Ranking season came all at once, and now we are in a little break before the season starts. I also find myself traveling this week, so it is a perfect time for a mailbag. I am going to try setting this up as a regular feature, but for now this is going to be more irregular. Feel free to ask your questions here in the comments or on Twitter. I will try to get to everything. Priority will be given to baseball related questions, but I will answer non-baseball questions too, I already have a beer related question in the queue.
Hey Matt, any idea on the Phillies outlook will be on this years amature draft? College or high school more?
Who do you think the phillies should go for with their first pick,
Can you do a long form analysis of J-Roll vs. Crawford potential in all five areas? Thanks. Take your time. Best Phillies website and you did it in one month. Congratulations.
Matt…what has intrigued me over the years concerning “BB” rates, is how they are a measure of the future projection of a minor leaguer in advancement.
However, the Latin American (LA) born players are typically lower then North American (NA) born players.
We know why…its ingrained in them, and as free-swingers, sayings like ‘no one walks off the island’.
Nevertheless, is there a metric or formula you can come up with that could comp LA players vs NA players BB rates and their future level of MLB success?
For example….something like a LA’s player 6% BB rate equates to the success of a NA’s BB rate of 12%?
It just seems when comparing BB rates of LA vs NA players its like apples and oranges.
I realize this might be dicey question since you may know some people personally, but do you have any thoughts on which of the many annual prospect books you’d recommend? Failing a recommendation, could you offer a comparison of the strengths and weaknesses?
Who are some international players we should be keeping an eye on? Is this offseason the climax of the Cuban invasion or is just beginning? If the Phils aren’t going to go all-in on Yoan Moncada as our baseball savior, as it appears they aren’t, can I at least dream on the Shohei Otani posting in 2021? (Kidding … kind of)
a healthy Cliff Lee nets us what in return?
1. Who do the top-3 prospects compare to? I know this is a lazy way to view a prospect, but it helps people not intimately familiar with them.
2. Is there a chance that Franco could reach ‘star’ status with his current arm-bar swing and overly aggressive approach?
Where is Biddle’s ceiling/floor in comparison to Lively, Eflin, and Windle?
Sounds like you have some questions about Odubel Herrera’s hit tool beside the lack of power … can you say more? Looking at his 2014 and winter league stats (where he even showed some power), we wanna think we found a diamond in the rough.
I’m looking forward to the 2015 international signing period and the next round of Cubans. Will the Phillies bust through their international allocation in 2015? Are they already linked (verbal commitment) to some of the top 2015 international talents? Also what is the commish going to do with the quite huge slush fund he is going to have from the penalties for exceeding the international allocations, after some team puts ~$30 mill into the fund for signing Moncada? Apparently the fund is the commissioners to do with as he chooses in the international arena, including prep for a draft.
What’re your thoughts on Yoel Mecias??? Some guys have him as a top 5 prospect in the Phils organization, some don’t even have him in their top 20. Keep up the great work.
Who do you think is the best national writer about scouting, and why do you think so? Thanks.