Pirates, Twins, Rangers prospects to contribute to playoff push
These five teams, including the Pirates and Twins, will call on their farm systems to help make a playoff push in 2016.
Now that Spring Training games have officially started—woo hoo!!—questions about position battles, injury recoveries and offseason acquisitions will begin to be addressed. That is until the regular season starts, when those questions will really be addressed. In the meantime, it’s nice to have actually baseball scores to check as opposed to offseason rumors.
As far as farm systems go, Spring Training is a precious opportunity for prospects in the high levels of the minors to absorb as much as they can from major leaguers. Blue chip prospects, even though they know there is little doubt they will be heading to the minors once the season starts, can show they are close to being ready to make the jump.
Or in the case of Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant, that the prospect is ready to make an instant splash. Last spring, Bryant slashed a .425 AVG/477 OBP/1.175 SLG and hit nine home runs—most in professional baseball—in 40 at bats. He still started the season in the minors, but for completely unrelated reasons.
Bryant ended up winning the 2015 National League Rookie of the Year behind his .274 AVG/.368 OBP/.485 SLG/26 HR line. Young players such as Bryant are making more of an impact than they have in a long time, and the rookie class that played last season might be the best ever.
Just ask the Cubs, who got a combined FanGraphs WAR of 11.4 from Bryant, shortstop Addison Russell, outfielder/catcher Kyle Schwarber and outfielder Jorge Soler. All four of them were rookies. And that doesn’t even account for other 25-and-unders Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro, Javier Baez and Matt Szczur.
As the Cubs, Houston Astros and New York Mets demonstrated, deep farm systems and talented rookies can have an immediate impact on playoff races. With the rookie class of 2016 primed to yield more future starts, here is a look at which farm systems will be most likely to contribute to a playoff contender.
Next: Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates are already one of the most talented teams in the majors. They’ve averaged more than 93 wins over the past three seasons and they possess one of the best young outfields in the game and one of the best pitchers, let alone young pitchers, in the game as well.
Gerrit Cole is a budding ace, and he will lead a rotation guided by pitching guru Ray Searage. However, other than Cole and Francisco Liriano, there aren’t any names that will scare opposing offenses. A.J. Burnett is retired and J.A. Happ signed with the Marlins. The Pirates did sign Jon Niese and Ryan Vogelsong, but the Pirates will need all the pitching depth they can get if they’re to compete in arguably baseball’s best division.
Enter prospects Tyler Glasnow and Jameson Taillon. Glasnow has enchanted scouts and baseball writers alike for two seasons now, building up a resume that puts him among the top 10 prospects in the game. Taillon once had the same shimmer as Glasnow, but injuries have slowed his progress to the majors. Even with the injuries, he’s vying for major league innings at some point this season.
Glasnow and Taillon both could join the Pirates in June once they are clear of the Super Two designation, or sooner if the Pirates need pitching help. Even with spending a couple months in the minors, a pitcher such as Glasnow could have the same impact Noah Syndergaard had for the Mets, and Taillon could bolster the Pirates’ already stout bullpen.
Position players also will help the Pirates. First baseman Josh Bell will see time at first base this season as he’s done nothing but hit as a minor leaguer, amassing a .305/.371/.450 line in four minor league seasons. Alen Hanson will make an impact in a utility infielder role with the loss of second baseman Neil Walker and the lingering injury concerns of Jung Ho Kang.
Next: Minnesota Twins
As Sports Illustrated’s Steve Rushin so eloquently tweeted in September, the Minnesota Twins were in the playoff picture much longer than expected. They finished with an 83-79 record despite a mediocre pitching staff. This season, they’re looking for talented youngsters to step up even more in order to contend in what should be a tight division.
The prospect with the most pressure is pitcher Jose Berrios. GotC dived into the potential impact he could have for the Twins multiple times this offseason, and for good reason. As mentioned above, Syndergaard made great strides last season and helped the Mets win the NL East and Luis Severino had an impressive 11-start stint with the Yankees. Berrios could make similar waves for the Twins.
There are a several position players who will be called upon to contribute, but there are more of them to share the load, putting less pressure on them than Berrios will encounter.
Outfielder Byron Buxton is still one of the top prospects in the game despite injury-induced struggles over the past two seasons, and he has the tools to be an All-Star for the Twins in center field. The Twins are hoping for a major league breakout in 2016.
Shortstop Jorge Polanco could be ready to take over at shortstop soon. Eduardo Escobar, Eduardo Nunez and even Danny Santana will be in the mix for the starting shortstop role, but after Polanco hit a combined .288/.339/.386 between Double- and Triple-A, a strong Spring Training and first few months of the season could put him line for a promotion. If the incumbents are playing well and a change at shortstop isn’t needed, that promotion could be for a utility role.
Also consider outfielder Max Kepler, who could provide a steady bat off the bench. He hit .322/.416/.531 in Double-A last year and he would complement the power threats of right fielder Miguel Sano, second baseman Brian Dozier and third baseman Trevor Plouffe.
Next: Texas Rangers
The Texas Rangers surprised the baseball world with their American League West crown. Rebound years from Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo and the energy provided by trading for Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels made the difference for the Rangers down the stretch as they held off the Astros.
Earlier this offseason, I talked about how the Rangers were one of the teams that could turn to its farm system in order to address holes in the outfielding corps. Things have changed since then, as the Rangers signed former Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond to play left field. In a lot of ways, the signing doesn’t make sense.
The main reason it doesn’t make sense is because the Rangers have already have three outfielders on the cusp of making the jump to the majors. All three are top-20 prospects according to Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com. Joey Gallo, Lewis Brinson and Nomar Mazara are all ready—or close to ready—to contribute to the Rangers’ big club.
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Brinson shined at three levels of the minors, finishing with a .332/.403/.601/20 HR line from High-A to Triple A. He only had 140 at bats above High-A, but he was just as impressive in those 140 ABs as he was in the 258 he had in the California League. He hit .337/.416/.628 in those 258 ABs. If he continues to thrive in Double- or Triple-A to start the season, he won’t need much more time in the minors.
Mazara might need even less time in the minors. He spent most of the season at Double-A Frisco, where he slashed .284/.357/.443 with 13 homers. He would be a great fit in right field for the Rangers, but putting Desmond in left means Choo has to play in right. Still, if Mazara hits well, the Rangers won’t be able to keep him down.
Gallo’s struggles during his major league baptismal were well documented, but the Rangers are confident Gallo can cut down on the strikeouts enough to unleash his exceptional power on wayward pitches. He took pressure off himself over the winter and has been working out at both third base and left field.
Next: Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays had a surprisingly potent pitching staff, but the offense kept the Rays out of serious contention. With third baseman Evan Longoria’s power waning, an influx of young, adroit hitters will need to augment the offseason acquisitions of Steve Pearce and Logan Morrison.
Richie Shaffer, Mikie Mahtook and Ryan Brett are the three position prospects most likely to see serious time in the majors: Shaffer hit .267/.357/.539 with 26 home runs in 393 ABs between Double- and Triple-A; Mahtook hit nine home runs and slugged .619 in a 41-major league games; and Brett made his major league debut despite a tough 2015. (He was also hurt in yesterday’s game.)
The end of Mahtook’s season should catch the attention of those looking for breakout candidates. He was called up for a four-game stretch in April, a six-game stretch in June and a four-game stretch in early August. He struggled in the first two but had four hits in 17 at bats during the third, including a double and a home run.
Where he really showed improvement was during his September callup. Over the last month of the season, he hit .353/.397/.706 and hit six home runs. Even if he doesn’t become an everyday player, he could fit well into a platoon where he would mash lefties.
The Rays have a reputation of developing and using young pitchers and since they’re always on the lookout for cheap, talented pitching, a failure to mention Blake Snell, the Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2015, would be a sin. Snell dominated three levels of the minors and a strong start to 2016 would put him in the majors very soon.
Next: Washington Nationals
The situation facing these prospects is very similar to that of the Pirates prospects. Most are close to being ready for a taste of big league action, but the Nationals are pretty set at the positions they play.
Lucas Giolito is on the same timeline as Glasnow. Giolito has been a top-five prospect two consecutive seasons, and rightly so. While the Nationals already have a solid rotation, the loss of Jordan Zimmermann means there are prime innings for Gioltio to claim after a few months in the minors.
Other pitchers contesting for big league innings are A.J. Cole and Austin Voth. While neither is a top-line starter like Giolito, both could be productive members of a rotation, even if it is in spot starts and fill-ins should injuries occur. Having a rotation that went more than five pitchers deep worked well for the division-rival Mets, and it would work well for the Nationals.
Trea Turner and Wilmer Difo could form the Nationals’ middle infield of the future. But the signing of Daniel Murphy and Danny Espinosa taking over at short means Turner and Difo could be stuck in utility roles once they’re promoted later in 2016. Regardless, both are talented enough to be everyday players, and they will be soon enough.
Next: Rays have the best pitching staff in the AL?
Catcher Pedro Severino may not offer much in the way of offensive production, but neither did Wilson Ramos or Jose Lobaton. And with his defensive skills, he could be a valuable asset for the Nationals, especially if some time in Triple-A brings his bat up to speed.