I wonder sometimes if there are peripheries around players that just make an organization sour on them or stick with them. Like, for example: "He's a good guy." Or: "He's a clubhouse problem."
I have had very talented players on my soccer teams over the years who were just jerks and you couldn't get them to fit into the team. Sometimes very talented, they believed in their own way of playing and would not play right in the scheme of play you thought best for the team.
I don't think baseball is as much of a team concept sport like that, but I wonder how many Derek Bells you get vs. how many Adam Hyzdus.
I was always a fan of Osvaldo Bido. I always thought he could give you a good 4-5 IP, twice through a lineup. But he always seemed to have a tough time after that.
I really like him on the 40 man as SP depth(like a 7th SP). He’s 28 years old and Oakland has him under control for a while. He was actually one of the top MILB UFAs last offseason and got signed right away.
Bido was an older LatAm signing, 21 when he started his career, and the Pirates jumped him up from the DSL to the NYPL. A guy like that is usually something of a mystery when he first comes along, but I remember John Dreker heard that scouts really liked his stuff. The Pirates liked him enough to move him along quickly, but his command needed work and I guess they just lost patience.
He'd started falling out of prospect favor a bit even before the trade, but was billed as having big raw power and a patient-bordering-passive approach. He's since gotten much *more* aggressive on swing decisions with the Pirates, but the power production has gone in reverse. Whether correlation or causation, we saw something similar with Suwinski this year.
Peguero seems to have run into the buzzsaw of upper-level breaking balls and just can't hit 'em. Tough to make a living in an era where he'll see less than 50% fastballs.
I'm not a swing purist but does anyone look at his picture in this article and think " yeah, this Gorski kid has a chance".
On Suwinski and Nunez — for a long time I’ve been skeptical of hitters who change their approach back and forth. I tend to believe (without having any particular expertise) that it isn’t some binary thing, like “too passive” or “too aggressive.” More likely it’s just “not good enough.”
On Gorski . . . uh, yeah. I use the pic with that leg kick for a reason.
Thanks for the info - an excellent analysis of AAA. Let me add something - these kids play at one of the worst home parks for power hitters - however, the pitchers probably like it when their mistakes stay in the park.
Some ink for a kid who did not have his best year, but played steady for just about every inning of the year - Liover Peguero. He's got some pop for a MI - 29 Doubles (tied for 13th in the IL), and 79 RBI (tied for 6th in the IL). I think he added 13 or 14 HR also. On D he was excellent playing 83 Games, 691 innings at SS with a .965 fielding %age, Range Factor of 3.29; and playing 48 Games, 395 innings at 2B with a .994 Fielding %age, RF of 3.44. Excellent year and my pick to start at SS for the Pirates in 2025. No, don't care what they do with IKF, but hopefully not in a Pirate Uni, IMHO.
Only tangentially related to this write-up, which is very good, but Mackey also has a good column up today about the frustrations fans are feeling. I know some on here don't share those frustrations, but he captured mine well. (The tangential connection is that many of the position players noted in this article struggled once they got to Pittsburgh despite Cherington's comment, noted in Mackey's article, that “We’ve figured out a lot about what leads to success with hitters at the major league level.”).
I wonder sometimes if there are peripheries around players that just make an organization sour on them or stick with them. Like, for example: "He's a good guy." Or: "He's a clubhouse problem."
I have had very talented players on my soccer teams over the years who were just jerks and you couldn't get them to fit into the team. Sometimes very talented, they believed in their own way of playing and would not play right in the scheme of play you thought best for the team.
I don't think baseball is as much of a team concept sport like that, but I wonder how many Derek Bells you get vs. how many Adam Hyzdus.
_________________________
"ELVIS! Stop scarin' the baby!"
-Wabbit
I was always a fan of Osvaldo Bido. I always thought he could give you a good 4-5 IP, twice through a lineup. But he always seemed to have a tough time after that.
I really like him on the 40 man as SP depth(like a 7th SP). He’s 28 years old and Oakland has him under control for a while. He was actually one of the top MILB UFAs last offseason and got signed right away.
The Pirates never should’ve let him get away.
Bido was an older LatAm signing, 21 when he started his career, and the Pirates jumped him up from the DSL to the NYPL. A guy like that is usually something of a mystery when he first comes along, but I remember John Dreker heard that scouts really liked his stuff. The Pirates liked him enough to move him along quickly, but his command needed work and I guess they just lost patience.
Awesome work, Wilbur.
Nunez is an interesting one.
He'd started falling out of prospect favor a bit even before the trade, but was billed as having big raw power and a patient-bordering-passive approach. He's since gotten much *more* aggressive on swing decisions with the Pirates, but the power production has gone in reverse. Whether correlation or causation, we saw something similar with Suwinski this year.
Peguero seems to have run into the buzzsaw of upper-level breaking balls and just can't hit 'em. Tough to make a living in an era where he'll see less than 50% fastballs.
I'm not a swing purist but does anyone look at his picture in this article and think " yeah, this Gorski kid has a chance".
On Suwinski and Nunez — for a long time I’ve been skeptical of hitters who change their approach back and forth. I tend to believe (without having any particular expertise) that it isn’t some binary thing, like “too passive” or “too aggressive.” More likely it’s just “not good enough.”
On Gorski . . . uh, yeah. I use the pic with that leg kick for a reason.
Dang, I’m gonna remember that. Makes a ton of sense.
Thanks for the info - an excellent analysis of AAA. Let me add something - these kids play at one of the worst home parks for power hitters - however, the pitchers probably like it when their mistakes stay in the park.
Some ink for a kid who did not have his best year, but played steady for just about every inning of the year - Liover Peguero. He's got some pop for a MI - 29 Doubles (tied for 13th in the IL), and 79 RBI (tied for 6th in the IL). I think he added 13 or 14 HR also. On D he was excellent playing 83 Games, 691 innings at SS with a .965 fielding %age, Range Factor of 3.29; and playing 48 Games, 395 innings at 2B with a .994 Fielding %age, RF of 3.44. Excellent year and my pick to start at SS for the Pirates in 2025. No, don't care what they do with IKF, but hopefully not in a Pirate Uni, IMHO.
Thank you, WTM, for another great analysis of AAA. Always look forward to your articles!
Only tangentially related to this write-up, which is very good, but Mackey also has a good column up today about the frustrations fans are feeling. I know some on here don't share those frustrations, but he captured mine well. (The tangential connection is that many of the position players noted in this article struggled once they got to Pittsburgh despite Cherington's comment, noted in Mackey's article, that “We’ve figured out a lot about what leads to success with hitters at the major league level.”).
Boy is "a lot" covering some ground there...sheesh.
I’ve figured out a lot about what leads to success with hitters at the major league level. Whatever the Pirates do, don’t do it.
Great write-up.
The continuing dumpster fires with outfielders and relief pitchers boggle the mind.
Love the minor league write ups, especially considering a lot of the lesser guys are harder to keep track of. Good job.
I try to find a reasonable compromise between ignoring, say, Connor Sadzeck, and boring folks with accounts of guys we’ll never hear about again.
this speaks to me.