I’ll be on ESPNEWS today at 3:40 pm EDT, and am tentatively scheduled to be on Tuesday from 4:10-4:30 pm as part of the Insider segment.
→ April 28, 2008
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The collected thoughts of sportswriter, bookworm, & food critic Keith Law
I’ll be on ESPNEWS today at 3:40 pm EDT, and am tentatively scheduled to be on Tuesday from 4:10-4:30 pm as part of the Insider segment.
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Keith,
Here’s a fun question for you! If the Giants wanted to dump Zito’s contract, what would they have to include? Would a team like the Yankees or Red Sox take Zito if he came with Lincecum AND Cain? Is that even enough?
comment hijack:
I read an interesting comment from Ozzie Guillen in the newspaper this morning. He was referring to Alexi Ramirez, who swung at the first pitch in the 4th inning Monday after the Orioles pitcher had just finished loading the bases with a hit batter and a walk. Of course Ramirez grounded out to end the inning on that first pitch. Ozzie’s quote: “I’m not a baby-sitter. You do that in high school, in Little League. This is the big leagues. You should know what you’re doing.”
I didn’t realize that Ozzie understood working a count. I always figured he’d be the type to appreciate aggressiveness there, or some crap. You know, because he drew a walk every other year back when he played. So I decided to take a look at Ozzie Guillen’s stats as a player just to see if I was remembering him wrong. Turns out he was even worse than I remember. Take a peek if you have a chance. I’d be willing to bet that he’s the worst hitter of all time for a guy who played at least 15 years (hyperbole alert). The one thing that caught my eye the most was that he placed 17th in the MVP voting back in 1990 with a line of .279/.312/.341. He was also 13 for 30 in SB’s. How funny is that?
I guess what I’m saying is that we can complain all we want about MVP voters not understanding certain principles. But I think we can all admit that we’ve come a long way since 1990.
Hey Keith, is it time to promote jeremy hellickson to AA? He has a 41/2 k/bb ratio and a .93 era.
Also, if Price, McGee, Davis, Hellickson were all in the yankee organization, what level would they be in?
Any comments on Scherzer’s debut last night? He was just blowing his fastball right by everyone and spotting his off speed stuff pretty well too.
Saw a little bit of it. Far more consistent velocity than what I saw from him in the AFL – looks like he was sitting 92-94, touching 96 repeatedly. Even from the back, you could see how severe his head-whack is (if you watch the highlights, just focus on his head and you’ll see it snap downward at release). I can’t think of any big-league pitchers who’ve succeeded with that type of delivery issue.
Hey Keith,
I’ve familiar with your opinion on Jeff Clement, but how high do you think the ceiling is for Wladimir Balentien? Wlad wasn’t exactly on fire out of the gates (.254/.329/.619) for the Rainiers this year, but apparently some evaluators within the M’s organization hold him in higher esteem than Adam Jones.
Regardless of where he lands on the awesome spectrum, he has to be an improvement over Wilkerson’s .232/.348/.304 line (with abhorrent range to boot), doesn’t he?
Hey Keith, on your chat yesterday you said that there are “just too many ways to get Mark Reynolds out”. Would Troy Glaus be a comparable for him?
Frosty: Yes, Balentien should be better than what Wilkerson gave Seattle. (Although color me confused at where Wilkerson’s power from just a few years ago has gone.) He’s not better than Jones, but he has above-average raw power and some willingness to work the count.
Justin: No, Glaus was and is a much more patient hitter with better pitch recognition than Reynolds, and he was a better athlete at Reynolds’ age too.
Aaron: Hellickson isn’t old for the level, so I don’t think there’s a huge rush. It’s a small sample to get so excited that the Rays basically skip the kid past high-A.