Better than Feliz?

by da5id on Dec 4, 2006 6:12 PM PST Comment 9 comments

McCovey Chronicles, I give you Vasili Spanos! Who?

Vasili Spanos is a 26-year-old 3B/1B/DH in the A's organization, not on their 40 man roster, and eligible for selection in this year's Rule 5 draft. Last year at AA Midland, he hit 308/405/440. His two prior years in the minors, he hit 300/400/500 at each level, except for a 43 game callup from High A to AA at the end of his second year.

There's a story about him here:
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060509&content_id=68914&vkey=n ews_t237&fext=.jsp&sid=t237

His MiLB stats are here:
http://www.rotowire.com/baseball/player.htm?id=8435

There's a pretty good list of Rule 5 eligibles here:
http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/minor_key/discussion/rule_5_draft_discussion_thread/

So what do you think? Worth taking a flyer on in the draft? Are you listening, Mr. Sabean?

This FanPost is reader-generated, and it does not necessarily reflect the views of McCovey Chronicles. If the author uses filler to achieve the minimum word requirement, a moderator may edit the FanPost for his or her own amusement.

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Re: Better than Feliz?

When I first saw the title "Better than Feliz?" my first thought was "everyone. everyone is better than Feliz."

But as for Spanos: How is his defense? It could be really, really bad. Plus, the Texas League is a crazy offense league, so expect those numbers to fall a lot.

I had similar thoughts about Mike Fontenot. He's a 2Bman in the Cubs organization, who is obviously blocked by the other 52 2Bmen in the Cubs org. He hit .296/.375/.450 last year for AAA Iowa and .272/.377/.430 for AAA Iowa the year before. He doesn't have much power, but he obviously has plate discipline. Basically, he seems to be a lefty batter slightly better version of Frandsen. Unfortunately, with Frandsen, Aurilia, Dreamy, and Feliz there isn't really a place for him. And I don't know anything about his defense. I am, however, fairly certain that if there is an organization that would have no idea what kind of player they had, it would be the Chicago Cubs.

by North Side Chicago Expatriate Giants Fan on Dec 4, 2006 6:26 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Re: How is his defense?

Yeah, I agree that the Cubs are as bad as the Pirates in evaluating their own talent & managing their rosters. The A's have the opposite problem, they simply have too many interesting prospects to protect all of them.

The story link in my original post claims Spanos's defense is good at both first and third, but he's being interviewed for Midland's web site, so they're not going to ask, "Dude, you can rake, but you suck in the field. Tell us about how badly you suck, and whether you're ever going to not suck, OK?"

Other than that, I have no data. It just seems he'd be a good guy to take a flyer on for cheap. If it doesn't work, you give him back. Same with Fontenot. The Rule 5 is such a cheap way for teams to evaluate minor leaguers that interest them, I don't see why the Giants so rarely use it.

by da5id on Dec 4, 2006 6:50 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Re: How is his defense?

It definitely worked out for the Marlins with Uggla.

by North Side Chicago Expatriate Giants Fan on Dec 4, 2006 7:22 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Re: How is his defense?

That's what I was thinking. 26 years old, drafted out of college, obviously talented. Uggla had a rather back-and-forth development path, including parts of three seasons at High A, whereas Spanos only had that first call-up to AA that didn't go well. His next time in AA, he was terrific the whole year.

by da5id on Dec 4, 2006 7:40 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs