If there’s no such thing as a pitching prospect, why can’t we keep them off our lists?
If there’s no such thing as a pitching prospect, why can’t we keep them off our lists? Fourteen of Baseball Prospectus‘s Top 40 Prospects are pitchers. Of the 15 players receiving honorable mention, six are pitchers. John Sickels has 22 pitchers listed in his top 50, with three more who would make it if they…
A good box score answers countless questions. Was it windy, was it wet, how many people were there? Did the wind blow in, did it blow right to left, did it cause home runs? Was it a day game? Who was the home plate umpire? Did he squeeze the strike zone? How many fans showed up, and when were they allowed to leave?
We experience baseball through its box scores more than through any other medium. A box score is an analogue, a concise recreation of everything we need to know, a tidy answer to Lenin’s question: Who is doing what to whom? Didn’t most of us develop our understanding of the game by reading box scores? Before…
You might have read this winter that the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are about to get better. Don’t believe it. The D-Rays have finished last in the American League East in all four years of their existence. They have never lost fewer than 92 games, and last year they finally made it all the way…
Contrary to appearances, the Chicago White Sox may be closer to a World Series appearance than they were in 2000. They won’t make the playoffs this season, and they’ll win far fewer games than they did last year, but the team they are developing has a better shot of someday making it through October than…
Readers of this column often raise questions about our use of the term "prospect." There appears to be some confusion as to how a player may project to make the majors and yet not be regarded as a prospect. Last week’s Triple-A All-Star Game in Indianapolis game offered some illustrations that might clarify the distinction….
The San Diego Padres and Detroit Tigers met in the 1984 World Series. They been linked ever since by second-division finishes, directionless player development, stadium issues, and Randy Smith. The Padres finished in last place in the NL West last season, and are there again this year, while the Tigers are in fourth place in…
About the time Jimmy Carter left office and Brett Myers was born, the Philadelphia Phillies were a proud organization. They had the sharpest scouts, a huge staff of men trained in Branch Rickey’s maxims. Even their executives had a scouting mindset. The Phillies wrote the book on scouting: the Philadelphia Scouting Manual. Philadelphia’s scouts were…
Baseball Prospectus Home
This week’s tour takes us through the Mariners’ and Astros’ farm systems. Seattle Mariners: Early-Season Organizational Review Ichiro Suzuki isn’t the only reason the Mariners are this season’s Story. In 1998, they lost Randy Johnson. Before last season, they lost Ken Griffey Jr. Over the winter, it was Alex Rodriguez. And yet the Ms have…
Davenport Translations: ERA BA OBP SLG Pacific Coast League 4.84 .277 .348 .435 According to Clay Davenport’s ratings in Baseball Prospectus 2001, the Pacific Coast League (PCL) is approximately as competitive as the Japanese professional leagues and not quite as challenging as the International League. The PCL is now and has always been a hitters’…
Davenport Translations: ERA BA OBP SLG International League 4.38 .266 .335 .416 According to Clay Davenport’s Translations, the International League has the highest degree of difficulty of all the minor leagues. The Pacific Coast League is well known for high-scoring games and skewed statistics, but the IL is neutral, favoring neither batters nor pitchers. Its…
Following the 2000 season, the minor leagues underwent dozens of changes. Organizations changed their affiliations within leagues, moved their affiliates from one league to another, and jumped and bumped teams between levels. Along with the reconfigurations, there will be several new parks throughout the minor leagues. What follows below is a delineation of the changes,…