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Welcome back Dilson Herrera!!

Mex17 Nov 29 2018 04:50 PM

Signed to a minor league contract. I thought he was going to be McNeil before McNeil became McNeil. Went to the Reds originally for Bruce. Is it ironic that he is returning just as Bruce and McNeil might both be leaving?

Frayed Knot Nov 29 2018 06:31 PM Re: Welcome back Dilson Herrera!!

I was last thinking about Dilson back in August, right around the time we were first having discussions about delaying Peter Alonso's call-up date until May '19 so as to extend his window of team control yadda, yadda. And it occurred to me at the time that it was in August of 2014 when Herrera was first called up. Now I don't recall us having any discussions concerning manipulation of his ML service time -- he was, after all, considerably younger then than Alonso is now (in fact, Herrera is mere months older than Alonso) -- although maybe we were, but my point at the time with Alonso was that those cases where intentionally tinkered call-up dates wind up making a difference to the team are very much the exception rather than the rule and, as always, it's tough to know at the time which guys are the ones where it'll ultimately matter. Anyway, it's now four plus years later and Dilson Herrera is being claimed via waivers having acquired, in the interim, just one year plus 34 days of ML service time. IOW, rather than potentially being two years away from FA-gency as we discuss this he is in fact still two seasons (and they'll need to be mostly full ones) shy of even being arb-eligible and needing five more complete years before he can become a FA.

Centerfield Nov 29 2018 08:10 PM Re: Welcome back Dilson Herrera!!

Dilson Herrera was not in the same class as Alonso. That’s why no one cared.

Ashie62 Nov 29 2018 08:25 PM Re: Welcome back Dilson Herrera!!

Jordany Valdespin cannot be far behind

Edgy MD Nov 29 2018 08:30 PM Re: Welcome back Dilson Herrera!!

Centerfield wrote: Dilson Herrera was not in the same class as Alonso. That’s why no one cared. Wait. Do I misremember? I thought you were more bullish on Herrera than most.

smg58 Nov 29 2018 08:49 PM Re: Welcome back Dilson Herrera!! Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Nov 29 2018 08:59 PM

He hit a brick wall his second year in AAA and has never recovered. The upside is probably still there (he's younger than Jeff McNeil), so why not? on edit: He had a monster year at AAA in 2015; his 2016 was better than I remembered it, even if not close to what he did the year before. He had a chance to force the Mets to call him up, and I think the Mets were hoping he would, but it just didn't happen. Then they needed an outfielder with pop more than they needed a AAA second baseman, and never had a reason to regret the deal.

Centerfield Nov 29 2018 08:51 PM Re: Welcome back Dilson Herrera!!

Edgy MD wrote: Centerfield wrote: Dilson Herrera was not in the same class as Alonso. That’s why no one cared. Wait. Do I misremember? I thought you were more bullish on Herrera than most. I was. But few others were. He never had the success of Alonso and never had close to the upside. Like I’m high on Cecchini. But I know enough not to sweat his call up date.

Centerfield Nov 29 2018 09:07 PM Re: Welcome back Dilson Herrera!!

Also. I suck at scouting. Panned Noah after his debut. Was high on Cecchini, plawecki and Lagares coming into the year. Always thought Montero was on the verge of turning it around. Loved Victor Diaz. To be fair I loved Nimmo even before this year. And predicted great things for Conforto. But that’s kind of an easy one.

Edgy MD Nov 29 2018 09:24 PM Re: Welcome back Dilson Herrera!!

Well, Alonso has jumped from nowhere to first on MLB.com's list of first base prospects, but Dilson Herrera was second among second base prospects in 2015. That's of course to be taken with a grain of salt — all shortstop prospects are also second base prospects; and all left field, third base, and catcher prospects are also first base prospects. Despite all that, and whatever contextual differences there might have been, while #1 is clearly a better thing to be than #2, surely somebody thought highly of Herrera.

Frayed Knot Nov 30 2018 01:31 PM Re: Welcome back Dilson Herrera!!

Centerfield wrote: Dilson Herrera was not in the same class as Alonso. That’s why no one cared. Dilson Herrera was a very different prospect than Alonso, but not necessarily a lesser one. By the winter after the trade Dilson has worked his way into the back/middle of some Top-100 prospect lists [BA = #46, BP = 82] something Alonso has yet to do. Now P.A. might wind up on some lists this coming winter which would make the two kind of comparable - except that Herrera was some 3-1/2 years younger at the time than Alsonso is now. And while that age gap may make Alonso more likely to stick permanently once called up, it also means he's probably already closer to his ceiling and that his first shot at being a FA can happen no earlier than the year he turns 30 (assuming no subsequent send-downs and no service time manipulations) or for his age 31 (or later) season if one or both of those occur (he'll turn 24 next week). One could argue that it would have made more sense to have diddled with Dilson's clock so as to not risk losing him following his age 26 year. But they didn't and, as is usually the case, it didn't matter - as it doesn't or won't for most prospects. Like I said, I happened to think about Dilson and his service time back in August when we were discussing the reason(s) for Alonso not being called up. I thought then, and think now, that his non-call had more more to do with 40-man roster issues and with Alonso issues (glove, K's, and just plain reps) than it did with how things might play out six or seven years down the road. Now obviously if Alonso is going to be at least our part-time 1st baseman this season then it makes sense to make the minor change of bringing him up in late April rather than starting on opening day. But a couple weeks delay is quite a different scenario than sitting on him for a half-season.