1/18/12

Baseball: Trevor Bauer, Matt Moore, Joe Panik, Jorge Posada



Trevor Bauer, D-backs: Bauer spent most of his college career in Gerrit Cole's shadow, but he's ahead of his UCLA teammate on this list and should get to the big leagues faster. He made it to Double-A in his first summer, and there was even some talk of him getting a September callup, though cooler heads prevailed. Using an unorthodox delivery and conditioning methods (he's a big proponent of long-tossing), the somewhat undersized right-hander elicits comparisons to Tim Lincecum. As interesting as that all is, his stuff is even more exciting. He'll throw as many as five pitches, grading out from average to plus across the board. He should get a very long look in Spring Training and will be a part of the D-backs' rotation for years to come. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120112&content_id=26330142&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb&tcid=tw_article_26330142

Matt Moore, Rays: It's always a shame when a young player with a ton of talent reaches the big leagues and struggles with the bright lights of the highest level. All Moore did was pick up his first Major League victory at Yankee Stadium in September, then toss seven shutout innings to beat the Rangers in the American League Division Series. That was after he struck out 200 batters in the Minors for a second season running. No wonder the Rays locked him up with a long-term deal this past offseason. A great scouting find in 2007, Moore has evolved from a thrower to a complete pitcher with three above-average-to-plus pitches. He has nothing more to prove in the Minors and it will be interesting to see if he can break through and into the Rays' young rotation in what will be his first big league camp this spring. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120113&content_id=26339048&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb&tcid=tw_article_26339048

SS Joe Panik–Panik was viewed as a reach as the 29th overall pick in the draft, but he’s already improved his stock tremendously after hitting .341/.401/.467 in the Northwest League and showing well in the AFL. At the same, he projects more as a solid regular than a star, and it’s tough for me to rank a guy with that sort of B/B+-grade upside in the top 100 when he has no full-season experience. A nice credit to the Giants’ scouting staff, regardless of where I place him. http://seedlingstostars.com/2012/01/18/top-100-prospect-snubs-nl-west/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

A career .273 hitter, Jorge Posada racked up 275 home runs, a .374 on-base percentage, a .474 slugging percentage, and a respectable .848 OPS. Posada collected 936 walks which is good enough for 15th place among active players and swatted 379 doubles. Yet, Posada also managed to strike out 1,453 times (58th most all-time and 13th most among active players). The 40-year-old catcher’s Wins Above Replacement (WAR) stands at 44.7, which means he has consistently made himself an asset to the Yankee starting lineup. Among active players, Posada ranks 27th in Runs Created (RC) with 1,100. Defensively, he provided a career 7.49 Range Factor per 9 innings (RF/9 is a statistic used to measure how many outs a player is involved with, thus allowing a more comprehensive evaluation of one’s defensive play), which ranks 24th all-time among catchers. Also don’t forget Posada’s 2007 season, he remains the only catcher in history to hit at least .330 with 20 homers and 90 RBI. http://baseballreflections.com/2012/01/16/a-retrospective-on-the-career-of-jorge-posada/

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