Michael: Hello, everybody? Attention please. Jan Levinson is coming very soon. So we’re going to have our weekly suggestion box meeting. So you can all get in your constructive compliments asap.
Ryan: Don’t you mean constructive criticism?
Michael: What did I say?
Kelly: You said constructive compliments. That doesn’t make any sense.
Michael: Well Kelly that was neither constructive nor a compliment so maybe you should stop criticizing my English and start making some suggestions. Ok?
From the greatest TV show ever.
You may have noticed fewer posts in between the regular daily reports, and while I can’t speak for AZ (who does the bulk of sandwich posts, and darn good ones, too) I am fresh out of ideas for the moment. Now coming after the season I plan on jumping in full force into prospect profiles, among other things, but for the time being, does anyone have any suggestions?
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erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
How about “Who’s getting lucky?” and “Who’s getting unlucky?” among our notable prospects based on the batted ball data on firstinning.com?
How about percentages of who has sustainable MLB service time based on their level drafted.
Along the lines of batted ball data, what about hit/out/foul/whiff percentages for swings? At Wednesday’s Tacoma game, it felt as if there were very few swinging strikes, a reasonable number of foul balls, with the balance being hard hit balls down the line or up the middle.
Maybe a look into our division rivals farm systems?
Maybe some analysis of possible adjustments (if any) by prospects by look at how their stats have improved since the beginning of the season. Maybe stats like strike out rate, walk rate, stuff like that.
ummm….maybe a look into the future where we try to guess what the Cards roster will look like in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 based on when guys will become free agents and what prospects (if any) will be able to take over for them.
You guys have done great work so far. I’m sure whatever you do it will be awesome.
I would like to see more scouting reports on minor league pitchers. Also, the kind of defense that the position players bring to the table. Arm strength, speed, etc. You can get an idea of the type of offensive capabilities a player possesses by stats but, pitching strengths, weaknesses and defense for position players is harder to get from stats alone.
For instance it was very interesting to find out that PJ Walters tops out in the 80s but, has great control and still finds ways to get strikeouts.
Do not get me wrong, this is a great place to find out about our minor league players now.
John–Scouting reports will be in the prospect profiles, which will be out during the offseason.
Trayton–no idea on where i could get that sort of data.
DJ87–Good idea, a look at the division rivals. I like it. Statistical breakouts and disappointments is also a good idea.
Hammond–whew. that could take some homework, but sounds like an excellent subject to tackle.
mikej–great idea.
thanks everyone for your feedback. these ideas may take a little time to get posted, but good ideas all around.
I’d really like to see something Prospect Retros like John Sickles does over at Minor League Ball. Take a look at guys like the Benes brothers, Pujols, etc. and see where they were drafted, how their minor league careers went, and how they ended up. You could then compare them to current Cards prospects, if any particular labels fit.
And since this is the first time I’ve posted here…you guys do an amazing job. Thanks for making this a great stop every morning.
If I could type at all, that would say some, not something.
Dave-excellent idea. i think i’ll have one q’d up for MattyMo by Monday at the latest.
Dave- I like that idea. Something like what Jeff Matthews does with his gashouse gang web page would be cool too- track the individual performance of a team (say the 1982 AAA team, whoever that was- wikipedia says: Louisville?) with an eye on who the top prospects were, pretending we don’t know what we know now. No clue where you’d get the data, but I’d love to see the quote:
“Terry Pendeleton went 1-for-7. Please everyone, stop suggesting he’s our 3B of the future. He was drafted low, in the 7th round, and we really don’t have a good grasp of his tools or projection yet. I know Ken Oberkfell is frustrating right now but Cruz isn’t even a top-10 prospect in the system….”
Not digging on you, Az
what you say below about Cruz is 100% true, but what’s awesome about prospects is that we just never know… guys like Pendleton might have been projected to be an MVP or might have been surprises. It would be neat to find out (and it might help us evaluate the guys we’ve got).
How about a poll voting on who would look the best in a speedo?
http://www.whiteyball.com
Just joking.
Great work as usual.
What is this about sandwiches? Are they real or metaphoric?
Free bologna and cheese for all!!!!
I would love to see you lovingly borrow a John Sickels - type “Crystal Ball” feature where you predict a prospects career.
Love the site. You guys are awesome. Its been fun to watch this site evolve over the past 6 months or so. Keep up the great work!
What about a sort of organizational “depth chart” by position? You could include info like: name, age, current level, tools ratings, projected MLB arrival date and maybe a subjective projection (”Future all-star”, “Possible 4th OF”, “Smells like a AAAA guy”, etc.)