JotCast | Kiley McDaniel Chat

Kiley McDaniel Chat - 9/26/19

Prev Page View Full Chat

Kiley McDaniel

1:39

among the preps, SS Bryce Elbin, LHP Ryan Lynch, C Dalton Back would be the prep guys for us, in that order

Daniel

1:40

Which teams do you think are most likely to trade from prospect depth this winter for a big name?

Kiley McDaniel

1:40

San Diego, White Sox and Cincinnati all make sense

Oklahomabrave

1:40

“I could see could see them move a few young pitchers in the right deal” I.E. Waters and Pache likely stay off limits?

Kiley McDaniel

1:40

They would be the least likely to be traded, yes

mamsk

1:41

hasn't the shine worn off on a lot of the braves' arms in the upper minors?

Kiley McDaniel

1:41

i would agree but they're still young with lots of control and loud stuff and generally good AAA numbers. Those guys are still worth a lot

Brendon

1:41

Who would you guess would be the surprise number 1 2020 draft pick if you couldn't pick any of the current 50 FVs?

Kiley McDaniel

1:42

The prep OF just behind those guys (Austin Hendrick, Zac Veen and Robert Hassell) are the next most likely candidates

Bryan

1:43

Post-post-post-hype prospect question: Jabari Blash hit 33 HRs and had the 4th best OPS in the Japanese Pacific league this year. Think he can get an MLB deal and/or be an MLB contributor in 2020?

Kiley McDaniel

1:44

He was this sort of guy in AAA/MLB recently. The guys that come back over go as washed out guys, go there for a few years and change, then come back as a better player. There's no real evidence I'm aware of that Blash has changed at all, he's just facing easier pitching, which was his issue over here, because he punished AAA.

1:44

What position do you see Oneil Cruz landing at, and do you have a good ML comp for him?

Kiley McDaniel

1:45

Was just talking to someone on the phone that saw him recently. Said he looked like an octopus at SS ("he has 50 range just due to his arms") and either will blow up physically and be like Sano 1B/DH (unlikely given his build) or go more the Kris Bryant/Cody Bellinger route and be 3B/CF/RF area (probably the right answer)

Brian

1:45

Early returns on Vlad, Jr.'s defense were very poor (-3 DRS, -17.4 UZR/150). He said he's going to work out more and work on the defense, but do you foresee him sticking at 3B for even another full season?

Kiley McDaniel

1:46

We always thought he'd end up at 1B, it was just a question of if it happens at age 22 or age 28, which will mostly be a function of his size/quickness.

Bruce

1:46

When a prospect gets traded mid-season, do you put less stock in the numbers he posts after the trade? For example, Taylor Trammell saw a slight decline in his batting stats after the trade to SD, but it seems like a lot of that could just be trying to adjust to a new league, new teammates, new coaching philosophy, etc.

Kiley McDaniel

1:47

Also, nobody really looks at minor league 1st/2nd half splits unless they're stark and/or there's a narrative. But yes, you generally discount these even more.

BarryBondsJuicedForOurSins

1:47

Piggybacking on the O'Neil Cruz question: he's got 8 home runs this year but a 70/80 power grade. Is his BP just outrageous or something?

Kiley McDaniel

1:47

Yes. He's a perfect example of why we separate raw power and game power.

1:48

Steven Moya is basically what happens when a huge dude has 80 raw and just wants to hit bombs https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=11854&position=OF

so Cruz likely doesn't hit 40 HR bc his arms are so long he'll have to shorten up some to make enough contact to be a big leaguer

1:50

I remember seeing Gary Sanchez in Low-A and seeing him take slowpitch softball home run derby swings at the end of BP and hitting it off the top of the batter's eye, basically 70 raw at age 18, but he didn't hit them there in BP with a normal swing so it was raw power that wasn't usable. You could argue he's at 70 game power now.

Champdo

1:50

Do you think the Tigers should go with Martin or Tork?

Kiley McDaniel

1:51

I would tend to lean Martin, both because I prefer that type and when building a team he gives you lots of options and margin for error. Eric and I have both seen Torkelson a ton, but Martin playing SS will be new and that plus how he comes out of the gate hitting could make Martin the 1-1 favorite a couple weeks into the season

Joe H

1:51

I asked last week about about a glossary for all the various Baseball Operations titles. You said funny I asked. Is that already in the works?

Kiley McDaniel

1:51

It is. More on that in the coming weeks

Jason

1:52

I don't think he gets a shot with the Rays to do so outside of injuries, but do you think Vidal Brujan could make it work at SS? He hasn't gotten a chance yet, but same question for CF. I've seen some question his arm strength in CF, but you guys have him at a 55 grade arm on THE BOARD, which I would think should work fine out there. Also hate to ask a 2nd question, so if you answer, you can be very brief if you want, but do you think utility training/ playing someone at multiple positions like that hurts a player's performance, whether with the bat or on defense?

Kiley McDaniel

1:52

He could, unclear at what quality since he hasn't done it in awhile, but the tools are there

It can hurt given limited development time, but in an ideal situation, a guy with 80 makeup wouldn't have a problem with it

Royce

1:54

The Reds got a lot of criticism when they had a policy requiring their minor league hitters to take pitches until they had a first strike, but Mike Trout recently described using a similar approach when he was developing in the minors. Do you have any thoughts on this kind of approach to hitter development?

Kiley McDaniel

1:56

I don't like one size fits all development. That can be perfect for some and ruinous for others. Why be so lazy as to assume it's good for everyone? Just treat everyone differently. You're already giving the prospects more attention so why not continue down the road of individuality. It's often academic-style thought or office-only people looking at studies and coming up with these ideas while the field people roll their eyes bc they know how/why it's not going to work in some instances. One clear drawback to what often happens with management consulting approaches to running a team by minimizing risk with one crazy trick

Casey Judson

1:56

First time caller. Have you seen Jordy Adams play. Do ypou think he profiles as a centerfielder who can hit some, like an Austin Jackson or Harrison Bader or somebody? Ort, do you think that he has a good possibility of being more? Your thoughts on him.

Kiley McDaniel

1:57

The upside exists to be Byron Buxton. He's an 80 athlete, 80 runner, chance to 20+ homers, it's just very limited baseball reps so far. But his year was encouraging given that reality.

Okay it's time to dip out for another call, thanks for coming out

Connecting…

Your current subscriptions

None

E-mail Address	Chat Owner	Status	Remove

Enter your email address to be notified when Kiley McDaniel hosts a chat