Braves sign Mike Minor (Updated Title)

[CharlotteBrave]

And how long do you guys think it'll take him before he's pitching in the Bigs. Didn't David Price get drafted just last season, and then was pitching in the World Series?

I'm not comparing the two, but I know Minor was considered one of the more "Major League Ready" prospects out there.

[Hillbilly]

I think Price was drafted in '07.

[Dreamscape]

Price was the first overall pick in 2007 and didn't pitch until 2008 (I think because of signability) and so, he basically did make his debut in his first season. But I wouldn't expect that with Minor, who has neither the skills coming out of college nor the ceiling that Price has/had. If he cracks the team before 2012, I will be pretty surprised. Minor is considered a third starter at best. Drafting for signability rarely works out.

As for why he hasn't signed...MLB teams are pressured to follow a slot bonus system MLB has put up, but are not required to do so. Top picks generally take a long time to sign because of it, though. Jason Heyward wasn't signed until August, I believe, because his bonus was so much higher than MLB wanted. Another big hangup is the trickle-down effect. The players drafted after Minor are looking at Minor's bonus to set the market, especially when it comes to college pitchers.

[sdp]

I hope he doesn't sign and we get to pick high again next year.

[CharlotteBrave]

Sounds like you guys were very underwhelmed with this selection... 3rd starter at best; yikes.

[Rynliquid]

For all intents and purposes, he is signed.

I'd have to ask around a bit because I don't fully understand the technicalities concerning it, but its similar to the situation with Heyward last year. Both parties agreed upon a price early, but are waiting until later in the summer to announce it. I believe they waited over a month to announce Heyward.

I'm 99% positive on this, but like I said, I don't completely understand why they do it.

[Hillbilly]

Sounds like you guys were very underwhelmed with this selection... 3rd starter at best; yikes.

A projected #3 at best as the 7th overall pick? Consider me underwhelmed. Didn't like the pick on draft day, and I still haven't warmed up to it, yet.

[barvos4evr]

I liked the Minor pick for a few reasons.
1) he has a major league quality changeup ( that's rare at any level)
2) he has guts
3) he isn't going to cost uber uber bucks to sign

I think he has the makeup of a quality top 2 level starter in the bigs. ( lots of guys who rated lower became great and the odd coincidence is that they had either: uber changeup, or uber slider.

I am of the opinion that we will either see Minor in the bigs pretty quickly, or he will become a total nobody. I just don't see him being a hanger on type player.

[luvdembravos]

I was underwhelmed when the Braves selected Minor but if he ends up being a #3 starter for us it will be a great pick considering the number of MLB draftees who never make it to the majors.

[Dreamscape]

I was underwhelmed when the Braves selected Minor but if he ends up being a #3 starter for us it will be a great pick considering the number of MLB draftees who never make it to the majors.
True, but typically, top 10 draftees make it to the majors more often than, say, people drafted 100-110th. And the #3 starter comment is if Minor maxed out. The more likely conclusion is that he will become a fringe starter/swingman. Of course, once he gets into the minors, the ceiling may change.

[wordslayer©]

This was one of those picks that just left you scratching your head. I don't see anything special in him, and maybe there is room to grow with him, but if this guy ever sees a major league uniform, I'll be surprised. But then again, if I were running a team, my first pick would, more often than not, be a hitter.

[Andy G.]

The Braves obviously disagree with the idea that he is a #3 starter at best, and I think it's ridiculous for people to put that type of ceiling on a guy that's never faced a professional hitter. How good is his changeup, really? How much does he make up for his lack of stuff with poise and general pitching knowledge? It's impossible to tell. All it takes for word to get out that he'll never be more than a #3 starter is a couple of scouts getting it wrong. They start the trend, fans pick up on it, and next thing you know the Braves picked a guy who's never going to see the major leagues with the #7 overall pick.

I'm not saying he's going to be more than a #3. I'm not saying anything. I have no idea(I mean, I have an idea...I've read scouting reports and watched highlights...I know that he was the ace for Team USA last summer...but I don't know). I'm going to let him face professional hitters before I decide what I think about him. If the ceiling that you imagine for him might change after he gets into the minors, why even talk as if you have an idea of how good he'll be? How can anybody say what he'll "max out" as? It's just foolish.

[Dreamscape]

Under that premise, you should draft players based on funniest name. It's just as arbitrary. It's ridiculous to assume you can't have a good idea what a player's ceiling is. You know what he did in college, the competition it was against, the scouting reports, etc. Sure, players can change once they get drafted...many tend to get worse after being drafted high and others tend to be sleepers despite being drafted in the 30th round. But that doesn't change the discussion about Mike Minor. The decision to draft Minor was universally panned as a curious one. It's not that Minor wasn't deserving of being drafted in the first round, but he wasn't deserving of the slot he was drafted in if talent, skill, and potential were the only key factors. I believe it's very likely that signability in this economy was of great concern to the Braves.

I admit...the draft is one of my weak points, but when every authority on prospects and the draft pans the move, it has me greatly concerned about wasting a high draft choice because the chances are better that he will sign. Yes, some times, everyone is wrong and the team makes the great choice that nobody saw. Most of the time, though...if everybody says you screwed up, you probably screwed up.

[Andy G.]

I don't agree with that Dream. In a lot of discussions, the amount of people with similar opinions would mean something to me, but not with the MLB draft. I think that the chances of all of them being wrong are just as good as them being right.

[CharlotteBrave]

Well... Looks like Minor has been signed, glad he's signed in time for the Arizona Fall League. Hopefully he exceeds all of our expectations.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090805/SPORTS0602/90805084/1002/SPORTS/Mike+Minor+gets+big+deal+from+Braves

[sdp]

$2.42MM

Yikes. Lets hope the Braves' scouts see something we don't (which is likely).

[wordslayer©]

$2.42MM

Yikes. Lets hope the Braves' scouts see something we don't (which is likely).

Thing is...pitchers are just a shot in the dark, which is why I would never burn an early pick on one.

History is full of great young arms that people knew were going to be terrific young starters, but who just crashed and burned. And there are just as many pitchers out there who were just horrible when young and then somehow stumbled into a fine major league career.

Kinda like Gilley said the other day, you almost have to just wait and see what happens with them once you get them in your system. But more often that not, what looks good as a young pitcher often doesn't look good as a major league pitcher.

With some luck, getting a college pitcher does kind of give you some extra time to see what you are getting, so hopefully, the scouts really see something there to like.

[IkeWagner]

I don't mind the Minor pick. It's nice to see a guy get drafted high because he has polish. But many of the teams (including the Braves) that picked before 23 will be crying when Jared Mitchell turns out to be a star in the big leagues.

http://thebaseballcube.com/players/M/Jared-Mitchell.shtml

The numbers aren't eye-popping, but look at the improvement he showed over his three seasons as LSU. I watched most of his at-bats in the college world series, and his approach is just terrific. He has "future stud" written all over him.

[IkeWagner]

I think I posted this in the draft thread, but for those who didn't catch it, here's a highlight reel spanning Minor's career at Vanderbuilt. It helps get a feel for him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNSnvS_HvHo

[AhbBrave]

I hope he doesn't sign and we get to pick high again next year.


so much for that eh?

[sdp]

lol

He looks good so far.

Hanson-Minor-Teheran is a ridiculous core going forward.

[KB 34]

lol

He looks good so far.

Hanson--Jurrjens-Minor-Teheran is a ridiculous core going forward.
I fixed the core for you. Since July Jurrjens has only pitched fewer than 6 innings once and has pitched 7 innings in more than half of them. He may not have been drafted by the Braves but he's the poster child for the direction the pitching staff needs to go in.

[sdp]

Good points. I left Medlen out since his future is in the air. :(

[Gman]

How did Minor get the "mediocre stuff - bottom of the rotation filler" label? A lefty starter with a well controlled 93 mph fb is rare enough but then he also has good secondary stuff with solid command of those pitches as well. The draft write ups about him are a real head scratcher in light of how he's pitched in his first year. Either he improved dramatically in one year or the Braves scouts were the only ones who saw him pitch and told all the other scouts, "meh...back of the rotation soft tosser, no need to even look at him. Go have a beer and just copy our report."

[BarveFanHawaii]

How did Minor get the "mediocre stuff - bottom of the rotation filler" label? A lefty starter with a well controlled 93 mph fb is rare enough but then he also has good secondary stuff with solid command of those pitches as well. The draft write ups about him are a real head scratcher in light of how he's pitched in his first year. Either he improved dramatically in one year or the Braves scouts were the only ones who saw him pitch and told all the other scouts, "meh...back of the rotation soft tosser, no need to even look at him. Go have a beer and just copy our report."

From all accounts, I thought Mike Minor was an 88-mph fastball type of pitcher with the ability to hit 90 if he pumped it up based on draft analysis from last year. He had control and an advanced changeup.

This whole 91-93 mph thing is new to me and I think the reason why he's rocketed through the system. Maybe the Braves did indeed see something that they could tinker with in his mechanics that would add velocity....or maybe Minor spent his off-season working out and adding muscle to compete with the other top prospects? Who knows? All I know is this velocity he's shown so far in 2010 was not supposedly part of his game when we drafted him.

Then again....maybe my memory is faulty and they were really saying he was a 93 mph kidn of guy. *Shrug*

[Andy G.]

No, you're right, they said he was lucky to touch 90 a few times in a game.

Those scouting reports were crap. That's all it is. Somebody who probably should have known what they were talking about, and probably had a reputation for generally knowing what they're talking about, scouted Mike Minor and said he was a "#3 starter" at best (that's such a ridiculous term). Then people who wanted to pretend that they knew what they were talking about jumped on board with that analysis, giving an overwhelming impression that Mike Minor was a virtual lock to only be as good as that scouting report suggested.

He's already proving them wrong.

[AhbBrave]

glad i was able to spark a convo! :P

[Lauren T.]

From the Braves (http://twitter.com/Braves/status/22303358373), via twitter:
LHP Mike Minor was optioned to Gulf Coast League and RHP Craig Kimbrel was recalled from Gwinnett and will be in uniform tonight.

[Lauren T.]

Follow-up from Carroll Rogers at the AJC (http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2010/08/27/minor-optioned-kimbrel-recalled-for-temporary-bullpen-help/):
Because the Gulf Coast League season ends on Saturday, Minor won’t have to wait the requisite 10 days to return to the major league roster.

Kimbrel was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett for his second major league stint this season. He went 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA in eight games out of the Braves bullpen.

Kimbrel has gone 3-2 with a 1.74 ERA with 22 saves for Gwinnett in 44 games. He has a .153 opponents’ batting average.

[Freddy_Ballgame]

I wonder which scout pumped up the front office enough to take "a chance" on Minor? Dude deserves a raise!

[Gman]

I wonder which scout pumped up the front office enough to take "a chance" on Minor? Dude deserves a raise!
Bet it was a scout who's been around long enough to have seen a lot of Avery. Minor reminds me quite a bit of him. Similar lull-you-to-sleep motion that takes full advantage of his height. Plus when he gets in a nice rhythm he just pounds the strike zone like Avery used to. He's a really good looking pitcher. Must be pretty exciting duty pitching in a major league pennant race in his first full season of pro ball. Hope he fairs well! We could use some shutdown pitching to stop the recent bleeding.