Farm System Wrap

 

When discussing Buffalo you're going to leave a lot of what happened on the shelf because, with trades, long-term injuries, and promotions much of it is moot. For example, I don't need to speak of what Barger did in AAA, nor Will Robertson (just to name two). Take what's left and order the list by OPS/ERA and set aside the journeymen to get to the names that matter.

The top performer on the offensive side was RJ Schreck. The 25-year-old LH hitting OF finished with an .827 OPS while in AAA  reflecting a September slump after a mostly consistent season. Which isn't star power yet. He also had a career high 18 homers. Another guy hit with a big September slump was Riley Tirotta. The 27-year-old corner man hit just .160 this month after finishing August with an .821 OPS. Outfielder Jonatan Clase, who'll be out of options next spring, didn't force anyone's hand, hitting .255 with a .738 OPS. He's a toolsy guy and he did steal 30 bases in 87 games but I don't see how they have a spot free on the major league roster next year so it feels like a trade is inevitable. Scouts and metrics like Yohendrick Pinango but he never turned that into AAA production (his OPS was .714) but he'll be watched closely next spring to see if he can unlock the skills experts are seeing. SS Josh Kasavich, often considered a top 10 guy last spring, spent most of the year hurt and never got his feet under him at the plate.  

With similar filters applied, which is to say that you've got plenty of info on Yesavage by now, the surprising name at the top of the ERA list is swing-man Andrew Bash. While he doesn't have ratios that jump off the page, he kept runs off the board (2.57 ERA) largely by keeping the ball in the park. Mixed results this year from Adam Macko who control came and went all year after coming back from knee surgery, however late in the season he was shifted to the bullpen and after getting roughed up in his first relief appearance in August he reeled off 22 innings in seven appearances, striking out 29 and walking 5 to earn a 2.45 ERA. I'll be fairly shocked if they don't focus on relief with him next year and the early indicators are positive.  There's still some buzz about reliever Ryan Jennings largely because he struck out 82 in 58 IP but he's gonna have to figure out those 43 walks. 

Former catcher now first baseman Jackson Hornung was hot (thanks to BABiP?) most of the summer but a much more ordinary August raised questions about whether he'll hit enough for the position. On the other side of that coin is Charles McAdoo. After a slow start, his OPS June-August was .838. In the context of the New Hampshire roster that makes him a beast. No other hitter on the roster reached even .700 OPS on their time at AA this year. Victor Arias was really hot for his first three weeks after a mid-season promotion but he ran out of gas as August went on. Don't forget him though.

The one remaining top-shelf SP in AA (which has a solid group of relievers) is Fernando Perez. He came to AA and barely had a hiccup which most pitchers take a beat to get reoriented. Spring '27 (assuming health along the way) will see him involved in the conversations. There are several relievers you should make a note of if you want to see prospects coming. The three relievers who are joining SP Alex Amalfi in the AFL - Yondrei Rojas, Chay Yeager, Kai Peterson - all had really small samples in AA but were really good in Vancouver. Nate Garkow is a guy you want to root for. He's a 28-year-old signed out of indy ball last summer and he finished with 14.42 K/9 which at least draws a mention. Also don't overlook Johan Simon and Pat Gallager.  

Of the hitters who finished the year in Vancouver, you could start with Eddie Micheletti, Jr but his OPS is propped up by 78 walks which seems like it's unsustainable for a .228 hitter when he moves up next year. Third Baseman Cutter Coffey had a solid season with the bat even though he doesn't get the praise that 3B Sean Keys does. Keyes should solid power but he hit .217 which, for me, puts him in the same boat with Pinango as someone who needs to translate the metrics into production. The star player is, of course, Arjun Nimmala but he never really came out of the tailspin and he's plenty young enough to start back here next spring and reset. Set back the clock on his MLB debut. In his first month in the Northwest, Ed Duran really struggled to recapture his Dunedin momentum but in mid-August he found his groove, and in his last 13 games he hit .333/.393/.471/.863

While technically no longer on this roster (he was promoted to AA just before the end of the season) it seems more fitting to discuss Gage Stanifer here. He's rocketed into the top 10 prospect list and it's reported that the organization thinks he'll force his way into the majors by this time next year. At least some whisper he might be BETTER than Trey Yesavage. On the season he has a K/9 over 13, the walk rate is a bit high at 4.75 but that's way down from 7.54 in '24, and the long-ball almost can't touch him (4 allowed in 110 total innings). A similar "out of nowhere" narrative is growing around the best pitcher still on the Canadians' roster - Austin Cates. The 22 year old 7th round choice (2024) started a bit slow but then exploded. Through the first start in May (at Dunedin) he had a 7.75 ERA. From that point, in 14 games with the D-Jays he threw up a 2.12 ERA allowing just 40 hits in 59.2 IP to go with and 60 strikeouts. Then he got promoted to Vancouver and got BETTER.  In five starts his ERA was 1.95 and struck out 37 in 27.2 IP while not exhibiting the elevated walk rate that Stanifer had at points - it was 2.71 across both levels. Another rising profile belongs to Silvano Hechavarria. Also 22, he was signed out of Cuba last June and after a brief visit to the Complex league he crossed town to join the D-Jays and dominated. A 1.90 ERA over 47.1 innings and that got him promoted to High-A in mid-August. After the promotion he had a 3.22 ERA and caught the eye of folks who write prospect lists. That said, he has a good-not-great K-rate so he may end up tracking more like Fernando Perez. 

Along with all those relievers mentioned above who got a cup of AA coffee, add Javen Coleman. in 25 IP for Vancouver he had a 1.40 ERA and struck out 40 while walking only six. Gallagher had a 1.13 ERA, Yeager charted 1.17, Rojas was at 1.90 (with similar rate to Coleman), Peterson was at 2.74 and Simon rounds out the group with 3.26 and while none of them were as dominant as Coleman and most will likely fade away, they were all good enough to be aware of.

Some years, the best hitter in Dunedin was a guy just drafted this summer, partly because the better hitters had been promoted by August and partly because they are college hitters in need of a better challenge. This year's example is RF Jake Casey. The son of long time Cincinnati Red Sean Casey, a 15th rounder, finished with a .970 OPS in 23 games. Austin Smith, the 10th round pick and CF was interesting with a .395 OPS and seven steals in his 23 games. It's worth noting Yuni Munoz despite his injury disjointed season. You can base your whole view on one month but when he got hurt he was coming off a monster April (1.053 OPS). He missed all of May and June and when he returned the groove was (temporarily>) gone. We'll need more data next year. Sam Shaw (ninth round in '23) is a 20-year-old Canadian and (mostly) 2B who got seven games in Vancouver at the end thanks to a .901 OPS 

Another leap into the top 5 prospects is '24 3rd Rounder Johnny King. After utterly crushing the opposition in the Complex League, he got the bump to move across town continue to plow through every team that faced him (1.93 ERA over eight starts) before (seemingly?) running out of gas a bit in late August posting his only two bad starts (combined 9 runs in 5IP). I predicted they'd shut him down but he came out for one more turn in the last week of their season and threw 4.2 innings of one-hit shutout, striking out 7 so what do I know? Another pitcher moving onto the edge of the radar is Daniel Guerra. The first couple of months he was just okay, but from the first of June on out he's had a 2.61 ERA, 33 hits in 51/2 IP, and 53 K. Like many young pitchers, there's work to do on control, let alone command, and he might ultimately be better in the 'pen, but keep an eye on him. Likewise note the name Junami Vasquez who, per Doug Fox and his interview with Justin Lehr (a treasure trove for prospect watchers) the organization is intrigued by and may consider moving him into the rotation next year. Among the new guys, with small samples, Mason Olson and Danny Thompson made a good impression. 

I've really already reviewed the accomplishments of the complex team players but to be through, Juan Sanchez has jumped into the top 10 discussion before even getting out of the DSL. Elianeker Coronado turned some heads, and Troy Guthrie is a SP to watch in Dunedin next spring. 

Finally, running down the prospect list to pick up the guys you might have wondered about who's season was burdened by injury. Landen Maroudis was further ahead of the others who had TJ surgery of one sort or another as far as the progression goes, but the results were no doubt frustrating as the control was very not there. Next spring will tell a lot more. Brandon Barriera got a tiny cup of coffee but an unrelated injury stalled the progression. Rickey Tiedemann didn't make it back in time but should be full-go after the calendar turns over. Nolan Perry and Carson Messina (subject of a LOT of buzz) missed the whole season. Jake Bloss went down to injury and surgery in May and will not be in the discussion until at least mid-'26.