Baseball America has their weekly transaction post up.
Signed: RHP Dan Leatherman
Released: RHP Noel De Leon, C Agustin German, 3B Tony Batista, 3B Clint Pridmore
Leatherman only has a couple of years of minor league experience in the Minnesota Twins organization. He’s a local guy from Frederick, MD. Here is a Frederick News article on how he got signed by the Twins.
Leatherman got the attention of scouts following his freshman year at FCC. He did not throw hard, topping out at 88-89 mph. But Bennett said scouts became enamored with his ability to pitch.
“The key for Dan is he has three really good pitches,” Bennett said. “He just commands them so well. If you hit your spots, you can be successful
On to the released guys
- de Leon was 2-2 in ten appearances for the GCL Nationals in 2007
- German was in extended spring training trying to convert to pitching. He had spent his Nationals career as a catcher, maxing out with two games in Potomac in 2006
- Batista had already been noted
- Pridmore was a 2007 44th rounder out of Santa Rosa JuCo (CA). In 32 games for the GCL Nats, he hit 156/283/208.
Tofu Dog | 08-May-08 at 9:30 pm | Permalink
I understand that the Nationals are heavily scouting Kyle Skipworth so they may agree with you that they need more help at catcher.
Andrew S | 09-May-08 at 9:33 pm | Permalink
Bob Boone loves him. Workout was scheduled, not sure if it has happened yet, but they are on him.
Suns Fan | 10-May-08 at 12:45 am | Permalink
Souza to Vermont, King to Hagerstown. I’m personally sad to see that, as I believe Souza is a better player than King–both offensively and defensively. That said, Souza could probably stand to work on his defense at third a little bit. Still, I think Souza is the better of the two players, and also has more potential.
Tofu Dog | 10-May-08 at 9:44 am | Permalink
Evidently the workout was held a couple days ago for Skipworth and the Nats. On S. King he has been around longer and needs to find himself somewhere somehow. Like you say, Souza can stand to work on stuff in Vermont and he is still very young. But I agree with your assessment. I liked Souza from what I saw in Viera.
Nationals Fan | 10-May-08 at 4:37 pm | Permalink
King’s play in Hagerstown last season makes it easy to understand the attitude of Sun’s fan…but keep in mind that King went to Hagerstown right out of High School last year, and did not play competitively in in the 10 monrh period leading up to Spring Training ‘07 He has virtually the same amount of professional experience as Souza, and as as teammates last year in the Gulf Coast League Souza hit .194 with a .340 slugging percentage and 4 Home Runs while King hit .248 with a .466 slugging percentage and a league leading (at the time of his promotion to Vermont) 9 Home Runs. Souza has just played 3B, and struggled with 14 errors in some 23 games in Hagerstown (a couple of games at SS). King played very well at 2nd base (started there in GCL)and was errorless there in his short stint in Vermont. I have been to Viera on many occasions this Spring and am amazed at how well he has played 3rd Base, since it its so different than the middle of the infield. He has also showed signs of making his first major adjustments to pro ball, shortening his stride, less load, and the lunging is gone. He still shows some good pop, but looks like a different hitter…much more contact…and less negative emotions…more of a professional. I think they are both fine young prospects, but don’t allow first impressions of King last year in Hagerstown to cloud judgement. It normally takes many years to learn to become a professional ballplayer, and both Souza (good show with the bat in Hagerstown)and King are making nice strides in that direction…they are very different players, and I don’t see any usefullness in comparisons this early in their careers. In fact, the more days I spend in Viera the more I think that eventually King will be back at SS.continue
Gil | 10-May-08 at 5:20 pm | Permalink
Great post Nationals fan, thanks for sharing.. I hope both become studs…
Suns Fan | 10-May-08 at 5:58 pm | Permalink
Fair enough, Nationals Fan. I haven’t seen King play this year–he was injured by the time they opened up in Hagerstown.
Souza’s defense wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t great either. A few of his errors were on really tough plays and should’ve been scored as hits. One was really a mistake by Altiano, causing a near-collision, which Souza wisely fell out of the way of. The ball landed on him, so it was scored an error. There are things like that which happen in the minors which can inflate statistics.
What Souza can work on–and this is understandable for a 19 year old kid–is being more even-keeled through the game. If a bad play happens, he’ll get upset. He’s prone to argue with the umpires after a bad call. And I’ve also noticed him turning around to see official score keeper’s decisions on difficult plays where he made a throw but Rhinehart got pulled off the bag. After the error went up on the board, it was a minute of cursing himself.
He needs to learn to let those things go in my judgment. That said, he has good defensive range, a solid arm, and a very good hitting approach–getting lots of singles and getting the ball to center and right field.
I still think Souza is the better of the two players. He’s younger, and in my judgment is way passed the level King was at last year, and is probably at King’s level this year.
I understand the move. King probably needs to be challenged. This said, I think Souza will tear up the NYP League.
John | 10-May-08 at 7:00 pm | Permalink
I wonder if they’ll work Souza at SS in extended and if they do, does that mean Smiley will be a 2B?
I remember reading Bowden saying that Smiley could join hagerstown halfway through the season. Perhaps they’ll both be SS.
Suns and Nationals fan: Do you guys have any thoughts on Souza has an SS as opposed to 3B? An SS with that bat would be a big time prospect IMO.
Steve | 10-May-08 at 8:38 pm | Permalink
Nationals Fan-Did you see Whiting this spring? If so, what did you think? He seems to be doing great in Hagerstown.
Suns Fan | 10-May-08 at 10:31 pm | Permalink
Souza can play short. He wouldn’t be the greatest defensive shortstop in the game, but he’d be decent. The problem is he’s a bit tall for short. He has good range. A good arm, and he’s pretty sure footed. He made a couple really, really good plays in Hagerstown (both at Short and at Third). Souza is a fast runner (8 stolen bases). But again, he’s 6′3″, and fielding at short sometimes requires being low to the ground.
Overall, Souza would be a decent shortstop in my view. But he’s psychical make-up make him more of a third baseman. For the record, he had less problems fielding at short in Hagerstown than he had at third.
Suns Fan | 10-May-08 at 11:09 pm | Permalink
On Richmond, a new theory popped into my head: moving the Las Vegas franchise to Richmond. Putting it in the international league. Moving Indianapolis or Louisville to the PCL.
Richmond keeps its Triple A team then. Vegas loses its team–which, from the perspective of big league clubs, is probably a good thing. Playing in a distracting environment is bad for young players. Who knows if that one would work. But it’s an idea.
Andrew S | 10-May-08 at 11:14 pm | Permalink
I don’t know why the 51s would want to move out of Las Vegas. They have a good working relationship with the Dodgers, partly because of their proximity.
Suns Fan | 11-May-08 at 8:16 am | Permalink
Their attendance is abysmal, which is what led Mandalay to sell the team.
Andrew S | 11-May-08 at 8:26 pm | Permalink
I’ll be seeing Balester on Tuesday in Rochester. Last year I saw Willems.
Nationals Fan | 11-May-08 at 9:54 pm | Permalink
I saw Whiting in the Spring, and in extended before his move to Hagerstown. He is a really aggressive outfielder with the speed to play that way. Puts the ball in play, bunts, runs, and does many of the things to help his team win. I really like him, and think he was an outstanding pick for the Nationals. They spent some time checking out his swing from the left side this Spring, but I would assume they have put that off, for at least the time being. I don’t see Souza at SS, as he just doesn’t have the rhythm for that position,and this is critical, and the hardest thing to teach(takes a lot of time)…more likely to move to 1B or the OF if they had to move him, but where he plays is not as important at this point in his career…much more important to continue to develop as a hitter, and he appears to be doing that…he will go to Vermont full of confidence, and that is 90% of the battle, once you agree that he has the tools to play. That was King’s problem last year…too tough a league (SAL), too soon, and the Nationals were quick to get him out of there before he lost his confidence…its important to challenge, but just as important not to place the player in over his head…that’s the main job of the player develpment guys, and I think they are doing a fine job. Oh, and I don’t see Smiley as a SS either, unless he is just hiding it on a day to day basis, I don’t see the arm strength for him to make any plays to his right…when he fields a ball to his right he cannot plant and throw anyone out…this will eventually create some problems in his development as a SS…and I don’t see much arm strength improvement on the horizon, as he looks pretty mature physically to me…can’t see him getting much more athletic…he looked a bit small and overweight to me last summer in the GCL, and he looks exacly the same to me this Spring…seems like a great kid, but I think he will have to move over to 2nd base…sorry.
Suns Fan | 11-May-08 at 10:49 pm | Permalink
I’ve only seen Whiting play in one game, but what I saw was very, very impressive. Good defensively. Good hitter, solid approach, some power, good speed, and he has a head on his shoulders. He was calling out stuff (the number of outs, etc) from the outfield…leading the team. Good player. Probably beyond the SAL at the moment. For selfish reasons, I’d like to see him stay, but I see no reason why he shouldn’t be up in Potomac–other than the confidence thing.
Andrew S | 11-May-08 at 11:18 pm | Permalink
I saw Whiting play last year for Vermont. It was only one game, but I wasn’t blown away by his ABs. If he can get on base he could steal 2b/3b everytime. He’s can fly.