Who knows the mind of Stan Kasten? Who has been his counsellor?
It ain’t me, babe. But if I had to take a WAG, it would be that the Nats’ brain trust thinks they can be in contention by 2009, see Cordero as their closer on that team, and would have to get good value for him.
Rooting for the Nats is rather fun right now. The expectations are still minimal, because it’s hard, even now, to see what’s keeping this team from going 55-107. But they’re 48-60 right now, at the season’s 2/3 mark, so they’re almost sure to avoid the embarrassment of losing 100. They could even win 70 (they’re on pace to go 72-90), but I’ll believe it when it happens.
Trading Melky Cabrera wouldn’t have just been not a good idea, it would have been fucking insane. I wouldn’t trade Melky Cabrera for two Eric Gagnes if you paid the Gagnes’ salaries for me. I wouldn’t trade Melky Cabrera for almost anyone. He’s only 22 and he’s hitting .289 with decent peripherals, runs the bases well, and plays a good center field. He’s an absolute Grade A prospect, the most underrated prospect in baseball. His power upside isn’t huge but he could get to midrange homers and contend for batting titles. We’re talking All-Star calibre talent, a guy who could get 2500-3000 hits.
Let me put it this way: Melky Cabrera, at 22, is a WAY better player than Bernie Williams, Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, or Jason Giambi were. He’s very advanced for his age. Any team in the major leagues could use him. I would trade any Blue Jay position player for him straight up, save maybe Alex Rios.
I don’t see Melky ever developing into a great defensive center fielder, but if he picks up his average and some power as I think he will, he will be either a plus defensive RF with a solid RF bat or an average CF with a plus arm and plus bat for CF. I know I can live with his CF defense or RF bat.
I doubt he will turn out to be as good as Bernie or Paul O’Neill, however he shows a lot of patience at the plate for a 22 year old. I find this to be a great sign. You are right however, he is better than Paulie & Bernie at this age.
As far as Jason, well we know why Jason went from a OK player to MVP I think.
Mo’ is an oddity, he had an arm injury and a year later when he was fully recovered, he went from throwing 88mph pre-injury to 96 mph post-recovery. This is not something that could be predicted at age 22. He pretty much turned into a prospect overnight. Gene Michaels was getting weekly reports and never considered Mo’ a prospect, then one week the numbers came in that he hit 98 and threw mostly around 96. Gene called the scouting director immediately to find out about who made the mistake. The scout direct told him that they already double-checked the numbers and they were legit. This is not a normal occurance.
Jorge was a little slow to develop as he switched to Catcher from 2b when he was around 21 or 22. At that point he was known as a slow 2B with a very plus bat for a 2B prospect. However, they thought his defense would never be any good and with his arm, they suggested the move to catcher.
He only has one error this year and 9 assists. Not too bad. Plus, one thing I’ve noticed is that he’s a mature fielder; he doesn’t try to make ridiculous catches that turn singles into doubles and triples (Manny does this twice a month at least). He’s better than Damon.
How do you figure he’s patient? He’s only walked 28 times this year.
Another concern I’d have is that he lacks power and has a rather low slugging average for a beefy outfielder.
Hardly. He is the best defensive center fielder in the game, and one of the best in the history of the game. He saves his team with brilliant defensive plays on a regular basis.
As for his batting, he leads an offensively talented Braves team in RBI. That hardly qualifies him as a “dead spot.”
His range is average for a CF, great defenders would have a plus range. It would be a considerable plus in RF. He has an RF’s arm however. That helps his Defense a lot in any of the positions.
The patience at the plate I am measuring by direct observation of his taking pitches. I am also comparing him to Robbie Cano and Soriano. Neither have any plate discipline.
His power number should improve and CF and 20 homer power is usually considered fine. I think he has this in him. If he moved to RF, he will have below expectation power for RF.
RickJay, have you seen Duncan yet? Can a player as old a Shelley Duncan, learn to play adequate 1b defense? Do you think the league will catch up to him quickly, or will he just be another 1-month wonder? I think with the Yankee’s logjam of Designated Hitters, Duncan is probably strictly trade material. I have not seen the holes in his batting yet. I am sure they are there. He just does not seem to have a fit on the Yanks.
Somewhat off topic, but Barry Bonds blew the perfect opportunity for #755 last night in Dodger Stadium, where they held a pre-game clinic for Little Leaguers on, yep, steroid awareness.
Duncan has plus power but he’s just a Kevin Maas/Shane Spencer type having his career year. He’s been old for the leagues he had good years at; he hit 34 homers for Trenton in 2005, but he was 25, which is old for AA. He’s having his best year this year - he was great at Scranton before being called up - but you expect 27-year-olds to have their best years. You never know, he might have a few good seasons, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Duncan played full time first base at Trenton in 2005, so it’s not like the position is new to him.
The long awaited returned of Phillip Hughes was somewhat less than hoped for. He got the win, but he could not handle the KC line-up. A line-up with less home runs than A-Rod has by himself. (Seriously, I checked)
Hopefully, he will look better in his next outing.
Meanwhile with Det, Cle & Sea all losing, Yanks are now only 1½ out of the wild card, 2 behind Cleveland and 1 behind Seattle. They remain 7 behind of Boston.
Thank you for the assessment. Everything I have heard indicated that he does and will play First, no better than Jason Giambi does. I know he plays first, he even played third for a while early on. They have had him in left field. Every report for the last few years, he is all bat and no glove.
Good one coming tonight. I live closer to Philadelphia than to New York, so the only time I actually get to see the Mets on TV is when they’re on national TV, when they play the Phillies, and when they play the Braves. My daughter and I have big plans to watch; I’ve already taught her to say “El Doo-Kay!” and “Laaaaaaaarrrrrrry” at the proper times.
It is less than a month since I started this thread. In that time the Yanks have completely turned it around and as of tonight sit .001 points behind the Mariners for the Wild Card and only 5 behind Boston for the Eastern Division of the American League.
All I can say is WooHoo!
Tonight the Rookie Phil Hughes pitched a 6 innings 1 run game and the kid Joba Chamberlain pitched another 2 great innings of relief and Mo closed the game.
I don’t know how this year is going to finish up, but the future is looking bright for the Yanks with an infusion of good young players like Wang, Hughes, Chamberlain, Cano, Cabrera, Karstens and Wilson Betemit.
There are several more good young pitchers in Scranton and Trenton.
The most pertinent point of all is probably the fact that the Yankees, now 5 GB, still have 6 games head to head with the Red Sox. I’m not seeing shit stains on the backs of Boston’s uniforms just yet, but if it gets any closer anytime soon…
I’m glad to see the Phillies hanging in there without Utley. Just 3 GB as of this moment, with a couple of series left with the Mets. Just find some pitching, guys, and it will happen.
Oh, and all those Mets fans who’ve been fingering rosaries and shaking chicken bones over the imminent return of Pedro Martinez? You might want to find some stronger voodoo. Word is he got puréed by a class A team the other night.
I’m getting a little concerned out in the NL West. The Diamondbacks are not going away, and the Padres (my pick) are lollygagging these days. Might have to do some rethinking.
Most of the rest of it is going (mostly) according to plan.
Well, if the Braves keep winning every series (as they’ve done recently) I’m feeling pretty good. A win tomorrow (with Smoltz on the mound) and they will have taken two of three from the Phillies.
Addendum to the above: I saw that Brandon Webb now has two shutouts in a row, something like 33 straight scoreless innings. I think I just figured out how the Diamondbacks are doing it. If he goes another game without giving up a run, it may turn significant. I’m old enough to remember when Hersheiser set the record back in '88, and I know how that whole thing turned out.
Sorry to get to the thread so late… Bravos are now 2.5 back. Rolling on through August. Reminds me of, what was it? 1992 or 1993 when it came down to the last day of the regular season with the Giants… those were good times in Georgia.
Reversal of fortune: Smoltz did not go tonight, but Ryan Howard did. Deep, that is. Phils take two of three. Yes, there is someone saying “get the hell out of the way”; they’re the guys wearing red pinstripes.
Saw the Braves\Phills game on ESPN. When Andruw came up, the graphics stat was 'lowest average in MLB (minimun 300 ABs) and the announcer were talking about how the Braves would love to get this guy going. He’s hitting .216.
He would fit in well with my Dodgers. Some of them can catch the ball, but not many can seem to hit it. At least, not with runners in soring position. The once proud leaders of the NL West have fallen to 4th place.
