Minor League Player of the Year Chat

Kyle Glaser: Hey everyone, happy Friday to you. Look forward to chatting about Ronald Acuna and our Minor League Player of the Year award.

Connor (New England): How is the POTY gerenally chosen? For example, Vlad had a bonkers stint at A+, where he was just as young as Acuna was at AA. I'm sure things like that factor in. What tipped the scale in Acuna's favor?

Kyle Glaser: Generally at the end of the year we sit down as a staff and really dig deep into performances, scouting reports, advanced metrics, every piece of info at our disposal. We talk to a lot of baseball personnel throughout the year to get who they think the best players are, but ultimately the decision is ours. The level a player performs at is a huge factor. For Acuna to do what he did at AA was better already than a lot of the other contenders who never got to that level. Once Acuna went up to Triple-A and led the entire International League in average and OPS from his debut on July 13, at 7.7 years below league average, that really cinched it.

Bo (Myrtle Beach): Andruw Jones is the easy comp for a 19 year old Acuna ascending through the minors, but is it the best comp? Who in the game today might Acuna compare to? Do you agree with the AAA coach that said he's in the same conversation as HOFers like Griffey Jr and A-Rod? Seems a bit much this year, no?

Kyle Glaser: That was obviously extraordinarily lofty of the hitting coach. At the same time, the evaluators outside the organization generally agree Acuna is a perennial All-Star with a franchise player ceiling. Justin Upton, who Acuna’s performance was very similar to at this age, is actually someone in today’s game he compares well to. Big bat speed and power potential, perennial 20-20 threat when he was younger, a guy who contends for MVPs at his peak and is a major offensive force even in his “down” years….that’s one that resonates for me, personally

Kyle #2 (Baseball Canada): Would a really rough AzFL hurt Acuna's prospect status enough to drop him behind Vlad/ELoy/Robles going into next season.

Kyle Glaser: If Acuna ends up ranked behind those guys next year, it won’t be because of a rough Arizona Fall League. A lot of guys struggle there (Mike Trout, ahem ahem). It’s the end of a long season, guys are beat. Acuna’s prospect stock won’t fall if he has a rough time there

Brad (NJ): Kyle there HAD to be a very strong case for Austin Hays as player of the year .329/.365/.593 32HR 95RBI. Maybe he needs to take a few more walks, but hard to argue with anything else. And BTW no one cares about position we care about production for our fantasy teams, so that is irrelevant.

Kyle Glaser: There absolutely was. Austin Hays was our No. 2/3 contender with Bo Bichette. He had an absolutely fantastic year and has a very bright future ahead of him

J.P. (Springfield, IL): I'd like to know who your favorite(s) are to win this award next year and ultimately, who's your prediction to win it?

Kyle Glaser: There’s not really a point to try and pick this. Consider: Last year, at this time, no one would have picked Acuna to be the guy. He had played 40 games at LoA. He was good. He was a top 100 prospect. But no one, not even the Braves (as I detail in my article) saw this coming.

Larry (Ga): Fun question - How many home runs will Acuna average per year during his career?

Kyle Glaser: Evaluators both inside and outside the organization give Acuna 70 future power grades, which translates to roughly 30-35 home runs a year.

marvin (ND): Anyway the sox's can get Acuna?

Kyle Glaser: No.

Eric (Norwalk, CT): Think the Braves will trade Ender Inciarte to make room for Acuna?

Kyle Glaser: No, and the reason is Inciarte is a better center fielder than Ronald Acuna (so is Christian Pache). Acuna is an above-average center fielder, but not a Gold Glove caliber one like Inciarte. The Braves are best with Inciarte in center and Acuna in right. That was the majority opinion of those both inside the Braves organization and outside. Acuna can play center and he’d be fine there, but they’re better with Inciarte in center.

Colin (Iowa): Do you believe that Inciarte should be moved to allow Acuna to play Centerfield? Since this would hurt their value being in a corner outfield position.

Kyle Glaser: People get so wrapped up in positional value. At a certain point, studs are studs. Paul Goldschmidt is one of the 10 best position players in baseball and has been for the past five years. The fact he’s at first base doesn’t take a way from that. The fact Mike Trout is an exceptional defensive center fielder certainly raises his value. If he played left field, he’d still be the best player in the game. Acuna can be an impact, franchise player, regardless of which outfield spot he runs out to

Satchel (Las Vegas): Kyle, If you had to select a minor league AL and NL pitcher POY and AL and NL position POY, who are your picks?

Kyle Glaser: Going off performance (which is what POY-type awards are based on), AL would be Austin Hays and Chance Adams and NL would be Ronald Acuna and Jon Duplantier.

Tony (Puyallup, WA): With the obvious and frequent comparable to Andruw what should Braves fans be concerned about? Jones flamed out very quickly. Is there anything that could help Acuna with a long successful career (like Chipper) vs a short but amazing one (like Andruw?)

Kyle Glaser: Andruw Jones did not flame out quickly. He was arguably the best center fielder in baseball over a full 10-season stretch (1997-2006). Most teams can only dream of that in their franchise histories, getting a decades-worth of a run like Andruw produced. He very visibly let himself go as he got older and got out of shape at the end. You could say you have to watch that with Acuna, but truthfully you have to watch that with every single young player.

PTBNL (Boston): Am I wrong to hate Acuna's swing? I know he has great bat speed, but it's a decently long swing with some load.

Kyle Glaser: There is zero concern about his swing from any evaluator, inside or outside the organization. All players have a load. That’s fundamental to swinging a bat and producing power. He pounds pitches in, away, up, down. Yes, he gets beat by quality pitches from time to time, as does everyone. He’s fine.

Phillip (I-65 North): Trout for Acuña, Gohara, and Pache who says no?

Kyle Glaser: The Angels. Rightfully. The Braves can only hope that Acuna will one day be as good as Trout.

Greg (Atl): How can I order only one issue of the Acuna magazine issue?

Kyle Glaser: Our customer service number is 800-845-2726. I’m sure they’ll be happy to help you out

ryan (san francisco): will Acuna be good enough to stick in CF? what is his best tool? what is the thing MLB pitchers are likely to exploit? are there 35 hr in there?

Kyle Glaser: Acuna consistently draws “70” grades on his power and speed. Those are his best tools, which is obviously a dynamic combination. Acuna, during his series in Durham, showed he still has trouble getting to elevated fastballs above 94 mph and can get beat inside. Again though, every hitter has a spot (or two) that gives them trouble. He has the athleticism, aptitude and work ethic to adjust, and everyone expects him to, even though there will undoubtedly be some lumps along the way

Kevin (Stamford CT): Keith Law suggested the Braves trade Inciarte to make room for Acuña. How would you fit Ronald onto their 2018 roster?

Kyle Glaser: That is not an opinion shared by the individuals I spoke with both inside and outside the organization as the wisest course of action. You fit Ronald Acuna onto the 2018 roster in right field. An Inciarte-Acuna duo in center and right is a much better option than an Acuna-Markakis duo.

Mike (Toronto): Agreed no point looking ahead to guess who is the favourite for 2018 POTY .. but looking BACK, if you had to answer that question last year, who would the answer have been? (and I assume that player would already be in Majors by now?)

Kyle Glaser: I voted for Alex Bregman last year, and I’m more than comfortable with that pick looking back.

Mike (Philly): I'm sure you've gotten this a bunch, but I'm gonna ask it anyway; Acuna or Robles for the next 10 years?

Kyle Glaser: Acuna

Greg (New York): Is Ronald Acuna a 20/20 player next year in the Bigs?

Kyle Glaser: Next year is premature to expect that. Acuna is very talented, but he’ll be 20. I’m not going to put it past him, but I wouldn’t expect it. Keep in mind, Andruw Jones was 18 HR-20 SB as a 20 year old in the majors, Justin Upton was 15 HR, 1 SB (his 20-20 season came a year later)

Mike (ATL): From what you've heard, what are the chances Acuna opens up the season on the opening day roster?

Kyle Glaser: Acuna is going to get a shot. But again, it’s not going to just be given to hit. He’ll have to go out and win the job.

Tim (Omaha): Does Acuna make the braves a .500 team next year?

Kyle Glaser: Ronald Acuna can do a lot of things, but single-handedly lowering the Braves ERA from 4.82 (13th in the NL) is not one of them. That’s going to go a lot further towards making the Braves a .500 team than anything Acuna does

VS (Phoenix): How is Christian Walker not a top candidate, let alone the winner?

Kyle Glaser: Christian Walker had a big year. He’s also 26 and at Reno, a launching pad that makes the game seem like MLB SlugFest. The context of his season is in line with Kyle Jensen, Peter O’Brien, Jamie Romak….not exactly the Alex Rodriguez, Justin Upton, Mike Trout context Acuna’s 2017 season was in, as the great Matt Eddy laid out here https://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/best-seasons-teenage-batters-class-since-1987/#BJEHo0bSDFzDuXA0.97

Harry (Battle Creek, MI): What about the idea of picking one hitter and one pitcher to share this award? Would Duplantier have won it for the pitching side this year?

Kyle Glaser: It’s an interesting discussion. Duplantier posted the lowest ERA in a minor league season since Justin Verlander in 2005, and probably would get my vote. At the same time, guys who performed at a higher level (Jack Flaherty, Chance Adams, Tyler Mahle, etc) I think you could argue for. Would be a fun debate, although I probably would go with Duplantier

Ryan (Indy): If you could erase Heyward's ML career from your brain, and evaluate him and Acuna just at their peak of prospect status, which would you take?

Kyle Glaser: I don’t know if I’d say erase Heyward’s ML career from your brain. He was a perfectly fine, very good player from 2010-15. People’s expectations were just out of whack. Purely as a ballplayer, he was plenty good for the first six seasons of his career. Not fantastic, but plenty good. Acuna’s swing is a little more natural for me, less reliant on just bat speed and actually has a good bat path (which Heyward was always toeing the line on but made up for it with his speed). In that sense, I would give the edge to Acuna.

Kyle Glaser: Alright folks, I think that will do it. Thanks for all your questions, and hope you all have a safe, enjoyable weekend