With the trade for Matt Kemp, our outfield situation has changed. We've also had some minor league performances from outfield prospects that are worth discussing. This makes it a good time to take a look at what the outfields of our full-season teams (including the major league team) will look like in 2017. I'll start with the lowest level (Rome) and work my way up.
Rome: Pache (CF), Ellison, James, Neslony, Baez
The prize prospect here is Cristian Pache. Similar profile to Ronald Acuna, who will likely be a level higher.
Carolina: Acuna (CF), Didder, Moss
It's a shame Acuna has missed so much time due to injury. But I think he showed enough while healthy to get the promotion.
Mississippi: Lien (CF), Davidson, Godfrey, Curcio
A decent group, but not much star quality.
Gwinnett: Dustin Peterson plus some AAAA type signings. Bring back Mel Rojas jr if possible.
Peterson has had a really solid season in AA. But I would be surprised if he gets significant major league playing time in 2017. A year in AAA would be good for him.
Atlanta: Inciarte (CF), Kemp, Markakis, Smith.
The decisions at the major league level will be the interesting ones. Do we keep all four listed above? My view is having four major league quality outfielders is not too many. Guys get hurt. Go into slumps. So having four guys who are good enough to play full-time makes sense. Plus all of the above players have significant platoon splits. This implies we should be resting them now and then against same-handed pitchers. Given that three of the four are lefty hitters, it might make sense to have a fifth outfielder who can hit lefty pitching. I wouldn't be surprised if Francoeur was brought back.
Having said all this, I think we should be open to trading one of the four if we can fill a hole elsewhere or if the return were high enough. I've advocated a Markakis for McCann trade. If the Yankees are uninterested and other similar trades don't pan out, I'm fine with keeping all four.
I would also consider extenting Inciarte. Our strategy with young players should be to extent as many as possible once they've established themselves as solid major league players. These extensions typically give you an AAV that is cheap relative to projected production and to projected arbitration salaries, and you can also add an extra year or two of contractual control.
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