Greg Golson was the 21st overall pick in 2004 by the Phillies and appeared to be on his way to a promising career as he graded out as one of the organization’s Top 10 Prospects in four separate seasons. However, thanks in part to injuries, the outfielder never fulfilled his potential and only had a cup of coffee in the major leagues. Now, in an effort to get back on track, Golson is playing winter ball in Mexico, as he writes in an interesting read for Baseball America.
Here’s more out of the NL East:
- The Nationals front office was apparently split on whether to sign Daniel Murphy, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. However, there are two clear pros to adding the second baseman. One is that the Nationals have effectively taken away a rival team’s best contact hitter. The other is that Murphy fills a need by hitting left-handed. On Thursday, the Nationals and Murphy reached agreement on a three-year deal worth $37.5MM.
- There has been talk of an attitude problem when it comes to Marlins star Jose Fernandez, retired pitcher Dan Haren disagrees with that notion, as Scott Miller of Bleacher Report writes. “No way,” Haren said. “No way. A lot of those things in [Slater’s] article were actually right. But at least from a pitcher’s standpoint, there’s no way anybody was on the bench rooting for Jose to get hit.” Marlins starter Tom Koehler echoed Haren and backed Fernandez. Still, multiple sources close to the Marlins indicated to Miller that Fernandez has grown more and more blunt with management, and some are miffed by the way he sometimes speaks to his superiors.
- Borrowing a page from the NFL’s Green Bay Packers, the Braves are placing a heavy emphasis on building from within, Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Prospects are never a sure thing, but Atlanta has more leeway to be wrong about their youngsters because they now have so many of them. Pitcher Touki Toussaint, only 19 years old, is considered to be their strongest prospect and we could potentially see him make his big league debut in 2016.
Toussaint the strongest prospect? debuting in 2016? those are bold shocking statements
Exactly my thoughts as well. I can see a case for top 5 but tough to put him above Swanson. I guess based on talent ceiling, maybe he ends up being better than Albies & Newcomb. I’ve heard of his wondrous curve but he’s got to be able to control it.
Not a lot of impact nineteen year olds
I would give Swanson a year in the system before I give him number 1
He’s 22, if he’s got an OPS over .800 after 2 months in AA then he’s coming up to the bigs. Correa is still younger than him.
He’s pretty clearly already the best player in the system. He was drafted 1:1 and raked in his professional debut, showing strong SS defense and a polished bat.
I mean, his is the real deal according to most scouts. I don’t think he comes up until after the Break, though. All this assumes his BB/9 and K/9 numbers are in line.
Man, the kid is 19 and not even throwing all of his pitches. There are at least 10 pitchers in the system more MLB ready than him currently. Yes he has potential, but outside of that curveball he’s still very raw.
My thoughts exactly….He is a long way away, from even sniffing the majors…This statement is about as plausible as Dansby being the starting shortstop, at some point, in 2016….Not going to happen, maybe mid to late 2017…maybe, but no Touki for 2016…I’d bet money on that.
Yeah it is just way too crowded to rush this guy from A ball to the majors in the span of a year I guess RP innings could be a long shot in 2016 if he really flys through the system and shows dominance. Too many other guys who are closer he’d have to jump so many guys.
It’s comments like these that make me wish more fans understood how advanced many prospects are these days. Other than the super two rule, its not law for players to be in the minors for x-amount of years depending on age. What is the point of leaving a guy in a system where he isn’t being challenged in any way, shape or form?
Swanson and Toussaint could very easily be on the roster as early as June, if their numbers are good, then they’re coming.
Swanson………MAYBE. He’s certainly more polished and not blocked by an entire group of prospects. Toussaint has no shot of being on the 25-man roster in June. Think about it. He’s extremely raw and has as much upside as any pitching prospect they’ve ever had in their system. Why on earth would they rush someone so raw when they have Blair, Newcomb, Jenkins, Banuelos, Foltynewicz, Fried, Sims, Ellis, Gant, Bird, Whalen, Weber, and Perez ahead of him on the depth chart?
“What is the point of leaving a guy in a system where he isn’t being challenged in any way, shape or form?”
He’s clearly been challenged so far in his very young pro career. 116 IP, 5.74 ERA, 1.509 WHIP, 5.1 BB/9, 7.7 K/9. He’s gonna have to put up video-game type numbers to even get a promotion to Mississippi as early as June.
Swanson played in college so is already a lot more polished physically and mentally. Touki never played college ball.
I love touki but no way he makes his debut in 2016. His numbers aren’t weren’t good. The braves website has his estimated time of arrival at 2018. He’s only 19. Too many other pitching prospects that are older and more developed (Jenkins,Newcombe,Ellis, Blair, Sims) will get a shot before he does. Just give him time and he’ll hopefully develop into a frontline starter.
I read that line and disagreed to. It seems so out of place that I wondered if he is thinking of Newcomb. I know Touki is a huge talent but from what I’ve read, he is very raw and at least 2 years away from the main show.
Absolutely no reason to rush a 19 yr old to the bigs to pitch for a losing team. Why start his clock? Let those kids earn their way to the bigs and you’ll have something in a couple years.
If the Astros had that attitude with Correa they wouldn’t have made the postseason. Food for thought.
Correa had a ..335/.407/.600 line with 10 HR and 18 SB(1 CS) in 53 games between AA/AAA before getting called up to a CONTENDING team. Only thing those two have in common is age at the moment.
Correa was raking at a higher level. Touki struggled.
I’m glad Fernandez is being honest with management. Every management team should be held accountable for their actions.
I wish all Marlins players would do that. The way Loria runs the team assumes and delivers failure every year, so any player with real talent should be making it clear they don’t enjoy playing for a joke of an organization.
Could not agree more Dave. If the players would start saying what the fans already are, perhaps some changes would ensue. I’m not even a Marlins fan and I feel bad for everyone in the South of Florida for the entire debacle. The stadium issue there is a disaster, the team is too, the owner is a crook. That’s pretty tough to assemble a FLORIDA fan base under those conditions. Nobody should have to put up with that kind of thing, but the MLB still doesn’t do anything about it, and they won’t until more people keep griping about it.
Its funny what a beast Jorge Cantu still has been in the Korean and Mexican leagues since being booted from MLB at the end of 2012.
Touki is a while away still. Not a shot he debuts in 2016. That’s like expecting Allard to debut in 2016.