Posts Tagged ‘Jorge Soler’

Hamels Watch: Contenders, Expectations

February 20th, 2015 by Mike H. | Comments Off on Hamels Watch: Contenders, Expectations | Filed in Baseball, Phillies

cole-hamels-getty

Every day that Cole Hamels remains a Phillie, is a game of Russian Roulette. The Phillies need to move what could potentially be the steal of the offseason. It’s garnering more and more national attention, especially after Hamels’ comments about wanting to play for a contender and Philly not being one. Yesterday, MLB.com’s Jim Duquette listed the Red Sox, Cardinals, Padres, and Cubs as the top contenders for acquiring Hamels. The Red Sox were still the favorite with the remaining interested but not seemingly holding him a priority.

To be perfectly honest, the worst thing that happened to Cole Hamels’ value was Billy Beane. Last summer, when Billy Beane sent Addison Russell to the Chicago Cubs as the center piece to a deal for Jeff Samardzija, Amaro immediately got his hopes up for acquiring a super elite prospect for Hamels. The truth is, basically any prospect that is in the top 30 of all players, should basically be forgotten. No on Swihart, Bryant, Russell, and possibly even Henry Owens, depending on your source material. It’s very rare that a top 30 prospect gets moved in any type of deal and for good reason. The risk is too high.

I’ve stated multiple times that with the state of the Phillies farm, they need to focus on a balance between quality and quantity. Instead of focusing on a top 25 ranked player, how about two top 100 ranked players with at least one being in the top 50? With the Red Sox, it’s apparent that Swihart and Betts are off limits, but why not start with Owens and Margot, add Vazquez and Cecchini, and if the Phillies don’t want subsidize any of Hamels’ contract, take back OF Allen Craig. That’s $26.5M guaranteed with an other $12M possible if the Phillies pick up his team option.

The Padres and Cubs seem to be out of the running, in my opinion. While Hedges is great defensively, he hasn’t proven he can be a starting major league caliber catcher. Renfroe hasn’t met a pitch he wouldn’t swing at. I understand why the Phillies balked at that offer. Asking for Bryant or Russell from the Cubs is laughable. Especially if the Phillies asked for the Cubs to pick up all of Hamels’ contract.  Soler is an attractive piece, but has yet to prove he can be healthy for an entire season.

So that leaves the Cardinals. Carlos Martinez definitely has the stuff to be in a major league rotation and St. Louis doesn’t seem to have a spot for him before trading for Hamels. However, Wacha and Wainwright are both coming off of injuries, so who’s to say Martinez doesn’t make that rotation out of necessity. I’d definitely look to center any deal with the Cardinals around Martinez and Piscotty. From there, if you could land a Reyes and/or Gonzales, I don’t see how you could say no.

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Deconstructing The Phillies: Starting Pitching

October 7th, 2014 by Mike H. | Comments Off on Deconstructing The Phillies: Starting Pitching | Filed in Baseball, Phillies

After yet another horrendously obvious season, the Phillies finally know that something needs to change. Whether they act on that knowledge is a different story. As we wait to see how the winter unfolds for the Phillies, I thought I’d post some of my own ideas of how to “fix” this team. Along the way, other contributors will throw in their two cents as well. In the first week we’ll address the starting pitching. So for some drastic ideas, read past the jump. (more…)

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Phillies in on Cuban Outfield Prospect Jorge Soler

February 15th, 2012 by Johnny G | Comments Off on Phillies in on Cuban Outfield Prospect Jorge Soler | Filed in Baseball, General, Phillies

Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports is reporting that the bidding is down to the Phillies and Yankees on the Cuban outfield prospect, Jorge Soler. Soler is 6 foot 3 and 200 pounds at only 19 years of age. He’s very young and very raw, according to scouts. Most baseball officials look at Soler as a potential “5 tool” player. Whoever acquires Soler will be giving him a three or four year deal in the $30 million range.

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Interview With Kevin Goldstein

January 22nd, 2012 by Mike H. | 1 Comment | Filed in Baseball, Phillies

Recently, Kevin Goldstein was kind enough to spend some of his busy time answering some questions for me. Goldstein writes for Baseball Prospectus and ESPN covering minor league baseball. In our brief time, we discussed free agency, the draft, and various prospects. I was definitely suprised by some of the answers Goldstein gave. He definitely gave an unbiased opinion in his answers. I definitely appreciated his honesty and he seemed to reinforce the idea that some fans over value what they have in the system. To read his thoughts in opinions, click to see past the jump. (more…)

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Phillies International Ties

January 19th, 2012 by Mike H. | Comments Off on Phillies International Ties | Filed in Baseball, Phillies

By now, you’ve heard of the top international baseball sensation, Yeonis Cespedes. He starred, or was he more of a supporting actor, in his own direct to Youtube scouting videos that lasted twenty minutes. The Phillies have been linked to the 26 year old Cuban defector, who hit his first home run in the Dominican Winter League, but as many as half the teams in baseball are also interested with the Marlins, Cubs, White Sox, Orioles, Tigers, and Indians making the biggest charge, depending on where you read. One site even had the Phillies pursuing Cespedes aggressively.

The second thing I noticed watching this video was the pitch count for the at bat. Cespedes had worked the count full and finally hit the bomb on the 15th pitch of the at bat. Listed at 5’10” and 187 lbs., the 26 year old Cespedes most likely would have to start the season in AA or AAA to get his feet wet. Obviously, any tremendous success would allow him to move through the system quickly. If you have seen the scouting short film (has anyone sent that to the Academy for a possible Oscar nomination?), you have seen that Cespedes is a work out nut with speed and power, every scout’s dream, but at 26, he may be looking for a price tag a little out of the Phillies range.

While it would be nice to see the Phillies dabble in foreign waters a little more aggressively than they have in years past, I’d be willing to see the Phillies go in another direction as far as Cespedes is concerned. For the total amount of money it would cost to sign Cespedes, it is completely reasonable to sign both Jorge Soler and Gerardo Concepcion. Soler is a 6’3″, 205 lbs out fielder who has also defected from Cuba. At age 19, Soler is significantly further away but should also be significantly cheaper to sign. Soler has caught the eye of many scouts by showing significant power potential and incredible speed with some saying that he possibly could turn out a better player than Cespedes.

Gerardo Concepcion is an 18 year old left hander that, yup, you guessed it, defected from Cuba. Before he defected, Concepcion managed to win Rookie of the Year honors in the 2010-2011 Serie Nacional as a 17 year old. In 101.2 innings, Concepcion posted a 10-3 record amd a 3.36 ERA while managing a not so impressive 53:43 K:BB ratio. Those numbers show that he is getting guys out, but if he had more control the walks would go down and the strike outs potentially go up. The Phillies top reported opponents in the Concepcion sweepstakes our the Cubs, White Sox, Yankees and Rangers.

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