JotCast | Eric Longenhagen Prospects Chat

Eric Longenhagen Prospects Chat

Eric A Longenhagen

12:31

Chat chat chat!

dock ellis

12:31

what do you make of rhys hoskins? anything there to get excited about?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:32

It's certainly more effective than it is pretty -- which is why you hear the Paul Goldschmidty nonsense connected to him, they share that -- But still a 1B-only profile and he's hitting in the same park that gave us Matt Rizotti, Darin Ruf, Tagg Bozied....

12:33

He's not a "no" for me, but when you step back and look at the whole profile, it's probably not better than a platoon guy.

I'll get a first-hand look in about a week and a half, though.

12:33

How much will Willson contreras be playing for the cubs, the rest of the season? Catches 2 of every 5 or more?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:34

Glad you asked. My full report on Contreras just went up: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-willson-contreras-scouting-report/

Carlos

12:34

What's your assessment of Jorge Alfaro? Does he still qualify as a guy with top notch tools, frustrating everything else?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:34

Yes and he'll probably be that way forever, even in the big leagues.

Guest

12:34

Quit stealing Jeff's chats

Eric A Longenhagen

12:35

Fine, I'll be chatting weekly on Mondays from now on. Including the upcoming Monday.

Banny

12:35

Thoughts on the Royals draft? Found it pretty underwhelming even given their lack of money. Puckett getting well overslot was a bit confusing, drafting Lee as an OF rather than SP, Jace Vines, etc... Cubs had less money and a later pick and still got Hacth, Hockin, Clark, Miller. Logan Gray seems like a nice pick though.

Eric A Longenhagen

12:36

I thought it was fine. I like Puckett, overslot or not, and I like athletes and Lee is one. Not easy to have a good draft when you don't pick until the 60s, especially when most late first round guys only usually project as 45s.

12:36

How likely is it that the Cubs move Candelario and/or Vogelbach?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:37

Fairly. They're definitely looking to buy this summer and those two don't have anywhere to play on the big club.

Guesto

12:37

What's Harrison Bader's future outlook? 22 yr old tearing up AA with a sexy stat line, but what's the truth about his ability?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:38

Solid tools across the board, nothing plus, corner-only defensive profile. He might be an average everyday player, more likely a half step below that.

Pat

12:38

Do you think Blake Rutherford will sign?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:39

I do, but think it's worth watching. He was almost certainly ticketed for a team drafting later but the Yankees pulled the trigger.

PowerRanger

12:39

When evaluating prospects with moderate power at ages 19-24, what are indicators that they may develop more pop? It seems there is a not unsubstantial amount of guys that hit 8-12 homers in the minors while they're young, and then develop into 20-25 HR threats in the majors. Is there anyway to identify these guys from those who don't have power potential?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:40

Look at the body and the swing. If the swing has natural loft but the body just isn't physically mature enough to punish the baseball yet, it can come later if the body has projection.

Pat

12:41

How many people that got drafted in 2016 would you consider in your top 100 MLB prospects right now?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:43

Prospects at the back of the top 100 are usually ones that have a chance at being an above average regular or a #3/4 starter. Most draft classes have about 12-15 of those guys.

Josh

12:43

Does Josh Hader profile as a front of the rotation type if he can improve his command? Do you think he can achieve this, or do you see him more as a bullpen arm?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:44

I think he can start. Front of the rotation? That's probably a little rich for me. Not impossible, just not something I'm willing to predict.

CarolinaBaseball

12:44

Have you had a chance to see Peter Lambert for Asheville? Dude's numbers look fantastic, and he's only 19 or something. MOR ceiling or better?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:45

I like Lambert. Good body, delivery is fine, really advanced usage of a deep repertoire for someone his age. I saw him back door a changeup to a right-handed hitter in high school.

12:45

Any word on Grant Bodison and Kep Brown? Two of the biggest names in SC coming into the season, but both went undrafted.

Eric A Longenhagen

12:46

Bodison is going to a JUCO. Brown I've never really been on, to be honest, even with that power projection, and I don't know what happened there.

Roger

12:46

Is Jacoby Jones a 1st division SS for DET in 2017?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:46

No. Maybe a bench bat for me. Maybe.

Fired Mike Dee

12:47

What are your thoughts on the Padres draft strategy to spread their bonus pool across 5 picks in the first 3 rounds for guys like Mason Thompson and Reggie Lawson? Would you rather have spent earlier, but not had your pool stretch as far, in an effort to get the best guys early? Ex. Groome at 8, underslots the rest of the way.

Eric A Longenhagen

12:49

I think that acquiring players you otherwise would not have acquired because that player is injured is a viable draft strategy. Not sure I would have comprised such a large portion of my draft class of those kind of players. And fwiw, I heard things didn't unfold quite the way SD would have liked on draft night.

Peter

12:49

Can you tell us a little about Luke Weaver (STL, SP)?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:50

He's really interesting. Throws hard, it moves, the changeup is really good. But the aspects of his delivery that allow for those positives also cannibalize his ability to get on top of his breaking stuff consistently. I'll tweet a pic of my entire AFL scouting report on him later today, it's pretty bizarre.

Reek

12:51

Buying or selling Dom Smith?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:51

Buying.

Zonk

12:51

Dan Vogelbach....are you a believer in him as a starting ML 1B?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:51

Nope.