Mark Appel may have thrown his last pitch at the Double-A level, as Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports that the 2013 No. 1 overall pick is likely to be promoted to Triple-A following a strong Double-A showing on Sunday. Appel’s overall numbers aren’t great due to a pair of ugly starts in May, but as Drellich points out, the Stanford product has worked to a 2.17 ERA with a 24-to-8 K/BB ratio in 29 innings over his past five starts. Appel’s production at Triple-A will be worth monitoring, as Drellich also adds that the Astros want to assess their internal starting pitching options before exploring a trade for an upgrade.
Here’s more on Appel and some other top prospects filtering up toward the big leagues …
- Appel spoke with MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart about his desire to join close friends and former Double-A teammates Lance McCullers, Vincent Velasquez and Carlos Correa in the Majors. He tells McTaggart that the key to his turnaround has been establishing his fastball earlier in counts in order to get ahead of hitters — something on which he has worked repeatedly with pitching coach Doug Brocail.
- The Yankees have announced that slugger Aaron Judge will move up to Triple-A Scranton, as Jack Curry of the YES Network was first to report on Twitter. The massive outfielder cracked top-100 lists to start the year, and has performed well thus far in his first run at Double-A, slashing .284/.350/.516 with 12 home runs in 280 plate appearances.
- Red Sox outfielder Manuel Margot has received a bump up to Double-A, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe tweets. The 20-year-old has slashed .282/.321/.420 and added twenty steals over his 198 turns at bat at the High-A level this year. Baseball America rated him the organization’s seventh-best prospect entering the year, crediting Margot with the potential to develop into a true five-tool performer who can play center field. We heard some chatter this spring that the Phillies were eyeing the interesting prospect as a possible piece in a Cole Hamels deal.
- We saw a fascinating deal last weekend involving the effective sale of young righty Touki Toussaint from the Diamondbacks to the Braves. Over at Fangraphs, Dave Cameron discusses the deal in terms of prospect valuation. He reckons that Toussaint is probably worth about $20MM based on consensus prospect evaluations. While Arizona’s internal assessment may well have been lower, as Cameron notes, it still seems puzzling that the team cut bait given the organization’s current standing.
- Diamondbacks chief baseball officer Tony La Russa weighed in on the Toussaint deal, as Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports. La Russa says the move was all about opening budgetary space to improve the big league roster in the relatively near future. “The ability to to have some payroll flexibility is critical to adding a couple of pieces,” said La Russa. “I don’t think we’re going to need a lot of pieces because we’re going to develop with this core. But if you can make the right move or two with somebody, that brings a lot to the table. Payroll flexibility is important.” Toussaint was a ways off from contributing at the big league level, said the club’s top baseball decisionmaker, while the D’Backs “think [their future] is sooner rather than later.” All said, La Russa indicated that the club simply preferred to move the salary of Bronson Arroyo to holding onto the lottery ticket of a young arm. “We’re not pushing a five-year plan, which is what Touki is,” he said. “Does that mean, just in retrospect, since I was there, should I have told (former scouting director Ray Montgomery), ’Ray, don’t draft a Touki?’ Maybe I should have, but that was my first draft.” The 19-year-old (as of two days ago) Toussaint, of course, was the first name that Arizona called in last year’s amateur draft. Notably, as Piecoro has observed, this year’s selections were heavy on collegiate players.
I’m baffled at LaRussa’s talk of payroll flexibility following a 1 billion dollar cable TV deal.
I don’t know the specifics of the AZ deal but it’s possible it doesn’t kick in for a few years. Philly signed their deal a while ago (18-24 months maybe? I don’t remember) and the $$ doesn’t start until next season.
And it’s not like the Diamondbacks are getting all the money up front. No one has reported on a yearly breakdown of the TV deal.
That’s true…and there are also luxury tax concerns on the high end. I suppose even with a lump sum it would only go so far in payroll. But I do think that’s beside the point…they only cleared 10 and gave up a #1 pick….they can spin that how they like…but that’s playing it loose.
I’m guessing the 1 billion is over 20-25 years… But it gives them assistance moving forward.
No, you don’t refrain from taking a guy like Touki in the draft, even if you are not looking at a 5-year plan. You take him anyway because he’s a highly marketable chip that you can redeem in order to fulfill your actual needs. Most other teams highly desire young pitching prospects of his pedigree, as we have seen this week. If you score such a chip and turn it into the acquisition of several more proven players who help the team, you’ve done a wonderful job for your first draft.
They traded him for a utility infielder of marginal future value. They have players long-term there. I know they have flexibility other places….but they gave too much to the Braves just to dump Arroyo
Maybe the Dbacks development team think that based on what Touki projects per level that in reality they were selling him high.
Given the nature of the deal, it’s possible the D-Backs staff also believe in unicorns and the Easter Bunny.
The big flaw with the “sell high” argument is that they didn’t even do that, they couldn’t have sold him for much lower to be honest.
This just in: Astros are going to be REALLY good for the next few years if all the parts pan out. Could be the west’s version of Tampa Bay…draft choices that all hit together at the same time, especially on the mound.
Actually, Tampa hasn’t been very good in the draft. Most of their success has come from good trades.
Tampa hasn’t drafted well? They ran the gauntlet for awhile with those high picks.
Shields was like a 13 pick I believe. A great organization because they’ve drafted well and made under the radar moves. Kevin Cash is solid in the dugout as well.
I think the jury is out on Appel. He might get dealt
May take a while on the Snakes deal, and again may not……..NLW is far from settled……………Put me in the La Russa, Stewart corner on moving the Arroyo wasted contract………by the time Touki is ready we may all be gone………the future is now………
Mark Appel 5.36 ERA in his career. So happy the Bucs ended up with Meadows instead of him. Thanks, Mark. Lucky for you, you don’t have to play with those loser Pirates who have made the playoffs 2 years running.
Are they planning to make an offers to David Price AND Johnny Cueto this off-season? That’s the only way this trade can be justified. Honestly, it’s just as stupid as the Zambrano- for- Kazmir trade.
Maybe it’s my education, or the fact that I’ve read Montebello, but if u r going to sell one of your top prospects, you better be doing it for a damn good reason. Even if I doubted his mechanics, I would l d still try to ripoff the buyer.
Maybe I shouldn’t doubt a man who has 3 world series rings.