Vogelbach Minor League Position Player Of The Month

[mountsalami]

Glad he's doing well, but

If he's a "power bat" that has no position defensively, we need to keep someone else.

If one of his supporters is already looking for a DH in the NL in order for him to play, I will withhold my enthusiasm.

And there is no way he is our best hitter in the system. Soler and Baez are better for sure.

I would say it's up for good debate on who is actually better. A case could be made for Almora also. There is no real right or wrong on any of these guys. I believe Dan is the better of the three from what I've seen and read. Time will tell.

 

[mountsalami]

Does seem like a bit of a perfect storm there with Cano being able to get his monster deal and Yankees being able to try to get below luxury tax threshold. The legality of all this stuff is so new and crazy since the rules are seemingly being rewritten everyday. I am not certain how it will all play out, but the Yankees could hit the jackpot and get out of those last few years of ARods deal.

I am holding out the tiniest slivers of hope that Cano hits the market and that the Cubs are serious about pursuit of him. It is the tiniest slivers mind you.

I agree that it does seem like a perfect storm is brewing in New York. You answered what would have been my next question on your thoughts at the Cubs possibly going after Cano. They let Garza go who is still young so I don't suspect the Cubs will even take a sniff at Cano.

 

[dabynsky]

I agree that it does seem like a perfect storm is brewing in New York. You answered what would have been my next question on your thoughts at the Cubs possibly going after Cano. They let Garza go who is still young so I don't suspect the Cubs will even take a sniff at Cano.

I think contract size and loss of draft pick is probably the bigger deterent to the Cubs going after Cano than age, but we shall see I guess. Either way I doubt it would happen even though adding his bat at 2B would completely reshape the lineup.

 

[mountsalami]

I think contract size and loss of draft pick is probably the bigger deterent to the Cubs going after Cano than age, but we shall see I guess. Either way I doubt it would happen even though adding his bat at 2B would completely reshape the lineup.

They would probably see their money back out of Cano just by the attendance boost alone. A Cano signing I believe would also trigger them to obtain a right handed power bat also. So it really takes us back to "slim".

 

[dabynsky]

They would probably see their money back out of Cano just by the attendance boost alone. A Cano signing I believe would also trigger them to obtain a right handed power bat also. So it really takes us back to "slim".

Perhaps, but the one thing that is close to being ready in the system is right handed power with guys like Olt at AAA, Baez now in AA, Soler in advance A but probably would be in AA now if not for injury. Again I think it is slim that the Yanks don't lock him up before he hits the market, and then even less that the Cubs outbid the Dodgers. But I would love to go big for Cano as 2nd and as he loses range moving to 3B.

 

[mountsalami]

Perhaps, but the one thing that is close to being ready in the system is right handed power with guys like Olt at AAA, Baez now in AA, Soler in advance A but probably would be in AA now if not for injury. Again I think it is slim that the Yanks don't lock him up before he hits the market, and then even less that the Cubs outbid the Dodgers. But I would love to go big for Cano as 2nd and as he loses range moving to 3B.

I would like to see Olt up and playing ASAP to get a gauge on the guy. There's no need to fuck around at this point. He's probably still studying for the Cub's Way written test. They could easily just dump Ransom today and get Olt some playing time.

 

[SilenceS]

Glad he's doing well, but

If he's a "power bat" that has no position defensively, we need to keep someone else.

If one of his supporters is already looking for a DH in the NL in order for him to play, I will withhold my enthusiasm.

And there is no way he is our best hitter in the system. Soler and Baez are better for sure.

He probably has the best approach at the plate in our minors except for maybe Soler.

 

[Parade_Rain]

He probably has the best approach at the plate in our minors except for maybe Soler.

Have you seen these guys live or what data are you looking at?

 

[mountsalami]

Have you seen these guys live or what data are you looking at?

I'm sure it's mostly the same data that we have access to. Silence tends to pay closer attention to what's going on in those levels than most of us.

This I know from the years that I've known him.

I know he's provided links to me in the past so I could listen to the minor league games live on the computer. I'm sure he still listens to the games when he has time.

He's not just throwing out random shit.

 

[SilenceS]

Scouting reports and his line. He takes the ball opposite way. Has power to the opposite field. The knock on him coming out was obviously his weight, but Law said he didn't have the bat speed to catch up to balls. Well, seems that wasn't true because they say he has plenty of bat speed and can get to those inside fastballs. Maybe the weight loss helped with that or just getting older and stronger.

His line is .288/.366/.488 He has a wOBA of .373 and a rc+129. His BABIP is at .307 so its pretty normal. he is walking a 11.5% clip and only striking out at a 14.9% clip. These all show that he is just overall a really good hitter and has a really good approach at the plate. He is patient and will take the ball out to any field. I am more confident with him being a major league hitter then almost anyone in our organization. The guy just can flat out hit.

 

[KBisBack!]

No doubt in my mind that this kid will be a major league hitter for a very long time. He is an absolute complete hitter.

But for what team??

The Cubs already have the best 1B in baseball right now.

 

[dabynsky]

Unfortunately you can only watch a few games of KC on MiLB.tv. There are no FSL teams that broadcast either. However, TN broadcasts all their home games and IA has all of their games broadcast as well. So I haven't gotten to see much of Vogelbach or Soler, but I would agree with what Silence has said due to the exact same things Silence has said.

 

[Jntg4]

But for what team??

The Cubs already have the best 1B in baseball right now.

You see, one of the great things about prospects is that once they grow and they are blocked - in Vogelbach's case it is more by the NL not having a DH than it is by Rizzo - you can trade them for major league talent at another position. Astonishing, I know.

 

[SilenceS]

Here is a video of one of his homeruns in Kane. He takes a high fastball out. Another good thing about him is he will not many tweaks to his swing. He has a compact swing that is really good looking and doesn't have many holes in it. He swing is also pretty short. Doesn't have that long long swing like a lot of our prospects have or had.

[video=youtube;puQ9agBc5ws]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puQ9agBc5ws[/video]

 

[Jntg4]

Scouting reports and his line. He takes the ball opposite way. Has power to the opposite field. The knock on him coming out was obviously his weight, but Law said he didn't have the bat speed to catch up to balls. Well, seems that wasn't true because they say he has plenty of bat speed and can get to those inside fastballs. Maybe the weight loss helped with that or just getting older and stronger.

His line is .288/.366/.488 He has a wOBA of .373 and a rc+129. His BABIP is at .307 so its pretty normal. he is walking a 11.5% clip and only striking out at a 14.9% clip. These all show that he is just overall a really good hitter and has a really good approach at the plate. He is patient and will take the ball out to any field. I am more confident with him being a major league hitter then almost anyone in our organization. The guy just can flat out hit.

Speaking of BABIP, Baez has an .840 OPS right now... despite a BABIP of just .204... think about if that leveled out to an average BABIP. :cum:

 

[SilenceS]

Speaking of BABIP, Baez has an .840 OPS right now... despite a BABIP of just .204... think about if that leveled out to an average BABIP. :cum:

Baez has to work on his approach and cut the K's down. Baez is the ultimate boom or bust prospect. If he makes it though, look out because that bat speed is just nasty.

 

[SilenceS]

This is another homerun by him, but the video slows down his swing. Look how short and compact he comes through the zone. A very fundamentally sound swing.

[video=youtube;RDL15QCy0iU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDL15QCy0iU[/video]

 

[Jntg4]

Baez has to work on his approach and cut the K's down. Baez is the ultimate boom or bust prospect. If he makes it though, look out because that bat speed is just nasty.

I suspect Baez's K numbers will go back down next year after he adjusts to AA pitching. His walk rates have actually gone up at every level too.

 

[dabynsky]

Baez has to work on his approach and cut the K's down. Baez is the ultimate boom or bust prospect. If he makes it though, look out because that bat speed is just nasty.

Again nailed it SilenceS. I would put the big four in order of bust potential Baez, Bryant, Almora, Soler but the order of potential big league impact at Baez, Bryant, Soler, Almora. The bat speed with Baez is just absolutely ridiculous and with the bat waggle you can see the Sheffield comp, though due to approach they will be vastly different players if Baez makes it.

 

[mountsalami]

You see, one of the great things about prospects is that once they grow and they are blocked - in Vogelbach's case it is more by the NL not having a DH than it is by Rizzo - you can trade them for major league talent at another position. Astonishing, I know.

If Dan can hit the ball at the ML level for the Cubs he should remain a Cub. I would not refrain from bringing him up because he's blocked or the DH bullshit. There's a chance that he could be a much better ML hitter than Rizzo. Even if he's is equal to Rizzo send Rizzo to the outfield. It's not about pride obviously becasue the Cubs have shown very little of that the last few years.

The guy is a better athlete than he's been given credit for by these supposed experts. He moves around just fine. I believe overblown due to the fact that some are just racists against people they consider overweight.

I should know. I am the board's expert in the field.

The BBW videos on the porn sites seem to get quite a bit of traffic. Maybe someone like Keith Law ought to start cleansing his soul by grabbing a roll of paper towels and pulling up a chair.