SPEAKER_00 0:12

Hello and welcome to the Talking Cards podcast with Grant Salami and the Juice. No Grant Salami here today, but it is the Juice along here with our returning guest, Max Artiburn from Prospects Live. How's it going, Max? Going good. All right. So this is part three of our AL American League 2026 Bowman Preview. We are breaking it down by division. So today we will be discussing the AL West. And yeah, Max, you can find him on Twitter if you like what you hear, and I'm sure you will. You can see his full breakdowns on Prospects Live. He gives the players tears along with his team that he works with. They do a deeper dive than this. So, you know, a lot of good stuff on there as well. But yeah, let's just get right into it. We will start with the athletics. Um, and we will start with Braden Nett, starting pitcher. How are you feeling about him?

SPEAKER_01 1:06

He's a UDFA, but he's done very well since coming to the pro ranks. And like, there's not much doubt he'll make it to the majors, probably as a starter, probably as an up and down starter, but he's probably gonna make it to the majors. Maybe as early as September, if not early next year. He's got great stuff, but he does have command issues that make him get hit around me a little more than he should. It's mid-rotation ceiling if it all comes down together just right. He's base only in this product, so he's not he's not really gonna be a huge chase in this, or if even if he has autographs in the Bowman Crow in September. But he's he's not a zero either, which is which is really something because he he came from a UDFA.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

So that that's it's good for him. Yeah, to go from that to actually being someone that can be projected as a starter in the majors, yeah, good for him. All right, next we will move on to Brayson Gueres, uh from Venezuela. He signed for around one and a half million shortstop.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

He is uh, I think he's an outfielder. No, he's an outfielder. Yeah, he's for sure an outfielder. That's a that's a big piece of who he is. He is only a corner outfielder. He's pretty sick in the middle, and he's it's not going to be anything that carries him very far. But the good thing is, is that in the DSL, he ran a very high contact rate, very successful at the plate in general. And that's what had him skipping the complex entirely and putting him in low A. Now, even though he was very successful in the low A, I mean, very successful in the DSL, he was hyperaggressive. And that is showing up in low A, and that is killing him. So we can't really use anything that he's done in low A as anything except that he needs to adjust now. He also hit a 450-foot bomb this spring off of Michael King. Michael King has some, you know, hanging braking stuff that can get hammered. But the fact that he did hammer that 450 feet makes that that 40 grade power that is put on him generally might be a little light. So he's he's developing that power. We'll see how far it can come. Right now, he's gotta work on developing more of an approach to the plate, but he's real young. There's there's some real talent that could come into his hit tool, but it doesn't look like it right now.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

All right, sounds like he has some sleeper potential in the product. For sure. Right. Next up, we have Edgar Montero. Shortstop, I have again signed for signed for 1.2 million.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

He's a he's a big, big IFA from uh 2024. Uh he repeated the DSL last year, which is less of a deal now. Um, because uh the minor with the miners being contracted, they all got to go somewhere. Um and the guys that are who who are still talented but a little raw, they might repeat the DSL. But he is in the but it was a much better year for him last year. Um and he's he's in the he's in the complex now. That that's he's fine. He's 19 in the complex, still fine, age appropriate. He has some hitter-ish qualities and definitely has power potential from the short slab position, but there's still a lot of zone with. He's pretty passive at the plate. It's just it's all gonna hurt if it keeps that way going forward.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

He's a dark throw. Athletics A's have six players anyway, so they have a big enough checklist of first guys. All right, next we have the left-handed pitcher, Gage Jump. Yeah, Gage Jump.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Uh, the only question is is he gonna hold up? Because he's only six feet tall. He has a high effort delivery, but that fastball is electric. He's also never gone over 112 innings in a season. So he's gotta, he's still gotta prove that he can be durable enough to last long term in this uh in the majors. That's the only question. He's gonna make it to the majors. He's gonna have that electric fastball, he's gonna have the rest of the stuff with good command. But think I think that there's it's fair to have some trepidation about him because he doesn't have the the leading indicators of a long-term starter.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

On to their left-handed pitcher from Taiwan, Wei Enlin.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Wei Anlin. Wei Anlin, he has great. I I used to like Wei Anlin better than Gage Jump. He is he's a few inches taller, he has some projection remaining, it's an easier delivery. He has four pitches that are average or better projection or potential at least. And he's already in double A, and he's only 20. So that's those are the reasons I like him. Jump is already 23, so it it's it's good projection on him. I he just need again, like jump, hasn't really built up a workload yet. He needs to do that. That's the hurdle that he needs to clear this year. He's again come back and done pretty well. After a few rough starts to open the year, he's back to pitching how he was last year. So that's a good sign. I like him. He's in tier two for us.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

Okay. Tier two. All right. That's pretty good for a pitcher. All right, so that is actually five guys for the athletics. So who is who is catching your attention the most on the athletics?

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Yeah, I'm picking Lean. I know most people will pick jump, and I can't blame you for that, but I like Lean's projectability a little bit more.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

All right, let's move on to the Houston Astros. We have three players from them. We'll start with Allen Bur Santa from the DR, right-handed pitcher.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

Yeah, he's a uh low, low, low risk, low reward. I use a reliever. He's probably not a closer, and so he's not really gonna be a hobby guy. I think we can move on from that. Okay. That's pretty much it.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

Then we have Jace Mitchell, seventh round catcher.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

Yeah, he is uh seventh round prep catcher from 2025. He's gotta develop. And they're gonna leave my catcher for now, and he's not good to find behind the plate right now, so he's gonna take a minute. I don't believe he's even in low A. Mitchell's in the complex this year because he has no defensive development whatsoever, except his strong arm, which could play anywhere. Um and he's athletic enough to move to the outfield, but they're gonna develop him as a catcher, which means that it's gonna take a while to get to where we want him to be. There is power. There is power in his frame. It may not be game power right now. Seventh rounder, it's a complete dark throw. If you're interested in like the rawest power of probably this product from a from a prep draftee, he's probably your guy. But we don't we don't know anything yet. Yeah, it's so tough with a catcher.

SPEAKER_00 7:43

And lastly, we have the Astros last hope of having a decent prospect in this prospect in this uh product. Nick Monastery or Monastir.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Monaster. It's it's he emerged last year to vault his status up into being a fourth rounder. It's there's some power, but he's a second baseman. There's always that's always a really high bar to clear for the hobby, and there's not gonna be enough power. He all his game also didn't translate at all to the pro levels in his first 30 games. He's come around in the last week or so, but that could just be a hot week. He's it it's there's no real hobby desirability from from Monaster.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Okay. All right, so the Astros, pretty much not much going on to get too excited about just some dark roads. It's Mitchell, but it's a pure dark throat. Let's move on to the Angels. We have just two prospects uh first on their checklist. We will we will start with Isaiah Jackson, 18th round outfielder.

SPEAKER_01 8:42

Yeah, he is a uh he's a surefire defender in center field. That's that's what got him drafted. I don't think he was an 18th rounder most recently. Okay, it's possible. He was an eighth rounder, eighth round pick. That still leaves him on the um the track of, hey, we're drafting you to play defense, and hopefully your offensive game ticks up enough where you can be a viable fourth outfielder for us eventually. That that's the line that he's on. And the fact that he was drafted in the eighth in the eighth round is on the heels of showing a little bit of pot late in his collegiate career at Arizona State. It's all a work in progress, though. He's gotta he's gotta come around to his hit tool. It hasn't happened yet.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

So he's he's a collegiate dart throw type. And and our other guy in the Angels, we have Johanso Cabrera from the DR again, right fielder.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

Yeah, he's he's your typical right field prototype. Big arm, big, big power projection. Uh it's uh he had a fantastic DSL season. It's not prescriptive of his future success because there's a lot of flaws in his swing. There's a lot of flaws in his swing decisions, but there's a lot of time to develop yet. He's only 18. Power should be his carrying tool as he moves forward. That's the most important thing to take away for you, Hansel Cabrera. Uh, might not happen this year. We'll see how we have how he does in the complex league.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

So anything really worth taking like a second glance at with the Angels?

SPEAKER_01 10:12

I would I would take a dart throw on Cabrera if anybody on here. But it's the Angels, Angels development, Angels development.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

All right, next up we have Seattle Mariners. Again, just just two guys here. Uh, we will start with Ricardo Cova from Venezuela, and looks like he plays a few different places.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

He is he is an outfielder, he does not have any tools to propel and to to good hobby status. Speed is average, but he's not old yet, but he's stalled out multiple times through his development. There's just there's nothing here that's average. He's just not going to make it. It's pretty easy to see, even now. Should we go over Corbin Dickerson or should we skip him? Corbin Dickerson. Well, I actually chased him in draft. He had base base in draft. I believe he is a paper autograph in this. I liked him a lot. He has good power. Um, a lot of swing and miss in his game, but I took the shot on his power in draft, and there's really not much more to say other than that. Okay, so nothing too exciting with the Mariners. Nope. He's gonna be a non-first. Non-first and he's paper. I think I'm pretty sure he's paper.

SPEAKER_00 11:14

Okay. Let's move on to our last team of the AL West, the Texas Rainers. We have four players here. We will start with Caden Scarborough. Six-round pick, right-handed pitcher.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Yeah, he's the dude. He's the the one pitcher we have in tier one. He is uh he was a 2020 23 sixth-round dart throw, two-way player in high school who is shot up like a rocket. He has a four-seamer and a slider with, I think it's a sweeper, with plus potential, and other pitches with above average potential. He uh his command was also above average already at age 20. Man, he's just he he has the highest upside of any pitcher in this product with some level of advancement. You know, he's already he was pitching at high A last year at age 20. I think he's still 21. Right now, he is out because he had skin cancer and he had that taken care of, and then he had immunotherapy, and then he had to build his stamina back up, so that's why he's not active right now. But he should be in the next few weeks. He just turned 21 this time.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

Just 21, yeah. Next up, we have David Davalillo. David Davalio. Right?

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Yep. He has multiple, he's similar to Gage Stanifer, who we talked about back with the back with the Jays. He has some relief risk um because he's only a two-pitch guy. And really this goes to more to being him a reliever. He has a wipeout splitter. It is, you know, 70 grade pitch, but he has a long track record of starting, you know, two seasons of 120 innings, I think it is, uh, and he's really close to the majors. It's easier to see him in the bullpen, but he can also make it, you know, as a starter. That again, the two-pitch approach is gonna hurt his ceiling as far as being, you know, better than a back end guy.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

Then we have Jack Wheeler. He is six rounder, third baseman.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

He's he's my my sleeper of sleepers. He has big power, he has a lot of athleticism, he's also very raw. I like him for a lot of the same reasons. I liked, again, I'm bringing up Tayton Gray. Um, don't think of what Taton Gray has been so far this year. Think of what we thought he was back at around draft time. Just a big athletic kid with a lot of power potential. That's what Jack Wheeler is. He's a lot more raw than than Gray. He's a he's he's more of a third baseman for sure. No, he's a good flyer. He's more than a sleeper, he's more of a flyer. Let's call him. But but I like him a lot. I'll end up with a lot of pieces of him in break because he's gonna be cheap.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

So yeah, that's that's my take on Wheeler. Yeah, you're gonna have to target him in a player draft because you're gonna get that Scarborough premium, I'm sure, if you're getting just Rangers. So something to think about. All right, and we have our final Ranger, our final American League player, Sung Jun Kim.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

Song Sung Song Jun Kim. He's uh it's a two-way, two-way player, so it's like he's he's not gonna there's he's definitely not gonna be in full season ball this year. Period. Don't we don't know what the how much of a runaway they're gonna give him as a two-way player. We don't know if he's gonna end up as a pitcher or a shortstop. But he is a shortstop. He's a very good athlete. That's that's what what we shouldn't be taking away from him right now. Other than that, his baseball skills, don't know. We don't know. Uh again, though, international market, it's gonna be I think the international market is gonna be stronger on him because he's got the two-way thing and the Korean thing going for him. So it's there's there's a lot of strong drum beats with him.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

So Rangers seem like a sneaky fun team as far as what we've outlined so far. Okay. Um well, that does it for our Bowman American League and AL West for this episode preview. Max, do you want to just shout out some of just some of your stuff and what you work on and your your Twitter and stuff one more time?

SPEAKER_01 15:04

Yeah. It my Twitter is just my name, Max Arterburn. Uh, and um all my stuff is gonna be on um Prospects Live. It's is right now it's just working on the preview. As the season rolls along, I have something called Hobby Plus that I'll be doing every few weeks, an update on Hobby Plus. That's a performance-based ranking system of of players with Bowman cards that that you know tracks performances, looks for for things to take away that perhaps guys that you that are doing well that you haven't that aren't doing well in the hobby that are you know you can get a good deal on or something like that, you know? Stuff like that. Hobby Plus is a fun thing that I like doing over the course of the summer.

SPEAKER_00 15:42

Well, thank you again so much for joining us and being able to give us this breakdown. I know it takes a ton of work, a ton of time for you. And yeah, um, and I've appreciated it since well before this podcast. I definitely use a lot of that info that you put out there. So thank you for that. Uh so again, this is Talking Cards with Grant Slimmy in the juice, and I am Max here. Thank you so much. Have a good night, Max. Thank you, Juice.