I’m testing out a new format for prospect profiles. What do you think?
Ramiro Pena
Age: 23
Height: 5’11″
Weight: 165 lbs
Position: Shortstop
Bats: Switch
2008 Team: Trenton Thunder
Current Team: Major League Camp
The Good: Any discussion about Ramiro Pena begins with his superb defense. Pena’s reputation, with some quantative backing, is of a gold glove caliber defensive shortstop. He has excellent range and a strong arm. Pena has played every game in his minor league career at shortstop, but has enough natural ability that he could probably slot in at 2nd and 3rd as a fill-in. Pena has some speed, although it hasn’t translated much to stealing bases.
The Bad: Ramiro Pena hit .266/.330/.357 at Trenton this season (his third prolonged stop at Double-A), and it was the best hitting season of his professional career. That should tell you something about how bad of a hitter he is. Does he have survival skills wtih the bat? Probably not. Pena will likely not break a .300 OBP in the major leagues any time soon. As mentioned before, Pena has showed little ability to steal bases despite having speed.
Projection: While Pena still hasn’t played at Triple-A, there is little reason to believe he has much left to project. Pena is what he is: a defensive wizard with no bat. If the Yankees have to rely on him to start more than a handful of games, they are in trouble. At best, we’re talking about a worse version of Adam Everett.
Reasons to be optimistic: Pena’s .266/.330/.357 line may be more representative of his ability than his prior seasons because he was rushed up the minor leagues. The Yankees valued his defense following their strong pitchers, and Pena found himself at 20 years old as one of the youngest players in Double-A in 2006. If the Yankees had been more concerned about developing him, Pena would have been held back in A ball for another year or two. If his recently improved hitting is representative, he could stick in the major leagues as a useful bench player.
Reasons to be pessimistic: Pena was rushed, but he didn’t begin to hit until his third attempt at Double-A. Players with major league caliber hitting skills adjust much quicker than that. His BABIP was .344. He still struck out 86 times in 111 games, which is unacceptable for a guy with no power or patience.
Bottom Line: He’s a very fringe prospect, who is probably best suited to scooping up our young pitcher’s ground balls in the minors, or as a 25th man defensive replacement who never gets to hit.
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12 Responses to Prospect Profile: Ramiro Pena
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TIQ IQ
EJ…is there any difference between Pena and Alberto Gonzalez? I think their scouting reports sound exactly the same.
Gonzalez hit much better in the minors, but Pena is a better defender. Same idea though.
I like the format EJ. Breaks everything into the exact categories that I would want to know about. A scouting report like this shows why Pena is lightly regarded, and why he is not the future starting SS for the Yankees.
I like the format. I do wonder if he was playing over his head or if a switch just happened.
I like the format, I look forward to hopefully seeing more of these.
I like the format, EJ. Didn’t you, at one point, consider awarding a grade for each player? Wasn’t it a numerical grade combined with a letter indicating ceiling or something like that? Did you abandon it or am I getting things confused?
Yeah, I’m still thinking about reincorporating that system. It might take a few weeks though.
Yeah, Tom, I remember that too.
Like the format EJ.
Also, I’ve been reading the local papers and apparently, we have Jeter’s replacement right under our nose. Who says we don’t have any great position players in the minors?
Steve, I’m not sure who you are referring to. If the local papers are hyping Pena as a Jeter replacement in 2 years, they are ignoring basic facts. The Yankees don’t have a serious replacement for Jeter at any point in their minor league system.
I was joking, Moshe did a piece yesterday about how overblown the hype is getting for Pena, based on one or two scouts opinions. Most familiar with him agree he’s a backup infielder type in the bigs.
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[...] Prospect Profile Ramiro Pena The Yankee Universe Posted by root 2 hours 1 minute ago (http://www.theyankeeuniverse.com) Reply to this comment ej fagan reply march 31st 2009 at 16 39 wasn 39 t it a numerical grade combined with a letter indicating ceiling or something like that if the local papers are hyping pena as a jeter replacement in 2 years they are ignoring basic pow Discuss | Bury | News | Prospect Profile Ramiro Pena The Yankee Universe [...]