Who are your most promising/exciting minor leaguers?

Sagitta · 05-01-2007, 02:23 AM

For me, it has to be a guy I have in A-ball named Tom Piper. He was drafted in the 4th round (5th pick) by the Giants in '07 after two years in HS ( I started in '06 with feeders).

Career (for what it is so far) highlights:

5/8/07: Threw a 4H/5K/1BB shut-out in HS

12/31/07: Drafted in the 4th round, 101st overall, by the Giants

4/28/08: Traded by the Giants to the Phillies (me) for a horrible Lahman-generated Josh Beckett. I remember taking this trade at the time as I simply saw it as a salary dump to unload myself from a very unhappy Beckett who didn't like being stuck in AAA for me.

5/5/08: Throws a 3H/3K/1BB shut-out

6/8/08: Throws a 5H/2K/4BB shut-out

8/5/08: Throws a 4H/8K/0BB shut-out

5/1/09: Wins his A-ball leagues POTM award.

5/4/09: Throws a 5H/3K/0BB shut-out

5/10/09: Throws a 5H/10K/0BB shut-out

As of now, its still only mid-May 2009. I feel the urge to push this guy, but I don't want to mess up his development at all. I can see him being my staff Ace some day.

His career stats:

HIGH SCHOOL (2 seasons 21 games)
13W-2L, 3.04ERA, 13BB, 133K's, 154IP, 1.05WHIP

A-BALL
2008: 7W-6L, 2.44ERA, 16G, 125.1IP, 28BB, 67K, 1.17WHIP
2009: 8W-1L, 0.83ERA, 9G, 75.2IP, 10BB, 62K, 0.86WHIP.

So far this season he is keeping opposing batters under the Mendoza.

EDIT: My head scout rates him at a potential of 55 Stuff, 63 Movement, 96 Control.

I also just noticed that this guy's hometown is East Compton, California. Looks like he's a city boy.

Magc8Ball · 05-01-2007, 03:24 AM

Let's take a look at my minor league system. Fictional world, I simmed something like 6-7 years, then took over the worst team in the main league (the Toronto Leafs in this case). Just finished the first season and am pretty much done with my second offseason (and it's just November; low financial flexibility right now since the team pretty much sucked for those 6-7 years). So... any near-ready minor leaguers pretty much have been brought up.

A quick perusal through my system, and found Jack Laurent, a 23-year old left fielder on my AAA club in Charleston. He's a solid OBP type of batter, but with slightly "plus" power, enough to make him very interesting. I picked him up from Washington in late September, just after the end of the regular season, trading away a mediocre starting pitcher who was going to get an arbitration-related pay raise.

Laurent's history is pretty plain, except that he was a 19th round pick (451st overall); entirely atypical of the league. Seems to have been one of those "nice finds".

In a quirk of the system (I'm still working on tuning feeder league ages) he spent 5 years at the "high school" level; I'm counting one of those years as American Legion ball.

In 156 High School games (over five seasons), he brought up an Avg/OPS/Slg of .286/.371/.426; with 7 HRs and 19 SBs. Fairly solid numbers at that level, and he continued them in his initial minor league years: posting a cumulative .404 OBP in 2 years of A-ball, and nailing down a .240 (ew) / .375 (nice) / .354 (eh) season in AAA Norfolk last year, while mixing in a few home runs and 19 SBs.

Laurent is looking to develop into a solid lead-off hitter (I wish he had a higher batting average, but that OBP is hard to argue with). He's got decent speed, enough pop to make him threatening, and on top of that is an excellent defender (fielding rating LF: 9, Arm: 9).

I think he's most interesting because he was such a late pick in a draft; one of those guys you just don't see coming. His injury history is a little bit... er.. blurry, but we'll see how it affects him.

TRANSACTION HISTORY:
Player History
04-07-1998 Wins the 1998 CBFHS Glove Wizard Award at LF.
02-11-1999 Injured (fractured eye socket), out for 2 months.
07-01-2001 Drafted in the 2001 first-year player draft (Round 19, Pick 19, 451st overall Pick) by the Washington Senators.
05-28-2002 Injured (blurred vision), day-to-day for 6 days.
07-25-2004 Injured (tender shoulder), out for 1-2 weeks.
09-20-2004 Was traded by the Washington Senators to the Toronto Leafs in exchange for SP R. López.

05-01-2007, 02:23 AM	#1
Sagitta Major Leagues Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Bouncing between Phillies and Red Sox territory Posts: 357	Who are your most promising/exciting minor leaguers? For me, it has to be a guy I have in A-ball named Tom Piper. He was drafted in the 4th round (5th pick) by the Giants in '07 after two years in HS ( I started in '06 with feeders). Career (for what it is so far) highlights: 5/8/07: Threw a 4H/5K/1BB shut-out in HS 12/31/07: Drafted in the 4th round, 101st overall, by the Giants 4/28/08: Traded by the Giants to the Phillies (me) for a horrible Lahman-generated Josh Beckett. I remember taking this trade at the time as I simply saw it as a salary dump to unload myself from a very unhappy Beckett who didn't like being stuck in AAA for me. 5/5/08: Throws a 3H/3K/1BB shut-out 6/8/08: Throws a 5H/2K/4BB shut-out 8/5/08: Throws a 4H/8K/0BB shut-out 5/1/09: Wins his A-ball leagues POTM award. 5/4/09: Throws a 5H/3K/0BB shut-out 5/10/09: Throws a 5H/10K/0BB shut-out As of now, its still only mid-May 2009. I feel the urge to push this guy, but I don't want to mess up his development at all. I can see him being my staff Ace some day. His career stats: HIGH SCHOOL (2 seasons 21 games) 13W-2L, 3.04ERA, 13BB, 133K's, 154IP, 1.05WHIP A-BALL 2008: 7W-6L, 2.44ERA, 16G, 125.1IP, 28BB, 67K, 1.17WHIP 2009: 8W-1L, 0.83ERA, 9G, 75.2IP, 10BB, 62K, 0.86WHIP. So far this season he is keeping opposing batters under the Mendoza. EDIT: My head scout rates him at a potential of 55 Stuff, 63 Movement, 96 Control. I also just noticed that this guy's hometown is East Compton, California. Looks like he's a city boy. __________________ I'm a lifelong Phillies fan - "Hey, at least we beat the Braves in '93." Last edited by Sagitta; 05-01-2007 at 02:27 AM.

05-01-2007, 03:24 AM	#2
Magc8Ball Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 75	Let's take a look at my minor league system. Fictional world, I simmed something like 6-7 years, then took over the worst team in the main league (the Toronto Leafs in this case). Just finished the first season and am pretty much done with my second offseason (and it's just November; low financial flexibility right now since the team pretty much sucked for those 6-7 years). So... any near-ready minor leaguers pretty much have been brought up. A quick perusal through my system, and found Jack Laurent, a 23-year old left fielder on my AAA club in Charleston. He's a solid OBP type of batter, but with slightly "plus" power, enough to make him very interesting. I picked him up from Washington in late September, just after the end of the regular season, trading away a mediocre starting pitcher who was going to get an arbitration-related pay raise. Laurent's history is pretty plain, except that he was a 19th round pick (451st overall); entirely atypical of the league. Seems to have been one of those "nice finds". In a quirk of the system (I'm still working on tuning feeder league ages) he spent 5 years at the "high school" level; I'm counting one of those years as American Legion ball. In 156 High School games (over five seasons), he brought up an Avg/OPS/Slg of .286/.371/.426; with 7 HRs and 19 SBs. Fairly solid numbers at that level, and he continued them in his initial minor league years: posting a cumulative .404 OBP in 2 years of A-ball, and nailing down a .240 (ew) / .375 (nice) / .354 (eh) season in AAA Norfolk last year, while mixing in a few home runs and 19 SBs. Laurent is looking to develop into a solid lead-off hitter (I wish he had a higher batting average, but that OBP is hard to argue with). He's got decent speed, enough pop to make him threatening, and on top of that is an excellent defender (fielding rating LF: 9, Arm: 9). I think he's most interesting because he was such a late pick in a draft; one of those guys you just don't see coming. His injury history is a little bit... er.. blurry, but we'll see how it affects him. TRANSACTION HISTORY: Player History 04-07-1998 Wins the 1998 CBFHS Glove Wizard Award at LF. 02-11-1999 Injured (fractured eye socket), out for 2 months. 07-01-2001 Drafted in the 2001 first-year player draft (Round 19, Pick 19, 451st overall Pick) by the Washington Senators. 05-28-2002 Injured (blurred vision), day-to-day for 6 days. 07-25-2004 Injured (tender shoulder), out for 1-2 weeks. 09-20-2004 Was traded by the Washington Senators to the Toronto Leafs in exchange for SP R. López. Last edited by Magc8Ball; 05-01-2007 at 03:27 AM.