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Post by azblue on Jun 5, 2013 21:58:56 GMT -5
If they trade Xander I will stay in the corner of a room in fetal position sobbing yelling "why" once in a while for the rest of my life. Those of us old enough to remember did that after the Jeff Bagwell trade.
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Post by azblue on Jun 5, 2013 9:59:32 GMT -5
Gammons: The player who seems to have risen the most in the closing weeks is Gardena, Cal. First baseman Dominic Smith. One scouting director says “he had the best interview I’ve conducted in three years,” and Smith wowed one National League general manager, who compared his makeup to that of Darin Erstadt. Smith is considered a James Loney defender with huge power potential, and that power was put on a very impressive display this past weekend in Dodger Stadium. “I would not be surprised to see the Pirates or even the Red Sox take him in the top ten,” says one GM. www.baseballanalytics.org/baseball-analytics-blog/2013/6/5/peter-gammons-2013-mlb-draft-notes.html
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Post by azblue on Jun 4, 2013 9:43:02 GMT -5
I thought the story was that Place was shell shocked. His father was a marine drill instructor and ran the home the way he did his day job. I had not heard that Place's problem was being stubborn.
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Post by azblue on Jun 3, 2013 21:26:58 GMT -5
Have there been any leaks about names of prospects who attended the pre-workout at Fenway today?
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Post by azblue on Jun 2, 2013 22:14:22 GMT -5
The MLBTV pre-draft show was superficial (no surprise). Anyone else roll their eyes any time that Greg Amsinger opens his mouth?
What do you say about Harold Reynolds? He is becoming the caricature that Joe Morgan was. He cannot believe that anyone could have a different opinion than his. He gushes over every African-American player (sometimes justified, but often it is not). He states his opinions in an over-the-top way to try to intimidate anyone else from disagreeing with him. He plays the "I played the game" card when cornered. His favorite bullying tactic is to say, "I'm sorry...(followed by an extreme view)" over and over.
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Post by azblue on Jun 2, 2013 13:05:10 GMT -5
Colin Moran and Skye Bolt, who bats cleanup behind Moran for UNC, were both hitting just under .400 when Bolt returned to the lineup (after being out a few weeks with an injury) 11 games ago. Moran is now at .352 and Bolt at .343. After singling in his first AB returning from the injury,Bolt has gone 10-49. Moran is a little better at 12-52, but that includes a 4-5 game against UVa, so he is hitting .170 in the other 10 games. Moran also has just one RBI in the last seven games, and is striking out much more frequently... 10 times in the last 13 games, after just 11 in the first 49.
Draftitis?
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Post by azblue on Jun 2, 2013 11:19:20 GMT -5
Louisville Slugger All-America teams: www.goheels.com/pdf9/2268985.pdf?DB_LANG=C&SITE=UNC&DB_OEM_ID=3350Kris Bryant is POY. Really odd that players who will go in the top of the first round are not on the first team ( Gray, Moran and Stanek), even though their stats (particularly in the case of Gray) are more impressive than some first team selections. In Moran's case, they are likely being strict regarding positions, since Bryant is the first team first baseman.
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Post by azblue on May 31, 2013 23:05:01 GMT -5
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Post by azblue on May 30, 2013 21:45:35 GMT -5
A costly error by Xander:
Portland Sea Dogs
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Drake Britton (L, 3-5) 5.0 7 5 1 1 7 0 4.11 Pete Ruiz 2.0 4 2 2 2 1 0 4.38 Jeremy Kehrt 2.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5.11 Totals 9.0 12 7 3 3 8 0 3.96
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Post by azblue on May 29, 2013 10:29:30 GMT -5
The break between the first round and the compensation round is in the wrong place. These picks follow 27 in your list above:
28. Cardinals* 29. Rays* 30. Rangers* 31. Braves* 32. Yankees* 33. Yankees*
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Post by azblue on May 28, 2013 22:26:46 GMT -5
"Football and basketball players have been known to start playing late in high school or even college, but I do not think that comparisons necessarily carries over to baseball."
Football? I agree. But, basketball??? I cannot think of a single professional basketball player who did not play any basketball until college. I think baseball and hockey are the most difficult of the major sports to take up late.
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Post by azblue on May 26, 2013 12:33:29 GMT -5
If you sign several of the top 10 prospects on one signing season and pay the price the next year (or even two years, depending on how rules change), that may indeed be better than missing out on the elite prospects every year. At least you have an opening to use this strategy until the next CBA.
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Post by azblue on May 26, 2013 12:20:14 GMT -5
"They hired Kevin Goldstein to be their pro scouting coordinator, enough said."
Isn't this like comparing a video coordinator to a pitching or hitting coach?
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Post by azblue on May 25, 2013 23:46:07 GMT -5
Sox get Matthews or Shipley if your "worst case" scenario happens. Not exactly punishment.
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Post by azblue on May 25, 2013 22:27:35 GMT -5
Moran's sixth at bat came with 2 runners on base in the top of the 13th inning with the score tied, 1-1. Flied out to the fence.
Carlos Rondon vs. UNC-- 10 IP, 1H, 0R, 2 BB, 14 K's
Each team's batters have struck out 21 times and game is in the 17th inning. Moran 0-7 so far.
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Post by azblue on May 24, 2013 9:37:17 GMT -5
adiospaydro2005 made a very interesting reference in his post above to "agents." It would not be at all surprising if agents...excuse me "advisors" ...have been sources of most of the "inside information" regarding which teams are interested in which players.
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Post by azblue on May 23, 2013 15:53:21 GMT -5
I doubt that the Boston organization would leak information about its focus in the first round of the draft. Disinformation leaks, maybe, but loose lips with accurate information? Very doubtful. Nothing about the culture in the front office would be consistent with indiscrete leaks.
The fact that Red Sox scouts are watching some of the players mentioned above could be hedging against the possibility that the organization's highest rated prospects might be off the board before the 7th pick. Also, would it really be out of the question for the Sox to take Frazier if both he and Bryant were available?
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Post by azblue on May 22, 2013 23:31:05 GMT -5
What hits really count? It seems that they don't count unless the pitcher is a prospect. They don't count if the pitching prospect has a bad outing. They don't count unless the ball is hit hard. They don't count if an outstanding fielder might have made a play on the ball. Any other rules regarding a hit not really being a hit?
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Post by azblue on May 21, 2013 22:41:06 GMT -5
Moran is the third youngest college player in Baseball America's top 250. He was born 10/1/92.
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Post by azblue on May 20, 2013 12:15:50 GMT -5
It was "Lettermen Weekend" at UNC for the series with Virginia. I spoke with two of the lettermen about Moran. They both said that Moran did not have the agility and quickness to stick at third base at the professional level. The do not think he will hit more than 20 home runs a season unless he played half his games in a stadium that had a short porch in right field. Regarding the Olerud comparison, Olerud had a terrific arm and was an excellent defensive first baseman. Having watched Moran 5 times this spring, I see the comparison regarding hitting stroke, but not with respect to defensive skills.
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Post by azblue on May 14, 2013 22:48:29 GMT -5
Jason Place also had family issues that affected his ability to develop as a baseball player.
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Post by azblue on May 13, 2013 17:22:35 GMT -5
Thorough article regarding adult athletes and Type 1 diabetes: spectrum.diabetesjournals.org/content/18/2/102.fullThis can be a serious challenge where great stamina is required. It would seem that stamina is quite important if you are a professional baseball pitcher who is used as a starter.
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Post by azblue on May 9, 2013 17:36:36 GMT -5
I saw Colin Moran have three plate appearances last night vs. softthrowing pitchers from James Madison who didn't give him much to hit: walks the first and third time (I think only one strike each time), a worm-killer 4-6-3 DP the second time, and (after I left) he had a 3-1 count when they stopped the game because of an impending thunderstorm. Nothing much to report on defense. UNC won 6-1, now 44-4. Skye Bolt has been out with a broken bone in his foot; an exam on May 13 will tell whether he can play again this year. UNC expects Bolt to be cleared to play after the examination on Monday. He was in uniform last night (May 8), and took BP and threw in the OF before the game. I'm guessing they wouldn't let him take BP, even with a foot guard, unless they thought he was close to 100% healed. Tomorrow will be 4 weeks since the injury.
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Post by azblue on May 8, 2013 23:40:07 GMT -5
Stewart's Type 1 diabetes has to be on the minds of teams picking in the top 10.
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Post by azblue on May 5, 2013 19:53:42 GMT -5
The Punto deal, from the Dodgers' perspective, was about the new Fox television rights contract...big names coming to LA, showing that ownership was "all in" last season and going forward, etc.
The fact that this was a huge blessing for the Red Sox was not particularly important to the Didgers. The Dodgers likely assumed that they could buy future free agent pitching with the Monopoly money from the Fox contract and could live without having Webster and Rubby relatively cheaply for the next 5-6 seasons.
It was a good deal for the Dodgers (who had a different formula for calculating the benefits and cost than the Red Sox) and a really, really good deal for the Red Sox.
The amazement expressed by some that the Dodgers would create so much benefit for the Red Sox is understandable, but does it make any difference? Both teams thought at the time and still think that it was a winner for them. Isn't that the best kind of trade?
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