Kuiper: Giants top prospect Arroyo 'going to be really good' | CSN Bay Area

Arroyo is just relentlessly following the Joe Panik developmental path and at the same time breaking the Gigantes recent string of bad luck with high round, high school hitters as draft picks.

Arroyo may be replacing Tyler Beede, who himself just recently replaced Kyle Crick as the consensus, most highly rated Giants minor league prospect. Crick, unfortunatly looks to be falling out of the top ten due to his deplorable K/BB rate.

from CSN Bay Area:
http://www.csnbayarea.com/giants/kuiper-giants-top-prospect-arroyo-going-be-really-good?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=san-francisco-giants

Kuiper: Giants top prospect Arroyo 'going to be really good'

The hype surrounding Giants 2013 first-round pick Christian Arroyo is growing by the day.
In early December, Baseball America rated the 20-year-old as the Giants' No. 1 prospect in their system entering the 2016 season.
On Tuesday, the Giants invited the shortstop to big league camp, and on Friday, MLB.com ranked him as the No. 82 prospect in the minor leagues, the only Giant to make the list.
Arroyo has plenty of fans, and one of them is Giants' play-by-play announcer Duane Kuiper.
Appearing on the Murph & Mac show on KNBR 680 on Thursday, Kuiper was asked about the Giants' non-roster invites and brought up the Tampa-native Arroyo.
"I've seen a little bit of him last year, but by all reports after the Arizona Fall League, he's going to be really good. So, it'll be interesting to see where the Giants try to place him position-wise, given the infield positioning is so young. So maybe they'll stick him in the outfield, take some flyballs. Because if you can hit, you're going to find a place to play," Kuiper said.
During the aforementioned 2015 Arizona Fall League, the annual gathering of the top prospects in baseball, Arroyo hit .308/.360/.448 with three doubles, three home runs and 13 RBI in 19 games.
That performance came after he hit .304/.344/.459 with 28 doubles, nine home runs and 42 RBI in 90 games for High-A San Jose in 2015.
As Kuiper alluded to, Arroyo may have to learn a new position due to Gold Glover and Silver Slugger Brandon Crawford's presence at shortstop on the big league club.
During the Winter Meetings in December, Giants vice president of baseball operations Brian Sabean addressed a potential position change for Arroyo.
"We're all marveling at how fast the bat is coming," he said. "Now, will he be a shortstop? I don't think so. Is he going to be a second baseman or third baseman? We have to flush that out. But this guy is a legitimate bat."

Sent from my iPhone

Arroyo, Beede Headline Top Prospect List | Inside the San Jose Giants

The amazing part is not so much how rapidly Arroyo's stock has risen but how former Golden Boy Kyle Crick has descended. Right off the Baseball America's Top Ten list. Not saying the assessment is anything but accurate for either prospect, I'm just saying.

Next move might be to but Arroyo some OF mitts. A little crowded in the Gigante IF.

from mlblogs.com
http://sjgiants.mlblogs.com/2015/12/04/arroyo-beede-headline-top-prospect-list/

Arroyo, Beede Headline Top Prospect List

By Joe Ritzo

Christian Arroyo has been named the #1 prospect in the San Francisco Giants organization by Baseball America

2015 San Jose Giants standouts Christian Arroyo and Tyler Beede were rated the #1 and #2 prospects respectively in the San Francisco organization today by Baseball America. Seven of the ten players on BA's top 10 list are former San Jose Giants.

Baseball America's Top 10 San Francisco Giants prospects:
1. Christian Arroyo, SS
2. Tyler Beede, RHP
3. Phil Bickford, RHP
4. Lucius Fox, SS
5. Chris Shaw, 1B
6. Sam Coonrod, RHP
7. Aramis Garcia, C
8. Clayton Blackburn, RHP
9. Jarrett Parker, OF
10. Adalberto Mejia, LHP

Arroyo is coming off an outstanding 2015 season in the California League. As San Jose's everyday shortstop this year, Arroyo finished seventh in the league with a .304 batting average. Over 90 games, Arroyo produced 28 doubles, two triples, nine home runs and 42 RBI's. A consistent presence out of the #2 spot in the batting order, Arroyo hit .300 in the first half before batting at a .307 clip after the All-Star break. For his efforts, Arroyo was named to the postseason California League All-Star team while also garnering the San Jose Giants team MVP award.

The 20-year old former first round pick then followed up his fantastic campaign in San Jose with a stellar effort in the Arizona Fall League. Facing some of the top pitching prospects in baseball, Arroyo hit .308 with three home runs over 19 AFL games.

Arroyo was rated the #10 prospect in the system by Baseball America after the 2014 season. He's the first position player to be named the #1 prospect in the organization by BA since Gary Brown after the 2012 season. Buster Posey (2010) and Brandon Belt (2011) have also garnered the #1 prospect distinction as position players this decade.

Giants reportedly making 'strong push' for Cole Hamels - McCovey Chronicles

I think this "Strong push" is merely an attempt to push up the eventual prospect cost to the Dodgers, if he ends up there. Any deal with the Giants would surely include Kyle Crick or Tyler Beede, which I could live with, but also Andrew Susac, which I could not.

from McCovey Chronicles:
Giants reportedly making 'strong push' for Cole Hamels - McCovey Chronicles:

There are complications, true. The first is the Giants can offer quantity over quality, but the Phillies might prefer the quality. Also, of note is that the Giants aren't on Hamels's list of pre-approved trade destinations, which means he might want them to pick up his $20 million option for 2019 in exchange for agreeing to the deal. Even though one of the Giants' selling points is their ability to take that Jon Lester money and shovel it to Hamels without the Phillies kicking in that much, an extra year at $20 million might make them think twice. At least the Dodgers are in a bidding war now. Stupid Dodgers.

'via Blog this'

David Price is a better option and a better fit, at less cost. Mike Leake is a better option and a better fit long-term ,at less cost AND perhaps an Aroldis Chapman chaser.

Give me

• Price
• Leake and / or Chapman 
• Hamels 

in that order. On my desk by Friday, sirs!!!

----

from the Twitter-sphere (or whatever you call it)

bayareasportsguy.com 

The Dodgers are better-suited to pay for a starter like Cole Hamels or David Price, because they have a couple prospects in Julio Urias and Corey Seager who are rated higher than Finnegan. However, Morosi thinks the Giants have some pitchers in the minors that teams might like.

The Dodgers are said to be highly reluctant to move left-hander Julio Urias, but Double-A right-hander Jose De Leon should be ready to join a major-league rotation by next year.

The Giants, meanwhile, have a number of pitching prospects who could be major-league-ready by next year: Tyler Beede, Joe Biagini and Kelvin Marte at Double-A and Keury Mella at high Class A.

Tossing aside the very real possibility that the Tigers won't sell on Price or Yoenis Cespedes (they're only four games behind Minnesota in the Wild Card race), it's hard to believe the Giants have enough to land a superstar like Price.

• Biagini and Marte are pitching quite well for Richmond (in a pitcher-friendly league), but the former is 25 and the latter is 27.
• 
  
• At 21, Mella is a year younger than Beede and he's pitching well in San Jose, but it seems unlikely he'd be a candidate to make a big league rotation next year.
• 
  
• Beede doesn't seem like a guy the Giants would want to trade, and he lasted just 1/3 of an inning today (one hit, three walks, one HBP) while allowing five earned runs, as he came within one pitch of the team-instituted 30-pitch limit. One has to wonder how many scouts were in the stands today in Erie, PA.

If a scout or team really likes Beede, a start like today's (where it appears that he didn't have his normal command) wouldn't have too much impact. But the Giants consider Beede a future starter, perhaps as soon as next season. They also don't want to saddle themselves with another big contract for a pitcher unless he's the perfect guy, so this is almost certainly true:

Download the Twitter app

Sent from my iPhone

Midseason Prospect Update: Giants - BaseballAmerica.com

Just when I thought it was safe to start beating the drums for Tyler Beede to replace Kyle Crick as the #1 prospect on the Giants board, Beede has a crappy outing where he lasts less than one inning. Given that Beede is being asked to transition from a power pitching bat-misser to an efficient, pitch to soft, ground-ball contact type an outing where it just all goes bad here and there should not be a great surprise.

The progress seems good moving forward, in contrast to Crick, whose wildness seems to wearing on the Giants brass as he was recently moved to the bullpen to either iron things out mechanically once and for all or try his hans at short relief, where his power will still play up.

from Baseball America (subscription required for full article):
http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/midseason-prospect-update-san-francisco-giants/

---

The Giants promoted several key front office personnel after the World Series, rewarding longtime GM Brian Sabean with a bump to executive vice president and promoted his assistant, Bobby Evans, to GM. Jeremy Shelley has added assistant GM duties to his role as pro scouting director. Even with the surprise Heston addition, the Giants have age and injury concerns in the rotation, but have the pitching pipeline primed by gurus Dick Tidrow and Bert Bradley that is ready to deliver again in the form of 2014 first-rounder Tyler Beede, a polished righthander who could make his debut this season.

---

MIDSEASON TOP 10

1. Tyler Beede, rhp

The Giants have worked with the former Vanderbilt ace to streamline his delivery and keep him more online to the plate. There has been a marked improvement in his command. In college, he walked 4.66 batters per nine. With the Giants, he's trimmed that back to 2.47 walks per nine. It's attributed to a mental adjustment as much as mechanical, as well as emphasizing a two-seam fastball. Beede has polished the changeup and has learned the importance of pitch selection, but the two-time first-round pick still needs to improve his breaking ball.

Sent from my iPhone

Kyle Crick #79 | MLB.com 2015 Prospect Watch | MLB.com

Giants place Crick at #79, the one and only Gignate on the list. The Giants farm system continues to generate yawns (or worse) from the experts/pundits.

Cubs (Kris Bryant) and Addison Russell) and Dodgers (Seager and Urias) both place two in the top eight and the Twins (Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano) two of the top 11. Dodgers also have three of top thirteen counting Joc Pederson. Twins add four more in the top 36 and Jorge Soler fills out the Cubbies roster at #22.


from MLB.com
MLB.com 2015 Prospect Watch | MLB.com:

Kyle Crick | Rank: 79

ETA: 2016Position: PAge: 22 DOB: 11/30/1992Bats: L Throws: RHeight: 6' 2" Weight: 220 lb.

Drafted: 2011, 1st Sup (49) - SF

VIDEO

Scouting grades: Fastball: 70 | Slider: 55 | Curveball: 45 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 40 | Overall: 55

Crick might be the most confounding pitching prospect in baseball. He didn't focus full-time on the mound until 2011, when he was a supplemental first-round pick out of a Texas high school, and his upside and lack of polish remain evident after four years in pro ball. He matched his career rate of 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings in Double-A as a 21-year-old in 2014, but he also averaged less than five innings per start because his control and command were so lacking.

Crick's strong build allows him to maintain a 93-97 mph on his fastball, which can reach as high as 99 and also features heavy sink. His second-best pitch is a slider/cutter that's more notable for its upper-80s velocity than its bite. His curveball has good depth at times and his changeup has some sink and deception.

When each of his pitches are at their best, Crick has a plus-plus fastball and three solid-or-better secondary offerings. His delivery tends to get out of whack, so he has trouble throwing strikes and putting his pitches where he wants when he does find the zone. The Giants are known for their ability to develop pitchers, so they still might turn him into a frontline starter, but an increasing numbers of scouts are pegging him as a reliever.

'via Blog this'

Giants stay the course, re-sign Jake Peavy to two-year deal - Yahoo Sports

(Getty Images)

Another good move for the Giants. A good move, maybe not a great, splashy move like the Lester signing would have been. But the Giants don't specialize in splashy anymore. And maybe that's a good thing. Let the Dodgers specialize in splash, flash and spending wads of cash. The Giants can keep specializing in winning.

from Yahoo Sports:
Giants stay the course, re-sign Jake Peavy to two-year deal | Big League Stew - Yahoo Sports:

The latest late night/early morning deal is brought to us by Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal, who reports the San Francisco Giants and GM Brian Sabean have reached an agreement to bring back veteran right-hander Jake Peavy on a two-year deal. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick later confirmed the overnight agreement and the financials, which come in at $24 million guaranteed.

'via Blog this'

This buys the Giants some time to rebuild the starting rotation. Tim Hudson leaves after 2015 and perhaps Lincecum as well. Peavy will be gone after 2016.

In the prospect pipeline, for starting pitchers you might expect the following reinforcements to arrive:

2015
Ty Blach
Chris Stratton

2016
Kendry Flores

2017
Kyle Crick
Clayton Blackburn
Adalberto Mejia
Keurry Mella
Tyler Beede

If any of them arrive ahead of schedule, either due to injury or a sudden bump in development, so much the better. And there is some hope for that, especially with Kyle Crick.

I was listening to MLB radio on Sirius and one of the commentators made a similar comparison to my Madison Bumgarner - Tim Alderson career path divergence and the ramifications with the Dodgers Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billinglsey. Not as elegant as the Giants example in that they started their careers at different times, but what I noticed in the comps is that Kershaw struggled mightily with his control at the AA level in 2007 at Jacksonville,  posting a 6.12 BB/9 versus a 10.44 K/9. The next year in 2008 Kershaw repeated AA Jacksonville and posted 8.70 K/9 versus 2.80 BB/9 and the rest, as they say, is history.

Kershaw's K/BB rate went from 1.71 when he was a 10+ K/9 to 3.11 when his K's went down to 8.66 per 9IP. Kershaw's K level held at the level when he reached the bigs, although his BB level wen up to 4.35 and 4.79 his first two years. Since then his BB/9 in  the bigs has decreased almost every year dropping from 3.57/2.08/2.49/1.98/1.41 from 2010 to 2014. Strangely enough, Kershaw's K/9 is now back over 10+ in 2014 @ 10.85, while his BB/9 is an absurd 1.41!!

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?P=clayton-kershaw

Crick was 11.1 K/9 and 6.1 BB/9 which is about his minor league career line in those two metrics. He needs the light to go on in a similar way that it appeared to for Kershaw. Kershaw sacrificed the gaudy 10+ K/9 to lower his BB/9 rate to an acceptable level, which  increased his overall pitching efficiency.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?P=kyle-crick

If Crick can take a similar career U-turn, the Giants could see the Matt Cain 2.0 comparisons for Crick come true. That would bolster the Giants starting rotation for years to come.

WINTER MEETINGS NOTES: Giants chase Shields; Panda's move was no surprise - Giants Extra

Some good news for the Giants out of the Winter Meetings, hopefully they hold on to Blach and fellow prospect Clayton Blackburn. They could help solidify the back end of the starting rotation beginning as early as 2015. Kyle Crick still worries me a bit with his wildness, I don't seem to recall the same issue with Zack Wheeler at the same point in his development. If Crick comes around, he has top of the rotation stuff. No other Giants pitching prospect brings a higher ceiling to the table than Kyle Crick.

from Giants Extra:
WINTER MEETINGS NOTES: Giants chase Shields; Panda's move was no surprise; #ThreeBelt; Giants add two minor leaguers - Giants Extra:

"— On a brighter note, here’s another thing I heard all week: The Giants think Ty Blach is very underrated on prospect lists. The 24-year-old left-hander has had two good seasons since getting drafted in the fifth round of the 2012 draft, posting a 3.02 ERA over 47 appearances. Blach has pulled away from some of the other pitching prospects in that vaunted 2013 San Jose Giants class, and there are people in the front office who believe he can contribute to the back end of the rotation at some point next season."

'via Blog this'

As far as chances to be a major league contributor, I still like Blach the best although he fell a little bit off last years performance mainly due to his hitting too many bats. He is a pitch to contact guy, but the thinking is that guys are getting too much hard contact which will only get greater as he advances. Blackburn has no such worries attached to him that I have seen. He seems to be able to grind through lineups and get outs efficiently. LHP prospect Adalberto Mejia throws up a red flag with his PED suspension.

P.S. - Although I am partial to LHP's, I like Blackburn / Blach in that order. And before I get crushed by others, I have not seen enough of Tyler Beede outside of Vanderbilt to rank him yet, but he is 1-1A with Crick in terms of ceiling, with a little more consistency it seems in terms of performance. His age helps in that regard. Blackburn, Blach and Beede, the Killer B's of Giants pitching prospects. 

from Bleacher Report:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2267984-giants-prospect-adalberto-mejia-suspended-latest-details-reaction-and-analysis

As Pavlovic mentions, Mejia is regarded as one of San Francisco's best prospects. He was ranked as the Giants' No. 4 prospect coming into the 2014 season by Baseball America and MLB.com, and spent all year playing for Double-A Richmond. 

Just 21 years old, Mejia was signed by the Giants as an international free agent in 2011. In the scouting report for him coming into 2014 onMLB.com, the left-hander was described as having the total package of what scouts look for in a young southpaw:

He had no problem handling high Class A hitters at age 19, as the only thing that slowed him down was a strained lat muscle that sidelined him for seven weeks.

Mejia has everything scouts look for in a pitcher -- stuff, size and command -- and as a bonus, he's left-handed. Mejia throws a low-90s two-seam fastball with minimal effort, getting the ball to cut or sink and locating it where he wants.

Losing Mejia for 50 games certainly delays his path to the big leagues next season. He still had work to do, as evidenced by a 4.67 ERA and 119 hits allowed in 108 innings, via MiLB.com, but the ceiling is bright for this young pitcher. This is just a bad speed bump on the road to what will hopefully be a long and prosperous career for a talented hurler. 

So in order, I guess my Giants pitching prospect list would be:

• Clayton Blackburn
• Derek Law
• Kendry Flores
• Keury Mella
• Ty Blach
• Adalberto Mejia
• Steven Okert
• Joan Gregorio
• Kyle Crick
• Chris Stratton
• Martin Agosta

The bottom three could really turn this list around in a hurry. Especially if Crick and Stratton start pitching in a more consistently dominant fashion.  Agosta may start falling from lists in this coming year. A major disappointment given where he was drafted. Flores and Mella are still a couple of years away from contributing.

from mlb.com
http://m.giants.mlb.com/news/article/100152666/clayton-blackburn-among-giants-prospects-in-arizona-fall-league

For someone who has breezed through pro ball, Giants right-hander Clayton Blackburn has a lengthy to-do list in the Arizona Fall League. He's trying to add two new pitches while replacing innings lost to a rib-cage injury during the season.

"I got hurt a little bit this year and missed about a month, so making up some innings, but also I'm trying to learn more of a true slider," said Blackburn, ranked as the Giants' No. 7 prospect. "I already have a big curveball, so I need a little bit of a true slider. And I'm going from a changeup to a splitter. So working on those, just perfecting my craft and getting better overall."

 In four pro seasons, Blackburn has gone 23-17 with a 2.98 ERA and a 405/76 K/BB ratio in 395 2/3 innings, thanks more to advanced pitchability than overpowering stuff. Though he has a burly 6-foot-2, 260-pound frame, he also has the athleticism to repeat his delivery. Blackburn throws with such little effort that his fastball appears quicker than its 89-93 mph velocity, he has the ability to manipulate the shape of his curveball, and he owns a sinking changeup to keep left-handers in check.

Blackburn went to big league camp with the Giants this spring and saw Hunter Strickland, his roommate at Double-A Richmond this year, become a key part of San Francisco's bullpen during the postseason. As the organization's most advanced starting-pitching prospect, he could make his Major League debut as a 22-year-old next season.

Giants Have Interest in Price and Zobrist, Rays Asking for a Lot in Return

Rays asking for a lot, or too much?

from Bay Area Sports Guy:
Giants Have Interest in Price and Zobrist, Rays Asking for a Lot in Return:

The Giants remain in contact with the Rays about two well-known trade targets, David Price and Ben Zobrist. According to a source with knowledge of the discussions, the Rays are looking for quite the haul. In return for either Price or Zobrist, the Rays want four of the Giants’ top prospects, headlined by Kyle Crick and Andrew Susac.

'via Blog this'

• I would let them know that for Price, the discussion ENDS at Crick and Susac. It does not START there.
• I would let them know that for Zobrist, they would be fortunate to get Crick OR Susac straight up for Zobrist, NOT BOTH or either one in combination with other prospects. 

You're welcome Brian!!!

P.S. - Post #1,700 all-time.

DAVID PRICE UPDATE: Jayson Stark ranks the teams most likely to land Price: Dodgers, Mariners, Cardinals, Giants, Blue Jays. [ESPN]

C.S. -  Dodgers and Cardinals have the most pieces to entice the Rays. The Mariners and Giants would benefit the most from landing Price but would appear to fall short in the prospect inventory category. I don't see the Rays dealing Price within the division.