Prospect Insider - Scouting the New Guys

Scouting the New Guys

By Jason A. Churchill

By 12-02-2008

The Seattle Mariners have added four minor league free agents over the past few weeks, and instead of addressing them one-by-one, I thought I'd share my thoughts on each of them in one fail swoop.

Steve Moss, CF
6-2/185
R/R

Moss is a solid defender in center but brings very little to the table offensively with the exception of a tendency to draw walks. But he counters that with poor contact rates, and while he has above-average speed, he is not a major nuisance on the base paths.

Moss, 25 next month, is basically a right-handed hitting version of Jeremy Reed, and after spending 2008 in an independent league, is probably bound for Triple-A Tacoma as their starting center fielder, giving Greg Halman more time in Double-A West Tennessee, if necessary.

Mel Stocker
5-10/170
B/R

Stocker is a speedy, 28-year-old outfielder capable of covering ground in center field, but he’s the minor league version of Juan Pierre in terms of power – he has less than none. His career slugging percentage is .350. He does, however, run very well – 56 steals at Long Island of the Atlantic Independent League in 2006 and 30 or more in four separate seasons – and he does flash good plate skills.

Stocker also handles the bat well, makes very good, consistent contact and will draw a walk. But it’s still difficult to see how Stocker makes much of an impact at the big league level, as he possesses just one above-average tool, his speed.

Ian Bladergroen, 1B
6-4/220
L/L

The left-handed hitting Bladergroen is a former 44th round draft-and-follow who has spent the past two seasons in the Atlantic Independent League posting a modest .830 OPS in 2007 and .806 last year. The former Mets and Red Sox prospect has a poor injury history, having never played more than 98 games in any season.

Bladergroen, 26 in February, has plus raw power, created by brute strength and consistent loft in his swing, but has average pitch recognition at best and merely adequate strike zone judgment. His strikeout rates aren’t awful for a power hitter, but Bladergroen hasn’t developed into the power bat his raw skills suggest he could have. His defense is passable, but there’s no value there.

At this stage, he’s likely headed for Triple-A Tacoma for a shot to compete with Thomas Hubbard and Johan Limonta for time at first base and DH.

Javier Brito, 1B
6-1/245
R/R
Brito is the 2007 Southern League Batting Champion, having hit .327, which followed a big year in 2006 when the big right-handed hitter batted .356/.448/.621 for Lancaster. The Venezuelan has good power, slugging .513 at Double-A Mobile last season, and makes decent contact. He’s a bit of a liability at first base, but no more than Baldergroen or Richie Sexson.

Brito might be able to give the M’s some big-league time, but his future as a regular doesn’t look promising, despite his above-average plate skills. He’ll be 26 before the 2009 season starts and just hasn’t tipped the scales quite enough in the power department to convince many that he’s an everyday player in the majors.

He’ll likely be in the Hubbard-Bladergroen-Limonta battle in spring training, battling for at-bats in Triple-A Tacoma.

scouting-the-new-guys

Comments
The following 14 comment(s) for this article are shown below:

1. By: CrustyJuggler on 12-02-2008 23:07:18
So your saying we got four chunks of minor league filler there? Hey if Zduriencik is picking these guys out, I ain't gonna complain.

2. By: Jason A. Churchill on 12-02-2008 23:15:03
Pretty much. Brito is interesting, but the M's need more bats in their system, even if they aren't future stars.

3. By: Slurve on 12-02-2008 23:23:13
It never hurts to have depth... But hey if they can prove to be stopgaps then heck I don't mind.

4. By: flamefox111 on 12-02-2008 23:23:16
Didn't Brito used to be a prospect in the Diamondbacks orginization? They seemed pretty high on him, I thought he was viewed as a potential Conor Jackson with more power. Was I mislead? Why do we need a filler in AAA center field, isn't Halman ready.

5. By: Jason A. Churchill on 12-02-2008 23:32:16
flamefox111,

Yes, Brito was with 'Zona until a few weeks ago. He's similar to Jackson, without the polish and athleticism. And having more power doesn't mean a player will hit for more power in the majors. Though having more power than Conor Jackson isn't exactly that difficult. He's a line-drive hitter with medium pop. He's Edgar Martinez pre-1995.

As for a filler in center, well, you obviously didn't read the entire post. Go back and read it.

6. By: CrustyJuggler on 12-03-2008 00:20:48
Yeah, I would prefer them to not rush Halman. This kid needs to learn some pitch recognition before he gets to Seattle.

7. By: jonbbt on 12-03-2008 01:04:43
Can Saunders still handle CF, or is he going to get moved to a corner permanently?

I would prefer they keep him in CF until he absolutely can't handle it.

8. By: Jason A. Churchill on 12-03-2008 01:27:20
Thing is, he can "handle it" but he's not going to be great at Safeco.

9. By: jonbbt on 12-03-2008 01:35:01
Bummer. I knew his outlook was as a COF, but I was hoping he'd be adequate out there in CF for at least the first few seasons of his MLB career.

Even more reason for Seattle to get Halman straightened out. I love his athleticism, but I'm not very confident that he'll be able to tighten his strike zone enough to become a regular MLB contributor. Hope I'm wrong.. time is one his side.

10. By: Jason A. Churchill on 12-03-2008 01:46:02
It's not impossible, but Safeco is a different animal.

As for Halman, they need to treat him as a special case or he'll cruise along and remain lost.

11. By: jonbbt on 12-03-2008 01:48:23
I've noticed that Brito has played a lot of OF in recent years. Looking at photos of him, I would assume his range is limited, but do you know what kind of outfielder he is?

12. By: Jason A. Churchill on 12-03-2008 01:56:16
I actually saw him play outfield in Spring Training... no thanks.

He played half his games in left field last year in Mobile, and split the other half between DH and 1B. That's where he belongs.

He's like Butch Huskey in that way...

13. By: stickball on 12-03-2008 10:48:15
Jason, what are the rules for the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft? I see that Eric Campbell of the Braves was left unprotected, would he be eligible to be taken by the AA portion of the draft, if not taken in the mlb portion?

14. By: Jason A. Churchill on 12-03-2008 11:43:22
That's a good thought, stickball, Campbell has only had one bad year - 2007 - and his only downside is his injury history, which was Josh Hamilton's, too.

For those unfamiliar with him... He's a former second round pick in 2004 by ATL... he walks, makes okay contact, is an average or better third baseman (I've never seen him personally) and is a pretty good athlete who might be able to play left field, too. His power is certainly adequate for a corner, also.

I wouldn't take him in the MLB portion, but so far he's among the top few candidates for the AA or AAA portion.

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