2019 Minor Leagues — A+

In the final part of this 2019 Minor Leagues series we’ll cover A+ ball which is one level below AA and a half level above A.  Although it’s possible to go farther down into A and across the ocean into Japanese and Korean baseball it’s too cumbersome and most players end up in A+, AA, or AAA before playing in MLB anyway.

This model only calculates value on a per season basis.  There is a lot more involved in player development than simple value but if a player can’t dominate a minor league he probably won’t make it in MLB.

This post will cover Cubs and White Sox A+ team.  The White Sox have been sellers the last bunch of years so their players should be percolating up through their system.

The A+ class of players includes all 30 affiliates split into three leagues; Carolina, Florida, and California as described here.

Myrtle_Beach_Pelicans_car Team Status

BAT PITCH Rs Ra W L UR LR TeamID
-39.8 -58.6 293 381 27 52 12.6 -2.0 Myrtle_Beach_Pelicans_car_aplus_CHN

The Cubs A+ affiliate, Myrtle Beach Pelicans, having a terrible season both in wins/losses and BAT/PITCH.  This probably does not bode well for prospects.  Let’s look at their top players.

Top Myrtle_Beach_Pelicans_car Players

Rank WAA Name_TeamID Pos WinPct Age
XXXXX 0.97 Ben_Hecht_CHN PITCH 0.625 24
XXXXX 0.90 Oscar_De_La_Cruz_CHN PITCH 0.770 24
XXXXX 0.71 Jesus_Camargo_CHN PITCH 0.573 23
XXXXX 0.63 Cam_Balego_CHN BAT 0.549 24
XXXXX 0.55 Ryan_Lawlor_CHN PITCH 0.686 25
XXXXX 0.53 Javier_Assad_CHN PITCH 0.535 21
XXXXX 0.53 Garrett_Kelly_CHN PITCH 0.633 24
XXXXX 0.40 Miguel_Amaya_CHN BAT 0.531 20
XXXXX 0.27 Enrique_De_Los_Rios_CHN PITCH NA 24
XXXXX 0.27 Jeffrey_Passantino_CHN PITCH NA 23

Nobody is ranked although there are a couple of high Win% listed.  There are a lot of negative players on this team causing all the losses.  There is no point in showing the bottom of this list.

Winston-Salem_Dash_car Team Status

BAT PITCH Rs Ra W L UR LR TeamID
18.2 13.2 358 326 42 34 -4.4 5.0 Winston-Salem_Dash_car_aplus_CHA

The White Sox A+ affiliate, Winston-Salem Dash, having a pretty good season so far to go along with their very interesting name.  What is a Dash BTW?  Both White Sox and Cubs affiliates in the same Carolina A+ league.

Top Winston-Salem_Dash_car Players

Rank WAA Name_TeamID Pos WinPct Age
+016+ 2.75 Luis_Robert_CHA BAT 0.971 21
+087+ 1.72 JJ_Muno_CHA BAT 0.719 25
+101+ 1.57 Will_Kincanon_CHA PITCH 0.728 23
+128+ 1.39 Kyle_Kubat_CHA PITCH 0.784 26
XXXXX 1.24 Kade_McClure_CHA PITCH 0.688 23
XXXXX 1.11 Zach_Remillard_CHA BAT 0.571 25
XXXXX 1.03 Luis_Ledo_CHA PITCH 0.656 24
XXXXX 0.97 Codi_Heuer_CHA PITCH 0.614 22
XXXXX 0.92 Craig_Dedelow_CHA BAT 0.559 24
XXXXX 0.88 Blake_Battenfield_CHA PITCH 0.613 24

Not sure who any of these players are but Luis Robert is tearing up A+.  His batting average is 0.453 right now.   Players in A+ rarely get brought up to their MLB team unless maybe for September call ups.  White Sox fans may see many of the above players next year or the year after that.

Top 25 A+ Players

Rank WAA Name_TeamID Pos WinPct Age
+001+ 6.59 Luis_Castro_COL BAT 0.878 23
+002+ 4.35 MacKenzie_Gore_SDN PITCH 0.771 20
+003+ 3.86 Devin_Mann_LAN BAT 0.730 22
+004+ 3.78 Jeter_Downs_LAN BAT 0.723 20
+005+ 3.51 Donovan_Casey_LAN BAT 0.711 23
+006+ 3.42 Sean_Bouchard_COL BAT 0.730 23
+007+ 3.32 Alex_Fagalde_SLN PITCH 0.707 25
+008+ 3.28 Aldrem_Corredor_WAS BAT 0.689 23
+009+ 3.04 Todd_Czinege_COL BAT 0.730 24
+010+ 3.02 Cody_Bolton_PIT PITCH 0.720 21
+011+ 3.00 Casey_Golden_COL BAT 0.734 24
+012+ 2.92 Tommy_Romero_TBA PITCH 0.694 21
+013+ 2.88 Miguel_Yajure_NYA PITCH 0.668 21
+014+ 2.88 Mario_Feliciano_MIL BAT 0.678 20
+015+ 2.86 Damon_Jones_PHI PITCH 0.721 24
+016+ 2.75 Luis_Robert_CHA BAT 0.971 21
+017+ 2.71 Josh_Green_ARI PITCH 0.682 23
+018+ 2.71 Seth_Beer_HOU BAT 0.842 22
+019+ 2.67 Joey_Murray_TOR PITCH 0.734 22
+020+ 2.65 Ryan_Dorow_TEX BAT 0.670 23
+021+ 2.58 Graham_Spraker_TOR PITCH 0.694 24
+022+ 2.58 Dylan_Busby_PIT BAT 0.674 23
+023+ 2.56 Edward_Cabrera_MIA PITCH 0.699 21
+024+ 2.56 Bryan_Mata_BOS PITCH 0.725 20
+025+ 2.56 Jake_Adams_HOU BAT 0.677 23

I don’t know any of these players and there are no Cubs in top 25 in this class of baseball.  All the above players are very young looking at the age columns and all of them will probably be in AA next season or even this season.

That is all for minor leagues this season.  An end of season minor league update might be made in the off season when there is nothing else to post about.  Until then ….