Luhnow was willing to trade Bukauskas and Stubbs for half a season of Bryce Harper (who wasn’t having a good year by his standards). Bukauskas’ value hasn’t changed much since then. He can be a solid piece for a really good player, but he’s not untouchable by any stretch.
Cortabarria is playing much better in basically all aspects since coming stateside. Still strikes out too much to really get excited. He was supposed to be a raw toolsy guy when signed, so the progress is encouraging. Rojas becomes the 4th MiLB player to join the 20-20 club this year. The others are Kyle Tucker, Luis Robert, and Will Benson (Indians 1st pick in 2016)
Let’s assume Rojas’ speed is a product of bad minor league catchers and opportunism that won’t translate to the majors. And let’s assume Rojas is limited to 2B. But let’s also assume he can keep his k rate under 20% and most of his power translates, so he can hit 20 HR in a season. In 2018, here are the MLB 2B who k’ed <20% and hit 20+ HR: Albies Lowrie Gennett They ranged from 3.9 to 4.9 fWAR.
Rojas is one of those guys that are valued by organizations more than trade publications. Other than it possibly inflating minor league numbers, a prospects age doesn’t mean as much because everything is tied to the number of years a player is under a teams control at a low salary.
One kind of wild card for players like Rojas, Emmanuel, and Ferguson is that the July 31 deadline only applies to players on the 40 man roster. So if a team gets hit by an injury in August, they might prefer to give up something for a well performing older prospect as opposed to the Jake Elmore types that will be available to them at that point.
I think age matters more at lower levels which Rojas isn't at. I haven't seen all the midseason lists, but the publication writers should have their heads slapped over guys like Rojas. I don't care much that he wasn't on the preseason lists. He's in AAA now hitting the ball hard often and getting it in the air often. I'm not exactly sure how valuable Rojas as the power he's showing could make him much more than the underrated scrappy player I was expecting. Even just an annoying scrappy player should be rated higher than I've seen him rated.
In a BA chat today, they mentioned that Shawn Dubin has 94-95 FB and potential + CB and SL. There are concerns about how skinny he is though.
Scrubb touching 98 is a good sign. I consider him a good value for White. Dubin seems to be popping up. I am not high on him but literally any pitcher in Houston’s system has a chance to breakout; they’re ALL sleepers.
Cristian Javier finished off Corpus Christi's 9-2 win in Northwest Arkansas with four scoreless and no-hit innings of relief: 4 IP, 2 BB, 9 K Javier has allowed 40 hits in 86.2 innings between Fayetteville and Corpus this year.
He's Rule V eligible. No wonder the Dodgers gave up on a player w/ that kind of talent. That means the Astros are now going to have to do the same. Btw, how does one look up which players are Rule V eligible by team for 2019?
Fangraphs has it on the individual player pages. Roster Resource has it although it’s not always 100% accurate. Jayne from What The Heck Bobby does a primer and I think has an article on 2019 already so you can google it. But here’s the Astros list (May not be 100% accurate): C: Lorenzo Quintana Jamie Ritchie Carlos Canelon Chuckie Robinson Ruben Castro Orlando Marquez IF: Abraham Toro Taylor Jones Alex De Goti Nick Tanielu Jonathan Arauz Anibal Sierra Osvaldo Duarte Alfredo Angarita MiguelAngel Sierra Enmanuel Valdez OF: Drew Ferguson Granden Goetzman Ronnie Dawson Bryan De La Cruz Carmen Benedetti P: Ryan Hartman Cristian Javier Brandon Bailey Kent Emanuel Ronel Blanco Enoli Paredes Riley Ferrell Brendan McCurry Ralph Garza Justin Ferrell Akeem Bostick Gabriel Valdez Colin McKee Carson LaRue Chad Donato Brett Adcock Erasmo Pinales Nick Hernandez Yohan Ramirez Carlos Sanabria Andre Scrubb Leovanny Rodriguez Cesar Rosado Abdiel Saldana
Summarizing that list: Definitely will be protected: Toro Javier Probably will be protected: Dawson Bailey Paredes Donato Scrubb Risks to be taken: Ferguson R Ferrell Hartman Longshots: Arauz De La Cruz Jones Tanielu Duarte De Goti Pinales Adcock Rodriguez Saldana Hernandez Emanuel LaRue
Who homered today Taylor Jones (18, 2-run) Derek Fisher (13, 2-run) Ronnie Dawson (17, 2-run) Carlos Machado (1, 3-run)
J.P. France and Riley Cabral combined on a two-hit shutout for Fayetteville. France: 7 IP, 2 H, BB, 9 K Cabral: 2 IP, 6 K (perfect outing)
