Your ST#1 Overall Opinions (warmup to ST#2)

[HollywoodTim]

Mine:

-Vaughn is absolutely a Major Leaguer.  He's my #1 prospect in the sense that he's the most likely to be a well-above average hitter for many years here.  I think he's considerably less risky than Robert even though Robert is an uber prospect.  Vaughn just strikes me as a guy who is still a very good player 10 years after his MLB debut, and I wouldn't feel the same way about Robert ATM.  

-Madrigal should be traded ASAP while he still has his believers.  I was a supporter because of what I had read, but after seeing him, yeesh, get this guy out of here while he still has value.  I would try to get a prospect who is lower ranked but has a much higher ceiling than this.  Overall, 2B is probably the easiest position to fill in the infield with a quality player, and it seems every year in FA there is a short-term option available.  Really, 2B can be filled by both 2B and SS players, plus a few 3B around the league.  I would not move Yoan off of 3B but I would have no problem targeting DJ LeMahieu in FA or someone else later on.  Maybe in 2 years SD will be looking to eat 30% of Machado's contract to move him.  It won't be long before they try to get out of that deal.  I'm just throwing some names out there.  The Rays have a couple of guys they probably are looking to trade, and I don't mind giving Mendick a shot at 2B at all.  In fact, I would not be at all surprised if Mendick ends up being a similar or better player.  Madrigal is the proverbial hitter who "goes up to home plate with a copy of the sun-times."

-Cody Heuer is a big leaguer already.  I personally expect Marshall to go back to being about what he was before, and I could definitely see Heuer stepping into that spot and serving as the setup man of the future very soon into the season.  I think he's made the case as First Man up.  With an expanded roster I think he's on the team simply because he's one of the few guys with promise who will throw enough strikes.  

-Burdi has some stuff but not enough control to make a difference.  He will need quite a bit more time I think.

That's all I can think of right now.  I didn't catch all of the games.  I was hoping to get a look at Stiever and Bernardo Flores specifically.  Maybe in ST#2 I'll get the chance.

What are your opinions?

[Harold's Leg Lift]

Madrigal still has believers?

[Bob Sacamano]

8 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Madrigal still has believers?

Uhhhhh yeah?

[hi8is]

9 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Madrigal still has believers?

Yep

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

11 hours ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Madrigal still has believers?

I bet the majority of people still like him.. Just the minority are so loud about it, it overshadows everyone else lol.

[southsider2k5]

It is bad enough to read too far into spring training and stats, but we are going to read career altering conclusions into a fraction of spring training?  Nah.  Pass.

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

4 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

It is bad enough to read too far into spring training and stats, but we are going to read career altering conclusions into a fraction of spring training?  Nah.  Pass.

With his defense, baserunning and smarts even if he hit .250 he will likely be a minimum 2 WAR player.  Obviously that's a backup/replacement guy..  BUT who the fuck thinks he will bat .250? Let alone under .280..  He seems like a prototypical 3 WAR easy player..  

[bmags]

I can barely remember, seems like a different world.

It's a struggle to even remember stuff like the moncada/robert extensions which now all kinda seem like a cruel joke since we lose much of a year anyway, but also a huge boon (since we lost basically a year!)

The funny thing about this year is if they start off hot we'll say how the youth benefitted us, where they didn't know much better and were younger/more athletic to overcome stopping and starting. If they start off slow, it's because they were young and didn't know what was needed to keep focused.

[bmags]

Just now, Squirmin' for Yermin said:

With his defense, baserunning and smarts even if he hit .250 he will likely be a minimum 2 WAR player.  Obviously that's a backup/replacement guy..  BUT who the fuck thinks he will bat .250? Let alone under .280..  He seems like a prototypical 3 WAR easy player..  

If he hits .250 he will be a reserve infielder and will struggle to get to 2WAR. 

[HollywoodTim]

7 hours ago, Squirmin' for Yermin said:

I bet the majority of people still like him.. Just the minority are so loud about it, it overshadows everyone else lol.

But I wonder if by "like him" they think he's something like 80% likely to be David Eckstein, 10% likely to be better than David Eckstein, and 10% likely to be lesser than David Eckstein, do they "like him" enough to surrender a near-MLB ready prospect with a solid floor and a significantly higher ceiling, who still ranks in the top-100 in national consensus, even if ranked much lower than Madrigal?

Teams probably like everybody who looks like a sure bet to play in the Majors, and also, baseball people probably do not want to ever formally discount a player with such baseball smarts and natural instincts, nor would they want to publicly discount a guy with the speed + defense + extreme contact profile.  But I wonder how many of these people who "like" him actually "love him" enough to give up something else they also "love."