2012 Minor League Thread 10.0

[SenorGato]

I don't think anyone would quibble over 65 too much. In the end all it says is that he's not elite, and speed is the closest he was going to come to an elite tool.

[Tom Emanski]

The point is that plenty of professional scouts who have seen Szczur play regularly don't put a lot of value in his future stock given the way he plays the game right now. I'm inclined to listen to them first.

Wasn't he a top 100 prospect, based on that stuff?

[cubs1st]

"Pre-2012: Rated #64 Prospect" on Baseball Reference.

[KyleJRM]

Baseball-Reference has an interesting history of going way off-board once in awhile with athletic types that they predict a huge breakout from. I doubt Szczur ever sniffs another top-100 ranking anywhere.

[Tom Emanski]

"Pre-2012: Rated #64 Prospect" on Baseball Reference.

Is that Baseball America's ranking? He isn't ranked now, but scouts would have had to seen at least something in him to be ranked. He probably won't see another top 100, unless something clicks.

[SenorGato]

It is Baseball America's ranking. It came back when he was still a shiny new toy to be considered a tools monster.

[jtsunami]

Baseball-Reference has an interesting history of going way off-board once in awhile with athletic types that they predict a huge breakout from. I doubt Szczur ever sniffs another top-100 ranking anywhere.

Baseball-Reference doesn't predict anything. They post the rankings from Baseball America.

[KyleJRM]

Derp. I did mean Baseball America. Too many B's.

[terencem]

"Pre-2012: Rated #64 Prospect" on Baseball Reference.

It was a projection based more on tools than anything. The current evaluations seem fine based on what scouts have seen out of how he plays baseball. It should also be noted that Goldstein and Law felt similarly.

[Tom Emanski]

I don't think anyone would quibble over 65 too much. In the end all it says is that he's not elite, and speed is the closest he was going to come to an elite tool.

That wasn't really the argument. Law says he lacks the speed defensively, which I think is hogwash, being a 4.4 guy.

[cubsbullsbears2]

That wasn't really the argument. Law says he lacks the speed defensively, which I think is hogwash, being a 4.4 guy.

Law said he lacks the speed to make up for his poor reads, which I can understand and agree with him on. He's fast, not elite. He needs to continue to learn how to read the ball off the bat more accurately.

I think you're all a little quick to jump ship on Szczur. Coming from someone who never saw his ceiling as more than an in-his-prime Victorino; but some of you seem to think he won't even contribute at the big league level.

[terencem]

I don't think anyone would quibble over 65 too much. In the end all it says is that he's not elite, and speed is the closest he was going to come to an elite tool.

That's still a really good grade for speed. He's stealing bases at a good but not incredible rate. He hasn't sustained an incredible BABIP rate either, which is something else that would point to elite speed.

[SenorGato]

Prime Victorino was a first division starter.

[cubsbullsbears2]

Prime Victorino was a first division starter.

And I said that was his ceiling, not his likely outcome. Read Gato, read.......

[SenorGato]

I was addressing that being "not much," since edited out.