Comments on: New York Yankees, 2010 Minor League Review

By: Stephen

Stephen — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 18:56:44 +0000

@Brede: The rankings are as of August 2010. I will be posting a new list shortly. The players you want me to rank depend on what you have or want. I personally would go Montero, Hellickson, Ackley, Jennings, Trout. Trout is low because he is the furthest from the show.

By: Brede

Brede — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 18:26:57 +0000

My keeper league is currently having its 1st year player draft. How would you rank Montero, Jennings, Hellickson, Trout, and Ackley now (I looked at the prospect rankings but not sure when that is from)? Thanks!

By: barker

barker — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 03:50:50 +0000

JB early = murray chass

good article stephen

wins and losses are virtually irrelevant at any level i think felix proved that this year — some people just can’t let go

By: Stephen

Stephen — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:42:34 +0000

@Bruce: That is essentially the reason I left him out, even in the Honorable Mentions section. Sanchez is 17 and basically played Rookie Ball this past year. I've only heard good things about him though.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:29:55 +0000

The Yankees’ catcher of the future is more likely to be Gary Sanchez than Austin Romine. Sanchez (Baseball America’s #2 prospect in the system) is better defensively than Montero (though probably not as good as Romine) but has a MUCH better bat than Romine (again, not as good as Montero’s). Either way, not mentioning him here is a crime, unless you’re specifically excluding him because he has virtually no chance to appear at the Stadium in 2011.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:29:36 +0000

@ChrisV82: If it was in September, it was the playoffs. @Earl Battey: Concur.

By: Earl Battey

Earl Battey — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:24:39 +0000

@JB Early:

It is certainly true that some pitchers have earned their reputations by their abilities to win games. Jack Morris comes to mind. He topped several GM/manager surveys in the 80s as the guy they would want to pitch a big game for their teams. He didn’t have the best extended metrics of the era, but he had the makeup to pitch up to the competition and the situation. His 10 shutout innings in game 7 of the ’91 World Series seem to bear that out.

That said, wins can be a misleading statistic even at the major league level. What do Brett Cecil, Derek Lowe, Clayton Richard and Fausto Carmona have in common? They all won as many or more games than Felix Hernandez last year. That’s at the major league level, where priority one is to win games.

At the minor league level, priority one is to develop players. If the ace starting pitcher is locked in a scoreless tie after 6 and he’s at his pitch count, he’s getting pulled. If they had a couple of rainouts and they need to get some guys work, he might only go 4. Their managers have no interest in seeing that they get the W if it compromises the overall organizational strategy of developing players so they can contribute at the big league level.

I’m not a “numbers nerd,” but I realize that minor league wins and losses are only slightly more relevant than the guy’s uniform number.

Regarding the 1960 World Series, your issue is with Casey Stengel’s game management, not the stats of wins and losses.

By: ChrisV82

ChrisV82 — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:14:58 +0000

I saw Venditte pitch twice at AA, but I feel like one of those times may have been in the playoffs. I’m pretty sure it was September either way. From my recollection, I think they just used him as a LOOGY, or at the very least they only used him for one batter. It was disappointing, but I like his gigantic, freakish glove. They should sell those at the gift shop.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 15:22:14 +0000

@JB Early: I ignore the W/L record of minor league pitching prospects because we should be more worried about how they pitch, not if they can win a game. In the low minors where most players games are still developing, what good would stating a 5-5 W/L record help us determine how good of a pitcher he was. Same can be said about all the minor levels, for the top prospects, we are worried about how they perform. Would you rather have a prospect that went 20-6 but with extended metrics of 5.0 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 with an ERA of 4.25 and a FIP of 5.25 or a prospect that went 8-10 with extended metrics of 9.5 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, ERA of 3.25 and a FIP of 3.30 at the same level and league? I know who I want. Then again, I also don't consider myself a numbers nerd, I call myself an interest fan who uses all relevant information available.

By: JB Early

JB Early — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:04:37 +0000

For all the obvious hard work put into an excellent & concise report, it is utter nonsense the W/L record of these pitchers is not included. As long as wins & losses determine which teams make the playoffs at every level of baseball, the discounting of their value is the hubris of numbers nerds whose best strokes are on a calculator & have obviously never played past T-ball.

Of course -IF one of you genii find a way to have MLB declare the Yankees of the 1960 World Series prove they won, because their stats buried those @#%&*! Pirates. Then, I’m on your side. Forever.