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A Missed Opportunity For The Tigers?

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It was just a few years ago that Tigers right-hander Michael Fulmer looked like one of the most valuable pitchers in baseball. Fulmer burst on the scene in 2016 – one year after the Tigers acquired him from the Mets in the teams’ Yoenis Cespedes trade – parlaying a 95 mph fastball into 159 innings of 3.06 ERA ball en route to American League Rookie of the Year honors. Unfortunately, though, Fulmer’s career has gone in the wrong direction since then.

While Fulmer did turn in another fine season in 2017, an All-Star campaign, injuries began to cut him down then. Dating back to that season, Fulmer has undergone three surgeries – one for ulnar nerve transposition, another on his knee and most recently a Tommy John procedure. TJS wiped out all of 2019 for Fulmer, which came after he slumped to an unspectacular 4.69 ERA across 132 1/3 innings during the previous year.

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Considering that Fulmer’s still just 27 years old and under team control through 2022, it would be unwise to throw dirt on his career just yet. Fulmer may well turn back into a significant asset for the Tigers when he’s ready to return (which should be sometime this season, if there is one), though it’s also worth wondering if the club and general manager Al Avila should have sold high on him when they had the chance. Fulmer was involved in a bevy of trade rumors during his healthier days, but the Tigers were unwilling to move him for anything other than a massive return when his value was at its zenith. They’ve since gone into a full rebuild and may not even return to contention during Fulmer’s remaining years of control.

In fairness to the Tigers, you can’t necessarily blame them for their reluctance to part with Fulmer. After all, it’s not every day you find a young, hard-throwing starter with front-line potential. That said, plenty of teams tried to pry him out of Detroit, which could have benefited from moving him.

Going back in the MLBTR archives since 2017, the Braves, Astros, Athletics, Dodgers, Phillies, Yankees, Padres, Cubs and Rangers are among teams that have at least kicked the tires on Fulmer. The juiciest Fulmer-related rumor came out last summer and went back to 2017, when Houston and Chicago reportedly offered Detroit one now-superstar apiece for the hurler.

The Cubs were apparently willing to give up Javier Baez, while the Astros would have surrendered Alex Bregman for Fulmer and reliever Justin Wilson. The Tigers turned down those offers. At that point, Baez was a solid player – not the true standout middle infielder he has morphed into over the past couple years. Bregman, though, was just two years removed from going No. 2 in the draft and has been among the most valuable third basemen in the game over the past few seasons. As for Wilson (now a Met), the Tigers did end up trading him to the Cubs that year for third baseman Jeimer Candelario and shortstop Isaac Paredes. Candelario was a quality prospect at the time, but he hasn’t made a great impact in the majors yet, while Paredes is still promising. Bregman helped the Astros to a World Series title (albeit one that many regard as tainted) in 2017, however, and Baez has been irreplaceable to the Cubs.

If either the Astros or the Cubs had successfully pulled off a Fulmer trade, it’s interesting to ponder how they’d look nowadays. Would the Astros have ended up acquiring ace Justin Verlander, Fulmer’s ex-teammate, from the Tigers in August 2017? If not, would they have won the World Series that year or the AL pennant without his Cy Young contributions last season? Would the Cubs have sent outfielder Eloy Jimenez and righty Dylan Cease to the crosstown-rival White Sox for starter Jose Quintana in 2017? Those are just some of the intriguing scenarios to consider in the case of a Fulmer non-trade.

If we’re to believe the Astros/Cubs rumors, it seems fair to say the Tigers’ refusal to trade Fulmer three years ago has had an enormous effect on them and the league as a whole. While it’s not the Tigers’ fault that injuries have derailed Fulmer of late, they might be a lot closer to escaping their rebuild had they traded him to Houston, Chicago or one of the several other teams that pursued him. Now, they’re left to hope that he’ll begin a career renaissance when he takes the mound again.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Seattle’s Struggling Center Fielder

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Center fielder Mallex Smith was one of the majors’ breakout players in 2018, a year he spent with the Rays, but he was unable to build on that last season as a member of the Mariners. The two teams made a notable swap involving Smith heading into last season, though neither club has gotten much major league value out of it thus far. Smith fell flat in 2019, as did the Rays’ headlining acquisition, catcher Mike Zunino.

Just two years ago, Smith was a .296/.367/.406 hitter who, despite totaling only two home runs, posted an impressive 3.5 fWAR across 544 plate appearances. The Mariners were banking on Smith logging similar production when they acquired him, but it wasn’t to be last season. While the speedy Smith did steal a career-high 46 bases after swiping 40 bags in the prior year, his numbers with the bat cratered. He ended up with a .227/.300/.335 line over 566 trips to the plate, and even received a demotion to the minors early in the season. All said, Smith’s MLB output amounted to a nonthreatening 74 wRC+ (down from 118 in the prior year) and a replacement-level fWAR of 0.0.

With the Mariners still unlikely to contend in 2020, and with Smith still under cheap control (he’s not scheduled to become a free agent until after 2022), they can afford to take a patient approach with him. The question for now is whether there’s any hope for Smith to turn into a valuable M’s contributor. Based on what he did last season, it’s hard to be optimistic.

Compared to 2018, Smith’s strikeout rate climbed by almost 7 percent, his soft contact rate jumped by nearly 6 percent, his line drive rate fell by 6 percent and his fly ball rate increased by about 5 percent. Smith’s skill set indicates he should be hitting as few fly balls as possible because his power is just about nonexistent. With that in mind, it’s no surprise he was a Statcast disaster at the plate last year. Smith finished below the league’s fifth percentile in average exit velocity, hard-hit percentage, expected batting average, expected slugging percentage and expected weighted on-base average.

Smith may have been the worst hitter in the game last year – a far cry from his 2018 effort – but what of his defense? Well, it was a mixed bag. Smith earned good grades in terms of Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating before 2019, but he fell off a cliff in both categories last year (minus-13 DRS, minus-9.5 UZR). On the other hand, Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric was high on Smith, giving him a plus-10 mark that ranked eighth among 133 qualified outfielders.

Even if we take OAA’s word for it, and even if we consider Smith’s elite speed, it looks highly questionable whether he’ll hit enough to turn back into a valuable contributor. Smith’s still just 26, so it’s too soon to give up on him, but this season (if it happens) could wind up as a make-or-break year for him.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

The Battle Of Pennsylvania First Basemen

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It’s no secret that the majors’ two Pennsylvania-based teams possess a couple of the most powerful first basemen in the game. In the Phillies’ corner, there’s Rhys Hoskins. Meanwhile, the Pirates are fortunate enough to have Josh Bell manning the position. Both players are 27 years old and under club control for the next few seasons. But which of the two would you prefer on your team?

Let’s start with Hoskins, a 2014 fifth-round pick who burst on the scene as a rookie in 2017, when he only played in 50 games but still managed to wallop 18 home runs. Although Hoskins has come back to earth since then, he has still been more productive than your typical hitter. The right-handed slugger mashed 29 homers last year, and though his batting average was alarmingly low, his overall slash line (.226/.364/.454) placed him 10 percent above the average hitter by measure of OPS+ and 13 percent above by wRC+. Furthermore, Hoskins has been rather durable – he played in 153 games two years ago and 160 in 2019. He’s also under control for four more years, including one final pre-arb campaign (that’s if a season even happens in 2020).

Bell still has three years left before becoming a free agent – he’ll make a reasonable $4.8MM this season – and has been a similarly productive batter to Hoskins throughout his career. But the switch-hitting Bell, a 2011 second-rounder, truly came into his own last year – he slashed .277/.367/.569 (143 OPS+, 135 wRC+) and racked up 37 HRs over 613 trips to the plate. Also, it was the third straight year of at least 140-some games played for Bell, so he joins Hoskins as someone you can regularly count on to pencil into your lineup.

While Bell was undoubtedly the superior offensive producer a season ago, Hoskins has doubled his lifetime fWAR output over almost 400 fewer plate appearances (Hoskins is at 7.1 in 1,577 PA; Bell has put up 3.8 in 1,968 attempts). Notably, Hoskins has performed far better at first base, having accounted for minus-1 Defensive Runs Saved and a 3.9 Ultimate Zone rating to Bell’s minus-31 DRS and minus-17 UZR. However, despite Bell’s defensive issues, many teams would gladly plug his big bat into their lineup. The same goes for Hoskins. For the sake of this exercise, though, you can only choose one (and remember to consider team control for the two Scott Boras clients). Who’s your pick?

(Poll link for app users)

Rhys Hoskins or Josh Bell?
Bell 60.88% (3,134 votes)
Hoskins 39.12% (2,014 votes)
Total Votes: 5,148

Why The Gerrit Cole Trade Wasn’t A Total Bust For The Pirates

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We’re past the two-year anniversary of a trade that has made a significant impact on the Pirates, the Astros and perhaps Major League Baseball as a whole. In January 2018, the Pirates sent right-hander Gerrit Cole to the Astros for a package consisting of righties Joe Musgrove and Michael Feliz, third baseman Colin Moran and outfielder Jason Martin.

Was the blockbuster worth it for Houston? Sure. Cole absolutely dominated in their uniform for two years and helped them to an American League pennant last season. But he’s now a member of the Yankees, who signed him to a record contract worth $324MM over nine years last winter. Has it been worth it for Pittsburgh? Debatable. Feliz and Moran haven’t amounted to much more than replacement-level players in the majors, while Martin has failed to register solid numbers at the Triple-A level. There’s at least one silver lining in Musgrove, who has emerged as a quality starter for the Pirates.

Let’s start by acknowledging that now-former Pirates general manager Neal Huntington was hamstrung by the team’s low budget. As a result of owner Bob Nutting’s unwillingness to commit a relatively enormous amount to any player (to this day, the biggest contract the Pirates have given out belongs to Jason Kendall, who signed a six-year, $60MM deal 20 years ago) there was no way the Pirates were going to be able to extend Cole – a Scott Boras client. And Cole, although a former No. 1 overall pick who logged ace-like numbers at times in a Pirates uniform, was not the Cy Young-level hurler he is now. Cole ate up 203 innings in his final year in Pittsburgh, but he also recorded a 4.26 ERA/4.08 FIP. No question that’s a useful output, but the run prevention was nowhere close to elite.

Whether or not you want to rail against the overall return the Pirates got for Cole, it’s clear they received at least one valuable player in Musgrove. Now 27 years old, Musgrove showed well in Houston from 2016-17 and has held his own in Pittsburgh during his two seasons there. He registered a 4.06 ERA/3.59 FIP in 115 1/3 innings in 2018 and put up similar numbers last year. Musgrove’s 4.44 ERA across 170 1/3 frames doesn’t look amazing, but he was near the top of the league in other important categories. He ranked 22nd in the majors in K/BB ratio (4.03), 24th in FIP (3,82), 30th in fWAR (3.3) and 34th in xFIP (4.31; that tied Madison Bumgarner, whom the Diamondbacks signed to a five-year, $85MM contract in free agency).

None of this is to say that the Pirates emerged from the Cole trade in great shape. They won 69 games last season and haven’t been a playoff team since 2015, after all, but their recent struggles certainly haven’t been the fault of Musgrove. Going forward, he’ll make a rather affordable $2.8MM this season – his third-last arbitration-eligible campaign – and could continue to improve his stock before his team control expires. Just how long Musgrove will stay a Pirate is in question, though; depending in part on whether they return to contention and if he’s amenable to an extension, the Bucs could decide Musgrove’s expendable if they’re not willing to make a long-term commitment to him.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2020-21 Free Agent Class: First Basemen

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Considering the circumstances, we figure to be in for an unusual free agency period in Major League Baseball next offseason. We’ve already run down the most notable catchers and shortstops who are slated to reach the open market once the winter rolls around in several months. We’ll do the same here with first basemen (players’ listed ages are for the 2021 campaign) …

Top Of The Class

  • Anthony Rizzo (31): It would be a huge surprise to see Rizzo become a free agent after next season, as he’s a Cubs icon, a valuable player and someone whose 2021 club option ($14.5MM, compared to a $2MM buyout) looks very reasonable for what he’s able to produce.
  • Carlos Santana (35): Santana’s future appears harder to determine than Rizzo’s. On one hand, Santana’s high-on-base ways lead to solid numbers at the plate every year. Still, it’s fair to wonder if the Indians are going to be willing to exercise his pricey option in 2021. They’re a small-market club, after all, and getting rid of Santana’s $17.5MM salary in favor of a $500K buyout would save them a substantial amount of money.
  • Yuli Gurriel (37): Gurriel was tremendous last season, a 31-home run, 132 wRC+ performance, but whether it was the product of a juiced ball or a real breakthrough remains to be seen. He wasn’t an offensive dynamo in his previous three major league seasons, and the fact that he’ll be closer to 40 than 30 when he becomes a free agent won’t help his cause.

Other Regulars (based upon 2019 playing time)

  • Edwin Encarnacion (38): Encarnacion remains a formidable hitter, but he’s more of a DH than a first baseman nowadays, and the White Sox will be able to keep him for a reasonable $12MM by way of a club option in 2021.
  • C.J. Cron (31): While Cron packs a punch (he piled up 55 home runs from 2018-19), he has historically only been a little above average as an all-around offensive player (109 wRC+). As a first baseman, that limits his value.
  • Daniel Murphy (36): At this rate, the Rockies seem likely to buy out Murphy for $6MM as opposed to keeping him for $12MM. Although Murphy has typically held his own at the plate, he was a serious disappointment in 2019 in the first season of a two-year, $24MM guarantee with the Rockies. A repeat may limit Murphy to a minor league pact.
  • Justin Smoak (34): Smoak wasn’t that productive in his final Blue Jays season last year, yet he was a Statcast favorite. So, if his bottom-line numbers tick upward in 2020 (let’s assume a season actually happens), it wouldn’t be that surprising to see the Brewers keep him for $5.5MM; otherwise, they could buy the switch-hitting Smoak out for $1MM.

Top Timeshare Candidates

  • Howie Kendrick (37): Kendrick can flat-out hit, and he may have been the most valuable bench player in the game last year, though age will continue to work against him next time he gets to free agency. That said, Kendrick’s 2019 heroics helped convince the Nationals to re-sign him to a $6.25MM guarantee after a brief trip to the market last offseason.
  • Mitch Moreland (35): The Red Sox will be able to retain Moreland for a $3MM option or cut ties with him for $500K in the coming months. Neither outcome would come as a shock. Moreland has typically been something close to a replacement-level player in most seasons, but the Red Sox have shown under multiple administrations that they like him. Whether or not Boston keeps Moreland beyond 2020, it would make sense to largely deploy the left-hander against righties this year, considering he ha sperformed far better against them during his career.
  • Todd Frazier (35): A third baseman for the vast majority of his career, Frazier hasn’t even amassed double-digit appearances at first since 2014. The power-hitting Frazier has usually produced well as a third bagger, though, so perhaps the Rangers will bring him back in 2021 on a $5.75MM salary (they could instead buy him out for $1.5MM).
  • Ryan Zimmerman (36): The man known as Mr. National probably won’t ever play anywhere but D.C., where he’s an icon. Even if he does, there won’t be a sizable amount of playing time or a large payday for the once-stellar third baseman.
  • Brad Miller (31): The left-handed Miller has struggled versus southpaws, and he hasn’t played first since 2018, but he’s decent against righties and has lined up at almost every position on the diamond during his career.
  • Neil Walker (35): The longtime second baseman seems to be nearing the finish line, but the switch-hitting Walker has usually been at least a league-average offensive player.

Anderson Espinoza Hires Beverly Hills Sports Council

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Padres right-hander Anderson Espinoza has changed agencies and is now a client of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. Agent Cesar Suarez will represent Espinoza.

Once among the finest prospects in baseball, Espinoza has fallen on hard times in recent years because of serious injury troubles. He’s a two-time Tommy John surgery patient who more recently underwent the procedure last April. The 22-year-old’s health woes have prevented him from pitching competitively since 2016, the same season the Red Sox traded him to the Padres for lefty Drew Pomeranz. Espinoza hasn’t even advanced beyond the Single-A level, where he owns a 4.59 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 111 2/3 innings.

Despite the adversity Espinoza has faced over the past few years, FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranked him as the Padres’ 17th-best prospect just last week, writing that he still has “front-end stuff.” However, in light of Espinoza’s “below-average control” and the time he has missed, there’s a chance that he’ll only turn into a reliever or a back-end starter (if anything) in the majors.

Espinoza’s change in representation has been noted in MLBTR’s Agency Database.  If you see any notable errors or omissions within the database, please let us know via e-mail: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

MLB Participating In Coronavirus Study

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Major League Baseball is doing its part to find a cure for the devastating coronavirus. Twenty-seven of the league’s 30 teams are participating in a study which could test around 10,000 people for coronavirus antibodies, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.com. Stanford University, the University of Southern California and the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory are running the study.

“This is the first study of national scope where we’re going to get a read on a large number of communities throughout the United States to understand how extensive the spread of the virus has been,” Stanford Dr. Jay Bhattacharya stated (via Passan), adding: “Why MLB versus other employers? I’ve reached out to others, but MLB moved by far the fastest. They’ve been enormously cooperative and flexible. We’re trying to set up a scientific study that would normally take years to set up, and it’s going to be a matter of weeks.”

Bhattacharya hopes to get the results by week’s end, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic relays. It’s unclear which teams aren’t partaking in this study, but we have confirmation of some of those that are in the mix. The Pirates (via Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), the Mariners (Greg Johns of MLB.com tweets), the Tigers (according to Jason Beck of MLB.com), the Athletics and Giants (Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle notes), the Astros (per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle) the Phillies (Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays) and both New York clubs (Tim Healey of Newsday reports) are among those lending a hand.

It’s clear that the league would stand to benefit financially from baseball returning as soon as possible, but it doesn’t seem that’s its primary focus in taking part in this study. Rather, Dr. Daniel Eichner – the president of Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory – told Passan: “MLB did not partner with us for any selfish reason to get their sport back sooner. They jumped in for public health policy. That was their intention and their only intention.”

MLBTR Poll: Potential Season Length

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With the coronavirus continuing to wreak havoc across the globe, nobody knows whether a Major League Baseball season will take place in 2020. Even if it does, it’s just about guaranteed that it will span for fewer than the customary 162 games; beyond that, it’s entirely possible the contests will happen at neutral sites with no fans in the stands, and that the National and American Leagues will go away for at least this season. At what point, though, would it be worthwhile to simply give up on a potential 2020 campaign?

MLBTR’s Jeff Todd spoke on the subject of a potentially canceled season Monday, arguing that it’s too soon for the league to make such a decision. I agree, but there may sadly come a time in the next few months when MLB will have to shut down completely until at least 2021 because of this pandemic. Granted, that sort of doomsday scenario should be at least a few months away from coming to fruition. If we’re lucky, for example, things will restart by June or July. That should enable the league to squeeze in at least half of a typical 162-game schedule, and that doesn’t even factor in the possibility of an increase in doubleheaders or a season taking longer than usual on the calendar.

Unfortunately, the way things have gone of late, it seems just a 100-game campaign would be a welcome outcome for everyone with a real interest in MLB. Even that would be a historical occurrence, however, as Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci noted a few weeks back that the shortest year on record is the 1981 season. A strike cut off around a third of that season and limited teams to an average of 106 games apiece.

There isn’t much doubt that the shorter a season goes, the better the chances are of strange results. The cream tends to rise to the top over a full 162, but if we’re guaranteed to see 100 or fewer games in 2020, teams that never would’ve been looked at as realistic contenders in a whole season (or those that were supposed to push for glory) could finish far from expectations. Would that be good for the game, though, or would it would tarnish the results? Feel free to vote in the poll (link for app users) and share your thoughts in the comments section…

How many regular-season games would be too few to make a season worthwhile?
Fewer than 70 (specify in comments) 28.86% (2,224 votes)
70-79 27.67% (2,132 votes)
80-89 21.45% (1,653 votes)
100 14.12% (1,088 votes)
90-99 7.90% (609 votes)
Total Votes: 7,706

A Potential Breakout Slugger For Yankees

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Despite the myriad injuries they faced a year ago, the Yankees amassed 103 wins and boasted the majors’ highest-scoring offense. There were many unsung heroes along the way for the Bronx Bombers, including hulking first baseman Mike Ford, a former undrafted player out of Princeton University who went on a tear during his first stint in the bigs in 2019.

Ford, soon to turn 28, has been a member of the Yankees organization for just about all of his pro career, but he did spend some time with the Mariners last year. That came after Seattle chose Ford 11th overall in the December 2018 Rule 5 Draft. But the Mariners determined in late March they didn’t have a place for Ford, so the Yankees got him back. It was a fortunate turn of events for New York, with which Ford slashed .259/.350/.559 (134 wRC+) and smacked 12 home runs over 50 games and 163 plate appearances. Among 411 hitters who totaled at least 150 PA, Ford ranked 15th in isolated power (.301, tying him with Reds 49-homer man Eugenio Suarez).

Was Ford’s outburst just the product of a small sample size? It’s quite possible – after all, it’s not atypical for a player to come out of nowhere to succeed in.a low number of at-bats, only to crash to earth thereafter. But there are plenty of promising signs that go beyond Ford’s bottom-line numbers from 2019.

For one, Ford has a history of quality production in the minors. Just last year, for example, Ford hit .303/.401/.605 with 23 homers in 349 PA in Triple-A ball. Even in an offensively charged environment, his output was an eye-popping 51 percent above average, according to FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric. And Ford collected nearly as many unintentional walks (46) as strikeouts (55), which has been a trend throughout his pro career. Ford, unlike many hitters, doesn’t sell out for power at the expensive of strikeouts. He only fanned 17.2 percent of the time in the majors last year (compared to a solid 10.4 percent walk rate) and swung and missed at a meager 8.1 percent clip. For reference, the average MLB hitter posted a 23 percent strikeout rate, an 8.5 percent walk rate and an 11.2 percent swinging-strike rate.

Digging deeper, Ford was a Statcast hit, as he logged an expected weighted on-base average (.365) that almost matched his real wOBA (.372). In terms of batted-ball profile, his main comparables included Mookie Betts, Justin Turner, Max Kepler, Marcus Semien and Kyle Seager. That’s pretty good company. Ford accomplished those feats despite an abnormally low .243 batting average on balls in play, but it’s worth pointing out that he isn’t fleet of foot – not to mention that HRs don’t factor into BABIP. He’s not an ideal candidate to put up a high number in that category, anyway.

Looking ahead, if we’re lucky enough to get a 2020 season, Ford seems to have the potential to at least serve as a useful part of the Yankees’ offense for the second straight year. He doesn’t have the clearest path to extensive playing time, however. The Yankees also have the offensively capable Luke Voit–Miguel Andujar tandem as first base possibilities. And they, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez could eat into DH at-bats (though Ford’s the lone left-handed hitter of the group). It’s tough to argue with what Ford did last season, though, and he just may prove to be another keeper for their offense if that carries over.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Prospect Faceoff: 2 Future AL Central Stars?

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The Twins’ Royce Lewis and the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. are among the jewels of their respective clubs’ farm systems, and if we’re to believe prospect gurus, there isn’t much separation between the two. Both players are regarded as top 30 prospects, MLB.com ranking Lewis ninth, FanGraphs placing him 13th and Baseball America putting him in the No. 26 spot. Witt checks in at Nos. 10, 23 and 24 on those lists.

Lewis, now 20 years old, entered the professional ranks as the No. 1 overall pick in 2017. At $6.725MM, Lewis received what was then the largest bonus ever given to a player drafted out of high school. Lewis came roaring out of the gates at the lower levels that year and the next season, though his production has dropped of late. He made his debut in Double-A ball last season and batted .231/.291/.358 (88 wRC+) with just two home runs in 148 plate appearances, though it’s worth noting that he was much younger than the typical player at that level. And Lewis, to his credit, did absolutely thrive dominate during the autumn in the Arizona Fall League, where he earned Most Valuable Player honors. There are some concerns about his “cacophonous” swing, as FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen explained in February, but he added that “the star-level talent will eventually shine through.”

Just where Lewis will line up in the majors remains to be seen. He’s versatile enough to play multiple positions (including center field), and the Twins seem to have found a long-term answer at short in Jorge Polanco. Likewise, the Royals are in nice shape at short with Adalberto Mondesi, so it’s up in the air where Witt will fit if he does arrive in Kansas City someday. They and the Twins can worry about how best to align their defenses at a later date, though.

[RELATED: When Will The Royals Contend Again?]

Witt, the son of former MLB hurler Bobby Witt, joined the Royals as the No. 2 pick in last year’s draft. He, like Lewis, got to the majors after a tremendous performance as a high school shortstop, and wound up signing for an almost $7.8MM bonus. But Witt endured his struggles during his initial taste of pro ball last summer, hitting .262/.317/.354 (85 wRC+) with only one homer in 180 PA in rookie ball. Nevertheless, Longenhagen compared Witt to Rockies star Trevor Story just a couple weeks ago, writing, “There are going to be some strikeouts but Witt is a big, athletic specimen who is very likely to not only stay at shortstop but be quite good there.”

Whichever positions these two play, we’ll be looking at a couple AL Central standouts if they develop according to plan in the coming years. Which prospect would you choose?

(Poll link for app users)

Royce Lewis or Bobby Witt Jr.?
Lewis 50.00% (1,630 votes)
Witt 50.00% (1,630 votes)
Total Votes: 3,260

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