"The biggest difference between the two has been the opportunities Baldelli received, drafted into an organization with a need to fast-track prospects to the bigs."

And that Baldelli's 21. Makes a difference Griff.

Last night, I began to see why they make such a fuss about Baldelli when he nearly beat out a routine ground ball to third after slipping coming out of the batter's box. When you add that he's 21, and he plays center field, and he's hitting .350... well, that's quite a package.

I think he is hitting a bit over his head right now, though. He's drawn 4 walks, and struck out 37 times, which is not exactly a recipe for long-term success. He's not even the best young player in the AL right now: that honour belongs to Hank Blalock (with Teixiera about a
year behind him).

I'm curious about the Jays' plans for Jayson Werth. Normally, they don't bring young kids up to sit on the bench. Is Werth being groomed to be a fourth outfielder behind Wells/Gross/Griffin (or Wells/Gross/Rios, I suppose)? Why isn't he playing every day in Syracuse, where he can learn to draw walks and not strike out as much (he has 1 free pass and 15 strikeouts as I write this)? I suppose it's a small sample size thing.

Werth is a good prospect with the chance of being a good major leaguer but Baldelli has the chance to be a legit MLB star. i know i'd rather have Baldelli on my team, however it's impossible for me to contemplate Rocco having such a high BA in a few months especially with that awful walk to K ratio.

Comparing Werth to Baldelli is ridiculous, Griffin states they are similar players, Baldelli is a contact hitter, werth is more of a power guy and as dp says they are different ages.

Richard Griffin says the main difference between Rocco Baldelli and Jayson Werth is opportunity.

That's why Griff is paid the big bucks.

Last night, I began to see why they make such a fuss about Baldelli when he nearly beat out a routine ground ball to third after slipping coming out of the batter's box.

The good: I agree with Dave. His speed is deceptive and he's got the whole sprinter head thing going on. Don't know what I mean? Watch a world class sprinter run the 100m and you'll see that his or her head doesn't bounce around. If you blacked out the body doing the running, the head would appear to float smoothly down the track. Rocco has that...it's an indication of good form.

The bad: It's not just that he swung at some pretty bad pitches but that he swung at some pretty bad pitches early in the count. Of course, first year players often do that and he might improve.

Prediction of the Ugly: Rocco will have major surgery on his throwing shoulder sometime in the next 5 years. He's got a somewhat herky jerky motion, and doesn't get power from the rest of his body as much as he should.

Ricciardi needs to do something quick, real quick, something drastic, something Richard Griffin can get his claws into, because his latest columns couldn't be anymore stretched, boring and numb. He should start makin' stuff up, like the buddy from the Times does. "Infallible Ricciardi and his fetish for tickle fights in the clubhouse, and how it's angered Blue Jay veterans"