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James
2:47
Angels have a lot of good young arms coming up. Thoughts on Jose Soriano? He has grown 4 inches and added 40 lb since the Angels signed him in 2016 as a 16 yo.
Eric A Longenhagen
2:49
Saw him yesterday, was 92-94 exclusively from the stretch during an unscheduled instructional league intrasquad. Have seen him up to 97, flash a plus curveball. Have also seen him really struggle to locate. I really like him, but he has shortcomings you'd expect for a teenage prospect of this type.
Bill
2:49
Is Dominic Smith still a potential plus regular?
Eric A Longenhagen
2:50
I've always just had a 50 on him, which I think is more than the Mets think he is. It sure looks that way on the outside, anyway.
James
2:50
Why wouldn't the Angels throw Canning and Suarez this year to get their feet wet? Season is over and there is no real risk (other than their confidence) and both are still going to pitch in fall leagues. Is it a service time thing?
Eric A Longenhagen
2:50
It's probably partially a service time thing and also an innings thing (especially for Canning, who was worked really hard at UCLA)
Vinbaka
2:51
What's your current grade on Tapia? Had a nice season in AAA.
Eric A Longenhagen
2:51
50
Nate
2:51
Any other Indians prospects in Arizona that have popped into the 35FV since the mid season update? It seems like there have been a lot of surprises in the lower levels of their system this year
Eric A Longenhagen
2:53
I think the guys I've got on there now are probably it? We're gonna move like 6-10 players this week (just players we've seen the last few weeks and feel strongly about and also as a way of setting some checkpoints as we line players up later in the offseason. One of the guys I'll be moving is Brayan Rocchio.
Logan
2:53
There have been multiple articles in the past indicating hitters tend to be worth more in terms of surplus value than pitchers when in the same FV or ranking tier (at least for 50FV and above). That doesn’t seem to be reflected in your current rankings. Is that because you have issues with the research, or because you believe your valuation of pitching prospects will be more selective and flatten the values out going forward?
Eric A Longenhagen
2:54
I guess I'd disagree that it isn't reflected in the rankings and ask you to support that with something. If anything I wonder if we sometimes round down on pitchers too much.
CubbieBlues
2:54
Hey Eric, thanks for chatting. Should we read anything into the aggressive promotions of Keegan Thompson? Any chance he gets an up arrow on the BOARD sometime soon?
Eric A Longenhagen
2:55
I think you can take it as a sign that he's moving past some of the other college arms from his draft class in that org.
Billy Beane
2:55
Thanks for the chat, Eric. Do you have any strong feelings about Willians Astudillo? It seems like basically everyone who isn't a scout loves him because he is so strange and so fun, but I don't know that I've actually read a proper scouting report on him (apologies ifone exists that I simply missed).
Eric A Longenhagen
2:59
Of course I love Astudillo and it's great that he's up and others get to revel in such a bizarre skillset and physical package. Weird players are scattered throughout the minors and it's cool when one comes up and becomes a cult sensation like this.
3:00
As for you second question, he's probably been an Honorable Mention for me at some point, just because his peripherals have been so nuts.
Matt
3:00
Any thoughts on the Phillies firing all their minor league hitting instructors?  What are your current thoughts on their system?  Seems like with hoskins/crawford/kingery/williams/alfaro all graduated they won't have any position players coming for quite some time
Eric A Longenhagen
3:03
I still like the system and think the timing of the moves makes sense given that the player you're citing are now finished with the developmental program and the next wave of really interesting talent is mostly in A-ball or below and will have multiple years under the new system. As far as position players coming up soon, it'll be more of a trickle than a deluge like the last two years but Haseley is almost there, Moniak's second half could see him in Double-A next year, any of the talented MIFs could take off at any time.
Dave in London
3:04
Does Derek Fisher fit into Houston's plans next year, or is he just trade bait/4-AAA fill-in going forward?
Eric A Longenhagen
3:07
Teams have asked for FIsher in trades and Houston has said no, which could mean they think he's a long term piece or just that they preferred him to Teoscar and Laureano as a depth option in the moment.
Bernie
3:08
General question on THE BOARD - it looks like a huge majority of the prospects listed are either medium or high variance players. Why that approach versus raising the cutoffs for low-medium-high, then saying "all prospects are risky, attrition is very likely, these variance rankings are relative to the very risky pool of players we have"?
Eric A Longenhagen
3:12
Great question. Part of it is we'd like 'variance' to mean more than 'risk', otherwise we'd have just called it 'risk'. Part of what we incorporate into that is the chances that a guy really takes off. And if we're trying to do that we can't just make an adjustment to the way we view the whole population because, and I think this is reasonable, some of these players don't have the kind of physical talent to do that. It's not a perfect system and we're currently arguing about adding projected roles or some other means of communicating this thing that perhaps 'variance' doesn't communicate well enough.
Logan
3:12
How much will Bobby Witt’s age hurt him in the draft?
Eric A Longenhagen
3:13
Meh, I think age is more a way to separate the talents toward the middle of the pack than up top. If anything hurts him it's concern about the hit tool, though I guess his age kind of adds fuel to that particular fire.
John
3:14
If julio rodriguez of the mariners was in this years draft where would he have gone? Potential star?
Eric A Longenhagen
3:14
Mid to late round 1? Just looking at our 2018 draft board he'd probably slot behind the preps we think stay up the middle, so somewhere near Groshans
Mike
3:14
Seems like there's at least some chance that Daz Cameron, Willi Castro, Isaac Paredes and Jake Rogers are getting meaningful MLB at bats next year. How many of those guys would you view as having a legit chance of being legit regulars for the Tigers moving forward?
Eric A Longenhagen
3:15
All of them
Nate
3:16
Can Royce Lewis be the number 1 prospect a year from now?
Eric A Longenhagen
3:16
Sure, I could see that.
Billy E
3:17
Trent Deveaux was horrible in AZL this year, while D'Shawn Knowles was great, reaching Orem and looking like he'll debut in A ball next year at 18 years old. Worried about Deveaux, and has Knowles passed him?
Eric A Longenhagen
3:20
I'm not sure what to make of Deveaux after a season of constant mechanical tweaks, including one in the middle of yesterday's game. This is unusual. I don't know if it's bad, but he has played badly. Knowles is good.
James
3:21
Angels drafted a lot of pitchers in 2018 and many didn't throw during the minor league season, but they are all throwing in the instructional league. Is this common for teams to do? Is it a more controlled setting?
Eric A Longenhagen
3:22
Pretty common to have some kind of limitation to the workload, but not always the entire rest of the summer.
Roger
3:22
What position will Nick Senzel end up playing long-term?
Eric A Longenhagen
3:23
He's listed on the Reds instructional league roster as an OF, so perhaps it's that. Think he's good at 3B, though.
James
3:23
Could Forrest Whitley make the opening day roster?
Eric A Longenhagen
3:24
Barring injury i'll guess no
Quentin
3:24
How excited are you for a second AFL with Monte Harrison? Will you have higher expectations/hopes for him?
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