So it begins, The official Hot Stove League Thread 2024-25 Offseason

[Seattle or Bust]

At least Tork hit the majors.

DJ never did, and the Ms picked him twice!

I wonder what the percentage is of first round picks never making it past AAA?

DT knows, if anybody does.

The vast majority of 1st round picks see some action in the majors because there’s so much invested in them and they all get picked up later if their draft team drops them b/c of their pedigree.

However the amount that turn it into successful careers is low.

That said, DJ played AAA ball in ‘22 at age 30. Hit 20 homers in just 89 games. He probably made more money than most will ever dream of. So I guess success is definitional.

[D-train]

I've long thought that Torkelson would be an interesting buy low candidate. Over the long term, I think he's a better bet to succeed than Tyler Locklear. His most glaring weakness is against offspeed pitches, and so I would put him in Tacoma for a year. The PCL is generally loaded with pitchers that are offspeed specialists, so it would be a good development environment for him.

What happened with JK? He got sent down there about 57 times.

[Hy Feiber]

At least Tork hit the majors.

DJ never did, and the Ms picked him twice!

I wonder what the percentage is of first round picks never making it past AAA?

DT knows, if anybody does.

The vast majority of 1st round picks see some action in the majors because there’s so much invested in them and they all get picked up later if their draft team drops them b/c of their pedigree.

However the amount that turn it into successful careers is low.

That said, DJ played AAA ball in ‘22 at age 30. Hit 20 homers in just 89 games. He probably made more money than most will ever dream of. So I guess success is definitional.

AAA pay is lousy per this info.

https://suchbaseball.com/how-much-do-aa ... yers-make/

[GL_Storm]

I've long thought that Torkelson would be an interesting buy low candidate. Over the long term, I think he's a better bet to succeed than Tyler Locklear. His most glaring weakness is against offspeed pitches, and so I would put him in Tacoma for a year. The PCL is generally loaded with pitchers that are offspeed specialists, so it would be a good development environment for him.

What happened with JK? He got sent down there about 57 times.

I specified "buy low". You're buying a fixer upper in a bad neighborhood with a meth lab next door, basically.

[harmony]

Why do you all keep bringing up Yandy Diaz?

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/12/ ... seman.html

Steamer projects Yandy Diaz with a 2025 WAR of 3.6 in 150 games:

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/yandy ... #dashboard

Diaz would rank third among Seattle hitters in projected 2025 WAR:

https://www.fangraphs.com/projections?p ... =dashboard

[GL_Storm]

At least Tork hit the majors.

DJ never did, and the Ms picked him twice!

I wonder what the percentage is of first round picks never making it past AAA?

DT knows, if anybody does.

The vast majority of 1st round picks see some action in the majors because there’s so much invested in them and they all get picked up later if their draft team drops them b/c of their pedigree.

However the amount that turn it into successful careers is low.

That said, DJ played AAA ball in ‘22 at age 30. Hit 20 homers in just 89 games. He probably made more money than most will ever dream of. So I guess success is definitional.

AAA pay is lousy per this info.

https://suchbaseball.com/how-much-do-aa ... yers-make/

Peterson's career got derailed, I believe, when he got hit in the head by a pitch. I'm not sure what year that happened, but I read an article about it a couple of years ago.

[Seattle or Bust]

At least Tork hit the majors.

DJ never did, and the Ms picked him twice!

I wonder what the percentage is of first round picks never making it past AAA?

DT knows, if anybody does.

The vast majority of 1st round picks see some action in the majors because there’s so much invested in them and they all get picked up later if their draft team drops them b/c of their pedigree.

However the amount that turn it into successful careers is low.

That said, DJ played AAA ball in ‘22 at age 30. Hit 20 homers in just 89 games. He probably made more money than most will ever dream of. So I guess success is definitional.

AAA pay is lousy per this info.

https://suchbaseball.com/how-much-do-aa ... yers-make/

$3 million signing bonus. $500k salary in 2017. That's about $400K a year over his 9 years in the league...

Might seem small for a MLB player. But that's pretty damn good $$ all considering.

Not to mention that he's a scout now.

[Donn Beach]

What’s the prevailing wisdom on Spencer Torkelson? He was a highly rated prospect and the first overall pick in 2020. But he’s struggled in the majors batting .221 and a .693 OPS

But with the Tigers signing Torres, they are moving Colt Keith to 1B. They have effectively bumped Torkelson off the roster, and my guess is he’d be a cheap get while his value is tanking.

Any interest in making a run at him?

Spencer Torkelson had a 31 home run season in 2023. Is he really that hopeless?

[Seattle or Bust]

What’s the prevailing wisdom on Spencer Torkelson? He was a highly rated prospect and the first overall pick in 2020. But he’s struggled in the majors batting .221 and a .693 OPS

But with the Tigers signing Torres, they are moving Colt Keith to 1B. They have effectively bumped Torkelson off the roster, and my guess is he’d be a cheap get while his value is tanking.

Any interest in making a run at him?

Spencer Torkelson had a 31 home run season in 2023. Is he really that hopeless?

So did Vogelbach.

[Donn Beach]

And Vogelbach was a better hitter than Kelenic wasn't he?