The Official 2022 Los Angeles Angels Minor League Stats, Reports & Scouting Thread

[Chuck]

On 7/18/2022 at 5:20 PM, Docwaukee said:

From what I can tell, Neto is gonna be in the top 100 on a lot of boards after this draft.  Which would make him out top prospect.  Not sure I'd put him there just yet without seeing him.  But by the time fall rolls around, there's a good chance he'll be #1

Right now my top 5 prospects are:

1. Edgar Quero

2. Zach Neto

3. Werner Blakely

4. Sam Bachman

5. Ky Bush

[totdprods]

1 hour ago, Chuckster70 said:

Right now my top 5 prospects are:

1. Edgar Quero

2. Zach Neto

3. Werner Blakely

4. Sam Bachman

5. Ky Bush

I feel like every single one of those guys has a good argument to be our #1.

[Second Base]

2 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

Right now my top 5 prospects are:

1. Edgar Quero

2. Zach Neto

3. Werner Blakely

4. Sam Bachman

5. Ky Bush

A pessimist would say that's a league average catcher and second baseman, followed by a platoon infielder and a couple of relievers. 

Optimist would say three stud position players and two upside starters. 

Real life, my guess is you've got an average starting catcher in Quero, a good starting 2B in Neto, a low average, high power 3B in Blakely, a high leverage reliever in Bachman and a mid rotation starter in Bush. 

Edited July 20, 2022 by Second Base

[Docwaukee]

25 minutes ago, Second Base said:

A pessimist would say that's a league average catcher and second baseman, followed by a platoon infielder and a couple of relievers. 

Optimist would say three stud position players and two upside starters. 

they're the latter until they become the former

[Second Base]

1 hour ago, Docwaukee said:

they're the latter until they become the former

Well in trade negotiations, they're more than likely valued closer to the latter than the former. Teams are more hesitant to part ways with upside position player talent than they were before, just in case a prospect does hit the lottery and raise their potential. Think James Shields for Fernando Tatis Jr. 

Conversely, teams seen more willing to part ways with upside pitching than they were before, and there's likely a lot of reasons for this. Reliever potential, less scarcity of hard throwers, unheralded pitchers finding MLB success in greater numbers. 

So from that list, it's hard to picture the Angels parting ways with Quero, Neto or Blakely, because they'll be valued higher by the Angels and lower by a potential trade partner. It's probably the same reason they haven't traded Adams or Jackson too, though with increased values, and needs in next year's rotation, those deals may be materializing soon. It wouldn't surprise me to see Minasian pull a surprise buy at the deadline like when the Angels acquired Dan Haren years ago. 

 

Edited July 20, 2022 by Second Base

[totdprods]

2 hours ago, Second Base said:

It wouldn't surprise me to see Minasian pull a surprise buy at the deadline like when the Angels acquired Dan Haren years ago. 

Especially given that Syndergaard and Lorenzen hit FA again, Ohtani has one year left, and this coming winter's FA crop is pretty thin. 

[Vlad27Trout27]

personally, I would say that Bush is a starter in the making. his floor is that off a 4/5, while the upside is that of a workhorse number 2. I've seen a plenty of him and is stuff jumps out! I would easily give his fastball a 65, a slider a 60, If his Change or Cruve can take another leap, than there is a making of a solid 2. That Deception, and being 6'6 make that fastball/slider cob deadly! 

I've gotten Snell, and Clevland Sabathia vibes from him. 

Quero, has the bat to ball skills to be plsu! He has 13% BB rate to an 18% K rate. He has the tools to be a starting Cathcer in the league, and could find himself up to A+ towards the end of the year.

Neto, I would for myself, climbs into being the 3rd best propsect in the system. 

Jackson, for me is 4th, I still envisio him to be a 250ish hitter, with 3330 Obp, but 15-20 pop at 2nd. 

5th, was tough but I have bachman here, The stuff is just that good and mlb ready...now he just needs to stay healthy.

Blakley, makes the jump to 6th, really high upside, but big risk

Hidalgo at 7th.

 

So over the systen at the moment has alot of talent that will either be a miss or hit.....Big Upsides and also Big risks.  

 

[Inside Pitch]

Angels have signed CFer Mason Holt out of Louisiana Monroe... Chuck Finley/Ben Sheets alma mater.

[rafibomb]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

Angels have signed CFer Mason Holt out of Louisiana Monroe... Chuck Finley/Ben Sheets alma mater.

Wow, there's a name I completely forgot about.

[T.G.]

I'm genuinely curious... who here goes to minor league games to "scout" players?  And by "scout" I don't mean professionally (although that would be interesting if anyone does), but to evaluate talent.  Back in the day, I spent a lot of time watching high school basketball players... it was fun for me.  Who does that for baseball?  Just curious.

[Inside Pitch]

57 minutes ago, T.G. said:

I'm genuinely curious... who here goes to minor league games to "scout" players?  And by "scout" I don't mean professionally (although that would be interesting if anyone does), but to evaluate talent.  Back in the day, I spent a lot of time watching high school basketball players... it was fun for me.  Who does that for baseball?  Just curious.

I used to, but it was to watch baseball when the Angels were out of town more so than purposely scout players.  Sure there were guys I wanted to see in hopes of checking they hype but mostly it was the fun atmosphere. Its easier to watch via milb.tv now.  The AFL, now that was a showcase league where you really got to "scout" guys out.

[T.G.]

2 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

I used to, but it was to watch baseball when the Angels were out of town more so than purposely scout players.  Sure there were guys I wanted to see in hopes of checking they hype but mostly it was the fun atmosphere. Its easier to watch via milb.tv now.  The AFL, now that was a showcase league where you really got to "scout" guys out.

I never think about milb.tv.  I wonder how many here subscribe to that?

[Inside Pitch]

@T.G. to be perfectly frank, I got more out of visiting the individual minor league parks than the watching the players at times.  Seeing the playing conditions, how the parks play give you a lot more insight on the performances that actually watching the players in many cases.  Minor parks run the gamut when it comes to their tendencies, much more so than MLB parks.  Its a lot better these days but the actual field conditions used to vary widely from park to park.  Some places had terrible playing surfaces that really impacted outcomes, something you'd never know from looking at box scores or stat lines, the same was true in the other direction.  I've never seen as much infield grass games as I did going to minor league parks.

[T.G.]

13 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

@T.G. to be perfectly frank, I got more out of visiting the individual minor league parks than the watching the players at times.  Seeing the playing conditions, how the parks play give you a lot more insight on the performances that actually watching the players in many cases.  Minor parks run the gamut when it comes to their tendencies, much more so than MLB parks.  Its a lot better these days but the actual field conditions used to vary widely from park to park.  Some places had terrible playing surfaces that really impacted outcomes, something you'd never know from looking at box scores or stat lines, the same was true in the other direction.  I've never seen as much infield grass games as I did going to minor league parks.

That makes sense.  It's actually kind of overwhelming when you think about all the variables that go into projecting what a player will do.  That blend of analytics, eyes on the player, ball park factors, etc. is kind of fascinating.  Even though it's interesting, it's not something I'd want to do, myself.

In my line of work - we rely on predictive models and AI and Machine Learning is having a huge impact on that (I could talk for hours about that).  I wonder if baseball is doing the same?  I would imagine so.  AI and ML are game changers when it comes to predictive models.

Like I said earlier, I used to spend hours watching high school basketball players.  I enjoyed seeing players before they made an impact in Div. I basketball or went on to become NBA players - but I was often a horrible judge of talent.  I think projecting and evaluating baseball players would be even harder.

[Angelsjunky]

5 minutes ago, T.G. said:

That makes sense.  It's actually kind of overwhelming when you think about all the variables that go into projecting what a player will do.  That blend of analytics, eyes on the player, ball park factors, etc. is kind of fascinating.  Even though it's interesting, it's not something I'd want to do, myself.

In my line of work - we rely on predictive models and AI and Machine Learning is having a huge impact on that (I could talk for hours about that).  I wonder if baseball is doing the same?  I would imagine so.  AI and ML are game changers when it comes to predictive models.

Like I said earlier, I used to spend hours watching high school basketball players.  I enjoyed seeing players before they made an impact in Div. I basketball or went on to become NBA players - but I was often a horrible judge of talent.  I think projecting and evaluating baseball players would be even harder.

One would think that AI and Machine Learning would be the natural progression sabermetrics. 

I think the key will be blending them. Right now there's a clash between "old school" and "new school," but I don't see why it can't be both.

I kind of liked the movie Talent for the Curve, which illustrated the class between the sabermetrics and old school scouting. Something is lost when we focus only on numbers. On the other hand, they're a great tool if they're seen as that, and not the end-all, be-all.

[Chuck]

@T.G. I think most of us here in this thread (myself included) have a MILB.TV subscription so we watch a ton of games throughout the season. There are also some of us who talk to the team's scouts and some rival scouts. All of that plus reading up on what BA, Fangraphs, Keith Law and other prospect evaluators, you have a good mix of data to go off of on these kids down on the farm. 

[Inside Pitch]

Signed by Halos as an UDFA.  Martinez had absolutely awful results but 98 from the left side as a RP...  So, total project type.

[Inside Pitch]

1 hour ago, T.G. said:

That makes sense.  It's actually kind of overwhelming when you think about all the variables that go into projecting what a player will do.  That blend of analytics, eyes on the player, ball park factors, etc. is kind of fascinating.  Even though it's interesting, it's not something I'd want to do, myself.

In my line of work - we rely on predictive models and AI and Machine Learning is having a huge impact on that (I could talk for hours about that).  I wonder if baseball is doing the same?  I would imagine so.  AI and ML are game changers when it comes to predictive models.

Like I said earlier, I used to spend hours watching high school basketball players.  I enjoyed seeing players before they made an impact in Div. I basketball or went on to become NBA players - but I was often a horrible judge of talent.  I think projecting and evaluating baseball players would be even harder.

I first got into stats because I wanted to validate what I thought my eyes were telling me.  I find it funny when people call me a stat head or used to tell me to "actually watch games".  Not only have I actually played more competitive baseball than those types have watched, the sole reason I turned to stats was my unwillingness to blindly believe what my eyes were telling me.

But yes, minor league evaluation is IMO one of the most inexact and difficult things to gauge in sports.  There is a reason why people will fawn over guys who never get out of AA and even if you get all the shit right, know the parks, know the league tendencies, know the physical tools, know the optimal league age, very few know what's in between the player's ears.  As you said, there are so many variables it's somewhat overwhelming.

More and more teams are creating positions to help guys with the mental aspect of the game -- I'm willing to bet it will be pointed to as the next massive leap forward in player development.

[Tank]

1 hour ago, T.G. said:

In my line of work - we rely on predictive models and AI and Machine Learning is having a huge impact on that (I could talk for hours about that).  I wonder if baseball is doing the same?  I would imagine so.  AI and ML are game changers when it comes to predictive models.

i thought you worked for pottery barn.

[Inside Pitch]

So, a few of us have commented on the average age of the Angels farm teams in recent seasons and how young they were.  In responding to a post about Tamin/Perry, and looking up some of the performances I was surprised to find that in many areas the Angels farm system is even younger this season.

Average age Pitchers 2021/2022

DSL:   17.7/17.4 Youngest group in the league next closest is Marlins at 17.6 (49 teams) Average is 18.6
ACL: 20.4/19.9  Third youngest group in the league Behind two Brewers teams at 19.5 and 19.7.  Average is 21.2
A:      21.7/21.4  Second youngest behing AZ (20.9). League average 21.8
A+:   23.2/23.0 Second youngest behind COL 21.8. League average is 23.2
AA:   24.2/23.4 Youngest group in the league. Average is 24.6


Average age Hitters 2021/2022

DSL: 17.5/17.2  Third youngest group behind the Marlins and Braves at 17.1 out of 49 teams. Average is 17.9
ACL: 19.5/19.8 League average at 19.7
A:     21.5/21.0 Second youngest but right at league average basically of 21.1
A+:   22.8/23.1 Oldest group in the league, average is 22.6
AA:   25.2/24.6 Younger than last year but older than the league average of 24.4

All things considered, that High A team is probably the ugly sister in the bunch.   Also kind of interesting but the influx of draftees might actually make the teams OLDER instead of younger as is almost always the case.

[Second Base]

3 hours ago, T.G. said:

I'm genuinely curious... who here goes to minor league games to "scout" players?  And by "scout" I don't mean professionally (although that would be interesting if anyone does), but to evaluate talent.  Back in the day, I spent a lot of time watching high school basketball players... it was fun for me.  Who does that for baseball?  Just curious.

I have in the past, and have had job offers that I chose not to pursue. The one thing I've learned through all of it is perspective. Scouting someone once gives you a one day picture and a short term snapshot. I remember thinking both Shelby Miller and Garrett Richards would be aces. And they were, for a year or two. Same with Tommy Hanson. 

I've seen Jeremiah Jackson look absolutely incredible and completely raw all in one weekend. 

That's the root of my distrust of major publications. I think they see these guys once, or take the word of a biased professional scout and then they all regurgitate the same thing. Whereas AW, there's some solid differentiated opinion on players from different sources. 

For example, spoiler alert, I'm higher on Ben Joyce than I am on Sam Bachman. I may be alone in that assessment and that's ok because we need other opinions to balance out the outliers. 

[BTH]

11 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

All things considered, that High A team is probably the ugly sister in the bunch.   Also kind of interesting but the influx of draftees might actually make the teams OLDER instead of younger as is almost always the case.

that High-A team is a wasteland and I’m not sure how that stadium can be considered minor league caliber, in terms of environment and quality.

[Blarg]

2 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

The AFL, now that was a showcase league where you really got to "scout" guys out.

I went to the AFL for about 8 years in a row before Covid hit. When I first went the stands behind home plate were covered with scouts and front office personnel.

The last year I went the scouts had thinned out considerably because trackman information was shared to all clubs so in person scouting was reduced. That was disappointing because I'd sit in the Scout area and listen in on the conversations and pick up who was interested in who. 

There is always the obvious standouts that move on to the majors the following year. The list of MVPs that went through fall league probably includes every young player in the last 15 years. So you get to see those guys as well as the next level of talent that is on display for trade value. 

It was always worth the $8 ticket price and every day you can catch two games, one day and one night. I hope I can get back to it this November. 

[Blarg]

56 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

So, a few of us have commented on the average age of the Angels farm teams in recent seasons and how young they were.  In responding to a post about Tamin/Perry, and looking up some of the performances I was surprised to find that in many areas the Angels farm system is even younger this season.

Average age Pitchers 2021/2022

DSL:   17.7/17.4 Youngest group in the league next closest is Marlins at 17.6 (49 teams) Average is 18.6
ACL: 20.4/19.9  Third youngest group in the league Behind two Brewers teams at 19.5 and 19.7.  Average is 21.2
A:      21.7/21.4  Second youngest behing AZ (20.9). League average 21.8
A+:   23.2/23.0 Second youngest behind COL 21.8. League average is 23.2
AA:   24.2/23.4 Youngest group in the league. Average is 24.6


Average age Hitters 2021/2022

DSL: 17.5/17.2  Third youngest group behind the Marlins and Braves at 17.1 out of 49 teams. Average is 17.9
ACL: 19.5/19.8 League average at 19.7
A:     21.5/21.0 Second youngest but right at league average basically of 21.1
A+:   22.8/23.1 Oldest group in the league, average is 22.6
AA:   25.2/24.6 Younger than last year but older than the league average of 24.4

All things considered, that High A team is probably the ugly sister in the bunch.   Also kind of interesting but the influx of draftees might actually make the teams OLDER instead of younger as is almost always the case.

Triple A is littered with dumpster dives that have bounced from Salt Lake to the Angels, DFA'ed then back on the Salt Lake roster. It's probably the same story around the league of AAAA players trying to latch on in their late 20's. It just feels like the Angels have more of those guys cluttering up AAA because of the lack of depth skewing their average age.

[Angel Oracle]

I like the balance of power pitchers and power hitters in this draft.

There are already plenty of athletic guys in the org, and they needed a power-hitting infusion.

After looking at Neto’s wooden bat summer league stats and that 8 minute defense video, that first round draft pick is growing on me.

Gives Jackson a chance to grab 2B a year or so from now, if Rengifo isn’t able to build on recent success and becomes a super utility guy with more upside there than Fletcher?

Edited July 21, 2022 by Angel Oracle