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Sox acquire Adam Eaton from ARZ, deal Santiago, Jacobs


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QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 10, 2013 -> 10:42 AM)
It was good natured banter. Pretty funny.

Not a lot of substance in that interview, however.

 

Buster Olney ‏@Buster_ESPN 44s

@keithlaw reporting: D-Backs have discussed 3-team deal with CWS (Eaton) and Angels (who might get Santiago) as part of Trumbo/Skaggs frame.

https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN

 

Except that's what Kenny was refering to

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QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 10, 2013 -> 10:48 AM)
Can't imagine that Adam Eaton would get White Sox fans excited. It's a nice move, but not a super exciting move.

Honestly, I thought KW made that comment in jest, just part of the back and forth with Rosenthal. There was emphasis on "and you don't know anything about it."

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Quick scouting report from 2012 (at that point listed as a 4th outfielder ceiling):

 

 

The Player: Adam Eaton (OF, Arizona Diamondbacks) – Modest 19th round pick out of Miam University (OH) in 2010. Hit a whopping .385 in his Pioneer League debut, torching the league in 68 games. Hit .332/.455/.492 in first half of 2011 season after skipping all the way to Double-A. Continued to hit in Double-A, managing a .302 batting average and 15 extra-base hits in 56 games for Mobile. Returned to Mobile for just 11 games in 2012 before earning a promotion to Triple-A. Since his promotion, he has hit .382/.457/.547 in 105 games with an astounding 41 doubles.

 

Basis of Report: Compilation – Industry Contacts

 

Scouting Report

 

Body (5-8, 185): Small. Thick, compact body with good strength and fringy athleticism.

Hit: Quick bat with contact-oriented approach. Noisy pre-load but settles down and gets the bat to the zone quickly and can make contact with east. Excellent knowledge of the strike zone and good pitch recognition. Works deep into counts and finds pitches he can handle. Willing to take a walk. Contact comes easy with very little swing and miss. Potential to hit for a high average against RHP. Lost against LHP. Dives toward plate and doesn’t read pitches as well from LHP. Grade – 60/60

Power: Very little home run power. Has enough strength and bat speed to drive ball to the gaps and can be a doubles machine. Well below average raw power but will still have some extra-base hits, mostly of the doubles variety. Grade (raw power) – 30/30

Arm: Nothing stands out with his throws. He gets rid of the ball quickly and almost always throws to the correct base. Average raw strength on most throws. Grade – 50/50

Fielding: Stretched in CF. Can get the job done due to high effort style of play, but itsn’t ideal. Defensive ability more suited to corner OF. Grinder type that will do anything to get the job done. Instincts and routes in CF are iffy at best and can often leave him diving for balls a better CF would get to with relative ease. Presently below-average in CF with ceiling as fringe-average defender. Grade – 40/40

Speed: Reports range from average to solid-average times down the line. Very aggressive runner, both in the outfield and when running the bases, which helps speed play up. Could steal 20 bases a year. Grade – 50/50

 

Summation:  Absolute max-effort player. Leaves it all on the field. Manager’s dream. Controls strike zone exceptionally well and will take walks. Walks may decrease against MLB pitching because of lack of power. Anemic against LHP. Lacks any significant home run power but can pick up doubles and will stretch some singles because of aggressive style. Can handle CF but stretched in the process. Lacks premium profile to stay up the middle, and lacks premium offensive profile for a corner. Tweener. Really good fourth OF and contact-oriented bench bat.

 

Relative Risk: Low. Big league ready with very good approach and grinder mentality.

 

Future: Having no trouble with Triple-A pitching. Ready to be a big league fourth outfielder right now. Could help off the bench down the stretch and should be in the mix for a secondary role in 2013.

 

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Eaton is a super fast, 5'8" lefty that could best be characterized as a prototypical leadoff hitter. He often walks as much as he strikes out, steals bags really well, puts the ball in play to make his speed work, and plays good defense all around the OF. Has a good arm despite his size. Maybe not an out of this world defender in CF, but definitely good enough if you believe years of scouting reports.

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SB nation scoutin report in which he is compared to David Dejusus, the more I read the more I like:

 

Prospect of the Day: Adam Eaton, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks

 

Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Adam Eaton (not to be confused with the former major league pitcher) is currently destroying the Pacific Coast League, threatening the .400 mark in 62 games for the Triple-A Reno Aces. You don't see Eaton on many top prospect lists, but he's got an excellent track record and is the subject for today's Prospect of the Day.

 

 

Adam Eaton was an extremely successful outfielder at the University of Miami-Ohio. He hit .294/.374/.406 in 50 games in his freshman year in 2008, then boosted his production to .350/.472/.617 with 11 homers and 28 steals in 2009, then .368/.466/.709 with 13 homers and 30 steals in his junior year of 2010. Scouts gave him good reviews for his work ethic, speed, athleticism, and throwing arm, and his statistics were obviously excellent, but he lasted until the 19th round in the draft and earned a bonus of only $35,000 (more on that in a moment).

 

Eaton continued ripping pro pitching after signing, hitting .385/.500/.575 with 20 steals, 35 walks, and 44 strikeouts in 226 at-bats for Missoula in the Pioneer League. Of course, that's the Pioneer League. Lots of people hit well there. Bumped up to High-A Visalia to begin 2011, he remained extremely productive with a .332/.455/.492 mark with 24 steals in 65 games. But hey, that's the California League; lots of people hit well there.

 

The same is not true for the Southern League, a more neutral environment. Promoted to Mobile for the second half last year, Eaton remained productive with a .302/.409/.429 mark, showing some power slippage but continuing to control the strike zone well (30 walks, 35 strikeouts in 212 at-bats) and swiping 10 bases. He hit .300/.391/.325 in 11 games for Mobile this year, before moving up to Reno in late April. He's hitting .392/.463/.536 in Triple-A, with 28 walks and 37 strikeouts in 263 at-bats, with 22 steals. Overall, he's hitting .380/.461/.508 this year with 34 walks, 45 strikeouts in 303 at-bats, with 28 steals in 34 attempts.

 

In 262 minor league games, Eaton is a career .352/.452/.503 hitter, with 82 steals in 110 attempts. So, what's the deal here? This guy tore it up in college, and he's tearing it up in pro ball.

 

Eaton is a left-handed hitter and thrower, born December 6, 1988 in Springfield, Ohio. The key thing that has kept him off top prospect lists is size: he's just 5-8, 185 pounds. However, he's got good tools, including above-average running speed, and a very strong throwing arm. While he doesn't have huge home run power, he has good pop and can sting the ball to all fields. So far, minor league pitchers haven't found any weaknesses in his approach, and he's handled both fastballs and breaking balls well. He did have some issues showing pop against left-handed pitching last year, hitting .263 with a .331 SLG, but that hasn't been a problem in 2012: he's hitting .417/.493/.533 against lefties in Triple-A. Eaton is also well-regarded for his work ethic and intensity.

 

While Arizona doesn't have an immediate opening for Eaton, he doesn't appear to have much learning left to do in the minors. Although it would be easy to categorize him as a future fourth outfielder, his combination of speed, gap power, on-base ability, and sound defense could make him a regular for some teams, at least in a David DeJesus kind of way.

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