Yeah. I don’t know all the exact specifics of it but in general his “stuff” is extreme outlier type stuff. Spin rate and vertical break on 4 of his pitches have a chance to be major plus pitches
It’s odd. that was his exact signing bonus last year when he signed. Equivalent of 4th round pick. And our international development sucks.
Baseball America's write-up of Dickerson. He signed for $500K in the draft, and then was sold for the same amount by Preller. The good news is this seems like a decent use of $500K, the bad news is it seems to tell us the Tigers don't have a big international class lined-up. Spoiler Ht: 6'6" | Wt: 210 | B-T: L-L Age: 18 BA Grade: 50/Extreme Track Record: Dickerson struggled with his control while pitching for USA Baseball’s 18U National team but took a star turn at the WWBA World Championships in the fall. He fell in the draft due to a strong commitment to Virginia Tech, but the Padres were confident they could sign him and selected him in the 12th round. They signed him for a $500,000 bonus--equivalent to fourth-round money--and sent him out for his first game action in instructional league. Scouting Report: Dickerson is a lean, projectable 6-foot-6 lefthander His fastball sits between 89-91 mph and is too straight, but he projects to add a lot of velocity as he adds strength. His best secondary pitch is a 79-83 mph slider with late bite that projects to be above-average as he fills out and adds power. He also has a below-average, mid-80s changeup that he rarely throws and needs to refine. Despite his size and long levers, Dickerson moves well through an easy delivery and shows fast arm speed out of a three-quarters slot. He has a good feel for pitching and throws strikes with average control, although he deals with bouts of inconsistency. The Future: Dickerson has a chance to jump straight to Low-A Lake Elsinore for his pro debut in 2023. He projects to be a No. 4 or 5 starter who has a fallback as a middle reliever if his changeup doesn’t develop. Scouting Grades Fastball: 55 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 40 | Control: 50
Is this 2024 or 2025 money? I thought 2024 guys already signed. I read other day we are favorites to sign one of top guys in 2025.
2024 which is good because yes most of the top players have signed. 25 is probably the first year new regime was able to get relationships in place with the better players because it starts so far in advance.
Yeah very happy with this. I’m sure we scouted him a ton and he seems like a much better prospect than we would be able to get for this $ at this point considering all the relationship building involved
He probably won't amount to anything, but worth the risk. We were probably just going to let that money go to waste anyways. International market is probably a bigger crap shoot, than the amateur draft, outside of the one or two top guys you see every few years. Avila's claim to fame was giving Roberto Campos, who nobody ever heard of a record bonus, and the guy is awful.
Reminds me of what my dad told 10 year old me when I tried to become a switch hitter in little league, maybe try and master one side before practicing the other
He had a 154 wRC+ in those ABs last year in AA and I think last year showed that AAA isn't really much of a step up at this point as far as competition considering what the run scoring environment was in the International League. If he's not ready, send him down. But I don't get what is gained by announcing that before he shows it either way. Especially considering the bar for being the best option at 3B on this particular roster is about as low as it gets.
Jung also struck out 27% of the time in AA, and ran a hot BABIP of .336. Erie has created inflated stats before for LH hitters (see Boesch, Brennan). I just don't see the benefit of rushing Jung with that K-rate and a position change.
Or Illitch could stop being a cheap fuck and sign Chapman on a one year. Would make you favorite to win central, and he’s not blocking anybody on a 1 year
I'm not saying he has to be the opening day 3B. I long ago accepted that he probably wouldn't be, and that's okay. But I would prefer that our organization allowed him to prove he shouldn't be that guy this spring instead of deciding he's not before we see where everyone is.
Can you really prove that stuff in the spring? A huge portion of the plate appearances are against guys throwing at lower velocity than normal to get in shape, or throwing their worst pitch to try to get it ready for real games. Rest of plate appearances are against minor league roster filler that proves very little. I'm not a believer in that approach to spring or rushing prospects, so agree to disagree. I mostly don't get the idea that he'll learn to play 3B in the gale force winds of Florida in spring training playing part-time - I would make him play at least a couple months of full-time 3B in the minors before even considering bringing him up.
I think it's pretty common to take pressure off a young guy in spring training by telling him he's not fighting for a position one way or another. Let's him work on the things he needs to work on without cheating for results. Whether it's a good idea or bad idea probably depends on the player.
and a couple games off the division lead. So you add a guy who is supposed to add a few more wins, and poof, you’re in the playoffs
But does that guy want to play on a 1 year contract for an 80ish win team to help them get to 84 wins and maybe a short playoff run? Or would he prefer to see who gets desperate in ST?
Good news, Mize is all fixed up and ready to be a force. I want to believe, but all I see is Mize to the injured list when I try to envision it. From Rotoworld: ++++++ Casey Mize believes his four-seam fastball can be more of a weapon and has been working to add induced vertical break on the pitch. Mize has said that his four-seam now has 18 inches of induced vertical break, rather than the 15 inches it previously had. induced vertical break measures the amount of vertical movement on a pitch when adjusted for gravity. Essentially, if you drew a straight line from the pitcher’s mound to home plate, it would measure how much the pitch falls below that line. A pitcher with good marks on his four-seam would throw a four-seam people would have previously said “rises.” Mize’s old marks on his four-seam were below average, but he now possesses above average induced vertical break. This could make his fastball more effective at the top of the zone and also improve the deception on his splitter. In other words, this would be very good news for Mize.
How about that pitch he threw in college that got him the #1 pick? They’re all going to t up on his 92 MPH fastball
Chapman is a Scott Boras client. Scott's probably priced Chapman out of a job up until this point, but Boras has a couple more weeks before Opening Day is in jeopardy and won't drop his ask - which has to include 6 years at $25mm per year - until then.
My initial assessment of Tarik Skubal watching 30 seconds of his highlights on Twitter: Verlander who