What Ever Happened to Nepotism?
As you’ve probably already heard from some of the other great sites covering minor league baseball around The Net, the annual Futures Game rosters have been announced. And, as usually, both the U.S. roster and the World roster are stuffed with talented prospects.
One interesting name of the U.S roster is second baseman Eric Young Jr. of the Colorado Rockies. For whatever reason, though, the Rockies organization is not nearly as enamored with the infielder as I am… which is odd given the marketing angle with Young Jr.’s father Eric Sr. having been the Rockies’ first ever second baseman back in 1993. The younger Young also has a proven minor league track record of success at the plate and on the base paths, which should make this a match made in heaven.
The 24-year-old speedster is still plugging away in triple-A midway through the 2009 season, despite the fact that be performed very well in double-A last year, as well as in the Arizona Fall League. This season, Young has a triple-slash line of .292/.383/.413 in 264 at-bats, along with 43 stolen bases in 51 attempts. The switch-hitter also has a respectable walk rate of 11.1% and has decreased his strikeout rate by three percent over last year to 16.3%.
Currently, the Rockies’ MLB roster boasts three players who are capable of playing second base: Clint Barmes (.275/.322/.470), Omar Quintanilla (.222/.344/.259), and Ian Stewart (.218/.300/.479). Not one member of the trio has played well enough this season to warrant a regular gig. Obviously, Quintanilla would be the easiest player to jettison, while leaving Barmes to back-up the middle infield and Stewart to back-up the infield corners.
Barmes has seen the most playing time at second base this season and he has an OK batting average, but he’s not really providing much else – just slightly above-average power and limited base-stealing skills. Young, on the other hand, could provide some much-needed speed to the Rockies lineup with his ability to steal 40-60 bases over the course of a full season. He also has surprising pop, which could be aided by the Colorado air.
Looking ahead, Barmes will be entering his second year of arbitration eligibility this winter and is already making $1.6 million. Perhaps the Rockies could save some money by flipping Barmes to a contender (like the Mets? Or Cincinnati?) before the trading deadline and receive back a B-level prospect. The worst case scenario would have Young falling flat on his face, which would mean that the club would have to toss $1.5 to $3 million at a veteran second base in the off-season, which be about the same amount it would cost to keep Barmes in the fold for the 2010 season.
Marc Hulet has been writing at FanGraphs since 2008. His work focuses on prospects and fantasy. Follow him on Twitter @marchulet.
I know his sabermetrics aren’t the best, but I think most people are regularly too harsh on Barmes. Sure, he’s an injury mill, but when he’s healthy, he’s a solid second baseman.
40-60 stolen bases? That’s a tad high unless he starts running everytime he’s onbase. As a rookie his running would probably be curtailed so at best he’d probably be between 20-30 SB. Also it should be kept in mind that Colorado’s farm system tends to boost offensive numbers so Young wouldn’t be much of an improvement at the MLB level
Barmes is the 6th most valuable 2B in the NL via WAR. He was higher than that I believe a week or so ago. He’s not exactly a slug, and if the Rockies are serious about contending, it might not be best to be auditioning two young prospects at the same time (Gonzalez and Young).
there’s a rather large difference between “has been the sixth most valuable 2b in the nl up to this point in the season” and “is the sixth best 2b in the nl”.
No dispute there. I’m not saying Barmes is the answer going forward, or even Opening Day 2010. But Barmes is a plus fielder who is above average overall in a lineup where he is not required to provide a huge lift offensively. There’s no rush at all to replace him – it’s not like he’s Jack Hannahan or something. With Gonzalez already trying to find his legs for a team contending, I’d prefer to wait on plugging Young in full time until they fall out of contention or until 2010.
Ian Stewart is also a pretty good player. He is nearly league average with the bat, and he has a .225 BABIP. He has also been crazy hot with the long ball recently.
In fantasy, (and do we care about anything else?) Barmes, who benefits from multiple position eligibility, had more hits than any other 2nd baseman last month, 41 hits, so his BA is right up there, .350. He had the second most RBI, 20. For the season, he’s 13th best at 2nd, but in June he equalled his totals for hit and RBI for April & May combined. He is thriving under new manager Jim Tracey, who moved him up in the order and watched him blossom. Barmes is one of the reasons this team is now in the wild card race. This warrants a “starting gig” on my team.
I don’t think the air would help his pop, which is respectable but not awesome in the same way his dad’s was, especially with the humidor and the fact that his current numbers are being put up in Colorado Springs, which is even higher up than Denver.
That said, EY, Jr. deserves a shot somewhere.
Eric Young’s career ISO was .107. How is that awesome?
About the same as his dad, who was a very good second baseman in his prime. When your OBP is in the .370-.400 range, you can live with minimal power, especially from a middle infielder.
Not to pile on too much, but it seems like the author is glossing over the merits of both Barmes and Stewart to artificially inflate the argument for EOY. To say Barmes is not providing much else besides his .27x batting average strikes me as a bit ridiculous. I mean, Barmes ranks 4th in the NL in power (as measured by ISO) among 2Bmen, and has put up basically league average OBP at the position. Stewart has hit for even more power, though he’s struggled to get on base (essentially nullifying his value).
To say Young’s pop is “surprising” seems like a stretch, and he is already in the “Colorado air” at AAA Colorado Springs. He strikes me as a burner with good plate discipline who will probably struggle a bit as more of his GBs get gobbled up by Major League defenses, thus depressing his .34x career minor league BABIP.
There are tons of speedy players with BABIPs consistently that high in the Majors. Not saying he has good power, but look at Chone Figgins. Similar skill set and even smaller than Eric Young, career .345 BABIP.