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Eric Longenhagen Chat
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Eric A Longenhagen
2:17
Hey, everyone. It's been a while since we've chatted. I'll spare you the list of links to things written since then and just remind everyone that fangraphs.com/prospects is where all of it ends up.
Mike
2:17
I know you hate when people compare prospect lists, but I've seen three top 10/30 lists for the Cubs and one Paul Richan was ranked #5 and the other two, he wasn't ranked at all. Is there a wide range of opinions on him?
Eric A Longenhagen
2:19
I don't think there is a wide range of opinions. I'd be surprised if anyone had an eval outside of the #4/5-6th starter range and I think the disparity in rankings comes from how various publications value that type guy, not the eval itself.
The West is Wild
2:19
The Diamondbacks will have a large bonus pool in 2019. Is there any kind of general trend of how teams with similarly large pools have strategized? This situation seems unique to me as their pool is big without having a top 5 pick...
Eric A Longenhagen
2:22
You're kind of at the mercy of the talent structure of the draft class and where other teams with multiple picks select in relation to you. Like Philly had a ton of money in the Moniak draft but the tier of preps they wanted to spend the extra money on was scooped up by teams who had extra picks before their second one. Kansas City just kinda stuck to their board last year and got a bunch of good value college picks, they didn't play games at all.
2:23
There are countless scenarios and variables teams can't control. What is best for ARI to do will be more obvious 4 months from now.
BlueJayMatt
2:23
Jays GM Ross Atkins seems to absolutely love Trent Thornton, he's hyping him whenever he can. Do you share this view of Thornton? Where do you see his value and ceiling?
Eric A Longenhagen
In short, I like him, think he's a solid contributor on a good staff but not a star.
an amateur Amateur Scout
2:25
Do you think there is any chance Yu Chang becomes the Indians everyday 3B in 2019?
Eric A Longenhagen
2:25
Yes, I think he's a 50 there
Justin
2:26
I’m curious as to how the industry feels about how the White Sox rebuild is going. Personally, I like some of the talent they have but something still feels behind what the industry is doing, but I can’t put my finger on what.
Eric A Longenhagen
2:28
Other than a few individuals (Adolfo, Robert, Tatis, I like Mieses but not as much as any of those guys) they haven't had depth coming from Latin America. Also nobody they've acquired has completely ceiling'd.
Idea
2:28
would it be possible to get a column that lists a player's Rule 5 eligibility on THE BOARD?
Eric A Longenhagen
2:30
We'd eventually like to have the date a player is eligible or if they've been 40-manned... that kind of stuff. But there are so many weird corner cases for Rule 5 eligibility and it would need to be maintained manually to some degree and I'm not sure that's feasible. It's def a thing we've thought about and would like to do.
Bret
2:31
There have been some rumblings that Carter Kieboom could be in the mix for the Nationals 2B job this year. Do you see him as being able to produce in MLB this year?
Eric A Longenhagen
2:31
He wouldn't be fully formed, but yeah I could see him hitting in the first half at Double-A then getting called up and being okay.
Aaron
2:31
Why the hell would the Reds want Kluber?
Eric A Longenhagen
2:32
He's good, they need pitching and have some upper level overflow of position players. Like, I like Shed Long but where does that guy play for the Reds? He's exactly the kind of piece they should think about flipping for pitching.
David
2:33
Pick a lefty to jump from the fringes to the middle of the Padres' deep system: Osvaldo Hernandez, Joey Cantillo, Ramon Perez, or other.
Eric A Longenhagen
2:33
Nick Margevicius
Mark
2:34
I’m wondering about a pitchers height in scouting evaluations. With the newer emphasis on spin rate up in the zone, does a pitchers height matter less?
Eric A Longenhagen
2:35
No but it matters in a different way.
I am the Walrus
2:37
If Brewers SS Arcia was still a prospect would he be in the top 100? Top 50? or out?
Eric A Longenhagen
2:38
He might sneak on as a 50 FV, of not I'd probably 45 him.
The Final Boss
2:38
Does Nick Solak have any kind of realistic path to the rays or does the emergence of Wendle bury him?
Eric A Longenhagen
2:39
I think positional fluidity is a Rays priority and that Solak has seen time in the OF because of this.
BOARD MAN
2:40
Can we get a column on the board with your writeup on the player? It's still nice to go to the writeup for each team to get a grasp of their org as a whole, but when comparing multiple players on different teams it would be much easier to have the write-ups right there on THE BOARD!
Eric A Longenhagen
2:40
I anticipate adding those after all the articles are up but it would defeat the purpose of those in the interim.
Quincy
2:41
General consensus among Indians' fans is that the Tribe's system is very strong in the Lower-A levels and fairly weak at the top. Does this agree with your own assessment?
Eric A Longenhagen
2:41
If by 'up top' you mean at like Double and Triple A, then yeah.  Their teenage group is great.
Chris is trash
2:41
How bad are the ‘Rays will fix Yandy’s launch angle’ takes and mock me for believing in it.
Eric A Longenhagen
2:42
It's possible but it isn't like Cleveland didn't know it was an issue, you know? He might be a guy who just can't make that adjustment.
Ben
2:42
With the new deal with Cuba, who are the top Cuban players on MLB teams’ radars and which teams will initially be most active in the Cuban-player market?
Eric A Longenhagen
2:43
Ones who don't mind paying the premium on top of the kid's bonus. Look at the teams who have done well in Mexico for guidance. LA, CHC.
Hamboy
2:43
Thoughts on PHI's Cole Irvin? He isn't at the top of most prospects lists and I get he isn't a flashy pitcher but his numbers across a full season of AAA seem pretty good. Did he figure something out in 2018 or is it a SSS mirage? Could he crack a big league rotation as a 3-4?
Eric A Longenhagen
2:44
Pitchability lefty with plus braking ball command. backend/spot starter for me.
Tom
2:44
The International Board has those players available for July 2 signings, with the top guys receiving 45 grades (or 45+).  With the cuba situation, if we did a board of rookie eligble players, are just a lot of 40 prospects in Cuba, or anyone else who may be 45, 50, 55 worthy?
Eric A Longenhagen
2:46
Talent in Cuba is down right now because all the players in their early 20s and teens left in recent years. There will be more 16/17 year olds every year, but now the new deal is going to create some gap between now and when they sign. Cuba probably wants Yoelkis Cespedes to play Series Nacional for a while. I bet they'd have wanted Lazarito to play there for a while. So it may be a bit before Cuban talent flows stateside.
Jimminy
2:48
Kiley posted this on his chat but I want to ask you as well: Kiley seems like a libertarian and you seem like a socialist. Does this strain your relationship?
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