by Thomas Belmont on February 5, 2012
Continuing our run through the Top 10 Lists for prospects, we find ourselves at the catchers position. A position that finds some right now players that could make a serious impact as early as the beginning of this season and down through the Top 10 into our 360 for some really young backstops that could be flying up the charts this year with the likes of Realmuto, Maron, Hernandez and Alfaro. So once again, let’s take a step back and take a broad look at the minor leagues as we 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 catchers position and give you the list and some of the current thoughts.
In the Top 100
5°. Jesus Montero, C/DH, Mariners, 11/28/1989 - Montero came in at #1 on our 2011 Top 100 List based on his advanced bat at a young age and making it all the way to Triple-A as a catcher. As we said in his Prospect Instinct, a perfect storm of events have led to him being in line for a shot at the catchers position in the Bronx. His contact ability is elite regardless of where he plays. He’ll have above average power as a 20-something and elite level power in his prime. How long he actually sticks at catcher is dependent of how well Joe Girardi and Tony Pena are able to cultivate him. But those two are the reason for my optimism of a future average regular on defense and glowing reviews on offense. ETA 2012.
Update Instinct – Well, the trade to Seattle finally happened. It looks like Seattle thinks he can handle a full catchers workload. He’s not going to be the best defender in the league, I think we all know that already. But the bat is legit and fantasy players should take note now. Real baseball? His bat will need to carry him and we think it can. [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 George Utter on December 20, 2011
Really, this article should be sponsored by Sesame Street. No, not because of the maturity level of this writer. That’s for another discussion. As the past few days in baseball have have unfolded, I find myself drawn back to the letter “R” and my memories of eating graham crackers and drinking out of a sippy cup, glued to those puppets on TV discussing the sounds of the letter of the day. But that was last week – We want to discuss the sounds that the letter “R” is making around baseball Right now! [click to continue…]
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by Thomas Belmont on December 7, 2011
Nestor Molina, RHP Chicago White Sox
1/9/1989
Height: 6’1″ Weight: 180
Nestor Molina was signed by the Blue Jays in 2006 as an International Free Agent. Originally signed as a Middle Infielder he was quickly asked to make the transition to the mound where his plus arm would be better used. He spent his first four seasons in the minors as a RP with little fanfare or spotlight shone his way, despite some solid numbers. [click to continue…]
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