I'm watching the Knicks but Fitts is good. Weissert has crazy stuff if he can throw strikes and the other kid is young and I don't know him really.
Fitts, Weissert, and Judice. What do the Sox Have Here?
- Thread starter jon abbey
- Start date
I think JA overrates their pitching prospects in the non Thorpe & Hampton division lol.
Without thinking about it more, he's almost certainly a top 4 SP prospect for us now, though.
Or I pay more attention to them than you do, shockingly. Here is something I posted about Fitts at the end of August:
Paying more attention to people doesn't stop one from overrating them. I fight against that instinct every day lol
I hope you're right, though. & I don't hate the concept of the trade even if you're not.
The more I read about him, the happier I am becoming. He had the best control in all of AA, as well.This is what I was saying before, that profile is from before last season. Something clicked in mid-May and he was unhittable for months. He was the AA League Pitcher of the Year and is still 23 and up over 150 innings already, be fucking happy.
I bet @JM3 will have more, but I’d assume Fitts becomes the Sox (at worst), 4th best but most advanced SP prospect
I think it’s a good deal for one year of Verdugo.
But being the 4th best SP pitcher for the Sox is damning with faint praise in and of itself.
That said - this probably also shows that Verdugo was worth very little, even as like the 3rd piece, in any larger deal.
Though I like the “balls” of it, not gonna lie.
I think it’s a good deal for one year of Verdugo.
But being the 4th best SP pitcher for the Sox is damning with faint praise in and of itself.
That said - this probably also shows that Verdugo was worth very little, even as like the 3rd piece, in any larger deal.
Though I like the “balls” of it, not gonna lie.
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Yeah, I'm not saying he is Spencer Strider II but he is legit exciting and seemed to really click last May. Enjoy.
I hope he explodes.
I was citing that more to say what kind of pitcher he is. I think he's still an inconsistent pitcher (for example he had a 5.40 ERA in his last 4 starts) & I think there are reasons the Yankees didn't promote him to AAA.This is what I was saying before, that profile is from before the entire 2023 season. Something clicked in mid-May and he was unhittable for months. He was the AA League Pitcher of the Year and is still 23 and up over 150 innings already, be fucking happy.
& if he was that good he absolutely shouldn't be available as part of a Verdugo package. But I am happy <3
If he makes the majors, we’ll probably get enough mileage out of the dick jokes to call it a wash at the very least.
I, for one, am happyThis is what I was saying before, that profile is from before the entire 2023 season. Something clicked in mid-May and he was unhittable for months. He was the AA League Pitcher of the Year and is still 23 and up over 150 innings already, be fucking happy.
. Thanks for details on Ricky Fitts
Judice got roughly slot & doesn't walk people which is a Breslow thing (1.9 per 9 innings). He turns 23 in April.
https://www.mlb.com/news/yankees-2023-draft-signings-tracker#
It sounds like after last year Richard Fitts isn't far off from top-100 status
Really? He is a 23 year old in AA who put up a 9.6 k/9 and a 3.55 ERA and similar component stats. Scouting wise he was between 12-19 pre-season, meaning his stuff and projection has not really impressed anyone. What am I missing? The scouts and stats line up as he's an ok guy to get, but not a big asset...and neither is Verdugo. Seems to me like a salary dump, which is all about what you do with the money and bulding up assets, even small ones. Makes sense in both directions, but not seeing a ton of value for either in this one....
Fitts clearly seems to be the key guy, but maybe Breslow sees Weissert as a guy he can improve in his pitching lab.
As @jon abbey made clear everyone keeps quoting preseason rankings before he dropped 152 innings with 3.55 xFIP and that 9.6 K came with 2.5 BB (second best ratio in Eastern League). And he's not particularly old for that level at 23. Also apparently was touching 97 late into ballgames.
Per an April, 2023 Baseball America piece on "Potential Breakout Pitching Prospects For The 2023 Season":
I would think a first-round pedigree preseason buzz guy that put up a great year gets him sniffing top-100.
As for the value aspect we're trading from a position of strength (OF) to make up for Bloom's shortcomings (finding pitching). Not to mention that Verdugo was persona non grata.
JA is more passionate about this than I am, but Fitts got off to a really slow start:
7 starts
33.1 IP
23 ER
38 hits
10 walks
36 strikeouts
6.21 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 2.7 bb/9, 9.7 k/9, 4.8 IP/S
Before going bonkers for a while:
16 starts
97.2 IP
23 ER
72 hits
24 walks
103 strikeouts
2.12 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 2.2 bb/9, 9.5 k/9, 6.1 IP/S
Before presumably wearing down a bit in a season he jumped from 122.2 to 152.2 innings.
4 starts
21.2 IP
13 ER
21 hits
9 walks
24 strikeouts
5.40 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 3.7 bb/9, 10 k/9, 5.4 IP/S
So if he is that middle chunk pitcher? That's potentially pretty nifty for a guy who turns 24 in a couple weeks.
Buuuut, just for fun, one of these players is Fitts & one most people probably know nothing about. These are their AA stats this year.
Pitcher A - 6 months older, 3.48 ERA, 3.55 xFIP, 25.9% k, 6.8% bb
Pitcher B - 6 months younger, 3.92 ERA, 4.15 xFIP, 28.7% k, 9.2% bb
Pitcher A - 6 months older, 3.48 ERA, 3.55 xFIP, 25.9% k, 6.8% bb
Pitcher B - 6 months younger, 3.92 ERA, 4.15 xFIP, 28.7% k, 9.2% bb
In the hypothetical offseason plan I posted in another thread, I began by dealing Verdugo to the Astros for prospects, and then flipping those prospects plus Nick Pivetta to the Rays for the remaining (expensive) year of Tyler Glasnow's extension. Not because anyone cares about that, but I did get the *trading Verdugo* and the *trading with a division rival* parts right LOL.
I dunno, man. I agree Fitts is not a top-100 guy, but he's not wildly different from some of the guys who have been back-half top-100 guys recently, say Emerson Hancock: Fitts has a very similar profile to Hancock a year ago, when he was in the 80s of a couple lists: SEC background (Arkansas instead of Auburn), he had just thrown ~100 IP in AA the Mariners' system (to Fitts' 150 IP), and with a touch more velocity and a touch less command; Hancock went in the first round, while Fitts was seen as a first round talent but dropped due to an injury — but with an over-slot bonus. Hancock got into three games for the Mariners in August.
But that aside, literally every single team wants an SP with a 9.5 k/9 and a 2.5 BB/9 with no MLB service and all of his options remaining who just pitched 150 healthy innings in AA. If we want to keep him, great: more depth. If we want to flip him, he could be a great second piece in a trade for a good player. Personally, I suspect that a number of signs point to some of the young pitchers we're not currently planning to use in the rotation — but someone else might want to! — heading out in trades, so maybe he's replacing one of those guys, if he's not one of them.
We likely lose Bryan Mata if he's not on the team out of Spring Training. So Craig and friends believe (as I do) that he could be a pretty nasty reliever, maybe it makes sense to deal from our Houck/Whitlock/Pivetta/Winckowski tier of would-be starters in the pen to return something good, and make a spot for Mata in the process.
With the pitching development resources in the organization now it’s obvious Fitts will become the next Koufax, Weissert the next Pedro, Judice the next Sparky Lyle and this will be the trade that makes up for both Ruth and Cater/Lyle
Here is the breakdown for MLB.com in the summary of the minor league award winners. Is Fitts a change up guy primarily?
Pitcher of the Year: Richard Fitts, Somerset (NYY)
The Yankees sixth-round pick in the 2021 Draft, Fitts rode his trademark changeup to new heights this summer at Double-A. Spurred by a sensational August, the 23-year-old Fitts went 11-5 with a 3.48 ERA in 27 starts, amassing a league-leading 163 strikeouts in 152 ⅔ innings. Fitts didn’t only give opposing hitters fits, he finished strong. He didn’t lose any of his final 15 starts or last eight decisions, and pitched to a 2.74 ERA over his final eight starts.
Pitcher of the Year: Richard Fitts, Somerset (NYY)
The Yankees sixth-round pick in the 2021 Draft, Fitts rode his trademark changeup to new heights this summer at Double-A. Spurred by a sensational August, the 23-year-old Fitts went 11-5 with a 3.48 ERA in 27 starts, amassing a league-leading 163 strikeouts in 152 ⅔ innings. Fitts didn’t only give opposing hitters fits, he finished strong. He didn’t lose any of his final 15 starts or last eight decisions, and pitched to a 2.74 ERA over his final eight starts.
Eh, it's not really a fair comparison because the 6 months younger player was drafted a year later so this was his 1st year of MiLB, and he pitched 5.2 innings more than Fitts did last year, & Fitts was being bad in A-Ball while this guy was being excellent in A+ during their 1st halves of their 1st years.
The main issue with Player B is he throws like 89.
The next closest in the system would have been 26 yo Brian Van Belle at 141. Everyone else threw at least 30 fewer innings.
Fitts led the Eastern League in an awful lot of categories when you filter to only the pitchers who threw 90 IP or more.
We got Ricky Fitts?!?
Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can't take it.
Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can't take it.
There is some swerve to Weissert's slider...
View: https://twitter.com/tylermilliken_/status/1732226657631560089
View: https://twitter.com/tylermilliken_/status/1732226657631560089