by Thomas Belmont on February 1, 2012
While we’re dropping Prospect Instinct articles on a daily basis to put out the most in-depth Scouting Reports available, I’m going to take a step back and take a broad look again. This time we’ll go position by position and bring to you the Top Position Lists with some additional players and information. Because as we said, we’ll be analyzing the Baseball Instinct 360° not only full circle, but 365 days a year. The deeper we get into the video and our customized Instinctools Stat System the more the view changes from the top.
So let’s get into the 1B and give you the List and the current thoughts.
In the Top 100
30°. Anthony Rizzo, 1B, Cubs, 8/8/1989 - Rizzo had an excellent season in Triple A. Hitting for an average of .331 and slugging .652, with 26 HR’s and 101 rbi’s, what is not to like? Unfortunately, that didn’t translate into the Major leagues where he turned into a strikeout machine. However, it is completely reasonable that he needs time to adjust to the major league caliber pitching. While playing a good glove and showing fine plate skills, there is every reason to believe that the best is yet to come for Rizzo. He came in at #46 on last years top 100 prospects and he has done nothing to invalidate that by his 2011 performance. With the move from the LH hitter graveyard to a park friendly to LH power hitter, Theo and Hoyer did Rizzo a huge favor. ETA 2012.
Instinct Update – With Rizzo’s move to the Friendly Confines he’s in a position to contribute right away. The Cubs front office may give him some time in Triple-A if he’s out played in Spring Training by Bryan LaHair. But LaHair is going to be 30 this year and despite raking outright in Triple-A, he’s probably not going to hold Rizzo down for too long. Consider him the bridge. [click to continue…]
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by David Reiffer on January 28, 2012
Ripple Effect | Â The Prince Fielder Signing
Aside from those living under a rock for the past week, everyone in the sports world has undoubtedly heard about the Detroit Tigers signing of former Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder for 214 million dollars over nine seasons. With the recent ACL injury to DH Victor Martinez, the Tigers swooped into the negotiations for the top slugger and, motivated by owner Mike Illitch’s desire to win, things happened quickly.
Well, every big trade or, in this case, acquisition creates a ripple effect throughout an organization where opportunities for other players disappear, defensive positions are shifted, or other trades may be the result. So here we are to sort this all out.
Recently, Tiger manager Jim Leyland confirmed that Prince Fielder’s arrival in Detroit immediately does two things: Fielder gets installed as starting first baseman and the former starting first baseman Miguel Cabrera is shifted back to third base, his original defensive position. While some doubt Cabrera will last at 3B for the long-term, the move needs to be taken seriously due to the long-term commitment made to Fielder. However, for the 2012 season, both sluggers will likely see some time in the DH spot in the hitting line-up, but in 2013, or even by the end of 2012, Victor Martinez could be back to claim the DH for himself again. So barring more injuries, this situation doesn’t leave much room in Detroit for 1B prospects like: [click to continue…]
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by George Utter on January 24, 2012
Welcome back to the 2011 draft “in-season” review. We started the series last fall, but took a break from it to present to you our top 10 lists and, of course, our Baseball Instinct 360° top prospects list for 2012. In this series we’re taking a look at players from the 2011 draft who signed and got into game play in 2011. We’ve separated the High School players from the College players and compiled which players had the best season statistically. This ranking if you will, isn’t based on tools or skill set, nor is it a projection into the career these players may have. It’s purely a spotlight on those players from the past draft that grabbed our eye statistically.
I love these types of articles. I get to get my stat geek on. I’ll take a look at a guy like Adam Eaton, OF Diamondbacks (2010 draft round 19 pick 571), who had a great 2010 debut, got on our radar like these players, we investigated him closer, and he followed up 2010 with a solid 2011 campaign. Or perhaps a kid like Brandon Drury, 3B Braves (2010 draft round 13 pick 404). He didn’t have a statistically impressive debut in the GCL, but in a short-supply class of high school players, coupled with the fact that he’s from my region in the Pacific Northwest, he made the “keep an eye on” list for me. As with Eaton, a fantastic 2011 campaign and now both players are on our top 360 list.
We jump back into things with a look at the First basemen. As with the other articles, there was no short supply of silky sweet statistical goodness from the college players, however, the high-school players were in short supply.
[click to continue…]
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by David Reiffer on November 29, 2011
It’s the time of the off season when Baseball Instinct goes from Club to Club and we take a look at the Top 10 prospects from each team before opening it up to our Top 21s later in the winter. This year we’re working with some other sites that share a more focused view of particular clubs.  We’re going to stay in house today with our own Dave Reiffer, who follows the Tigers closely, especially the West Michigan WhiteCaps who are basically in his own backyard.  So here we go with the Detroit Tigers Top 10! [click to continue…]
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