... is that not all parks in the Cal League are hitter friendly. We sometimes have a skewed view of the league because of our close association with High Desert, which is by far the most hitter friendly park in the known universe (and I attend a lot of games here in Colorado Springs!). Actually, there are some parks in the league that are decidedly pitcher friendly. They may not be over the top pitcher friendly like what you see in the early part of the season in the Midwest League, or the year round pitcher friendly Carolina League, but they do exist.
Rancho Cucamonga, where Landry has been playing, grades out as the second best pitcher's park in the Cal League, but it still grades out as a hitters park when compared to the Carolina League.
In essence, what this all means is that you can't look at players in the Cal League and automatically place a High Desert stigma on them. That is inherently unfair.
As to the player himself, I really like NeonLeon3 (his twitter handle as he chose it).
Lonnie
Q. What is the general consensus on Leon Landry?
A. That he's a prospect who rated about #20 to #30 in the Dodgers' system. That he's a fast center fielder with a plus HIT tool, no BB's at all, and maybe some gap power. That his .600'ish SLG doesn't count at all because it's in the California League. And that the Mariners have 9,000 guys who should be ahead of him in line.
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Q. Does SSI see Landry any differently than everybody else does?
A. Not too much, but there are three plusses here that haven't been discussed:
(1) He's a Zduriencik pick. Give me ten generic prospects, and tell me that one of them has Zduriencik's endorsement, and I'll mark him way up. Leon Landry is a generic CF prospect, except that Zduriencik visualizes Landry panning out.
(2) California League performances do count. They should be discounted, not ignored. Landry's having a good year, and he needed to have one.
(3) Landry was -- it says here -- the #2 player in the deal.
Now, granted, Trayvon Robinson was the #8 outfield prospect for HQ this winter and Landry isn't even in the top 50. So let's not get carried away here. But there you go: three (real) things to like about Landry.
BaseballHQ has Landry as heading for a career as a #4 outfielder in the big leagues. ::shrug:: Who knows. I haven't seen him, and his performances are -- in the grand scheme -- unremarkable.
Dunno what to say about him. Jay-Z sees something. That's all.
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Q. Anything else about this trade?
A. It's an odd feeling to participate in a closer's local demise. And judging from the market value paid yesterday, it would seem that "the book" on his issues permeated baseball. Of course SSI wasn't the only source of information on the subject, but all y'all had a hand in accelerating the story. In the internet age, truth gets harder and harder to suppress. Reality, in every arena of life, becomes increasingly transparent.
Pretty much as soon as the Mariners had an alternative, they went for it. Power to the people, babe.
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Q. How much does SSI regret the Morrow-League trade?
A. This one doesn't bother us a 'tall. Morrow was offloaded as part of an attempt to un-wussy a very wussy organization. You've got to take the good with the bad, and the current admin has brought Gillick-, Lou-style street cred with it.
Hey, if there are elements of the locker room that are the opposite of what you're trying to do, you cut bait and don't look back.
Brandon League, at the time of the deal, reasonably looked like a possible Big Find as a super-closer. It was a worthy gamble.
Lesson learned: don't mess with pitchers who refuse to think before they throw. Tom Wilhelmsen all the way, baby.
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Cheers,
Dr D
Comments
Does anybody do in season MLE's the way Minor League Splits used to? Sounds like Landry's SLG would come in over .500 adjusted.
About 80% of the A+ Cal League parks are hitter's parks. Which means you get 50% of your home games in a neutral park (Rancho) and then 40% of your remaining games in Coors Field equivalents.
2002 San Bernadino:
Offensive average - .265/.340/.405
Pitching line: 3.83 ERA, 9.1 K, 3.4 BB, 8.3 H
2012 High Desert
Offensive average - .303/.362/.496
Pitching line: 5.17 ERA, 8 K, 3.3 BB, 10.3 H
You can pitch in the Cal League, or hit there, and still have it mean something. You just can't do it at High Desert.
Landry's team stats for the year, btw (Rancho):
Offensive average - .270/.333/.429
Pitching line: 4.65 ERA, 8.2 K, 3.6 BB, 9.2 H
Those numbers aren't outrageous. And even if they were, it wouldn't exclude him as a prospect. I'm not huge on Landry, but this is one time where I'm gonna have to take a scouts word for it, because all I know about him is that he's done what he needs to do in the Cal League to be considered a prospect. His BABIP is a little high this year, and was low last year.
*shrugs* I want to see him in AA. I still think he's a 4th OF type but there are worse things. He's good in the field and on the basepaths. I'm surprised he's not a better base stealer, but that may just be technique. Same with his walk rate - he's a two-sport guy who's been getting by on athleticism. He'd be a Randy-Winn-esque CF complete with noodly arm, or if you prefer, Carl Crawford. That was another multi-sport guy who went with baseball, and his walks are closer to Landry's type.
Landry is a "hoping for Crawford or Mookie Wilson, but probably a scrub or defensive 4th" kinda guy. Nothing he's done in the Cal League has disproved that, so we need to get him to AA for a better look.
~G