Over the last few weeks of spring training, I
Category Archives: Minors
Dog Days of Spring Training
After the initial excitement of pitchers and catchers reporting, and the surge of enthusiasm after the first few spring training games, baseball settles into 3 weeks of games that become somewhat tedious while fans anxiously await the beginning of real games. The World Baseball Classic has helped break up the monotony, as has some interesting developments in the Tigers camp.
After Gammons blogged about the possibility of Carlos Pena being cut in a financial move, Danny Knobler followed up a day later saying that Pena and Nook Logan just weren’t manager Jim Leyland’s type of players. What remains to be seen is what becomes of players who aren’t Leyland’s type. Does the manager have the final say or does Dave Dombrowski hold the trump card? I’d say when it comes to which members of the 40 man roster head north with the big club (the Nook Logan scenario), Leyland might have more say, but when it comes time to decide who is on the payroll (Pena) Dombrowski’s vote probably carries more weight.
Continue reading Dog Days of Spring Training
Brent Clevlen likes Lakeland
Photo Credit: Roger DeWitt
Brent Clevlen, last year’s Florida State League MVP with Lakeland, has picked up right where he left off last season. He got the start in centerfield today, and homered off of Cliff Lee and doubled off of CC Sabathia. This comes one day after he hit a homer and drew a walk against the Braves.
Clevlen hit 302/387/484 last year as a 21 year old in high A ball. While he figured prominently on various team prospect lists, it didn’t land him on the Baseball America top 100. (Although he just missed as John Manuel revealed in a chat). The main reason being is that 2005 was his second go around in the FSL. After solid seasons in Rookie Ball and with the Whitecaps, Clevlen struggled in 2004.
Playing as a 20 year old in the FSL he hit a meager 224/300/350 and struck out once every 3.3 at-bats. After hitting 12 homers in 2003 at West Michigan, he only managed 6 in Lakeland. It appeared that the Tigers might have another failed draft pick on their hands. Instead of progressing to AA Erie, Clevlen was sent back to Lakeland in 2005.
Clevlen was selected in the 2nd round in 2002 out of high school. After his successful season last year, BA made him the #4 prospect in the organization and as they project him to break into the big leagues they had this to say:
If Clevlen makes consistent contact like he did last season, the next league he’ll repeat is the American.
While Clevlen isn’t a threat to make the team this year, his success so far this Spring Training is encouraging. His progress as he moves to AA will be one of the story lines I’ll be watching most closely in 2006.
Sickels Top 20 Detroit Tiger Prospects
John Sickels has compiled his listing of the Top 20 Detroit Tiger Prospects for 2006. Last year’s list was also headlined by Justin Verlander, but there aren’t that many similarities beyond that. Curtis Granderson, who was number 2 is no longer eligible. Many of the other players have either improved their stock or been pushed off by last year’s draft class. The average grade for last year’s top 20 was a C+, and Sickels offered this commentary:
Oh, boy, what a dismal system.
This year’s list comes in between a B-/C+.
I think Joel Zumaya at a B+ is probably a tad low, and Chris Robinson as a C+ maybe a bit high. Otherwise I pretty much agree with his rankings. Cameron Maybin received a B grade, but with some professional success should see his grade improve. If Jeff Larish, Kevin Whelan, and Clete Thomas continue to build on their impressive debuts they seem poised to move into the B range.
Easing the transition
There’s an interesting article by Jerry Crasnick about the difficult transition for Latin American baseball players. The article mentions the Tiger organization’s processes for helping the players.
The Detroit Tigers have a director of Latin American operations, Manny Crespo, who ensures there’s uniformity of instruction throughout the system. The organization’s young Latin players are drilled on the same cutoff and relay plays that are used at Comerica Park.
Off the field, Laurie Soltman, the Tigers’ coordinator of international player programs, makes sure that young players receive English instruction and helps them with the fine art of navigating supermarket aisles or ordering dinner in a restaurant. The Tigers also help young Latin players with the tax ramifications of their signing bonuses.
“You do the best you can to make the transition as easy as possible,” said Al Avila, Detroit’s assistant general manager. “It doesn’t guarantee that a kid is going to make it, but it gives you a better shot if you help him along.”
While it is great that Detroit is helping with the transtional elements, I’m happy to hear about the uniformity of instruction throughout the system.
Tiger Links
Some Detroit Tiger related links from the last few days that you might have missed:
- Baseball Analysts on the Central: Aaron Gleeman and the Cheat join Rich and Bryan to break down the AL Central. The consensus was that the Tigers are probably the 4th best team in a pretty good division.
Aaron: Right. Detroit doesn’t have any real stars, but I could see them being average or better at every position.
Bryan: Seems to me the Twins and Tigers will be battling for having the third and fourth offenses in the division, but the Twins strength in pitching puts them way ahead.
Cheat: I’d rate the Tigers offense ahead of the Twins, but your point still stands. The difference in pitching is too much to overcome.
Bryan: It seems funny to say that in the AL Central that a good offense and mediocre pitching staff doesn’t have a ton of hope for third. That’s new.
Aaron: Yeah. This Tigers team could have competed for the division title a couple years ago.
- Love for Craig Monroe: Greg Eno is a big fan of Craig Monroe and would like to see him inked to a long term contract.
So DD better stop fiddling around and keep Monroe in a Tigers uniform for years to come. He has the strength to muscle the ball over Comerica Park’s distant walls in left and left-center field. He doesn’t drop the ball with his glove, and can throw it with some accuracy and zip. He is also another rarity among Tigers players of late: he is not baseball stupid.
Now I like Greg as a writer, and I like Craig Monroe, but I can’t agree here. Monroe’s production is fairly typical, not extraordinary. He has two more years of arbitration eligibility and there is no need to sign him to a long term deal. I love his work ethic, his attitude, and I have no desire to see him leave. However, he is probably also one of the more replaceable players on the roster.
- Former Tigers, current Nationals: Jason Beck writes about the former Tigers who find themselves with the Washington Nationals. The contingent includes Robert Fick, Damian Jackson, Mike DiFelice, Andrew Good, George Lombard and Brandon Harper.
- A Rockies fan bashes Detroit: Bad Altitude, a member of the Baseball Toaster family has been preparing Hastily Assembled Previews for various teams. He’s not big on Detroit to say the least:
It’s almost besides the point to try and predict a record or finish for the Tigers in 2006, because for teams with no chance of contending records are looked to for signs of progress. If the Rockies win 75 games this year, that’ll be a nice little accomplishment and pats on the back will be due all ’round. If Detroit wins 75 games in ’06, or 84, or 64, who cares, because it’ll be the exact same story in 2007. And the year after that…and the year after that…. They’re duking it out with Baltimore for the coveted title of Worst Organization in MLB (Kansas City is disqualified as they haven’t been actively trying to field a major league team for some time now). I kind of wish they were in our division.
Now the author qualified it as a hastily assembled preview, and if I tried to put quicly put together several hundred words about a team outside of the Central I would struggle. Still, I’m not impressed with the work here. He criticizes the Tigers for overspending on Rogers (which they probably did), for sticking with the mainstays in the rotation (Bonderman, Robertson, Maroth), and for rushing Verlander and Zumaya. I’m really not sure who he invisions pitching in Detroit. They can’t use their highly touted prospects, they can’t use the average, cheap, homegrown players they have, and they can’t sign free agents.
Dombrowski and the Tigers are certainly open to criticism. The Rogers, Jones, and Ordonez contracts all fall in the category of excessive no matter what your criteria is. However, at least in the case of Rogers and Jones the length of the contracts don’t seem to prohibit anything else (spending, player promotions/development). If you want to call them the worst organization in baseball for the totality of the last 12 years that is fine, and difficult to argue. To base it on the last 2 seasons just doesn’t make sense.
- BA’s Top 50 Okay, so you probably didn’t miss this one. In case you hadn’t heard, 3 Tigers made the top 50. Justin Verlander checked in at 8, followed by Cameron Maybin at 31, and Joel Zumaya at 35. I happen to think that Zumaya is probably ranked a little low, but at the same time I don’t know enough about other teams prospects to really complain to much. In any case, 3 players in the Top 50 is probably pretty good for one of the worst organizations in baseball.
Catch Anyone?
There was a surprising quote from Detroit Tigers assistant GM Al Avila in the Toledo Blade.
“Within the Detroit Tigers organization, catcher is probably our weakest position,” Avila admitted.
Okay, so that wasn’t the suprising part.
“We do have the best catcher in the organization coming to Toledo in Max St. Pierre.
“He’s a year at the most away from being a big-league catcher. I don’t know if he will be a regular, but he will be a regular if he hits. Defensively, he can do it. He can catch and throw, and he plays with a high energy level.”
Max St. Pierre, who will be 26 in April and hasn’t had an OPS over 700 since he was a 20 year old in West Michigan (it was 701 that year). While the fact that he may be the Tigers best catcher in the organization is disheartening, the fact he’s on the brink of the majors is surprising to say the least.
Indicators like this go a long ways towards explaining why the Tigers drafted Chris Robinson in the 3rd round and have invited him to the Major League camp during spring training. Baseball America prefers Robinson to St. Pierre ranking him as the best defensive catcher in the organization.
BA’s Top 10 Tiger Prospects
Baseball America has released their list of the top 10 Tiger prospects and things are looking up:
The Tigers, who entered 2005 slotted 29th in Baseball America
Seth’s Impact Rookies
Seth Stohs has posted a list of the top 20 rookie hitters and pitchers that he expects to make an impact in 2006.
Arms
On the pitcher list, he has Joel Zumaya ranked at number 20, and Justin Verlander ranked at number 10. While those may seem a little low, I think the presence of both pitchers slightly depresses their individual rankings. Either could easily be one of the top handful, but with only one rotation spot it isn’t clear who will have the biggest opportunity for impact.
One that got away
Now unfortunately the Tigers don’t have anyone on the Top 20 hitters list. Even more unfortunate is that there is a former Tiger on the list. Anderson Hernandez, who the Tigers sent to the Mets in exchange for Vance Wilson, checks in at 17. Hernandez didn’t distinguish himself with the bat in 2004 for Erie. However, last year he tore up the Eastern League with Binghamton with a 326/360/426 line before being promoted to AAA. At AAA his power numbers dropped, but he still maintained a .354 OBA. With his offensive surge, and solid glove work he made the Mets top 10 prospect list from Baseball America. He’ll also have a chance to compete for the second base job this year.
Detroit’s Prospects
Bryan Smith at Baseball Analysts has been posting his top 75 prospects list this week. Today Bryan posted 10-25 and two Detroit Tiger prospects made the list. Joel Zumaya came in at 23 and Justin Verlander at 13.
On Zumaya:
Skillset/Future: In the 2004 Futures Game, Jose Capellan made noise with that fantastic fastball, but didn’t show more than 2-3 curveballs in his whole inning. He had fallen in love with his heater, and while it was heavy, it was simply not enough. The Brewers, who acquired Capellan over the winter, were forced into converting him into relief. In the ’05 All-Star contest, Zumaya consistently hit 99 on the gun, but threw his fastball in 11 of his 12 pitches. His curveball, the twelfth pitch he threw, was quite good, but it appears Joel does not trust that or the change up he rarely throws. To avoid a future in relief, and to maximize his potential, Zumaya must gain confidence in his secondary offerings.
On Verlander:
Skillset/Future: On the mound, Verlander offers it all. His 6-5 frame is a fantastic pitcher’s body, and provides the tilt that his great fastball provides. His power curve is also quite possibly the minors best, and was the driving force behind his dominance in the Florida State League. Justin also offers a show-me change up, but given his two-pitch arsenal, he barely needs it. Verlander’s arm tired at the end of the longest season of his life, causing the Tigers to have to put him on the DL. The organization must approach Justin with caution, but once the reins come off, look for the Old Dominion record holder to do some great things.
Even if you disagree with the relative rankings, the fact that the Tigers have two prospects to legitimately get excited about is a pleasant change. The fact that non-Detroit people are enthused is a huge change given the organization’s recent history. Unfortunately, those were the only two Tigers to make the list, showing that the Detroit still needs more depth. A third Tiger, Cameron Maybin was listed as honorable mention.
Detroit Non Roster Invites
Below is the listing of the
Pitchers
Tim Crabtree
Chad Durbin
Lee Gardner
Kevin Hodge
Colby Lewis
Matt Mantei
Hector Mercado
Bobby Seay
Catchers
Brian Peterson
Mike Rabelo
Chris Robinson
Danilo Sanchez
Max St. Pierre
Infielders
Mike Hessman
Kevin Hooper
Josh Phelps
Ramon Santiago
Outfielders
Alexis Gomez
Ryan Ludwick
Reggie Taylor
The list is a mix of familiar faces, and decent gambles. Guys like Bobby Seay and Matt Mantei are both low risk options who have had some success in the past. Mantei’s best season was in 2003 with the Diamondbacks when he had a 2.62 ERA and 29 saves. The best days may have past the 33 year old though as ast year he struggled and walked 24 hitters in 26 innings.
Most interesting among the list is Chris Robinson at catcher. Robinson was the Tigers 3rd Round Pick last year. It appears that Robinson will be the only member of last year’s draft class invited to the big league camp, despite struggling offensively at Oneonta (and in 4 games at West Michigan).
Kenny Baugh Traded
Former Detroit Tiger first round pick Kenny Baugh was traded today to the San Diego Padres. In return they get low A pitcher Ricky Steik. Steik had a 2.40 ERA as a 21 year old in the Midwest League last year. He had 7.95 K/9IP against 3.6 BB/9IP. Steik was a 7th round selection in the 2004 draft.
As for Baugh, I’m kind of surprised to see him traded. I believe he had one option left. If that was the case he could have stayed in Toledo next year. I know he’s not the same pitcher that the Tigers drafted, but he was effective last year. I thought he could have at least earned a shot as a long starter.