The Captain of all off season plans.

[D-train]

Sloan is the best pitching prospect we've had since Felix.

Why do you suppose the prospect rankings don't seem to agree with that? MLB has him ranked 44th while Cade Anderson is 9th. (Felix was #3 in 2005 BTW) Bleacher Report has Sloan at 80, Roto Prospects has him at 56.
Not saying your wrong. Just curious to know why you think so much more highly of him than the so called experts.

Sloan was a 2nd rounder and Kade was the number 3 overall pick and many though he should have gone number 1. Kade is 1.5 years older and many think he could make his MLB debut as soon as next summer. Sloan has more risk because he is farther away. Kade with a higher floor and Sloan with a higher ceiling.

[D-train]

There is also this. I am wondering if this still plays with MLB hitters....seems like a risk that could limit upside.

Kade Anderson's fastball velocity sits around 92-94 mph but can touch 97 mph, and it plays "better than its velocity" due to its "true rise/carry," allowing it to be effective high in the strike zone. The pitch is noted for its carry, and while his fastball command is considered solid, it can be a focus for improvement, though he is generally good at filling the zone with strikes.

[GL_Storm]

Sloan is the best pitching prospect we've had since Felix.

Why do you suppose the prospect rankings don't seem to agree with that? MLB has him ranked 44th while Cade Anderson is 9th. (Felix was #3 in 2005 BTW) Bleacher Report has Sloan at 80, Roto Prospects has him at 56.
Not saying your wrong. Just curious to know why you think so much more highly of him than the so called experts.

It's age and being a 2nd round pick instead of a 1st rounder, plus the Mariners slow playing him and deliberately limiting his innings. Also, I think the Mariners probably like him being slightly under the radar and so they may not be talking him up the way they otherwise might.

I expect that next year we'll see him pitch something like 110-120 innings. If he gets to AA and pitches well there, he'll vault to the top of the Mariners' own rankings and we'll see all the different publications and websites rank him in their top 5. Obviously, arm health is the x factor that could derail this whole thing, so fingers crossed on that.

[Captain 97]

Sloan is the best pitching prospect we've had since Felix.

Why do you suppose the prospect rankings don't seem to agree with that? MLB has him ranked 44th while Cade Anderson is 9th. (Felix was #3 in 2005 BTW) Bleacher Report has Sloan at 80, Roto Prospects has him at 56.
Not saying your wrong. Just curious to know why you think so much more highly of him than the so called experts.

It's age and being a 2nd round pick instead of a 1st rounder, plus the Mariners slow playing him and deliberately limiting his innings. Also, I think the Mariners probably like him being slightly under the radar and so they may not be talking him up the way they otherwise might.

I expect that next year we'll see him pitch something like 110-120 innings. If he gets to AA and pitches well there, he'll vault to the top of the Mariners' own rankings and we'll see all the different publications and websites rank him in their top 5. Obviously, arm health is the x factor that could derail this whole thing, so fingers crossed on that.

The fact that he was a second round pick tells you what teams thought of him when he was drafted. What has he done to change that?
He was decent but not spectacular in Modesto and then he got knocked a round a bit in Everett. I haven't seen him pitch so I have no Idea. He could turn out to be a HOF. I just think its odd that you guys are comparing him to Felix and declaring him untouchable. Were talking about a guy with a 3.73 ERA in A ball. Felix put up a 2.77 ERA in the bigs at Sloans age.

[D-train]

I didn't compare him to Felix. He had a 3.44 ERA in A ball and 10 Ks per 9 across both levels. A WHIP of 1.15 in A ball and 1.24 in 11 innings in Everett.

He did give up 3 bombs in those 11 innings but he was 4.2 years younger than his average competition there.

This sums up his potential well.

Ryan Sloan might not have been the flashiest name on draft day, but the Seattle Mariners knew what they were doing when they made him a second-round overslot pick to pull him away from a Wake Forest commitment.

At 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, Sloan cuts the figure of a classic frontline starter — long, physical, and built to handle innings deep into games. In his first taste of professional ball, he’s wasted no time showing why the Mariners were willing to invest heavily, advancing quickly to High-A while flashing the polish and upside of a potential future ace.

The industry has already taken notice: Sloan cracked Just Baseball’s midseason top 100 at #40, a rare feat for a teenage arm in his first year of pro ball.

https://www.justbaseball.com/prospects/ ... -prospect/

[GL_Storm]

Why do you suppose the prospect rankings don't seem to agree with that? MLB has him ranked 44th while Cade Anderson is 9th. (Felix was #3 in 2005 BTW) Bleacher Report has Sloan at 80, Roto Prospects has him at 56.
Not saying your wrong. Just curious to know why you think so much more highly of him than the so called experts.

It's age and being a 2nd round pick instead of a 1st rounder, plus the Mariners slow playing him and deliberately limiting his innings. Also, I think the Mariners probably like him being slightly under the radar and so they may not be talking him up the way they otherwise might.

I expect that next year we'll see him pitch something like 110-120 innings. If he gets to AA and pitches well there, he'll vault to the top of the Mariners' own rankings and we'll see all the different publications and websites rank him in their top 5. Obviously, arm health is the x factor that could derail this whole thing, so fingers crossed on that.

The fact that he was a second round pick tells you what teams thought of him when he was drafted. What has he done to change that?
He was decent but not spectacular in Modesto and then he got knocked a round a bit in Everett. I haven't seen him pitch so I have no Idea. He could turn out to be a HOF. I just think its odd that you guys are comparing him to Felix and declaring him untouchable. Were talking about a guy with a 3.73 ERA in A ball. Felix put up a 2.77 ERA in the bigs at Sloans age.

The separator for me is the reporting on his command. It's nearly unheard of for high school pitchers at this stage to NOT have a walk problem. And then on top of that he has three plus pitches in his fastball, slider, and changeup. And of those three pitches, it's the changeup that has me most excited because it's a feel pitch and there are so few pitchers at the MLB level that throw it with any level of mastery.

[Captain 97]

I didn't compare him to Felix. He had a 3.44 ERA in A ball and 10 Ks per 9 across both levels. A WHIP of 1.15 in A ball and 1.24 in 11 innings in Everett.

He did give up 3 bombs in those 11 innings but he was 4.2 years younger than his average competition there.

This sums up his potential well.

Ryan Sloan might not have been the flashiest name on draft day, but the Seattle Mariners knew what they were doing when they made him a second-round overslot pick to pull him away from a Wake Forest commitment.

At 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, Sloan cuts the figure of a classic frontline starter — long, physical, and built to handle innings deep into games. In his first taste of professional ball, he’s wasted no time showing why the Mariners were willing to invest heavily, advancing quickly to High-A while flashing the polish and upside of a potential future ace.

The industry has already taken notice: Sloan cracked Just Baseball’s midseason top 100 at #40, a rare feat for a teenage arm in his first year of pro ball.

https://www.justbaseball.com/prospects/ ... -prospect/

Everyone in the top 100 has great potential don't they? All I am saying is there doesn't seem to be any evidence that he deserves "can't miss" "untouchable" treatment when it comes to trades. That's the vibe I am getting from you guys.

[D-train]

I wouldn't say he is untouchable. But there isn't anyone available that I would trade him for. I wouldn't trade him for Marte for example. I would if Marte was 28 yo instead of 32 yo though.

[GL_Storm]

I didn't compare him to Felix. He had a 3.44 ERA in A ball and 10 Ks per 9 across both levels. A WHIP of 1.15 in A ball and 1.24 in 11 innings in Everett.

He did give up 3 bombs in those 11 innings but he was 4.2 years younger than his average competition there.

This sums up his potential well.

Ryan Sloan might not have been the flashiest name on draft day, but the Seattle Mariners knew what they were doing when they made him a second-round overslot pick to pull him away from a Wake Forest commitment.

At 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, Sloan cuts the figure of a classic frontline starter — long, physical, and built to handle innings deep into games. In his first taste of professional ball, he’s wasted no time showing why the Mariners were willing to invest heavily, advancing quickly to High-A while flashing the polish and upside of a potential future ace.

The industry has already taken notice: Sloan cracked Just Baseball’s midseason top 100 at #40, a rare feat for a teenage arm in his first year of pro ball.

https://www.justbaseball.com/prospects/ ... -prospect/

Everyone in the top 100 has great potential don't they? All I am saying is there doesn't seem to be any evidence that he deserves "can't miss" "untouchable" treatment when it comes to trades. That's the vibe I am getting from you guys.

I wouldn't call him "can't miss" because there's always injury risk with pitchers and that's just a gauntlet that all these guys have to go through. I would, however, call him more or less "untouchable", but obviously that's just my opinion based on the reporting I've read. I have no idea if the Mariners' internal evaluation matches my opinion.

Also, I should add that some of the reporting has him throwing a splitter instead of a changeup, which is disappointing. The Mariners seem to be anti-changeup for some reason. I expect we'll hear the same thing with Kade Anderson, that his changeup becomes a splitter in the Mariners organization.

[Captain 97]

I wouldn't say he is untouchable. But there isn't anyone available that I would trade him for. I wouldn't trade him for Marte for example. I would if Marte was 28 yo instead of 32 yo though.

What about Skubal?