was Brett Auerbach being released from Sacramento. Any thoughts on this? Good OPS, great positional versatility (the first four video defensive highlights on his MiLB page are from four different positions), great energy-- seems like he could have been a fan favorite. What do you think is in his baseball future?
I would like your take on this if you have insight into it, but it may be a better topic for when you get Michael Holmes or someone similar back on the podcast.
With the MLB draft coming up, I would love to hear how the Giants manage the draft process to balance the finances and picking the best player available. For example, in the NBA/NFL drafts it is generally just take the best fit or the the best player available. However, in the MLB draft contract demands often play heavily into the process. Say someone like Seth Hernandez falls to the Giants, but he is demanding top 5 money. How does this change the rest of the draft for the Giants? Do they have a list of guys who they think will sign below slot? Do they ask for signing demands as part of the evaluation process? We saw some of this with Dakota Jordan last year and it got me thinking about how they actually manage the process to maximize talent and make sure everybody actually signs.
Thanks for answering my Luci question last week. Makes sense that, in the end of the day, he wasn’t becoming a gold glove LF anyway and he mostly needs to hit really well. Now my follow up is, with Matos, Meckler and Eldridge in Sacramento, and this being his last option year, could a sad end of the road be nearing for Luci? Is it even nearer for Bishop?
It will hurt really bad if this is how both careers as Giants end…
Roger, on the last mailbag you mentioned Tristan Beck and that he'd likely fit in the rotation of a number of other teams. If they were to trade him what sort if return might they get? A rental like O'Hearn or perhaps a longer term backup catcher?
Hi Roger! I really liked the article you shared about how some stats like K% are "stickier" throughout the levels. What are some benchmarks that you personally like to see before a guy earns a promotion?
Piggybacking off this, Carlos Gutierrez has been great to watch in San Jose. What are some aspects of the game you'd like to see him improve upon in order to rise up prospect lists and levels?
In light of the excitement around Eldridge, what is it that separates him from other former top prospects that the Giants had high hopes for? I’m thinking of Chris Shaw and Mac Williamson in particular, both of whom had big power and were call ups to the big league team who for different reasons struggled at the major league level, albeit Mac’s concussion didn’t help matters. Bryce Eldridge seems different than those former prospects. I’d love to hear your take on those differences. Thank you!
He finally got his "cup of coffee" with the Giants, but it was desultory at best. 82 plate appearances in 2018-19. Slash line: .153/.244/.222/.466. 31 strikeouts (38% of PAs). Defense was "below MLB average" at best. A completely wasted draft pick. He was the second pick in the first round of the 2015 draft.
Making it worse: the first pick was Phil Bickford, who was immediately tagged with the nickname "Jeff Spicoli" because he looked and acted like that dude from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." Then no first round pick in 2016 because we signed a free agent (can't remember who that was).
I was going to ask about Bryce Eldridge but I see that that question has already been covered. Saul switch it up. Do you think Carson Wisenhunt debuts for the Giants this year? I will actually ask a secondary question about Bryce. What this he need to show in the minor leagues and AAA specifically defensively to demonstrate to the front office that he's ready for the call to the big leagues? This is coming from someone who would like to see Eldridge as the Giants every day. DH right now. I think he could drink that much value to the lineup even at his young age, as the Giants continue to be an deep-freeze offensively.
How would you compare the NCAA stats with the Minor League system?
As in, is it just one step below CPX for skill level or a few steps lower?
Of course, NCAA for what level of college play also matters and complicates my question.
I ranked Dylan Carmouche very high for moving his K-BB% from 14.9% for Tulane to 22.6% for Eugene. I measured his batters as 50% better in A+ over the NCAA.
Perhaps this will be covered in this week’s pod, but the ACL team is heavily, indeed almost entirely international. What do you think next year’s San Jose team will look like/how do you think the Giants have or will balance the playing time of domestic and international players at the lower levels?
I’m sure you’ve mentioned this before and maybe even recently, but I haven’t been as caught up on your work as I’d like to be. Life, ya know? But what would you say is the organizations greatest need heading towards the draft? Based on this systems current state, would you consider going system need over best on the board this year?
I saw that they’re weighing the pros and cons of high school vs college shortstops. With the infield jam at San Jose that will likely have to bleed to Eugene at some point with Jhonny Level coming next and Josuar Gonzalez soon after, would they go another direction, even if the clear cut “best on board” is a shortstop, or even a choice of shortstops?
I’m personally hoping that the best on board is a college pitcher, or even a college catcher. I’d always prefer bat over arm in the first round, but I can see the argument for going pitching heavy this year. I really believe they’ll need to try and trade one of Birdsong, Harrison, or Roupp to get a bat to help for multiple years, and drafting a system changing pitcher (if available) would make that a whole lot easier to swallow.
But… this systems weakest position is easily catcher, and even if Bailey was hitting like an all star, the argument could still be made to take a catcher, if they can even slightly justify one of them as “best on board.”
I have a couple of questions about the OF in Sac. McCray this season in AAA seems to be a bit worse than his last, and esp. his power has dropped off some. Do you have insights in his struggles? Also, has Meckler's defense gotten better this season?
If the offensive rate stats for Meckler and McCray stay at the current level, could Meckler overtake McCray as the first call-up if the big club needs it? Thanks!
Our Giants need another good, young bat in the middle of the lineup. Eldridge ASAP we hope, but we probably need him and another young and ascending player. Our best assets for trade are the young pitchers. I think everyone (including Team Buster) will agree that Birdsong, Harrison and Roupp are untouchable at this point.
Assuming that is true, who are the best candidates as trade pieces from the other MiLB pitchers? The "three Carsons" (Whisenhunt, Seymour, Ragsdale) seem to be at the top of that list. How would you rank them, and who would be the "next level" of starting pitching that could either ascend to SF in the next 2-3 seasons or be viable trade pieces to acquire that middle of the order bat?
Thanks again for all you do, Roger. Your content is well worth the price.
Hi Roger. Thanks as ever for the continued insights. Can you give a little more context for 'development list' and how it is used? Seen Williamson has just been placed there and I think Vaun Brown is too?
Yep. It was a pinch-hit HR. He hit for Pierce Johnson (the pitcher now with Atlanta, who wild-pitched the winning run in Friday night's game) in the eighth. That gave us a one run lead...then Colorado scored two in the bottom of the eighth to retake the lead and won the game 9-8.
Quietly lost in the transaction shuffle was Brett Auerbach being released from Sacramento. Any thoughts on this? Good OPS, great positional versatility (the first four video defensive highlights on his MiLB page are from four different positions), great energy-- seems like he could have been a fan favorite. What do you think is in his baseball future?
I would like your take on this if you have insight into it, but it may be a better topic for when you get Michael Holmes or someone similar back on the podcast.
With the MLB draft coming up, I would love to hear how the Giants manage the draft process to balance the finances and picking the best player available. For example, in the NBA/NFL drafts it is generally just take the best fit or the the best player available. However, in the MLB draft contract demands often play heavily into the process. Say someone like Seth Hernandez falls to the Giants, but he is demanding top 5 money. How does this change the rest of the draft for the Giants? Do they have a list of guys who they think will sign below slot? Do they ask for signing demands as part of the evaluation process? We saw some of this with Dakota Jordan last year and it got me thinking about how they actually manage the process to maximize talent and make sure everybody actually signs.
Thanks for answering my Luci question last week. Makes sense that, in the end of the day, he wasn’t becoming a gold glove LF anyway and he mostly needs to hit really well. Now my follow up is, with Matos, Meckler and Eldridge in Sacramento, and this being his last option year, could a sad end of the road be nearing for Luci? Is it even nearer for Bishop?
It will hurt really bad if this is how both careers as Giants end…
Roger, on the last mailbag you mentioned Tristan Beck and that he'd likely fit in the rotation of a number of other teams. If they were to trade him what sort if return might they get? A rental like O'Hearn or perhaps a longer term backup catcher?
Hi Roger! I really liked the article you shared about how some stats like K% are "stickier" throughout the levels. What are some benchmarks that you personally like to see before a guy earns a promotion?
Piggybacking off this, Carlos Gutierrez has been great to watch in San Jose. What are some aspects of the game you'd like to see him improve upon in order to rise up prospect lists and levels?
In light of the excitement around Eldridge, what is it that separates him from other former top prospects that the Giants had high hopes for? I’m thinking of Chris Shaw and Mac Williamson in particular, both of whom had big power and were call ups to the big league team who for different reasons struggled at the major league level, albeit Mac’s concussion didn’t help matters. Bryce Eldridge seems different than those former prospects. I’d love to hear your take on those differences. Thank you!
Actually I can’t remember if Shaw ever made the leap to the majors, but he definitely had hype around him.
He finally got his "cup of coffee" with the Giants, but it was desultory at best. 82 plate appearances in 2018-19. Slash line: .153/.244/.222/.466. 31 strikeouts (38% of PAs). Defense was "below MLB average" at best. A completely wasted draft pick. He was the second pick in the first round of the 2015 draft.
Making it worse: the first pick was Phil Bickford, who was immediately tagged with the nickname "Jeff Spicoli" because he looked and acted like that dude from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." Then no first round pick in 2016 because we signed a free agent (can't remember who that was).
I was going to ask about Bryce Eldridge but I see that that question has already been covered. Saul switch it up. Do you think Carson Wisenhunt debuts for the Giants this year? I will actually ask a secondary question about Bryce. What this he need to show in the minor leagues and AAA specifically defensively to demonstrate to the front office that he's ready for the call to the big leagues? This is coming from someone who would like to see Eldridge as the Giants every day. DH right now. I think he could drink that much value to the lineup even at his young age, as the Giants continue to be an deep-freeze offensively.
I apologize for the typos. My text-to-speech software was not working correctly but I think you get the gist of my questions.
A second question in case no one else asks it: you have a crystal ball in front of you, when is Eldridge getting to SF?
How would you compare the NCAA stats with the Minor League system?
As in, is it just one step below CPX for skill level or a few steps lower?
Of course, NCAA for what level of college play also matters and complicates my question.
I ranked Dylan Carmouche very high for moving his K-BB% from 14.9% for Tulane to 22.6% for Eugene. I measured his batters as 50% better in A+ over the NCAA.
Perhaps this will be covered in this week’s pod, but the ACL team is heavily, indeed almost entirely international. What do you think next year’s San Jose team will look like/how do you think the Giants have or will balance the playing time of domestic and international players at the lower levels?
I’m sure you’ve mentioned this before and maybe even recently, but I haven’t been as caught up on your work as I’d like to be. Life, ya know? But what would you say is the organizations greatest need heading towards the draft? Based on this systems current state, would you consider going system need over best on the board this year?
I saw that they’re weighing the pros and cons of high school vs college shortstops. With the infield jam at San Jose that will likely have to bleed to Eugene at some point with Jhonny Level coming next and Josuar Gonzalez soon after, would they go another direction, even if the clear cut “best on board” is a shortstop, or even a choice of shortstops?
I’m personally hoping that the best on board is a college pitcher, or even a college catcher. I’d always prefer bat over arm in the first round, but I can see the argument for going pitching heavy this year. I really believe they’ll need to try and trade one of Birdsong, Harrison, or Roupp to get a bat to help for multiple years, and drafting a system changing pitcher (if available) would make that a whole lot easier to swallow.
But… this systems weakest position is easily catcher, and even if Bailey was hitting like an all star, the argument could still be made to take a catcher, if they can even slightly justify one of them as “best on board.”
I have a couple of questions about the OF in Sac. McCray this season in AAA seems to be a bit worse than his last, and esp. his power has dropped off some. Do you have insights in his struggles? Also, has Meckler's defense gotten better this season?
If the offensive rate stats for Meckler and McCray stay at the current level, could Meckler overtake McCray as the first call-up if the big club needs it? Thanks!
Our Giants need another good, young bat in the middle of the lineup. Eldridge ASAP we hope, but we probably need him and another young and ascending player. Our best assets for trade are the young pitchers. I think everyone (including Team Buster) will agree that Birdsong, Harrison and Roupp are untouchable at this point.
Assuming that is true, who are the best candidates as trade pieces from the other MiLB pitchers? The "three Carsons" (Whisenhunt, Seymour, Ragsdale) seem to be at the top of that list. How would you rank them, and who would be the "next level" of starting pitching that could either ascend to SF in the next 2-3 seasons or be viable trade pieces to acquire that middle of the order bat?
Thanks again for all you do, Roger. Your content is well worth the price.
Hi Roger. Thanks as ever for the continued insights. Can you give a little more context for 'development list' and how it is used? Seen Williamson has just been placed there and I think Vaun Brown is too?
Memory Check without looking ... Seems Shaw had a big HR in Colorado?
But it wasn't much more than a Cup of Coffee?
Yep. It was a pinch-hit HR. He hit for Pierce Johnson (the pitcher now with Atlanta, who wild-pitched the winning run in Friday night's game) in the eighth. That gave us a one run lead...then Colorado scored two in the bottom of the eighth to retake the lead and won the game 9-8.