Mariners OSFM Episode XV: Return of the Mediocre Farm System

[seanjeezy]

Prospect season is upon us so I'm kinda surprised to see an absence of team related threads for the upcoming iteration of OSFM. Usually the Mariners are one of the last teams to be covered by Baseball America, Minor League Ball, Fangraphs, Baseball Prospectus and the like, but somehow 2 of those 4 have at least a top 10 list so now is as good a time as ever to get the yearly thread going.

This will be my 3rd year fully handling the M's OSFM duties, you can find my previous efforts here and here. I am really proud of last year's set, specifically nailing down the spray charts and going in-depth with the intricacies of the ratings system and how certain attributes mesh together. Here's the spreadsheet from last year, I'll be updating it once I get my BA handbook and of course if there any significant changes to the ratings system in MLB '15.

So anyway, on to the prospects. After so many key graduations last year, the system is somewhat down in both impact talent and upper minors talent. I think the last couple of years there were 50-55 players who were interesting but now its closer to 35-40. There likely will be a good amount of filler this year, but most (if not all) will be user created since the Mariners don't usually stash a bunch of journeymen at AAA. I will be breaking up the list of players into tiers, like so:

New Players to the set will be in bold

100% Guaranteed to be included:

Alex Jackson
DJ Peterson
Edwin Diaz
Austin Wilson
Gabby Guerrero
Ketel Marte*
Pat Kivlehan
Tyler O'Neill
Victor Sanchez
Luiz Gohara
Ryan Yarbrough
Danny Hultzen*
Tyler Marlette
Jordy Lara
John Hicks*
Mayckol Guaipe*
Julio Morban*
Ji-Man Choi*
David Rollins*5

*Represents a player on the 40-man Roster

Most Likely Will be Included:

Tyler Olson
Jabari Henry
Gareth Morgan
Austin Cousino
Dan Altavilla
Jabari Blash
Stephen Landazuri
Daniel Missaki
Tyler Pike
Jordan Pries
Jack Reinheimer
Tyler Smith
Brayan Hernandez
Greifer Andrade
Dylan Unsworth


Filler But Not Quite Filler:

Marcus Littlewood
Joe Decarlo
Leon Landry
Timmy Lopes
Guillermo Pimentel
Dan Paolini
Matt Anderson
Jochi Ogando
Anthony Fernandez
Ramon Morla
Emilio Pagan
David Colvin
Sam Gaviglio
Dario Pizzano
Logan Bawcom
Aaron Barbosa
Steve Baron
Jordan Shipers

Actual Filler:

TBD...

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Preliminary grades to come shortly...

[redsox4evur]

I would sure hope that Gareth Morgan makes the set because he is the number 7 Mariner prospect according to MLB.com

[ShowTyme15]

You can cross off Gabriel Noriega as a possible filler. He's now with the Royals.

[seanjeezy]

Quote: Originally Posted by redsox4evur

I would sure hope that Gareth Morgan makes the set because he is the number 7 Mariner prospect according to MLB.com

MLB hasn't updated its list for 2015 yet and I guarantee Morgan will not be in the top 10 when they do. Rest assured, I am 99.99% sure he will included. The tiers are more for differentiating the top of the system versus the middle and the also-rans.

Quote: Originally Posted by ShowTyme15

You can cross off Gabriel Noriega as a possible filler. He's now with the Royals.

Good catch, I only checked BA's MiLB FA tracker and they had him resigning with the Mariners lol

[teeds]

I created Guaipe, Rollins, Pizzano, Baron, Andrew Carraway, Forrest Snow, Brian Moran, and Leury Bonilla for our hybrid roster last year with faces, pitching motions, and batting stances that you could transfer over if you want.

[seanjeezy]

Quote: Originally Posted by teeds

I created Guaipe, Rollins, Pizzano, Baron, Andrew Carraway, Forrest Snow, Brian Moran, and Leury Bonilla for our hybrid roster last year with faces, pitching motions, and batting stances that you could transfer over if you want.

Cool, I think I did Carraway, Snow, and Moran for either '13 or maybe '12, but I could definitely use something for the others.

[ShowTyme15]

Mariners acquire Mike Kickham from the Cubs for Lars Huijer. Anthony Fernandez DFA.

[Trent Booty]

Quote: Originally Posted by ShowTyme15

Mariners acquire Mike Kickham from the Cubs for Lars Huijer. Anthony Fernandez DFA.

I liked Huijer's sinker and Kickham? A quick look at his BR page and he sucks. We lose this one for sure. And I've never understood why Fernandez was on the 40-man roster for so damn long.