The Polska Pandas came out of the gate with a very strong 2007 prospect draft that included MLB All-Stars Dustin Pedroia, Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds. It also included Kevin Kouzmanoff and Glen Perkins who are solid MLB players and Alex Gordon who even though he was the Pandas first pick has yet to reach his lofty potential. This draft also famously included Kei Igawa in the 3rd round. The Pandas strategy in that draft looked to be to draft players that would be able to help them sooner rather than later. Even though they were very successful with that strategy they have flip flopped it since. In 2008 and 2009 the Pandas went for younger players who might not be able to help them for three or four years down the road.
This strategy has paid off in a big way in one instance, Jesus Montero. Montero has worked his way into being one of the best prospects in all of baseball and a highly coveted commodity for the Pandas organization. In 2010 the Baseball Jesus will be playing for the AAA Rancho Cucamongo Lucas Dogs, and he could be looking to graduate to the bigs by the start of 2011. Other than Montero and Jarrod Parker whom the Pandas recently received in a trade from the Bombers they Pandas system really lacks depth. This depth issue should be taken care of as the Pandas will be picking 5 times in the first two rounds of this year’s prospect draft. As a farm system that we already have ranked number 4 in the NKFBL look for big things to come during the March 21st draft. With some successful pics the Pandas could catapult themselves to the number one spot on the board.
Top 5 Prospects:
1. Jesus Montero C NYY
2. Jarrod Parker SP ARI
3. Phillippe Aumont SP PHI
4. Juan Duran OF CIN
5. Jordan Walden RP ANA
Top 5 Graduated Prospects:
1. Justin Upton 2007 Rd 2
2. Dustin Pedroia 2007 Rd 7
3. Mark Reynolds 2007 Rd 13
4. Jeff Niemann 2007 Rd 3 (Trade)
5. Alex Gordon 2007 Rd 1
Aren't my bottom three better than his?
ReplyDeleteI agree Montero and Parker are a nice 1-2 up top, but are they better than Alvarez-Feliz?
I don't want to seem like a whiny bitch, but...well...I guess I'm a whiny bitch.
How are we grading these prospects? If Big League impact in 2010 is part of the equation, doesn't Feliz put my squad at #4? Parker is coming off major surgery, and you acknowledged that Montero is looking at 2011. None of the other three are close, while Francisco has already played in the bigs (last Sept.) and McGee could be a call-up if a starter goes down, or make an impact in the pen late in the season. I don't know. Just my thoughts. JRad's got a nice li'l group, but I don't think they're better than mine. I will welcome further explanation that proves me wrong, so feel free.
yeah it's not based on 2010 MLB impact, it's based on long term impact of the total players in the system. To rank the systems 1-12 we each put in a list of what we ranked them 1-12 and took the composite, some had you at 4 and some had you at 5 but your composite was lower than jrads so you were 5 and he was 4. I can see your point and its a valid argument of Montero/Parker vs Feliz/Alvarez and I could definitely make an argument for your side but I think that long term Jrad's duo will have more of an impact.
ReplyDeletefair enough.
ReplyDeleteI would argue Alvarez has more value since Montero is expected to stick at catcher. Some might argue that might make him more valuable, but I disagree, b/c it takes more toll on them physically, and they often need days off, which in a head-to-head league is killer when you need those sunday points. Either way, he's a stud. That was a lot of commas, and most likely a run-on sentence.
I think you guys should make a post on here listing the criteria in the rankings. I know that was already brought up by the other prospect bloggers of the league, but it is a good point.
IS JRad's Montero panda tee the first prospect player tee to appear in the NKFBL???
ReplyDeleteafter writing tom's yesterday i made the case known to brendan that i think i should probably be 5 and tom 4. I could even be swayed i'm lower haha cuz it's pretty top heavy. Montero's a beast, but i after that it's iffy. I like aumont a lot more now that he's going back to starting. He meets the minimum requirement of being tall.
ReplyDeleteand to tom's point, there's no way montero sticks at catcher. He's huge. His ability to throw out runners is hindered by the fact he's so big. He could become a DH type as soon as June if he proves too good for AAA.
I would also disagree that in fantasy having an impact catcher isn't a big deal. If you have Joe Mauer, that leaves 1B open for another slugger. I mean if we're talking that playing catcher shortens a guy's career, that's like 8 years from now at worst in montero's case. Mike Piazza was so valuable in fantasy (in like 1999) cuz there's like 3 catchers anually that can hit for average/power. Few can hit for 30 homeruns and if you have one of those guys it's a huge advantage. If we were drafting from scratch though, i wouldn't overpay for a catcher, but if you have a guy that can become that than it's awesome.
And 17 yr old juan Duran is hilarious. He had a horrible season, and i was bummed. then i read that part of the reason is that he went from being 6'3" to 6'7"!!!! what? of all the things to happen a prospect, i would have picked him getting deported before growing 4 inches.