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Major League team.. ugh.. How bout those minor leaguers!
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| Major League team.. ugh.. How bout those minor leaguers! |
| 07.03.05 (4:58 pm) [edit] |
The Royals draft was analyzed by many royals fans as Alex Gordon and.. well at least we got Gordon. Many of the royals subsequent picks(especially a speedster named Dickerson from the west coast) were viewed as budget selections. Anticipating a 3.5-4 million pricetag on Gordon, the royals reached with some of their selections in order to sign players below slot money. I was skeptical of many of the selections but I had faith in guys like Danny Rowland, a highly regarded talent evaluator we brought over from the Angels.
2nd round pick: Jeff Bianchi. Pennsylvania SS who signed to go to blech.. N.C. State. Or Moo U as its known by Chapel Hill fans. After some of Chris Lubanski's struggles I didn't think the Royals would tab another PA prep with a high draft pick but I was wrong. So far in the Arizona Rookie League kudos goes to the royals scouts.
AVG. .531
5 BB
32 AB
SLG. 1.000
He hit his fourth homerun tonight. As offensively minded as the ARL is, most players don't hit a lot of gopherballs there due to the switch from aluminum to wood. Bianchi looks like a steal. A true franchise SS.
3rd Round Pick: Chris Nicoll, Nicoll is an undervalued small college starter with good peripherals. Many moneyball draft strategists like him. Unfortunately he has yet to sign. But with his heavy college workload, the Royals are in no rush to get him in uniform.
4th round: Joe Dickerson, CF, Cali Prep. This was a headscratcher. The Royals have done this before, et al. Brian McFall, who now looks like a bust. Dickerson is supposedly a speed demon with questionable pop. So far in Arizona
4 BB against 33 AB
Hitting .394
Slugging .667 with a boat load of triples
The 'sample size warning' plate discipline is nice to see. I was worried we'd have Juan Pierre at best on our hands. So far Dickerson has to be considered a success even as a reach.
5th rounder Shawn Hayes: College SS. Hayes is struggling mightily with a near .600 OPS at Idaho Falls. It is still early, and he's drawn some walks, but college players should mash the Pioneer League.. Early Flag.
6th rounder Ryan Dipietro.. I'll admit it.. Hockey's on strike and when I saw this pick I still thought.. Man he's been a bust in the net for the Isles. Dipietro has 13 K's in his first 11 IP in the hitters haven of Idaho Falls. As a small college NorthEast guy he's allowed to start in Rookie Ball. So far.. so good.
Jeff Howell has gotten off to a hot start at Idaho Falls, possibly a catcher who can hit.. What a novel idea.
David Henninger, a 6'8" tower has pitched lights out in the Pioneer League..
Hayden Penn.. the Michigan righty, has gotten off to a nice start at Idaho Falls also
The early returns on this draft are fairly positive. A lot of these guys need to be advanced, but its good to see early success. Bianchi looks scary good and I have no illusions about Gordon's abilities once he signs.
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posted by: matt (reply)
post date: 07.04.05 (10:35 am)
I think you mean Michael Penn, I believe Hayden Penn is with the Orioles.
posted by: Neil (reply)
post date: 07.07.05 (8:12 am)
This analysis is horrible. While it might even be acceptable to judge what type of player one is through his statistics (e.g. dickerson having speed because of his triples) - it is crime against sabermetrics to try to project players in the low minors based on not only statistics but also a small sample of them!
How can you call Bianchi a "true franchise SS" based on 32 at-bats? Or how can you red flag Shawn Hayes just because hasn't performed in less than 50 ABs. Do I need to break out a statistics book and open up to standard deviation?
Not only do statistics not tell the entire story in major-league ball, but when faux-statheads use ideas accepted ONLY on the major-league level (i.e. no clutch hitting, DIPS, walk rates translating year-to-year) and apply it to the minors, they come up with faulty analysis with no base.
This entry was disappointing, and I'm afraid that you're going along too much with the stathead groupthink, disregarding key fundamentals of statistics. That being said, good to see you posting again.
posted by: Pat (reply)
post date: 07.08.05 (10:04 am)
Reply to: Neil
You're killing me Neil. Thanks Matt, sorry.. Michael Penn.
How many times did I use the samples size warning in the post Neil? It's not meant to be analytical, its just looking at some early returns. On Bianchi I'm going with instinct. They reached on him for a reason and it wasn't just about money.
posted by: newbie (reply)
post date: 07.10.05 (4:03 pm)
Reply to: Pat
I'm not entirely convinced we didn't draft Bianchi because he was affordable and would sign quickly for below-slot money. Regardless, very very few conclusions about a player's major league potential can be reached based on a few at-bats in low-level ball without any scouting to go on.
posted by: Neil (reply)
post date: 07.10.05 (4:05 pm)
Reply to: Pat
That last post was me... I guess Bianchi might be someone to keep an eye on though; especially he shows some plate discipline. And sorry for being rough on the non-analysis.
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