You always have to be careful about big league comps for prospects. For the most part, you should just avoid doing them at all.
However, sometimes – when treated carefully and appropriately contextualized – they can give you some particular insight into a prospects that you might grasp more easily than if someone tried to simply describe the thing to you.
I have to say all that before I share the comp Cubs farm director Matt Dorey dropped on new shortstop prospect Reggie Preciado, acquired as one of the prospects in the Yu Darvish deal (via Marquee): “He was a highly scouted player out of Panama — switch-hitter, shortstop, really gifted athletically. We don’t know where he will end up on the field, but he’s super versatile and he’s got a really high baseball IQ. He reminds us a lot of Kris Bryant in high school — a guy that was really tall, lanky, athletic, played shortstop, has raw power and the game is really easy to him at a young age. We’re really excited about getting him stronger and getting him acclimated to the Cubs system.”
*blink* *blink*
OK, we have to simmer down a bit, because, like I said, the point here isn’t that the Cubs are saying Preciado is the next Kris Bryant, who came right out of college as one of the top prospects in all of baseball. Instead, Dorey is saying that Preciado, currently just 17, reminds the Cubs of a then-high-schooler Kris Bryant, who was extensively scouted back then (and ultimately drafted by the Blue Jays in the 18th round, but decided to go to college). Dorey’s description tracks there, and so you might say that if everything goes right developmentally for Preciado, you might see him emerge in three+ years as a tip top prospect in baseball. That’s true for a lot of teenage prospects, though!
That said, there are some in the game who’ve been higher on Preciado than most 17-ish-year-old IFAs, and he was generally viewed as the top prospect among the four in the Darvish trade. Eric Longenhagen said at the time of the trade that he expected Preciado to be on FanGraphs’ top 100 list (extremely high praise for a recent IFA). Moreover, although Preciado’s signing bonus was not at the top of his class, it was a very sizable $1.3 million, and he was considered the top prospect out of Panama that year. Sometimes, it’s hard to to create relative rankings for top prospects from lesser-scouted areas when comparing to the heavily scouted Dominican Republic. That is to say, even at the time of his signing, it’s possible Preciado was actually a better prospect than his bonus or class ranking (12th, per BA) would’ve indicated. I really like taking swings on the clear top prospect from a given country.
Speaking of swings – smooth transition – Bryan just took a look at how Preciado’s has already evolved:
Here are telling snapshots of Preciado when he puts his front foot down, before and after some obvious swing changes. pic.twitter.com/e9wC4gowU5
— Cubs Prospects – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) February 2, 2021
More from Bryan on his original write-up of the new prospects after the trade, if you missed it:
REGGIE PRECIADO, SS
Biography: Signed for $1.3 million from Panama. Turns 18 in May. Baseball America said that Preciado now stands 6-foot-5. Pro baseball bloodlines.
Favorite scouting report: Ben Badler at BA from his 2019 IFA rankings. Link below:
Here’s video I took of Reggie Preciado playing in the Dominican Republic after he signed with the Padres for $1.3 million at 16.
Full scouting report is below 👇https://t.co/VNXWc8xCdF pic.twitter.com/KtXNYUyBGI
— Ben Badler (@BenBadler) December 29, 2020
My thoughts: There’s just no chance this kid is staying up the middle. Sorry. This is a third baseman for sure, and given the Cubs significant shortstop depth, I think it might be best just committing this positional switch sooner rather than later. Given the pending move, the important thing here is going to be how Preciado fills out his frame.
I think the Cubs keep him at Extended Spring Training and focus almost entirely on muscle gain in Arizona. Contact impact seems softer than it should be given a decent bat whip, is going to need some loft added to that swing in time. The good news is that Longenhagen’s recent eyes-on at instructs this fall suggest Preciado has already improved in that area.