6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog: Late Stuff From BPro

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Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Late Stuff From BPro

Chintsy bullet points from stuff I intended to highlight earlier but forgot to from Baseball Prospectus:

The California League inflates stats -- what a surprise -- over more normal leagues, and for some reason, Kevin Goldstein elects to use the Angels' Low-A affiliate Midwest League as a baseline to illustrate the point:
While the Angels system is unquestionably loaded with talent, that talent was not at Cedar Rapids last year, so don't expect another Brandon Wood/Howie Kendrick duo raking at the top of the lineup. Outfielder Andrew Toussaint tied for third in the Midwest League with 21 home runs and is an interesting sleeper with some skills. More intriguing is shortstop Sean Rodriguez. A 2003 third-round pick, Rodriguez struggled at Cedar Rapids in 2004, but rebounded to an eye-popping .338/.486/.569 when sent down to the Pioneer League. Returning to the Kernels in 2005, Rodriguez hit just .250, but his secondary numbers were outstanding as he drew 78 walks (.371 OBP), slugged 46 extra-base hits including 14 home runs (.422 slugging) and stole 27 bases. With just standard progression, 20 home runs and an .850 OPS could better open some eyes to Rodriguez' all-around game.
I seem to recall the Chronicler having nice things to say about Rodriguez.
A Dirtbags-related incident in Kevin Goldstein's spring training notebook:
Thought to go as high as No. 3 in last year's draft, observers in Arizona are unanimous in thinking that Colorado got a steal in shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who fell to the Rockies at No. 7. Though he went just 2-for-11 in big league camp, Tulowitzki made several outstanding defensive plays and left the team feeling he could arrive in the big leagues sooner than initially expected. Constantly compared to Athletics shortstop Bobby Crosby (both are big, physical shortstops who starred at Long Beach State), one American League scout thinks the comparison is more than one of convenience. "When you hear guys get comped [compared to other players], it's usually pretty shaky for me," said the scout. "But physically and tools-wise, he's the spitting image of Crosby. You put that kind of player in Coors Field, and you're talking 30-35 home runs." Tulowitzki will begin the year at Double-A Tulsa, where he will be paired with third baseman Ian Stewart in what may be the best left side of the infield in the minor leagues. Stewart has been the talk of of the Rockies camp, going 15-for-35 (.429) with four doubles and five home runs.
Here's a bit about a former Dodger, Reggie Abercrombie:
The biggest surprise for the Marlins this spring has been Reggie Abercrombie, an annual disappointment for the Dodgers and Diamondbacks in the past, despite pure athleticism that ranks with anyone in the game. In 38 at-bats, Abercrombie has hit .421 with a .711 slugging percentage, but the problems (to put it lightly) remain in the plate discipline department with 11 strikeouts and just 1 walk. Nonetheless, he's been put right in the mix for the center field job, as neither Eric Reed or Chris Aguila have been able to establish themselves, and talks with the Devil Rays concerning a trade for Joey Gathright have gone backwards.
Abercrombie has yet to get past AA, and in fact has repeated the level three times. A 1999 draftee, he fits into the pre-Logan White mold of lousy farm products who never panned out.
The Oakland A's THR is up, and as Tom Gorman and Will Carroll put it, they have backups on their backups. This won't be a team hurting for depth at any position; despite the apparent whoops of joy from some quarters about Oakland picking up "innings-eater" Esteban Loaiza, it's not like the club is counting on him for anything other than fifth starter duties. I don't think it's a club to go all the way, but they do have a good shot at the division.