Wednesday, January 11, 2023

The strange, but not unusual, Yankee paradox of Anthony Volpe

For the second straight year, Anthony Volpe ranks No. 1 on the Yankee prospect lists, making him the Death Barge's version of a Hollywood It Girl. This adds Volpe to a confectionary list of recent Future Stars, including Jasson "The Martian" Dominiguez (#1 in '20-'21) and Gleyber "Like a good Gleyber, Torres is there" Torres (#1 in '17-'18.) 

A third year for Volpe won't happen. He'll either breakout at Scranton, forcing his way to the Bronx, or start going the way of Slade Heathcott and Eric Duncan. If he's in the same place next winter, we'll have moved on to the next can't-miss, Spencer Jones. Nothing new about this. It's the traditional rise and fall of future Yank legends.  

Today, though, let's ponder a recent MLB Pipeline Poll among team execs -- "from general managers to farm directors, from scouting directors to analytics specialists" - on baseball's top prospects. For starters, let's accept that this is premium, felony grade, bogus bullshit. It's a parlor game. We don't know who voted or why. It's like a time travel movie: Don't overthink the plot, just let Nicolas Cage yell at the furniture, okay? A parlor game. 

And among these trivial pursuits, Volpe scores quite well... sorta.  

1. On the list of "Top Hitting Prospects," Volpe is one of only 11 players to receive votes. He's the lone Yankee, and despite hitting only .249 last year. The poohbahs love him. That's not nuthin.

2. On the list of "Best Fielding Prospects," Volpe finishes third - with 9 percent of the vote. Hot damn. And get this: The two above him play OF. According to this, Volpe is the minors' best fielding SS. That's definitely not nuthin!

3. On the list of "Best Baseball I.Q," Volpe finishes - gulp - FIRST! He tops the list with 26 percent of the vote. He gets "high marks for his makeup and his instincts." Again, this is fukkin great. Not only is he a top athlete, but he's solid from the neck up. Are you getting a Jeter vibe? Fukkit, I am. 

4. Then - ahem - comes the list we feared: "Most Overrated Prospects." On this, Volpe finishes - shoot me, please - second, with 10 percent. (By the way, Dominiguez also receives votes here.) 

So... WTF? He's the game's smartest prospect, one of its top hitters and fielders... but he's also the most over-hyped? So... which is it? 

Is he the next Derek "Respect" Jeter or the next Jesus "Ice Cream Sandwich" Montero? With the Death Barge, there's always somebody who will someday lead us from the darkness. Trouble is, there's nobody we can truly trust.

22 comments:

Carl J. Weitz said...

Yeah, the Volpe rating is contradictory. By the way, I'm still waiting for Ross Moschitto to become the next Mickey Mantle.

JM said...

It's gonna be a very long season.

BTR999 said...

Ross Moschitto, who was Mickey Mantle’s legs. Recall in those days a team didn’t need so many pitchers since there were only 4 starters who were expected to produce complete games. What a concept.

Over hyped isn’t necessarily overrated. The Yankees have often been guilty of over over hyping, which makes the fan base cynical and surly. I try to follow the team’s Minor League’s teams, but it’s hard since I don’t actually see the games. I am cautiously optimistic about Volpe, who I feel will be neither flop nor fantastic, but instead a good, solid productive player who will be embraced by the fan base. A homegrown Gil Urshela with more pop and speed. That doesn’t seem so bad, does it?

Doug K. said...

1) Baseball IQ

One way to test the veracity of the Baseball IQ poll would be to see where Gleyber ranked. If it's anywhere near the top 98% you know it's a bad list.

2) Being top ranked and overrated.

There could be a lot of reasons for this. Let's say I wanted to trade for someone... would it behoove me to praise him to the heavens and raise my own cost or would I be better of saying things the equivalent of, "Well the indoor pool seems kind of small."

Just as a personal note - the "indoor pool" in my house is a toilet.

3) The Yankee Prospect Cycle

Duque nailed it. Volpe needs to come up this year. Next spring the latest if for some reason Gleyber is killing it. Or he's toast. Oh... Spencer Jones looks really good BTW.

Stang said...

The thing I worry about is Anthony Volpe's name. It doesn't lend itself very easily to a John Sterling HR call. I've been racking my brain. Best I got is, "Tony hits one to the Island of Coney!" Which is terrible.

Doug K. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Doug K. said...

Stang -

Sterling: (Sings in Dean Martin voice)

"When a guy hits a ball
That goes over the wall...
That's a Volpe.

Suzyn: That's a Volpe

January 11, 2023 at 12:18 PM

edb said...

Duque:
What I do like about Volpe, is that he has succeeded on every level. Knowing the Yankees, he will probably start at Scranton.

Eddhall69 said...

If he makes the team can we call him The Governor?

HoraceClarke66 said...

Brilliant, Doug! All I could think of was John Volpe, former governor of MA and Nixon transportation secretary. Not much to work with there.

HoraceClarke66 said...

And another Ross Moschitto reference! Oh, baby, I love it!

Moschitto, who turns 78 next month, is one of only 7 non-pitchers in big-league history to play in 100 games or more...but have more games-played than plate appearances. (He played in 110 games, and got up 39 times.)

He was, in other words, the very model of a modern defensive replacement. Even in the minors, where he only once played in over 100 games and only twice got over 300 PA, he was mostly a defensive specialist.

And here's the truly weird thing: he wasn't that good in the field! He made a ton of errors—31 in just 708 chances, at all levels, for a .956 FA. In the outfield!

Yeah, the next Mickey Mantle. What a number that must have done on this kid.

Carl J. Weitz said...

LOL @ Doug...good one on Volpe's HR call!

Here's a bad and obscure one...."Anthony wished that ball right into the cornfield!"

BTR999 said...

HC, I was just a Yankees babe when RM roamed the OF. I do remember he was strictly a defensive replacement for #7 before he moved to 1B. I don’t think he was ever considered the next Yankee CF. Of course, the problem was that he….wasn’t very good, and was out of MLB at 22. But he WAS a Yankee, and as we see, his name is still remembered, in this hallowed blog if no where else.

Carl J. Weitz said...

" And it's good you did that Anthony.....real good!"

Doug K. said...

Hoss -

"John Volpe, former governor of MA and Nixon transportation secretary. Not much to work with there."

How about...

"ITH. ITF. ITG... Volpe really transported that one out of the park just like former governor of MA and Nixon transportation secretary John Volpe would have if he played baseball and had home run power..."

ranger_lp said...

I second the Volpe HR call...

Publius said...

"And there it goes, into the upper deck... Veni, Vidi, VOLPE!"

HoraceClarke66 said...

That's about as much as you can do with that info, Doug! :)

Rufus T. Firefly said...

Doug wins the internet today, not just for "That's a Volpe", but this instant classic:

"
Just as a personal note - the "indoor pool" in my house is a toilet.
"

AboveAverage said...

Rufus - does it have a diving board and - is it heated?

Rufus T. Firefly said...

AA,

It's only heated after I eat mexican food.

And thankfully there is no diving board.

Stang said...

Doug, I can stop worrying about Volpe's HR call. God bless you!