Minor League Free Agents Who Actually Plan to Play
by Roberto on Dec 1, 2011 9:29 PM EST
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PrintThe Pirates have signed a bunch of them. Only one, Shairon Martis, appears to be more than minor league filler. Here's a run-down.
Nick Evans a 25-year-old first baseman, BR/TR, 256/305/407. His major league statistics suggest an AAAA player. A decent power hitter with adequate defensive ability and limited speed who could be a useful bench player or AAA depth.
Jake Fox, a 29-year-old catcher and first baseman, BR/TR, has a 301/370/584 slash line in four AAA seasons. He has never played in the majors, and probably never will. But if we get enough injuries, he might.
Brandon Boggs, a 28-year-old outfielder, BB/TR, has a 271/389/432 slash line in four AAA seasons. He has never played in the majors, and probably never will. He has some speed.
Stefan Welch, 23-year-old first baseman, BL/TR, has been stuck in the Florida State League for four years with a slash line of 266/344/415. The purpose of this signing is not clear.
Shairon Martis, a 24-year-old RHP, rather exploded in AA this year. In 133 innings he logged 8.3 hits per game, 0.6 home runs per game, 2.6 walks per game, and 9.9 strikeouts per game. He pitched for the Nationals in 2008 and 2009, but walked a lot of people. He might actually be a player.
Kyle Cofield, a 24-year-old RHP, has been bouncing around AA and AAA since 2009. As a minor league reliever for the White Sox he logged 8.3 hits per game, 0.0 home runs per game, 3.9 walks per game, and 7.5 strikeouts per game. Tough to get excited about.
Jose Diaz, a 27-year-old RHP, is gigantic. To quote WTM, "Some articles on him say he throws in the upper 90s and has hit 100. And he weighs a lot more than 300."
Jeremy Hefner, a 25-year-old RHP, had a good year in AA in 2010 and a bad year in AAA in 2011. He walks too many and strikes out too few to be of much interest.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the managing editor (Charlie) or SB Nation. FanPosts are written by Bucs Dugout readers.
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Jake Fox has played in the majors
237/288/425 in 534 PAs across four seasons. But it would be bad if he played in the majors for us. Besides his lack of on-base skill, his defensive reputation is not strong. The reports I’ve heard on his catching were basically “makes Doumit look like Charles Johnson.”
Not actually affiliated with whygavs.
Whats the deal with Boggs?
800+ OPS in AAA over that period of time makes me think that he would have some sort of potential, no?
Didn't Fox go mental...
with Home Runs in the first month of last season?
I would take that from a 5th OF stroke 3rd C who can play RF at PNC.
by RDV across the sea on Dec 1, 2011 10:44 PM EST reply actions
No, he didn't.
Sorry – should have checked before retro-glorifying my horrible fantasy picks.
by RDV across the sea on Dec 1, 2011 10:53 PM EST up reply actions
Actually, you were right (kinda)
Fox did go homer-happy during the first month of last season…March. Fox was crushing the ball in spring training (.333 avg with a league leading 7 HRs) but unfortunately spring training stats didn’t help him once the games counted.
by KentuckyPirate on Dec 2, 2011 12:33 PM EST up reply actions
Fox is known for 2 things... his first year in the bigs with the cubs
and that enormous start to the 2009 season in AAA when he batted over .400.
dude has a career OPS in the minors of 882 with a decent OBP. however, both have
went down in the majors because of both better pitching and limited chances.
he doesnt have a quick bat but his swing isnt “huge” either
Ha!
Thanks.
I thought I knew that he hit a few HR’s early last season!
by RDV across the sea on Dec 3, 2011 12:47 PM EST up reply actions
Don't you put that evil on me Ricky Bobby!
The glare of the spotlight is harsh, and the pressure that success breeds immense. We revere our heroes, but expect much. And criticism can come as easily as praise.
Perspectives become reality.
Twitter: @shanecglass
by glass0941 on Dec 2, 2011 12:41 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I'm so confused.
I’m looking at the slash line of Fox compared to our other catchers at AAA…uhhh…anyone else confused as to why he wouldn’t at least be a major league back up option?
by bosten7 on Dec 2, 2011 7:51 AM EST via mobile reply actions
the question is whether you think of him as a catcher
His bat might be fine if he were a good defensive catcher, but everything I’ve heard says he isn’t. Reviews like this:
He’s really more of a DH—one scout told me last year that his defense was “a notch above horrific.” The only place you could really play him is at 1B….
And here’s some random guy on a message board (could be Keith Law’s source!) who was saying the Twins should sign Doumit instead of Fox as a backup C, because Doumit’s defense is better. And Charlie (or was it WTM?) described Fox as a man who owns several gloves, one of them a catcher’s mitt.
Not actually affiliated with whygavs.
by WHYG Zane Smith on Dec 2, 2011 8:00 AM EST up reply actions
That was me
He is what he is—a corner backup who can catch an inning if everybody else gets hurt in a collision or is bitten by a rabid squirrels or something.
What’s kept him from playing more in the bigs is his lack of plate discipline. If he could make better use of his power, somebody would’ve found a bigger role for him. This could be his last chance to avoid the dreaded AAAA slugger label.
I see him and Evans battling for a Peace-type role. They both probably had enough leverage to get escape clauses written into their deals, so I think it’s unlikely either one will be playing at Indy this year, at least not more than a month or two, as some escape clauses take effect in May or June.
IMO, these signings are a level above the guys we brought in last year (Atkins, Marte and Fields). Nothing earth-shattering, but good signings.
Occupy MLB! Down with Seligula!
by WTM on Dec 2, 2011 9:50 AM EST up reply actions
I had mostly forgotten about Atkins, and completely forgotten about Fields.
Not actually affiliated with whygavs.
by WHYG Zane Smith on Dec 2, 2011 11:34 AM EST up reply actions
love a lot of these little moves
nice security blanket of reasonable talent and hey who knows ALL OF THEM seem to have once had huge upside and are still youngerish. Really like Jake Fox and Nick Evans for all that matter. If someone said ‘hey, you can add a year younger but year more developed Matt Hague to your system FO FREE’ wouldn’t you be like ‘ok sure!’
Get em Neal
not sure where you got your info on boggs
382 ML ABs with a slash of .209/.315/.380. counter to your description of his speed, he doesn’t appear to actually have much SB ability though he can apparently fake it in CF.
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