Mike Schmidt put up a .960 OPS in AAA as a 22 year old, walked a ton, and showed great power. Biggest thing for Schmidt is, while he always had K and BA problems, he walked a ton and hit for power. Always.

 

Now, Matt Dominguez is very young, and I think people are giving up on him way too easily. He's not going to be a star, but if his glove is what it's cracked up to be, I think he'll hit enough to stick. But I do think keeping him in the minors at least another year is a good thing. We're getting to a point where prospects can be something of a luxury, so let's try to keep them down as much as possible. Until they make it clear they have nothing at all left to learn.

 

We're still talking about a guy who has shown league average walking ability and above average strikeout avoidance with league average pop. He's a station to station runner at best, which is going to drag down his XBHs and BA a bit, but I think there's still enough there to say he's got a decent future. He's probably never going to be a star, but I think way too many people are giving up on him.

 

A comparison I like a little bit is Mike Lowell. He might not ever peak as high as Lowell did, but Lowell was a guy who put up low BABIP numbers, low K rates, and roughly average walk rates. I think the biggest difference is Lowell probably had more power and struck out less than Dominguez will, but I don't think it's terrible. Dominguez is still very much a baby by major league standards. A .743 OPS in AAA isn't that bad for a 21 year old.

 

I don't think it's bad at all. I punched his numbers into an MLE calculator [http://mlsplits.drivelinebaseball.com/mlsplits/mlecalc] and it came out to a .221/.266/.353 (.619) slash line. While that's not pretty, he is still just 21. And, NL average OPS was .710, and a .629 OPS would have actually qualified as better than 2 NL teams last year, neither of which was the Marlins. [http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/split/81/league/nl/sort/OPS/order/true]

Mike Schmidt put up a .960 OPS in AAA as a 22 year old, walked a ton, and showed great power. Biggest thing for Schmidt is, while he always had K and BA problems, he walked a ton and hit for power. Always.

 

Now, Matt Dominguez is very young, and I think people are giving up on him way too easily. He's not going to be a star, but if his glove is what it's cracked up to be, I think he'll hit enough to stick. But I do think keeping him in the minors at least another year is a good thing. We're getting to a point where prospects can be something of a luxury, so let's try to keep them down as much as possible. Until they make it clear they have nothing at all left to learn.

 

We're still talking about a guy who has shown league average walking ability and above average strikeout avoidance with league average pop. He's a station to station runner at best, which is going to drag down his XBHs and BA a bit, but I think there's still enough there to say he's got a decent future. He's probably never going to be a star, but I think way too many people are giving up on him.

 

 

I think it's the hype of free agency, honestly. We're looking for the quick fix solution rather than waiting for Dominguez.

 

Dominguez isn't good enough to wait for. The Marlins would be foolish to hold a spot indefinitely for a guy who doesn't even put up very good numbers in the minors. If Dominguez emerges and you've got a legitimate option already playing there, then that is a nice problem to have.

 

He isn't to you, but I think to most fans, he is.

 

He's a good prospect to have in the minors while you have an Aramis Ramirez holding down the third base position for about 2 seasons.

Aramis will prob get more than 2 years however, putting the team in awkward spot down the road if they sign him.

Aramis will prob get more than 2 years however, putting the team in awkward spot down the road if they sign him.

 

 

In which case Dominguez, if he does look ready to play in the majors, would make a great trading piece. Probably the first legitimate guy we would have in the upper minors that we could actually afford to part with for talent we need elsewhere in years.

 

My problem with Dominguez is that there hasn't been enough production in the minors to make me think that he could do substantially better than his current MLE even with time. There are always the usual excuses: age, home field, wrong zodiac sign, lost his good luck garter, etc., but until he really produces all we are ever going to have is projection that at some point he's going to click and become merely decent, which is all he's ever sounded like to me.

So, based on his .740 minor league OPS while being young for every level he's been at, you think he's destined to put up a .619 OPS forever.

 

I mean, he put up a .743 OPS in AAA as a 21 year old. To say you think the best he's going to be is a low .600s OPS bat is absurd.

 

Like we get it, you don't like Matt Dominguez. but that's silly. The last three years, the average hitter in New Orleans has put up .765, .750, and .732 OPS. He was roughly an average bat as a young player at that level. He may not be much more than average, but projecting a .600 OPS is silly.

I mean, he put up a .743 OPS in AAA as a 21 year old. To say you think the best he's going to be is a low .600s OPS bat is absurd.

 

are you familiar with the minor leagues? low 600s is incredibly reasonable. and no one said 'at best'

I mean, he put up a .743 OPS in AAA as a 21 year old. To say you think the best he's going to be is a low .600s OPS bat is absurd.

 

are you familiar with the minor leagues? low 600s is incredibly reasonable. and no one said 'at best'

 

I'm not sure what your attempt at condescension in the first sentence is suppose to imply is supposed to imply. Care to clear it up?

 

As for the rest, Sirspud said:

 

My problem with Dominguez is that there hasn't been enough production in the minors to make me think that he could do substantially better than his current MLE even with time.

 

The MLE he is referring to was the one Mystikol posted, which shows a .619 OPS.

 

So, actually, someone essentially said he doesn't think he can do better than a low .600s OPS at best. Not those specific words, but that's absolutely what he meant.

there is a significant drop-off in production in transitioning from the minor leagues to the major leagues, especially for sub-par hitters. I was implying that you were unfamiliar with this.

I am not unfamiliar with this, and it varies from hitter to hitter. Some certainly are able to maintain it. The ones who are, generally, are doing so at younger ages, because they are still developing at each step in the minors. So by the time they become major league regulars, they have developed.

 

That almost sounds like... but... Nah.

shark tits