Michael Taylor, from an average Joe

Hello A's fans.  Just as a background, I am actually a Phillies fan, born and raised in Philadelphia and surrounding area.  The Phis are my team, but I also love the AL West in general (other than the Rangers), more than likely because I lived in Seattle for two years.  One of those two years was the M's 2001 season.  Also, interested in the historical aspect of the game, and the A's used to reside in Philly which is enough to keep me interested.

Anyhow, I had the ability to see Mr. Taylor on numerous occasions last year.  I work about 5 minutes from the Phils AA affiliate and live half way between the AA and AAA affiliate.  I am not a prospect maven and I will never claim to be, but I do follow along pretty closely.  Here is what I saw from the guy. 

First off, he is absolutely huge.  This is a massive massive man at quite a young age.  At AA he makes others look like kids and he still stands out at AAA as well.  In terms of his bat, he has insanely freakishly quick hands.  I really don't know how he gets the bat around as quick as he does and I think it's more an optical illusion because he is so big.  I don't know if that makes any sense at all, but he turns on balls quickly.  I do know that he can come around on an inside pitch without issue so I would not expect him to be the type of guy who will get jammed.  If he has any issues, I would say it would be with lower pitches and plate discipline, but that's pretty normal as far as I am concerned, especially when someone has power like his.  Also, I have never seen him have a "flukely" hit.  Everything is solid contact, kind of reminds me of Vlad, but obviously he is not Vlad.

The part that I was never sold on was his speed.  There is no way he weighs 250 pounds.  He has to be 265, at least and he does have some speed, I just don't see it lasting.  I know it's a smaller sample size, but you could sort of see the game caught up with him a bit in AAA.  I just have a hard time believing that a man that large will be any kind of force on the paths at the major league level.  If there is one thing that I can impress upon you about Taylor, it's that he is a very large man who can hit like crazy.  He's going to be a big guy with power for you who will not kill you on the paths. I have no idea what he will ultimately hit, but from what I have seen he can really hit for average as well as power.  Just don't expect more than 10 bags a year. 

In terms of defense, can't say that I have much information for you.  He was often not playing the field when I saw him in AA and didn't get much action in AAA.  I really don't know where is arm rates and even if I did, I never saw him field so I couldn't verify that.  In terms of prospects, thus far he is surely my favorite to watch throughout my lifetime.  I love the guy and I think you will too.  Congrats.