Sadly, among players with over 150 abs his .681 OPS is tops on the Sarasota roster.
Will he be a bust?
That assumes he's not one already.
Allowing for that small percentile of "anything can happen," he's been a rolling disaster. If he hadn't been wildly overdrafted no one would pay him an ounce of attention.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
I'm actually starting to warm to Mesoraco a bit. You have to consider, first off, that he started out a couple hundred yards from the starting line. He was a high school kid--a high school catcher, no less--from a Northern background (meaning less field time) who had lost time with injuries and was still dealing with them when he turned pro. Two years later, he's in High-A, and while not setting the league on fire, he's had his moments. By most accounts, his defense has improved radically. He has begun to throw out base-stealers. It's very plausible think that, if he stays in High-A for another year, he could hit 20-25 HR and play pretty decent defense. And he'd still only be 21. I'm not ready to move him into my top five, but I don't think he has disqualified himself as a prospect. Not yet, anyway.
He's an interesting case. Out of a high school baseball backwater, playing the toughest position on the field, pushed HARD by the organization, probably rushed. Has played 2 of his 3 years in the heat of summer Sarasota, in front of nobody. Some injury issues along the way. And he seems to be pushing through, showing nicely at the plate in the latter part of this year, with supposed strong defensive improvement. In my opinion, this kid must be pretty tough upstairs.
He's looking better than he ever has right now. Having him and Coddington in A ball provides the organization with a couple midrange catching prospects 2-3 years away. Good deal.
Good post. He's making progress, he's playing in a league dominated by guys who've played much more baseball than he has, his peripherals are decent. He was no doubt overdrafted; drafting h.s. catchers high is probably a bad idea in general. With all that, he "seems to be pushing through" and the toughness you note may be as important as anything else the catcher has among those tools of ignorance.
Is there even 25 catching prospects in baseball?
M2, I think this is an over-reaction. By most scouts accounts, he has all of the physical tools. He is just now starting to show some consistent results. As for a top-half first round pick, I can agree he was a reach. However, in isolation, he still has solid potential. I don't know how you can judge Mesoraco at such a young age. A 21 year old bust, c'mon.
By most scouts accounts, he'd fallen off the radar last season. BA did a top 25 catching prospects list prior to the season and Mesoraco wasn't on it (something a few folks around here insisted couldn't possibly happen before it did).
Honestly, do you think if the Reds were in the hunt and trading for a vet right now that any other team would view Mesoraco as anything more than deal filler?
He does not have solid potential. Solid potential should mean he's more than likely to be a quality every day player in the majors. The way he's played to date makes Mesoraco a poor bet to ever see the majors. He's got the same chance as any other number of mediocre players in the low minors, exceedingly slim. Yet due to his draft slot Reds fans know his name and have attached unreasonable hopes to him.
Frankly, I don't know how anyone can't judge Mesoraco given the stain he's left in the pants of the last three seasons.
Last edited by M2; 07-30-2009 at 07:38 PM.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
I am going to say bust but not gigantic bust because outside of Porcello, I don't see a whole lot of guys drafted later in the first round that I regret us missing on.
On the other hand, ohhhh to have picked one slot earlier and grabbed Jason Heyward. That dude is going to be a monster. He is putting putting up Jay Bruce type minor league numbers at a younger age and in a higher level, but controls the strike zone much better 34BB/37K in 262 at bats.
So a guy walking 10%, striking out 21% and carrying an IsoP of .149 in the FSL as a 20/21 year old catcher who has all of a sudden started throwing out 40+% of the last 50 base runners against him does not have solid potential?
Mesoraco's peripherals look a whole lot like those of Todd Frazier from the FSL last year (9.9% BB rate, 20.3% K rate and an IsoP of .170 as a 22 year old). Todd was rated one of the Reds best prospects last year by everyone. Just something to think about before we throw Mesoraco down the toilet.
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