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Short(ish) & sweet today, as the day job looms. A stirring debut from a very promising youngster, and the Jays' affiliates went 4-1 overall but Pulaski will get most of the ink.

Syracuse off

The SkyChiefs (and the whole IL) enjoyed a day of rest. They are in Indianapolis tonight to start a four-game set. Glenn Williams was named an IL All-Star. Congratulations, Glenn, from Batter's Box!


New Hampshire 13 Bowie 2

Scoreline says it all as the Fisher Cats scored six in the first and waltzed. Anton French went 3-for-4 with a homer, a stolen base and two walks, and catcher Victor Valencia had three walks and a single in five trips. Todd Ozias went seven strong innings, allowing seven hits and two runs. The Cats were helped by six errors from Bowie. They remain five games behind Binghamton in the Northern Division.

Boxscore
Game Story


Palm Beach 7 Dunedin 1

The D-Jays aren't the first folks to get fleeced in Palm Beach. The Cardinals won thanks to four runs in the first inning off Neomar Flores, but of Flores's five runs, only two were earned as Dunedin made two errors (Roberts and Tablado; Roberts was also caught stealing). Carlo Cota and Jason Waugh had two hits each.

Boxscore
Short Story


Charleston 11 Hickory 2

The Alley Cats left it until late, but they did it in style, scoring 8 runs in the ninth inning to wallop Hickory. Reliever Joaquin Canizal picked up the win with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief; leadoff hitter and shortstop William Rivera went 4-for-5 with a homer and a HBP. Centerfielder David Smith went 0-for-1 but reached base four times and scored two runs thanks to two walks and two HBP.

Charleston are 2-0 in the second half of the Sally League season.

Boxscore
Game Story


Auburn 7 Williamsport 6

Another win for the Doubledays, who still trail Batavia by a game in the Pinckney Division. Vinny Esposito hit two doubles and walked in five trips to the plate, scoring three times; Adam Lind went 2-for-3 with a walk as well. Jeremy Harper struggled as the starter, giving up six runs and only striking out one in his five innings of work; Matthew Dalton pitched three innings of shutout ball in relief to earn a well-deserved win and Dewon Day nailed down the save with a hitless 9th.

Box favourite Chip Cannon? 1-for-3 with a walk and his 3rd RBI of the campaign... the game-winner!

Boxscore
Game Story


Pulaski 7 Princeton 5

Just as the big team did, the P-Jays enjoyed a stirring come-from-behind win over the Devil Rays. The Princeton Devil Rays, in this case. Pulaski actually allowed four runs in the 8th off reliever Scott Roy (and partially thanks to an error from SS Eugenio Velez) to trail 5-4, but came back with three of their own in the 9th on a three-run homer by Luke Hetherington before Michael Rider slammed the door in the 9th.

The real story here, though, was the professional debut of the much-heralded Chi-Hung Cheng, who struck out nine Devil Rays in five innings, though he made an error that led to an unearned run to blot his copybook. His final line of 5 3 1 0 1 9 is extremely promising. I'd like to figure out why he's listed as 24 years old rather than 19, though. Any ideas? Just an error, I think, as the most recent story out of Pulaski refers to him as 19.

Rider struck out three himself, and recent signee Adrian Martin struck out three as well in two scoreless and hitless innings of relief. A total of 15 Pulaski punchouts.

On the offensive side, Hetherington (3-for-5) and Nick Thomas hit home runs and Eugenio Velez went 3-for-4 with two doubles.

Roanoke.com has an article about the P-Jays.

Boxscore


The Three Stars

3rd Star : New Hampshire LF Anton French with a line of 4 3 3 4, a homer and also two walks.

2nd Star : Pulaski starter Chi-Hung Cheng with a line of 5 3 1 0 1 9 in his professional debut.

1st Star : Pulaski LF Luke Hetherington, because when you hit a three-run homer in the ninth to lead your team to a come-from-behind win, you get the first star. Hetherington's line was 5 2 3 3.

Minor League Update : June 24 | 51 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
_Brian - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 09:47 AM EDT (#55380) #
Has anyone heard anything about when Quiroz might be back? I'm going to see the Skychiefs on July 2 in Buffalo and I'm hoping he'll be back by then.
_MatO - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 10:33 AM EDT (#55381) #
The Blue Jay guidebook lists Cheng as 19. I assume you saw that age on the roster page for Pulaski at milb.com? I noticed that too. I also saw that Edward(s?) Rodriguez was a lefty which had me scampering back to the guidebook (no he's a righty).
_Brent - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 10:36 AM EDT (#55382) #
×£ºØ to Chi-Hung Cheng for a great performance last night. I can imagine the game would be one of the most stressful of his career -- first professional North American game, new teamates, new language, etc.

JP was right, the kid does have an out pitch.
_Brent - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 10:38 AM EDT (#55383) #
Hmm. It seems I can't write with Chinese characters on the 'Box. Well, pinyin will have to do: zhu he!
Gerry - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 10:56 AM EDT (#55384) #
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/06/24/Sports/FSL__Blue_Jay_s_feet_.shtml
COMN for a Vito swimming story
Mike Green - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 12:03 PM EDT (#55385) #
Will the JP tradition of Auburn powerhouses continue? It sure looks like it. In a week or two, the team might very well look like this:

C- Curtis Thigpen, David Corrente
1B/DH- Chip Cannon, Joey Metropoulos
2B- Brian Hall
SS- Ryan Klosterman
3B- Vinnie Esposito
LF- Adam Lind
CF- Aaron Mathews
RF- Jarad Mangioni

The pitching staff will likely have Purcey, Jackson, Janssen, Donnie Hill, Chris Leonard among others. I don't know that they can post a .700 plus winning percentage like last year's Doubledays, but that is some offence.
Mike Green - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 12:13 PM EDT (#55386) #
It should be a good night on the farm- Josue Matos starts for Syracuse against Milwaukee prospect Ben Hendrickson, Josh Banks starts for New Hampshire, Vince Perkins for Dunedin and Kurt Isenberg in Charleston.

I'd like to check up on Banks, so I'll do some BBRadio tonight. Anybody else up for it?

Incidentally, Davis Romero pitched well for Charleston last night (he was 1 out away from getting the win, but was pulled presumably for pitch count reasons). He struck out 5 and walked nobody in 4.2 innings.
_Finn McCool - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 12:22 PM EDT (#55387) #
Josh Banks is probably going to be pretty pumped for this start. He grew not far from Bowie and will have alot of friends and family in the stands.
_Jacko - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 01:37 PM EDT (#55388) #
http://www.baseballamerica.com/cgi-bin/statsfindplayer.pl?player=kinsler
This is a bit of a hijack, but the #1 rated guy on the BA Prospect Hot Sheet is now Texas SS prospect Ian Kinsler. COMN.

He was a 17th round draft pick in 2003.

I have no idea what caused him to fall so far, but the entire scouting community somehow missed him. It's guys like him that make me want to draft higher ceiling guys with late round picks rather than freak stat guys like Jayce Tingler.
_Marc - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 01:43 PM EDT (#55389) #
I think the Jays are one of the best organizations in recent drafts identifying and making late round picks. Chiaravalloti, Mastny, Roberts, etc.... Heck you can even add Aaron Mathews to that list. Justin James was another astute pick, albeit higher at Round 5... He was considered a difficult sign because he was a sophmore. The Jays have also done well to draft players who did very well in their first two years of college but slipped some in their junior years (Chiaravalloti, Leonard, etc).
_Chris H - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 03:09 PM EDT (#55390) #
It was mentioned before that Matt Logan had been dealt to the Reds...NH Cats just sent out an update stating the Cats have added Reds reliever Travis Thompson for Matt Logan. Thompson was 3-1 with 34K's in 34IP...

If i did it right...COMN
Craig B - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 03:19 PM EDT (#55391) #
Click Here for Chris H's article. Chris, you have to put the address in the "Homepage" field, not the E-Mail one. You had the right idea, though.
_Chris H - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 03:21 PM EDT (#55392) #
Yeah, that kind of makes sense....dont know what i was thinking...thanks.
_Jordan - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 03:42 PM EDT (#55393) #
http://www.sports-wired.com/players/profile.asp?Name=HF
Thompson is your basic minor-league journeyman (he's 29) who's been knocking around Single- and Double-A for quite some time. But he has been posting some interesting BB/K rates the last year or so. He'll be a useful part of the Fisher Cats pen. COMN for his record. Logan presumably will be trying out for the Canadian Olympic team as a member of the Reds' farm system; he didn't really have a future in Toronto, or likely even Syracuse.
Craig B - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 03:43 PM EDT (#55394) #
It's guys like him that make me want to draft higher ceiling guys with late round picks rather than freak stat guys like Jayce Tingler

I'll just point out that if Tingler can do a quarter of what Kinsler did, and add just a little bit of power, he'll vault way ahead as a prospect. Kinsler had a ridiculous amount of power appear out of nowhere in Instructional League this winter, a testament to what player development at the pro level can do. He had some doubles power at the juco level, and flashed some again in short-season A ball, but just doubles power. He didn't hit a lick at Arizona State, then transferred to Missouri for 2003 where he was a freakin' TEAMMATE of Jayce Tingler. And no, Kinsler's performance was not as good as Tingler's there (though he was good) he was marginally ahead in power and maybe a tiny bit in the speed numbers (more of a draw), but way behind in hitting for average and plate control, and not as good in the field (Kinsler made 16 errors in 48 games at short, Tingler was a brilliant centerfielder at that level).

And the point about Kinsler was that *everybody* missed him. Saying you should pick guys with higher upside, so you can get the Ian Kinslers, misses the point because *nobody* thought Kinsler had very much upside! I doubt that there was one single scout out there who thought that Kinsler had big-league potential. I might have gone for him before the 17th round if I thought he could handle the middle infield at the higher levels (something that remains in doubt). Otherwise I wouldn't have touched him. If you were picking upside guys in the 16th round you probably would have gone for someone like Heath Castle, the pitcher out of Kentucky who's a big athletic football-playing lefty. You can see upside stamped all over that guy.
_Ducey - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 03:44 PM EDT (#55395) #
http://www.sports-wired.com/players/profile.asp?Name=HF
Here are Thompson's minor league stats. COMN

Not bad (1999 was great) but he has been stuck at AA forever.
Craig B - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 03:49 PM EDT (#55396) #
Sorry, I posted before I finished. Anyway, I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader to check out how Heath Castle's career is going right now.

The guy the Jays actually got in the 16th round was Joey Reiman, the small-college catcher who's showing some doubles power in the Sally League after a fine debut with the bat in Pulaski last year. I wouldn't be lying to say Reiman's right about at what Kinsler was doing last year. :) (Whether he adds even 10% of what Kinsler has, hey who knows, and he's also older).
_Rob - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 03:49 PM EDT (#55397) #
So what does the NH hitting roster look like now? I haven't paid attention in...about a month, so Anton French is new to me.

My Guess:
Umbria C
Valencia C
Snyder 1B/DH
Rich 2B
Hill SS
Solano 3B
Cosby 3B (hurt)
French LF/CF
Godwin LF/RF
Singleton CF
Jova RF
Griffin DH/1B/LF

Am I close?
_Ducey - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 03:53 PM EDT (#55398) #
http://www.sports-wired.com/players/profile.asp?Name=HF
Never paid much attention to Logan. Here are his stats COMN He is Canadian but never hit for much pop despite his size, especially for a 1B.
Gerry - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 03:57 PM EDT (#55399) #
Rob, I think you are right. I think they need another infielder in case Rich or Adams need a break.
Mike Green - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 04:02 PM EDT (#55400) #
http://milb.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=minorbaseball&page=milb-east/scores/final/boxscore.aspx?GAMEID=9976
That's it, Rob. COMN for the boxscore from 2 days ago.

The only puzzle is third base, and why neither Cota nor Tablado was promoted to NH from Dunedin, when Roberts arrived. Both Cota and Tablado are old enough and have had enough success in Dunedin to merit the call, and either would sure give the F-Cats a hand in trying to catch Binghamton.
Mike Green - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 04:04 PM EDT (#55401) #
Gerry, shades of last year. Rich or Hill, you meant, instead of Rich or Adams.

Rob, if you'd like to do part of the NH game, I'll gladly split it with you.
_Jordan - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 04:10 PM EDT (#55402) #
Between the two of them, I'd really like to see Cota bumped up. He's the oldest of the three left-side-of-the-infielders, and impressive as Tablado has been, I'd like to see him run into his imminent cold spell at Dunedin and work through it, rather than running into it at Double-A and believing himself overmatched. Tablado from all accounts is not a natural at shortstop and ought to be at third.

Actually, now that I think of it, Dragicevich might be an option for the Fisher Cats, if all they want is another infield bat.
_Rob - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 04:17 PM EDT (#55403) #
Rob, if you'd like to do part of the NH game, I'll gladly split it with you.

Oh, yeah...I forgot about the Batter's Box Minor League Radio Network. Haven't called a game in a while, what with exams and nice weather getting in my way.

Sure, I'll call some. When do you want to do it? I'll just fill in the rest.
Hey..the actual radio team is Rob and Mike as well. Spooky.
Mike Green - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 04:19 PM EDT (#55404) #
Jordan, I'd be totally satisfied with either. Tablado seems to struggle offensively when he's asked to play short and prospers when he's at third, but it certainly wouldn't hurt him to have another 100 ABs in Dunedin to see how he manages.
Craig B - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 04:19 PM EDT (#55405) #
French is a classic knockaround guy who is now playing for his sixteenth professional team in New Hampshire. He's been in the Cardinals organization, the Braves, the Tigers, the Blue Jays (in '97 at Dunedin and Knoxville), the Mariners, the Red Sox, the Devil Rays and now the Blue Jays again. In between, he managed to squeeze in three full years in three different independent leagues (Northern League, Northeastern League, Atlantic League) and part of a fourth in a fourth before getting back into organized baseball in 2002 with the Red Sox organization.

The Jays picked him up earlier this month, presumably to provide cover for the shortage of OFs in the organization, after he was released by the D-Rays. He originally left in '97 as a minor-league Rule 5 pick by Seattle. He plays a speed game, a rather prolific basestealer, but he's hitting .362/.439/.603 as a Fisher Cat, and frankly if it weren't for the jam-packed 40-man roster I'd just as soon see him in left field as Dave Berg. French doesn't have big-league talent except on the basepaths (and maybe in the field) but he's already stolen 21 bases in 47 games this year (and been caught twice).
_Jordan - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 04:25 PM EDT (#55406) #
Kershner cleared waivers and is now at Syracuse. Stamp that man "fungible."
Mike Green - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 04:26 PM EDT (#55407) #
OK, Rob, you can do the first half, and I'll close. See if you coax 6 innings out of Banks, will ya?
Mike Green - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 04:29 PM EDT (#55408) #
Craig B,

I listened to part of the NH game last night. French's homer was smoked over the centerfield wall. Maybe Kinsler and French are drinking from the same fountain.
_Rob - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 04:34 PM EDT (#55409) #
Tough career path for Mr. French. Didn't make AA until his 5th year, or AAA until his 11th. Ouch.

and frankly if it weren't for the jam-packed 40-man roster I'd just as soon see him in left field as Dave Berg

I'd rather see anyone in left than Berg. Maybe the Jays can sign me -- I'd make less money than him, hit less than him, field worse than him -- but how cool would that be? :)

OK, Rob, you can do the first half, and I'll close. See if you coax 6 innings out of Banks, will ya?

I'll do my best with Mr. Banks.
Mr. Banks...anyone else immediately think of "Father of the Bride", Martin Short's character?
_Jordan - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 04:42 PM EDT (#55410) #
Actually, for me it's closer to Joe Banks, the protagonist of Joe Versus The Volcano, which has the dubious distinction of being the worst of the three Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan movies.
_Rob - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 04:50 PM EDT (#55411) #
being the worst of the three Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan movies.

There was a good one?
_Nigel - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 05:59 PM EDT (#55412) #
"Stamp that man "fungible"" - nice touch!

Joking aside, I'm still a little perplexed about Tablado. Playing SS doesn't seem right for him. I know its a small sample size but Cota's shown the least power of the three this year and the limited reports I've seen about Cota suggest that he's likely to have the least power going forward. Shifting Tablado to SS doesn't totally compute for me.
_Jonny German - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 06:02 PM EDT (#55413) #
Kershner cleared waivers and is now at Syracuse. Stamp that man "fungible."

Actually, if I understand Nigel's reasoning in regards to Scott Eyre yesterday, we won't know if Kershner is currently fungible for a couple years. It seems a players' performance before being waived is irrelevant, it's whether or not he plays well after being waived.

Yeah, it blows my mind too. You can't call "fungible" unless you can see the future. Crazy.
_Jonny German - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 06:04 PM EDT (#55414) #
Oops, Nigel's post wasn't up when I put that up, so it looks nastier than I intended. Sorry Nigel, just disagreeing with your take on fungibility (or perhaps, your expectations of front-office clairvoyancy).
_Rob - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 07:03 PM EDT (#55415) #
I hate doing this after I said I was going to listen to the game for BBRadio, but I forgot I had plans tonight. I don't know if you're here yet, Mike, but I can't do any of the game tonight. Sorry -- I'll do a game soon to make up for it. :)
_Nigel - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 07:04 PM EDT (#55416) #
Jonny my point was yesterday was that at the time Eyre was released he had been pitching well as a reliever, wasn't costing much and was left handed. He's continued to be all of those things (other than his salary has gone up) in the intervening 2 years. I didn't see the point then of getting rid of him and still don't. I couldn't see the point of waiving Kershner either but he's cleared waivers so - all to the good.
_Jacko - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 07:30 PM EDT (#55417) #

I'll just point out that if Tingler can do a quarter of what Kinsler did, and add just a little bit of power, he'll vault way ahead as a prospect.

Pardon my bluntness Craig, but ARE YOU ON CRACK???

Kinsler has 52(!) extra base hits (16 HR) in 250 AB, all while hitting over .400. Tingler is hitting .256 with 13 doubles in the same amount of playing time. And it's not like Kinsler is a mindless hacker, he's picked up 29 walks in that time period, so he's safely in the 10% range for patience. Kinsler did much of this damage in slow A, but his numbers have actually gotten stronger since being promoted to AA (.525 OBP, 1.029 SLG).

Take off the rose tinted glasses man.

He didn't hit a lick at Arizona State, then transferred to Missouri for 2003 where he was a freakin' TEAMMATE of Jayce Tingler.

That is a very funny coincidence.

And no, Kinsler's performance was not as good as Tingler's there (though he was good) he was marginally ahead in power

About about 100 points of isolated power. But I agree that his college stats were nothing to write home about.

I think you need to face facts Craig. Tingler is 5'8"/150 while Kinsler is 6'0"/175. Tingler is built like Chone Figgins, while Kinsler is built more like like Nomar Garciaparra. Unless Tingler puts on about 20 pounds of solid muscle, I don't see him adding much power.

It's pretty clear to me who has the higher ceiling. Why isn't it to you?

And for what it's worth, I think Ryan Roberts (who was drafted around the same time as Kinsler) has a far brighter future than Tingler as well. I'm trying as hard as I can, but I just can't get excited by no-power speed guys, even when they are walk freaks.

If Tingler does end up turning into Chone Figgins and Kinsler flames out, I will eat some very tasty crow. However, at the rate Kinsler is going, he's going to end up in the majors come roster expansion time in September.
Mike Green - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 08:01 PM EDT (#55418) #
I can't get a connection to the New Hampshire game, and milb.com hasn't posted a score yet, so perhaps it's raining in Bowie.
_Fisher Cat Fan - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 08:11 PM EDT (#55419) #
Yup, it's raining in Bowie. Unfortunately it's raining runs for Bowie. 7-0 Bowie in the fourth. Banks gave up a grand slam in the first inning and gave up two more later. All runs are earned. Tough start in his home town.
Mike Green - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 08:12 PM EDT (#55420) #
Syracuse (Matos) at Indianapolis (Hendrickson)

Top of 1

Russ Adams bloops a double down the right-field line. Stubby Clapp grounds out, Adams to third. Gabe Gross walks. Glenn Williams grounds into a 4-6-3 DP.

0-0 going to the bottom of the first.
Mike Green - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 08:16 PM EDT (#55421) #
Bottom of 1

Peter Bergeron grounds to short, but Adams can't come up with it; it's his 19th error. Matt Erickson grounds into a 4-6-3 DP (Sequea's playing second tonight). Chris Magruder strikes out looking on a 12-6 curveball.

0-0 after 1.
Mike Green - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 08:27 PM EDT (#55422) #
Top of 2 in Indianapolis:

Simon Pond grounds a single to right. Julius Matos singles to right on the hit-and-run, Pond to third. Shawn Fagan singles to right, Pond scores and Julius Matos goes to second. Jorge Sequea flies to Corey Hart in right-center, Julius Matos to third. Paul Chiaffredo grounds into a 5-4-3 DP.

1-0 Syracuse going to the bottom of 2.
Mike Green - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 08:40 PM EDT (#55423) #
Bottom of 2:

Corey Hart grounds out to third. Wes Helms doubles off the left-field wall. Mark Johnson singles infield between third and short, Helms advancing to third. Chris Coste lines a single to center, Helms scores and Johnson moves up to second. Brandon Gemoll flies out to right. Luis Figeroa bloops a single to left, and Simon Pond makes a poor and weak throw to the plate (20 feet up the line). Peter Bergeron flies out to center.

2-1 Indianapolis after 2.

It's a tough day for the affiliates. Josh Banks, Kurt Isenberg and Vince Perkins are all getting hit hard.
Mike Green - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 08:49 PM EDT (#55424) #
Top of 3:

Adams makes an out, which I miss. The Stubb grounds out to first. Gabe Gross walks again. Glenn Williams runs the count to 3-0, and then grounds out to second.

2-1 Indianapolis going to the bottom of 3. I'm done at the end of this half-inning.
Mike Green - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 08:55 PM EDT (#55425) #
Bottom of 3:

Matt Erickson lines out to Julius Matos who makes a nice running catch in right-center. Chris Magruder flies out to center. Corey Hart flies out to Stubby also.

2-1 Indianapolis after 3.

I'm going. Ben Hendrickson has a much better ERA this year, but I'd rather have David Bush out there.
Craig B - Thursday, June 24 2004 @ 11:19 PM EDT (#55426) #
Jacko, I wasn't suggesting that Tingler would jump of Kinsler. Thanks for thinking the worst of me, though. (Yes, that would be insane). He would jump well ahead of where he is now... scheduled to stall out in the high minors. He needs to add a little power to break through.

There's no point in arguing with you, because you're not adopting a position, just saying you think teams should draft for "upside" as if they weren't. Are you even listening to me? No one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, NO ONE knew Kinsler had a fraction of the upside he's shown. I would bet that no one even suspected it.

Unless Tingler puts on about 20 pounds of solid muscle, I don't see him adding much power.

Well, most players add power as they age. And players do get bigger (Ian Kinsler doesn't weigh 175 pounds now) through one reason or another. Yes, Tingler will have to do that. Is that really out of the question? Players do this all the time.

It's pretty clear to me who has the higher ceiling. Why isn't it to you?

Well, it's clear now. The point is whether it was clear on Draft Day.
_Tim - Friday, June 25 2004 @ 12:18 AM EDT (#55427) #
Dunedin won tonight. 8-6 in thirteen innings. Save to Brian Reed. Grand slam by big Vito in the top of the ninth.

Pulaski won by another large margin: 17-6. Take a look at those batting averages. 7 of 9 starters batting over .333 and 4 starters ove4 .400. Of course that won't last long, but it's a pretty sight.

All of our other teams lost, so their box scores aren't as fun to look at.
_Jacko - Friday, June 25 2004 @ 12:39 AM EDT (#55428) #

Jacko, I wasn't suggesting that Tingler would jump of Kinsler. Thanks for thinking the worst of me, though. (Yes, that would be insane). He would jump well ahead of where he is now... scheduled to stall out in the high minors. He needs to add a little power to break through.

My fault for putting words in your mouth.

In the context of what you said, it seemed like "(of Kinsler)" was floating at the end of your first paragraph. Ridiculous as that sounded :)

even listening to me?

Sure I am.

No one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, NO ONE knew Kinsler had a fraction of the upside he's shown. I would bet that no one even suspected it.

Obviously, or he would have gone a lot sooner than the 17th round :)

I agree it's a great fluke for Texas that Kinsler turned out to be a few adjustments away from being a scary power hitter. And surprisigly enough, and adept defender at SS as well from what I've read (not sure why the scouts missed so badly on that).

Well, it's clear now. The point is whether it was clear on Draft Day

Agreed. I think my rant today was driven mostly out of envy.

A quick perusal of several teams' 2003 drafts yielded a bushel full of guys who hit for power in college. Not many (any?) of them have gone on to have seasons as strong as Kinsler.

I still can't shake the feeling that power is a critical tool for guys coming out of college, but I can't find much evidence to support it.
_Fawaz K - Friday, June 25 2004 @ 01:03 AM EDT (#55429) #
I think you two should hug now.
Craig B - Friday, June 25 2004 @ 08:46 AM EDT (#55430) #
Consider my hug exchanged. Sorry for the rant. Besides, Jacko gets a free pass from me for *any* disagreements the rest of the week after his trenchant analysis of the Beltran trade in the other thread.

We all engage in this sort of blue-skying. (And yes, envy is the prime source... the thought of having an Ian Kinsler in your system is enough to inspire that). But as I was saying to Gleeman last night as we were talking about this very thing, too often what we say about prospects is "you know who's a good player? That Ian Kinsler. We ought to draft more Ian Kinslers and fewer guys like Joe Meathead over there." Which is great, but the natural followup to that is "yeah, and we should try to pick up a Roger Clemens or two while we're at it. And grab a Billy Wagner lower down."

Sigh. So much we don't know. Every tool we have to project players, from 60-to-80 tools analysis, to performance-based number crunching, gets us a grand total of not very far. No better argument for that than the Matt Bush Saga currently unfolding down in sagebrush country.
Minor League Update : June 24 | 51 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.