Last night as Brandon Beachy was proving he ,rather than Tommy Hanson is headed to the top of the Braves rotation, we learned that the Braves had signed Félix Pié one time Cubs Über prospect and the next <fill in fast leadoff hitting centerfielder name here> . Pié was at the time playing for the Camden Riversharks in the Atlantic League (independent) with a .353/.386/.608/.994. He played in 85 games for Baltimore in 2011 but only had 175 at bats – just a smidge over two a game – and was designated for assignment in August. The Indians signed him in December last year but suffered a concussion in March and they released him in April.
The Story So Far
The Cubs singed a 16 year old Pié out of the Dominican in 2001 and by 2006 he was playing for their Iowa farm team. According to John Sickels Minor League Ball, the Cubs had lots of positive things to say about his work ethic and makeup particularly when things didn’t go well. My cynical side says “well, would you expect an organization to call their prospect lazy?” It also wonders how many times when things weren’t going well to judge his makeup he had to allow them to judge his makeup so positively. However, my right brain likes his raw athleticism and my left brain says Pié – like so many Cub prospects over the years – was pushed much too fast towards a major league debut. If you read my bio you’ll know I grew up in a Cubs household and my experience there is that when they get close they’ll throw anyone under the bus to break the curse. Pié was just sacrifice of the week back in 2007.
His debut year in Chicago consisted of 87 games, 177 at bats and a line of .215/.271/.333/.604. Why did the Cubs bring him up? Their outfield that year consisted of Alfonso Soriano, Jacque Jones and Cliff Floyd so a speedy centerfielder was needed and with most $99.5M of their payroll going to Soriano, Carlos Zambrano,and Derek Lee, Pié – even though he was 22 and a very raw talent – was an affordable option. His time in Chicago was dogged by bad luck. In 2008 Pie missed a couple of early spring training games because of a twisted testicle and got into only 43 games when the Cubs decided that Jim Edmonds and Reed Johnson were better options. In 2009 he was traded to the Orioles for Hank Williamson (minors) and Garrett Olson.
Baltimore seemed to be a better fit for Pié. He played in 101 games but still got only 252 at bats and had a line of .266/.326/.437/.763 and a BAbip of .309. His best position is centerfield and in 2008 Baltimore picked up Adam Jones to fill that position so Pié was slotted into corner outfield positions and an occasional game to give Jones a rest in center. While he has more power than Michael Bourn for example he’s a nine homer a year guy so as a corner outfielder his production isn’t up to par. His 2010 numbers were similar to 2009 – .274/.305/.413 BAbip .305 in 288 at bats – but under Buck Showalter in2011 he was mostly a defensive replacement as the O’s searched for offense.
Pié’s a Good Signing Because. . .
I like the Pié signing. I know the stat heads out there will whine about his low OBP and high K rate but let’s look at what he offers and his role will likely be.
Pié is a good athlete and he’s just 27 years old. Back in 2007 the previously linked article came to this conclusion.
| “. . .I rate them as even on background/intangibles, Pie with an edge on tools, Ellsbury with an edge on current polish, and Pie an edge on projection.. . .” |
You should read the whole post to get the full context of Sickles comments, it’s a comparison of Pié to Jacoby Ellsbury and Sickles comes down personally in Ellsbury’s court. He was obviously correct in his gut feelings but he was also correct about tools. The real difference and something that is a real intangible, is the way they were raised. Ellsbury is two years older, had the advantage of growing up in this country, played organized little league ball with teams above his age group, being a three sport high school letter man and playing baseball for three years at Oregon State.
Pié on the other hand, grew up in the Dominican, was signed at 16 and in the majors at 22 even in a baseball academy setting his grounding can’t be considered equal to that of Ellbury or any player with a similar background. Still his talent and athleticism put him in that class just five years ago.
Upside
Pié was signed to be cover for Michael Bourn. He’s an outstanding overall athlete, fast, with a plus (right field capable ) arm and at 6’2, 185 he’s shown occasional power. At 27 years old he should he’s reaching his physical peak as a ballplayer not on the downside of his career like many other options.
Pié is inexpensive. He was signed to a minor league contract and would presumable earn the minimum if called up.
While his right/left split (.269/.250 in 2009 and .284/.230 in 2010) isn’t spectacular it also isn’t that much lower than Bourn’s.
While it may be late for Pié to make significant changes to his K rate, he has made progress dropping from to 16% the last year he had 300+ at bats. Expecting ti to be significantly below 20% in the long run wouldn’t be a good bet. However the progress the Braves made in this area since our change from having an onlooker to having real hitting coaches shows it can be done. Bourn’s K rate hovers right around 20% as well so again not a huge difference. His walk rate as well is about the same as Bourn’s in season’s where he had a significant number of at bats.
Frankly the Braves don’t have anyone with his talent and experience in the minors to backup Bourn. Jose Constanza, Luis Durango and Jordan Parraz are 4A players who have never managed to stick in the majors. Nor is there anyone likely to emerge from lower levels to fill that void soon.
The Not So Upside
Pié’s OBP is not where it should be for a player with his speed. I’m not sure what lies behind this as many ratios parallel Bourn’s but, a clue may be in his infield fly ball rate. While Bourn hits at around a 4% IFFB rate, Pié pop up three to four times as often. If that extra 10% or so could be redirected into ground balls and line drives his BAbip would shoot up and might take his OBP along with it.
He seems to have regressed as a centerfielder. Defensive metrics are all over the place on him and he’s played so few games in center in the past couple of years that it’s hard to say the sample size is good enough to base a decision on. It appears that the more games he plays there the better he is and that shuffling him from left to center to right causes problems. He certainly has the tools though I’ve read several O’s comments that don’t care for his fielding. OTOH many don’t think Jones can catch cold either. That’s why defense is so hard to quantify. I guess pushed I’d say he isn’t Willie Mays buy he isn’t awful and probably a better than most centerfielder.
A Deadspin article in 2011 put it this way.
| . . .The most hopeful theory about Pie is that he is the kind of player who needs to be in the lineup every day to blossom. The flaw in that theory is that the unblossomed (or not-yet-blossomed) Pie was too hapless to put in the lineup every day, even for a last-place ball club. “I kept trying to give him some rope and see if he would run with it,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.. . . |
That’s A Wrap
The acquisition is one of those off the radar signings that cost the Braves nothing and provide us with a young experienced outfielder who can backup Michael Bourn should the need arise. In a perfect world there are better players but the world isn’t perfect and there are many outfielders worse than Pié, I like the signing and am hopeful that should the need arise our hitting coach team that’s been so successful with the lineup this year can make similar improvement to his plate appearances. I’d have preferred Roy Oswalt but maybe that’s the next announcement. I’m not holding my breath however. Let me know what you think about this signing or anything else Braves related.
Follow me @fredeowens on Twitter and Like Tomahawk Take on Facebook.
Add us as a preferred source on Google