Prospect Insider - News and Notes: October 14, 2011

News and Notes: October 14, 2011

By Chris Crawford

By 10-14-2011

It isn't often that you see 100 on the radar gun, and it's even rarer when someone who has hit triple-digits -- repeatedly -- gets released before his 25th birthday and signs with almost no fanfare in August. You got both of these things, however, when the Seattle Mariners signed former Cincinnati Reds left-hander Philippe Valiquette on August 22, we learned from Shannon Drayer at 710 ESPN.

Valiquette -- a product of Montreal and former youth teammate of ex-Mariners prospect Phillippe Aumont -- sits more in the 95-97 range, but he's struggled to miss bats at the professional level for a pitcher who throws as hard as he does -- 284 strikeouts in 386 innings pitched. The reasons are simple; the secondary stuff is well below-average, and neither the command nor control are up to major-league caliber.

So why are we talking about Valiquette? Mainly because the guy can throw a fastball 100 miles per hour and isn't old enough for discounted car insurance yet. But the other reason is the M's will have to add him to the 40-man roster come December or risk losing him in the Rule 5 draft. There's a non-zero chance that a club would take a chance on the young Canadian missing a few bats based on sheer velocity while they try and teach him a 45 grade breaking-ball. If the M's believe they're that team, expect to see him added to forty as they get closer to the deadline.

AFL Update
We're a few weeks into the Arizona Fall League schedule, and so far, the seven representatives sent down to Peoria by the M's have produced some interesting -- if somewhat mixed -- results in their limited work.

The big name prospects are, of course, left-hander Danny Hultzen and shortstop Nick Franklin, and both have struggled a bit in terms of counting stats. Hultzen has struggled to find his command in his first two outings, walking three batters in four innings and throwing several wild pitches.

Franklin, meanwhile, is hitting only .143, but has walked five times in his seventeen plate appearances versus. right handed pitching, has hit two homers in his five games. As nice as it is to see results, the most important thing is that both players are getting work and staying healthy.

One of the most pleasant surprises for the Javelinas, and Mariners, has been right-hander Forrest Snow. A 36th-round pick in 2010, Snow has yet to allow a base-runner in his first two appearances while striking out seven hitters over his five innings. The M's allowed the former University of Washington pitcher the opportunity to throw at three different levels this season, and outside of the ridiculousness that is High Desert, he pitched effectively and missed bats at all year. If you're looking for a guy who has an outside shot of contributing in 2012, Forrest Snow is a name to keep in mind.

Former M's in October
I'm sure some of you noticed, but the Mariners didn't make the postseason this year. Several former Seattle players did, though, and since I'm a bit of a nostalgic, I thought it'd be fun to take a look at how some of the former M's handled -- or are handling -- the pressures of playoff baseball.

Former M's in the Postseason through 10.12.11

Player, Pos. -- Team

Stats

Doug Fister, RHP -- DET

17IP, 4.76 ERA, 4BB, 13SO

Ramon Santiago, 2B -- DET

8G, .250/.250/.313

Freddy Garcia, RHP -- NYY

5.1IP, 5.06 ERA, 0BB, 6SO

Casey Kotchman, 1B -- TB

4G, .250/.250/.313

Yorvit Torrealba, C -- TEX

3G, .364/.364/.455

Adrian Beltre, 3B -- TEX

8G, .250/.294/.594, 3HR

J.J. Putz, RHP -- ARI

2.1IP, 3.86 ERA, BB, 0SO, BS, L

Willie Bloomquist, SS -- ARI

5G, .318/.348/.318

Yuniesky Betancourt, SS -- MIL

8G, .367/.387/.600, HR

Cliff Lee, LHP -- PHI

6IP, 7.50 ERA, 2BB, 9SO

Raul Ibanez, LF -- PHI

4G, .200/.200/.400

Alex Rodriguez, 3B -- NYY

5G, .111/.261/.111, 3 RBI

Rafael Soriano, RHP -- NYY

3G, 4.1IP, 1.93 ERA, 1BB, 4SO

Arthur Rhodes, LHP -- STL

1IP, 0ER, 0BB, 0SO

Seems like a lot of players, but of all of these guys, the only ones that I'd really want back are Beltre, Fister and Lee. Agree? Disagree?

It's good to be back
If it seems like it has been a while since I've posted on the Prospect Insider that's because it has. I'm just going to assume that you're all happy to see me back, and I look forward to contributing to PI in any shape or form. Those who have been loyal readers to the site know that our offseason coverage rules as much as anything can rule. Those new to PI, see previous statement. It should be fun!

news-and-notes:-october-14,-2011

Comments
The following 11 comment(s) for this article are shown below:

1. By: bcsimons on 10-14-2011 12:56:05
With only 17 plate appearances, I am definitely not worried about that line for Franklin. The other stuff is nice to see though.

2. By: KimCinAZ on 10-14-2011 13:09:06
Very happy you're back, Chris! Missed your insightful perspective.

3. By: PositivePaul on 10-14-2011 13:21:37
Hey! Crawford's back around! Coolness!

I love that Bloomquist's playoff line was so WFB. Higher OBP than SLG. Just as Bloomquistrian as ever...

I'm pretty much ignoring Yuni's 'heroism' and insane SLG during the playoffs, however. Blah...

Beltre, Fister and Lee back sounds just fine by me. Beltre's numbers might not've been flashy in Seattle, but he was still very much well worth his contract and his was the ONE Bavasi contract that even at the time I wanted it to be longer. So sad to not have him here anymore, and even more frustrating that he's playing for our division rival...

4. By: jgstecker on 10-14-2011 14:43:56
Hey Chris-

Does this mean we'll see you back in the PI fantasy league again too?

Valiquette recently passed through waivers unclaimed and I don't think he's done anything to up his stock since. Other than attract the attention of the Mariners' esteemed talent evaluators. Seems like a waiver claimwouldve been a much easier way to get him than waiting for the Rule 5. He was just re-signed to a 2012 minor league deal a couple weeks ago too, for whatever that's worth. They could've just purchased him then without making him and his agent work out another minor league deal.

5. By: Rudolf on 10-14-2011 16:04:46
I don't see why having Putz and Soriano around would be a bad thing. I'll take 'em.

Could we get a super quick scouting report on Snow?

6. By: Jason A. Churchill on 10-14-2011 17:12:31
Rudolf,

Snow: Fastball, changeup, curveball pitcher. Gets good plane on the heater, sits 89-92 as a starter, can touch 95-96 in relief. He's been working on a cutter, but it's still a new pitch for him.

Down in Arizona this month he's been pitching inside very effectively, he told me this morning, which could be huge for him. He commands his pitches fairly well and throws strikes with the fastball. The curveball needs work and more consistency, but he profiles as a back-end starter, perhaps a No. 4 in the manner Doug Fister did two years ago.

In relief he could be another Julian Tavarez type arm, but with a feel for pitching and a head on his shoulders.

7. By: Rudolf on 10-14-2011 18:35:59
Thanks, JAC. Much appreciated. You have to love it when the later round picks turn into something fun.

8. By: safecochatter on 10-15-2011 11:36:37
Funny thing about that list. If we still had em. we'd probably be lookin to trade em again..

funny thing about yuni. he has his games. but he led off in the 9th down by 6 and was swinging for the fences from pitch one and popped up to 2nd base to get the brewers rally started...

Welcome back Chris!

9. By: JonathanAicardi on 10-15-2011 12:48:06
Re: Snow - very pleased to hear he's working on a cutter. Any fastball with big movement can be helpful for a guy in his velocity range. One of the biggest differences for Fister this year according to Pitch Fx was the increasing his two-seamer usage three-fold to 25%. His fastball jumped from 8 to 23 runs above average.

10. By: maqman on 10-15-2011 13:27:14
I was not expecting Snow to turn into a possible big leaguer, if he does do it that will be a nice surprise. I'm wondering if the team is going to try again to make a starter out of Wilhelmsen. I guess that depends somewhat on if they plan on keeping League as the closer or trade him and his probable $5MM salary.

11. By: marinerforever on 10-15-2011 16:37:52
Why does anyone wanna trade league it is five million for a shut down closer setup men go for four to five million on the market so unless he brings back a moto bat no shot I trade him I would rather do like a three year deal. Plus if you trade league you have a bullpen full of uncertainty leave league alone let whilhelmsen fall into the setup role and let ruffin and lueke battle for the seventh inninng role

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