The Yankees released infield prospect David Adams to clear roster space for Vernon Wells. He has a pretty nice batting line in the minors with an .835 OPS at AA last year. What is wrong with him, and why shouldn't the Twins acquire him?

David Adams - m.bbref.com

Adams ceiling is probably as a poor mans Jamey Carroll.

To this point he hasnt developed as much as the Yankees had expected.

Supposedly his defense is adequate, he makes the fundamental plays, but doesnt have strong range or a strong arm.

He can work an AB, and take a walk, though its suspect if that will translate to the majors, since he doesn't have much power to speak of.

He doesnt have much speed, but is said to be a smart baserunner, not a threat to steal a base, but won't make dumb outs.

 

He's a fringe prospect, who more than likely will never see more than a cup of coffee in the majors, but I see a guy who was once SOMEWHAT well regarded. Who knows, he could be a late bloomer like Carroll and carve out a decent career as a utility infielder.

A career .378 OBP and .448 slg % with a slg% over .500 and an OPS of .900 or better in two of his last three years.

 

I don't know much about him, but his numbers are pretty decent.

I'd have no problem if they signed him to a MiLB contract and release some of the 30something MiLB IFs they signed this off-season

So I went to look him up, thinking he might be similar to Brian Dozier, and lo and behold -- they were born on the exact same day: May 15, 1987.

 

Their minor league performances do look somewhat similar (prior to Dozier's 2012, of course!). Both college players. Adams actually began his pro career a year earlier (2008) than Dozier (2009) and skipped rookie league ball, but has only made it up to AA so far due to injuries. (Looks like the Yankees have been very conservative with his promotions too, not sure what's up with that.) Also, Adams has exclusively been a 2B/3B in the minors too (no SS like Dozier).

 

The Twins could certainly use another middle infielder with some offensive upside, but I doubt they will pick him up if they have to squeeze him onto the 40-man. What's Rochester's infield looking like this year? It appears all of their primary infielders from last year have been promoted (Dozier, Florimon, Escobar) or released (Nishioka).

Adams ceiling is probably as a poor mans Jamey Carroll.

To this point he hasnt developed as much as the Yankees had expected.

Supposedly his defense is adequate, he makes the fundamental plays, but doesnt have strong range or a strong arm.

He can work an AB, and take a walk, though its suspect if that will translate to the majors, since he doesn't have much power to speak of.

He doesnt have much speed, but is said to be a smart baserunner, not a threat to steal a base, but won't make dumb outs.

 

He's a fringe prospect, who more than likely will never see more than a cup of coffee in the majors, but I see a guy who was once SOMEWHAT well regarded. Who knows, he could be a late bloomer like Carroll and carve out a decent career as a utility infielder.

 

This is not a good comp at all. Adams has had injury problems and his size is nothing like the elfin Carroll- Adams is 6'1"/205#s and turns only 26 in May. His bat is different from Carroll, as well-

 

133WRc+ at AA with a slash of:

 

307/387/468/855

 

 

 

Carroll at AA: 283/355/370/725

 

 

For that matter as a 3B depth option, here are Plouffe's AA numbers:

 

[TABLE=class: sortable stats_table]

[TR=class: stat_total]

[TD=align: right].272/[/TD]

[TD=align: right].326/[/TD]

[TD=align: right].410/[/TD]

[TD=align: right].736[/TD]

[TD=align: right][/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

[TABLE=class: sortable stats_table]

[TR=class: stat_total]

[TD=align: right].[/TD]

[TD=align: right].[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

 

There is question because of his recent injury if he can still play the MI (ps, not having strong range and arm defines you as a potential second baseman), but he is definitely better than a fringe prospect and it would be foolish for the Twins to not kick the tires on this one- there are still plenty of truly fringy players that haunt the Twins 40 man roster that could get kicked without harm to the team.

Edited March 28, 201313 yr by jokin

This is not a good comp at all. Adams has had injury problems and his size is nothing like the elfin Carroll- Adams is 6'1"/205#s and turns only 26 in May. His bat is different from Carroll, as well-

 

133WRc+ at AA with a slash of:

 

307/387/468/855

 

 

 

Carroll at AA: 283/355/370/725

 

 

For that matter as a 3B depth option, here are Plouffe's AA numbers:

 

[TABLE=class: sortable stats_table]

[TR=class: stat_total]

[TD=align: right].272/[/TD]

[TD=align: right].326/[/TD]

[TD=align: right].410/[/TD]

[TD=align: right].736[/TD]

[TD=align: right][/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

[TABLE=class: sortable stats_table]

[TR=class: stat_total]

[TD=align: right].[/TD]

[TD=align: right].[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

 

There is question because of his recent injury if he can still play the MI (ps, not having strong range and arm defines you as a potential second baseman), but he is definitely better than a fringe prospect and it would be foolish for the Twins to not kick the tires on this one- there are still plenty of truly fringy players that haunt the Twins 40 man roster that could get kicked without harm to the team.

 

We'll see.

It's not often you see legit prospects released.