Results tagged ‘ Cody Asche ’
Squeezed Out … of the Infield: Are Astros, Giants, D-backs and Red Sox Bridging to/Blocking Prospects?
Editor’s note: This is the second part of a three-part offseason series, “Squeezed Out.” Part one can be read here. For more information on the players mentioned below, click on the linked, underlined text.
Jonathan Singleton (Walter Barnard).
ASTROS
MLB veterans: 1B Carlos Pena (signed through 2013)
MiLB prospects: 1B Jonathan Singleton (has played AA-ball)
Bridging/Blocking: This is a clear bridging arrangement. Singleton, 21, hit 21 homers in his first Texas League season last year. He should hit for average and power in the Majors while striking out his fair share. He’ll never be as good defensively as stopgap Pena, but an NL Central exec recently told me that he thinks Singleton is an above-average defender and moves well for being a 235-pounder. He is MLB.com’s No. 25 overall prospect.
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GIANTS
MLB veterans: 2B Marco Scutaro (signed through 2015)
MiLB prospects: 2B/SS Joe Panik (has played High-A-ball)
Bridging to/Blocking: Depending on how fast Panik moves through Double-A and Triple-A — and I think he’ll move fast — this is a blocking. Forget the fact that the Giants overpaid to keep the 37-year-old Scutaro. Panik, at 22 is very polished and is probably already as good as a defender as Scutaro. He is still playing shortstop in the Minors but will switch to second long-term with Brandon Crawford entrenched there in San Francisco. It would have been wiser to sign a veteran second baseman to a one- or two-year deal.
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Matt Davidson (Tony Farlow/Four Seam Images).
D-BACKS
MLB veterans: 3B Eric Chavez (signed through 2013)
MiLB prospects: 3B Matt Davidson (has played AA-ball)
Bridging to/Blocking: A smart bridging here. The D-backs, who could also acquire young third baseman Mike Olt from the Rangers later this winter, appear set on the hot corner for the next couple seasons. The lefty-hitting Chavez and righty-hitting Chris Johnson, who was acquired last season from the Astros, will split time there until Davidson is ready to go. Davidson excelled at Double-A in 2012, hitting 23 homers, and will begin next spring at Triple-A Reno. He is MLB.com’s No. 41 overall prospect.
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RED SOX
MLB veterans: SS Stephen Drew (signed through 2013)
MiLB prospects: SS Jose Iglesias (has played in Majors)
Bridging to/Blocking: This one can be seen two ways. If you think Iglesias can be an everyday shortstop in the Majors, you’ll see this is a clear blocking. If you’re in the Iglesias-needs-more-seasoning-at-Triple-A-camp, this is more of a simple bridging. I am not sure what to make of Iglesias, who has a great glove but suspect bat. But consider that he turns 23 on Saturday. Ostensibly, he has time to develop his swing. Drew gives him that time, so we’ll call it a bridging.
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RAYS
MLB veterans: SS Yunel Escobar (traded for, signed through 2015)
MiLB prospects: SS Hak-Ju Lee (has played AA-ball)
Bridging/Blocking: This is a bridging, and a shrewd one at that. Escobar, acquired from the Blue Jays, gives Tampa Bay a talented cost-effective option (he has club options in ’14 and ’15) until Lee is ready. The 22-year-old South Korean is an exceptional defender but has work to do on his swing. He is MLB.com’s No. 32 overall prospect.
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Cody Asche (Kevin Pataky/MiLB.com).
PHILLIES
MLB veterans: 3B Michael Young (traded for, signed through 2013)
MiLB prospects: 3B Cody Asche (has played AA-ball)
Bridging/Blocking: This is also a bridging arrangement, though the Phils may need another stopgap to fill the space between Young’s exit next fall and Ashce’s entrance; Asche, featured recently in Lost and Found, is at least a year — and probably two years — from the bigs.
Lost and Found: Phillies Prospect Cody Asche
Editor’s note: Lost and Found is an offseason series in which one underrated prospect from each of the 30 MLB clubs will be discussed in a short, snappy post.
(Kevin Pataky/MiLB.com)
Lost: A fourth-round draftee of Philadelphia in 2011, Cody Asche went from University of Nebraska product and legitimate Major League prospect to, well, disappointment, and in a hurry.
2011: .192/.273/.264 — 24-50 BB-K — 68 G at Class A Short-Season Williamsport
Found: For draftees who enjoyed nothing but success entering the pros, particularly those who never failed at the college level, changing their approach in the batter’s box would seem backward. So Asche stuck with what he knew in his first pro experience. That, plus the struggles of learning a new position (the Phils liked his bat so much that they moved him to a position, second base, that requires less development), resulted in those awful numbers you see above. So how did he achieve those numbers you see below? Asche learned in instructional league how to start his swing earlier and was returned to his natural spot at third base, which undoubtedly eased his mind at the plate. If not for Darin “Babe” Ruf’s season, Asche may have gotten more attention.
2012: .324/.360/.513 — 22-56 BB-K — 130 G at Class A Advanced Clearwater/Double-A Reading
So Asche was lost, now he is found. Now, about the Phils’ returns: To read the headlines is to believe that Asche is the “third baseman of the future” in Philadelphia. I wouldn’t go that far, given his 18 errors on the hot corner this season. (For what it’s worth, he’s played mistake-free defense in his first 19 Arizona Fall League games.) But the Phillies definitely like Asche’s bat. He will have to sacrifice strikeouts to hit home runs going forward, but he can also be a doubles machine that approaches the .300 level. Either way, he’ll be welcomed into the bigs, probably by the latter half of 2014.
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