Minor Musings for 8-28-09 – Ross Seaton and Lars Anderson

August 28, 2009 BY Alex Eisenberg 8 Comments

Updates have been slow recently, but I’ve been busy planning for the offseason, gathering data and scouting players in trying to identify the best prospects for each team in baseball. But I do want to give some thoughts on a couple prospects that have been on my mind lately…

Ross Seaton, RHP, Houston Astros – I’ll be really interested in seeing where Seaton places on various prospect lists across the country because right he’s probably the one of the most overrated pitchers in my mind. Before I go further, it’s important to note Seaton is young for his level, can make adjustments to his mechanics that would help improve his overall stuff, and he still has a projectable build. But he doesn’t make good use of his lower body. His velocity is a little below average at the moment. He doesn’t miss bats and he’s a fly ball pitcher. His control is solid, but it’s not plus. He’s certainly a smart pitcher, so his stuff does play up, but he’s a pitching prospect that has high bust potential, IMO.

Lars Anderson, 1b, Boston Red Sox – Ya know, I gave Anderson a B+ grade when I compiled my Boston Red Sox top-15 prospect list last year, but I was hesitant to do so. I’ll admit my opinion was somewhat swayed by a lot of publications hyping Anderson’s talent. But there were some red flags for me. Since Anderson is a first baseman, his bat really has to be elite to be a top player at his position. The propensity to put the ball on the ground was my biggest concern. You’re not going to hit for power if you continually put the ball on the ground. That problem has gotten worse this season. And then there were the strikeouts, but that was of less concern because of his age and his ability to get on base.

Anderson is not as bad as he’s shown this year, but his standing as a prospect was less than what many thought. He could still be a solid bat for a first baseman, but he has some adjustments to make.

Before wrapping up, I’m curious — would people be interested in me making a few more of these types of posts, the shorter type posts without the use of video?

8 Comments »

Jon @ Pro Ball NW said:

As long as you’ve got some interesting information to share, I don’t really care if the posts are thorough or abbreviated. I’d love more of these prospect quick shots.

# 29 August 2009 at 2:05 AM

DaveH said:

Yes. Love these quick paragraphs/thoughts. also, agreed on Lars. I remember I kept trying to knock him down a peg on my list, and then I’d just read another big name writer putting him really high so I thought that they must be talking to scouts who know better than I

# 29 August 2009 at 5:46 AM

Dave Rouleau said:

Yes, love these quick prospects shots. As much as your posts with videos are interesting and thorough, I love short posts that touch on a few more things.

# 29 August 2009 at 1:42 PM

DarrenS said:

I like the short posts too, mixed in with the more detailed ones. Thanks for all the great insights!
A little off topic, but I’ve been meaning to ask — any thoughts on J Cueto? He came into the year as a sleeper, started very strong, and then suddenly fell apart.

# 29 August 2009 at 2:59 PM

Chris said:

Yea, I really like this idea. Since, your collecting data on some of the other prospects, then it would be really nice to give these short posts on a couple of prospects. I like your site, keep it up.

# 30 August 2009 at 12:56 AM

Alex Eisenberg (author) said:

Thanks for the responses guys. I’ll try to put up more quick hit type posts.

Darren, given how drastic his fall off was, I assume Cueto was pitching with some sort of injury. And there is always the Dusty Baker effect. He tends to ride his pitchers hard — no matter how young or inexperienced the pitcher is. I still like Cueto’s long-term potential though.

# 30 August 2009 at 9:46 PM

Jerry said:

Love all of the scouting reports. I do like video if you have it on the player you write about. But keep the scouting reports coming…You are the first website I look at for a scouting report. Wish you had the information and time to write up all prospects…thanks

# 31 August 2009 at 2:49 AM