Latest / The Scout and The Speculator / Emergency AFL Addendum! Three New Bombshells Enter The Villa!
Transcript
- Jaba: Hello everybody and welcome back to the Scout and the Speculator podcast. This is Will Jarvis, also known as Jabba Cards, joined by my co-host Jeremy Brown of Perfect Game Baseball, has always, more importantly, known as JGB underscore cards underscore. we have a quick little episode today. we're talking about some pretty big news that came out. In regards to the AFL. It was nice of them to wait until we wrapped up our AFL series to announce this, but we got three pretty massive hobby names that are now going to be playing in the AFL that weren't covered, as I mentioned in our preview episodes. yeah, three super exciting guys, kind of all you know, three pretty different players. But they're all very exciting. And Jeremy, I'll let you pick the first one you want to talk about. Who who are you most excited about here? underscore_underscore_: I think of them I mean they all kinda have like a reason for it. Jaba: Right. underscore_underscore_: you got like the new name, you got a potential number one prospect, and you got Aiden Miller just coming to prove that he's back, right? I'm gonna go with Sebastian Walcott because he did come back and was awesome upon coming back from injury, but kind of played down a level, I feel like he lit it up. So had people immediately Jaba: Yeah, I think he had an eleven hundred OPS. underscore_underscore_: Immediately had people talking like, like this is your number one prospect. And like, yeah, 6'4, 190, like we do like all of that. Without a doubt. made it up to triple A for a couple at bats. He was in double A for a bulk of his damage, nine home runs, hit 322 there. And he's only 20 years old. He doesn't turn 21 until next spring in March. I do think if he kind of goes off here like he should and could and probably will, he very well could push for that number one spot. I think you have the physicality that Made doesn't have. though it'll be interesting because he doesn't have a first Bowman auto either. So would be curious to quickly look and see what his twenty twenty four autos were doing. Jaba: Yeah, and while you look that up I'll say, you know, it's a good point about the number one prospect kind of crown that he's chasing here. 'Cause underscore_underscore_: Yeah. Jaba: I really think of it as kind of five guys and they're all short stops. I think of it as Made, DeVries, Willitz, Arias, and Walcott. And of those guys, Devry's or Devri is out of action until probably June with that torn labrum. So he's kinda out. out of the conversation. I think Arias, I think Arias is gonna be a great real life player. underscore_underscore_: Mm-hmm. Jaba: but I think the power kinda coming back to earth once he hit triple A, where it's the MLB balls, I think that that is probably enough to keep him from being number one from a card perspective. Again, I'm really high on him for real life. but I feel like he lacks kind of the top end power that some of these other guys either have or have kind of the build and potential for. so Arias is out and then you're kinda down to Made Willetz and Walcott. I think Walcott has pretty far and away the largest power there. I mean, it it's three guys who all have power to varying underscore_underscore_: Yeah. Jaba: degrees, but I think Walcott's kind of the you know, Made's kind of an alien, but Walcott's really just I mean, he's got like the NFL tight end built. underscore_underscore_: Yep. Jaba: I mean, he he's just a tank, and like we've said a hundred times, I'm sorry to repeat it, but this is such a good hitters environment and the pitchers are generally so weak where I just think Walcott could be like I I think he could be like the biggest winner from the AFL. If he stays healthy underscore_underscore_: Yeah. You know, it seem it it seemed just like every time you would open up Twitter like he had another home run. Like it was just nonstop Jaba: Yeah. underscore_underscore_: to end the year. Obviously when he came back he had an internal brace. Thought maybe he'd need TJ and lose the whole year. He didn't. Which is Don't edit that out. People want to hear how I sneeze. Jaba: I never edit our episodes, so underscore_underscore_: Nor should you. but yeah, that's like I I think that's the easy one to be like this guy could very well be just the best prospect there and come out as people talking like, how do you not name him the number one prospect? Jaba: Yeah. And then, you know, I kinda took over the Walcott narrative there. So I'll let you talk about the guy who not right now, but maybe at this time next year or at some point in twenty twenty eight, we're also talking about as a potential number one guy. underscore_underscore_: Yeah. I mean Angebell Gomez did literally everything you need him to do this year. In the DSL, obviously he's a seventeen year old, turns eighteen December twelfth, twelve twelve baby. hit three sixty one with an eleven twenty OPS in the DSL, nine home runs, fifteen bags. Like, you just kinda look at it all and like nineteen strikeouts to twenty eight walks, like Check, check, Jaba: Yeah. underscore_underscore_: check, check. He kind of usurped Luis Hernandez as a top prospect in this product. more of a slow burn and consistent burn than just all of a sudden we woke up one day and he was the top chase. But he's pretty damn good. And for him to come out, I think he's the only DSL kid in to be in the AFL this year. I believe. So Jaba: Yeah, I I I mean, off the top of my head, I mean we just went through the teams, at least DSL guys with cards. And you would kind of assume underscore_underscore_: Yeah, for sure. Jaba: any DSL guy who would be playing in the AFL would have a card. underscore_underscore_: Yeah. Jaba: Yeah, I mean I I I think that the biggest part about this isn't even that he's gonna get more spotlight. I think it's like the fact that it implies he's almost certainly gonna skip the complex. 'Cause underscore_underscore_: Yeah. Jaba: I I feel like you don't have him playing against basically all arms that are, you know, in the mid to upper minors and then send them back to the complex. underscore_underscore_: Right. Jaba: so starting at single A is gonna be a huge bump for him. you know, like we underscore_underscore_: Yeah. Which Jaba: saw with Ellian Pena. underscore_underscore_: Like start that just so next year he'll be eighteen starting in A ball. I I just think it's worth revisiting that Luis Fernandez was in A ball this year as a seventeen year old. Just kind of like Jaba: Yeah. underscore_underscore_: how wild it is to say that out loud and when you're comparing, just like we almost take for granted what Luis did this year when I Jaba: Yeah. underscore_underscore_: it it doesn't it simply doesn't happen all that often. Jaba: You were saying Gomez was born twelve twelve. underscore_underscore_: Yeah. Jaba: I just pulled up Luis Hernandez, born twelve thirteen. and yeah, I mean underscore_underscore_: Nice. Okay, so literally the same age. That'll be easy for moving forward. Jaba: in in the complex, I mean Luis Hernandez never even played in the DSL. He just went underscore_underscore_: Right. Jaba: right to the complex, which is unheard of. I mean In the complex he had a nine seventeen OPS. The ground ball rate was high. I think the ground balls are probably gonna be what people worry about long term with him. But fifty four games there, he had twenty four extra base hits as well as six homers. you know, doesn't really strike out. Then when he got to A, again, it wasn't great, but it was twenty games. I mean, he underscore_underscore_: Yeah. Jaba: didn't get murdered. A five ninety five OPS is poor. But like that's not underscore_underscore_: He's also a high school junior in age, so Jaba: you know yeah, he wasn't hapless and I think that that alone is like you know, people are kinda looking at it as a black mark and I just see it as like a whatever, like underscore_underscore_: There's no doubt. Jaba: if he had been better, like, his prices would be unfathomable. So yeah, I think we're both excited about Angelo Gomez and kinda what this means. We're gonna film another price update, kind of a buy-sell hold as well after this, and we're gonna talk about more. So moving on, I'll let you take the last name. underscore_underscore_: Aiden Miller. Kind of one of those names that we've known forever, have seen forever. I've seen him play since he was literally thirteen years old. now he's back. Like it was is he gonna get back? How is he gonna be? Got a quick promotion up to out of Clearwater to double A to end the year. And I think him coming down to the AFL's obviously a good sign. we got all of twelve at bats from him this year, so just for him. To kind of come reestablish himself, like preseason I think I sold a base auto for almost a hundred bucks. I have to believe those Jaba: Yeah. underscore_underscore_: are have probably cut in half already. Jaba: Yeah, those were those were low. underscore_underscore_: Like his most recent sales sixty two and fifty one two days ago. and Sebastian's like seventy five eighty. In a nine they're pushing ninety nine a hundred, so definitely throw him in the mix of breaking that three digit base auto, even though he is a non first first auto. Jaba: Yeah. Yeah, and I think with Aiden Meller, I mean I'm definitely biased a little bit as a Mets fan. you know, not wishing ill on anybody, of course, but I do kind of stay away from Phillies guys. however, he's another guy where he's just kind of been a really good performer all through the minors. underscore_underscore_: Mm-hmm. Jaba: you know, the past three years he never had an OPS above eight twenty-five, but he also never went below eight four. He was just really rock solid, a lot of doubles, you know, dozen or so home runs a year. Like I said, OPS in the low eight hundreds. He came back this year, you know, four at bats, but he had reached double A before he got a cup of coffee and triple A to end 2025. He's still twenty-two. My only issue here is that it was a back injury and it was kind of one of those where I remember like it got to spring training and it was like he's being held out and then it kinda gets to you know, they break camp and he's still not playing and then you know he plays four games. for me, that's scary in a guy that young. But I also don't know anything. I mean I could stand to lose a good amount of weight, so I'm not here to you know judge his physical condition. underscore_underscore_: Jesus. Jaba: I just get a little worried, you know, with the back injuries. underscore_underscore_: Yeah. Which is fair. which is why like having him come out here is gonna be great to just see him let him get just let him kinda be out for a full run of games and I think it's just a Jaba: Yeah. underscore_underscore_: good thing. Like it's a it's a positive sign that he's out as well, so Jaba: Yeah, yeah, and he's, you know, just such a good player. It's kind of the Dax Kilby effect where it's like, as long as this guy underscore_underscore_: I was happy. Jaba: is physically on a baseball field, the results are gonna be good. underscore_underscore_: Right. Yep. Jaba: so yeah, happy happy for him that he's back. And yeah, I mean that's three huge names. And before we wrap, I wanna say all three of these guys are on the surprise sagueros. underscore_underscore_: jeez, I didn't even realize that. Jaba: That episode was our last one, which was basically a joke because it was Wellbin Francisca underscore_underscore_: Okay. Jaba: at thirty dollars and Arun Escobar at ten, and then just everyone else was sub ten. So they go from being by far the worst team to I underscore_underscore_: Yeah. Jaba: mean, they now have three potential triple digit guys. which nobody else has. underscore_underscore_: Yep. How wild is that? Jaba: I don't think there's another triple digit guy here. I mean, it's like It's crazy. So, they're definitely a team to kinda follow again. You know, after we wrapped up, I would have said you can kinda ignore those box scores. but underscore_underscore_: Not no more. Jaba: yeah, no more. kinda wanna do a redraft now, but I don't think people really care. so yeah, we'll we'll wrap there. Thank you all for listening and we're excited for the AFL. Talk to you guys soon. Go Mets.