Taylor Featherston was plucked from the Rockies via the Rule 5 draft. Now the Angels are hoping he can go from Double-A to a big league reserve role in 2015.
What happened in 2014?
In 2014, Taylor Featherston was in the Colorado Rockies organization, spending the entire year in Double-A Tulsa. There he continued to display decent pop for a middle infielder, a glove that would play up the middle and continued contact issues. It was a perfectly good season, but it apparently wasn’t what the Rockies were hoping to see because they left him off their 40-man roster and exposed him to the Rule 5 draft. You know, because the Rockies are just overloaded with talent right now.
Whatever Colorado didn’t like, the Angels obviously did as they cut a deal to acquire his rights in the Rule 5 draft so he could come compete for a bench job with the Halos this spring.
[table id=91 /] *The MWAH projections are simply my best guess based off my own personal opinion and research (my wOBA calculation is approximate because my math skills are only “meh”)
What do the projections think he will do in 2015?
If these projections prove to be true, Featherston is going to be pretty tough to carry on the MLB roster all year. The glove rates just fine, but his bat would be a big problem. His power doesn’t project to translate. He doesn’t project to walk much. He does project to strike out… A LOT. Even as a reserve infielder, that’s just not good enough, especially since he isn’t a defensive wizard like John McDonald was. Of course the big caveat in all of this is that the projections are based off of him never playing a single game above Double-A, so the systems aren’t working with as fine-tuned a model as they would if he were a seven-year MLB veteran.
Does the Monkey agree or disagree?
If there is one projection I might want to do over again, it would be Featherston’s. While I am slightly more bullish on Featherston than the other projection systems, after seeing Featherston in the spring, I actually think he is far more capable of holding his own in the majors than I first thought. There is obviously plenty of reason to doubt him as he is coming straight from Double-A and never actually dominated at any level. But he’s gotten a lot of playing time in Spring Training and has more than held his own.
THREE OPEN QUESTIONS FOR TAYLOR FEATHERSTON IN 2015
1) Is Featherston going to make the roster?
It looks pretty good for him right now, even Jerry Dipoto has made comment recently strongly suggesting that Featherston will make the roster. Taylor has flashed a little bit with his bat this spring, but what has really earned him the gig is that his glovework has been impressive. He’s no Gold Glover, but he’s proven to be more than adequate at second, third and short. For a team that needs a utility infielder that can actually field and someone with a little speed off the bench, Featherston seems like a perfect fit.
It also doesn’t hurt that the Angels would likely lose him if they tried to pass him through waivers because he’s a Rule 5 pick. Dipoto values these cheap young assets too much to risk just giving one away.
2) Could Featherston win the starting second base job?
Out of training camp, no. Giavotella, Rutledge and even Green still seem to have an edge on Featherston in that race. Taylor Featherston is the best defender of the bunch and none of the three are hitting all that much better than Featherston (if hitting better at all, Mr. Rutledge). It just seems that Scioscia would prefer to go with someone who actually has played a game above Double-A. They probably also want to make sure that they explore all their options before they put all their eggs in Featherston’s basket.
Featherston could potentially take over at second if the other three options all fall flat, but he really is better suited for a reserve role at this point of his career. More likely though is that Featherston continues to operate as a utilityman and the Halos decide to stop screwing around and make a trade for an established veteran to play second.
3) Why didn’t the Angels acquire a more established veteran?
Part of me wonders if Dipoto got a bit too caught up in his effort to infuse the roster with youth and athleticism. Taylor Featherston helps to serve that end, but I’m not sold that having him as a bench player is the best thing for the 2015 Angels’ World Series bid. The Halos have a good roster, but the moves around the edges can make or break them. If the AL West is as tight as many expect, one or two wins could be the difference between the division title or maybe not making the playoffs at all.
If Featherston works out, great. But if he doesn’t the Angels lack anything in the system that resembles a defensively competent utility infielder. They could’ve just spend another two or three million dollars to go out and secure the services of an established veteran back-up. Those players can be volatile assets themselves, but they aren’t nearly as volatile as a rookie that is going to skip Triple-A.
The Final Word (and GIF)
“Misspelling”
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The thing I am looking forward to most with Featherston isn’t his play, it is all the various misspellings that are sure to come from his name. It is “Taylor Featherston.” Not Tyler Featherstone. Not Tayler Fatherson. Not Tywin Fetherstrom. Not Trevor Farthingstein.
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