Results tagged ‘ prospects ’
Curtis, oh Curtis
Well, I never thought that I’d be writing a blog entry about how Curtis Granderson was traded away by Dave Dombrowski. Just goes to show what I know eh? And as shocking as this trade actually was, in many ways it makes a lot of sense. While it maybe still way too early to judge who’s the eventual winner of the trade that went down at the winter meetings in December, I’ve personally got a good feeling that this one could bring some pretty positive results down the line and hopefully work out a little better than the Jeff Weaver 3 team deal did back in 2002. Although having said that, Jeremy Bonderman, the only player left of the 3 the Tigers got back in that deal (now there’s a trivia question – who were the other 2 players? Answer at the end of this article)
- If you want to be negative about Granderson, let’s face it, he couldn’t hit lefties at all (a meager .183 average to go with a .484 OPS in 2009), really didn’t do much better as a leadoff hitter (checking in at .235 with a .300 OPB) struck out way too much for a guy who was being counted on to set the table (141 k’s in 09) and didn’t draw nearly enough walks as required for a leadoff man.
- And yes while Granderson had tremendous power from that top spot, he was never cut out to be a leadoff man, and while the Tigers will badly miss his gold glove caliber defence in centre, the positives of what they’re getting in return outweigh the loss of number 28.
- As for Edwin Jackson, well, you’ve got to wonder what it could possibly be about him that has him joining his 4th organisation of his young major league career. Because honestly, from the games I saw him start in 2009, Jackson was dominant, and he and Justin Verlander gave the Tigers arguably one of the best 1-2 punches in the American League. But, Jackson struggled in the second half, going from a 1st half of 7-4 with a 2.52 ERA to a 6-5 record with an astounding 5.07 ERA in the second half. You’ve also got the fact that he was left of the Rays 2008 Division series roster, although he did rejoin the team for the ALCS and World Series. Either way you look at it though, despite a respectable 14-11 record and a 4.42 ERA in 2008, the Rays were more than willing to ship in off to the Tigers for Matt Joyce. Again, something just doesn’t seem to fit here. But all signs point to Dombrowski making the right move.
- Let’s start with Austin Jackson. I see a ton of comparable characteristics to Granderson, but if I’m being totally honest, he’s a bit of an enigma. I’ve read reports on him ranging from a potential five tool player and future star to more of a jack of all trades, master of none type guy who won’t be an elite player but will be a solid major leaguer. What to believe? Well, a lot of that will be determined this spring when the Tigers give him a shot to head north to the frozen tundra at the start of April. Will he be able to man the spacious landscape at Comerica? He’s certainly athletic enough, with the Yankees signing him away from a basketball scholarship at Georgia Tech. And you can’t say he;’s been rushed to the majors, having spent all of 2008 in double-AA Trenton and then all of 2009 in triple-AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. But with all young prospects who haven’t yet made it to the majors, you don’t know truly what you might get when you put them to the test.
- As for Phil Coke, here’s a guy who comes in having a pretty good first full season out of a Yankees bullpen that had a 3.91 ERA on a pitching staff that was 4th in the AL in ERA in 2009. Three things Coke’s got going for him. Versatility. This guy was a proven starter in his minor league career, so if Leyland wants to look at him for the rotation, he’s certainly a candidate. Second, he’s a southpaw, and he held lefties under the Mendoza line in 2009 at .195. Add in the fact that righties only hit .227 against him and you’ve got a pretty good shut down reliever who’s more than just a lefty specialist. With Bobby Seay and Fu-te Ni in the Tigers pen, that gives our favourite chain smoker a whole lot of options in the late innings in 2010. Thirdly, this guy had a 2.97 ERA in Yankee Stadium in 2009! As the season went on, the house that George built got a reputation for the long ball, so you’ve got to wonder what might happen when he goes from pitching most of his games in a bandbox to the more friendly confines of Comerica park, and also a little bit further away from some of the offensive juggernauts of the AL East.
- So what to make of the prospects the Tigers got from our friends in the desert. Well, according to baseball america, Scherzer ranked 4th on the Diamondbacks 2008 top 30 prospect list, and Daniel Schlereth ranked 3rd on the 2009 iteration. (Schlereth now moves to a comfortable 5th on the Tigers top 30 for 2010 in case you were wondering, behind only 2009 first round pick Jacob Turner, promising southpaw Casey Crosby, the aforementioned Austin Jackson and 2010 second rounder Andy Oliver) To be honest, I love guys like Scherzer, and he fits the mold of a Dave Dombrowski type pitcher to a tee. take a look at the kinds of guys Dombrowski has drafted during his tenure with the Tigers. Verlander, Perry, Andrew Miller, Turner, Porcello, Crosby, Cody Satterwhite. Big buys with big arms and even bigger fastballs. And that’s exactly what Scherzer brings to the table. Oh and he’s also got a pretty damn good change and a developing slider as well. So look out. yes there’s concerns about his delivery being to violent, but that’s never scared Dave away, and if they didn’t believe that Scherzer couldn’t hold it together, they wouldn’t have wanted him in the deal. While it took Max 24 games and 14 starts just to pick up his first major l
eague victory, thats not a sign of a poor pitcher. Scherzer’s a quality arm, who, now having spent a year and a half in the bigs, is ready to slot nicely behind Verlander giving the Tigers a pretty good 1-2-3 with Porcello. Schlereth’s another power arm, and seriously, watch out for this kid, because he could be good someday if he can piece it all together. Things to like, sorry, love, about Schlereth. 1. He’s got a rocket of an arm. 2. He’s got an awesome breaking ball that will really get you off balance if you’re sitting on number 1. 3. He’s left handed (and you can never have too many lefties) 4. He’s got the potential to be a closer someday or at least the stuff to become one. If not, then he’ll definitely be featuring prominently in the back end of the Tigers bullpen for years to come. The only downside I can find right now on Schlereth is his command issues, but, as many people have perhaps figured out by now, Rick Knapp is one hell of a pitching coach (see Edwin Jackson, Justin Verlander and Nate Robertson (at times) last season and you’ll know what I’m on about – this guy knows how to get the most out of a pitcher) and if he can’t straighten him out then you might have to go out an hire Leo Mazzone.
Too early?
Ok. So we all know that baseball isn’t an exact science. If it was, then well, it doesn’t really bear thinking about. Now, I love prospects. I love talking about them. Evaluating them. Reading scouting reports on them. Predicting what might happen to them in the upcoming season and just generally basking in their buzz. But what I can’t stand is when a young prospect gets burned because he’s abused or brought up to early and has his confidence destroyed, never fulfulling half of what was promised.
For me then, as a Tigers fan, you can understand that the alarm bells might be sounding off when I hear Jim Leyland express that he might take ‘a young guy’ if someone emerges. In other words, Ryan Perry and Rick Porcello. And yes, I can accept that this gamble does work on occasion. Look at Joel Zumaya and Justin Verlander. They both excelled in 2006. But then I just take one glance at Andrew Miller and a big lump appears in my throat. Miller, for all that attention, was pretty much drilled into the ground when the Tigers rushed him to the big leagues in both 2006 and 2007. And now look at him. He couldn’t really quite find his groove in Florida last year. So who knows. He’s still a tremendous young arm, and I’m not going to dismiss him, but for his development, it would have served him better in my opinion to have spent all of 2007 in the minors.
And I don’t want the same thing to happen to Perry or Porcello. Both guys have tremendous arms. Potential galore. But lets look at the facts. Perry’s pitched 13 2/3 innings in the minors and hasn’t pitched above class A Lakeland. Is he ready to face major league hitters in clutch situations? So what, he has a triple digit fastball, but does that make him ready? Not in my opinion. Porcello was downright dominant last season at Lakeland, with a 2.66 ERA in 125 innings, and he stayed at Lakeland all year. Again, he hasn’t pitched above A ball. These guys are the future. There’s a reason why you go out and you get non-roster invitees or you sign guys like Scott Williamson and Juan Rincon to minor league deals.
These guys are the future of this ballclub. I don’t want to see them ruined by calling them up too early. September’s a different story. The minor league season ends at the end of August. They would have had the whole year. Let them force your hand from down on the farm in the late summer, not in spring.
Of course, this begs the fundamental question. When really is too early? Some guys it seems, need several years before they’re ready. Some need a couple of months. But there’s no substitute for learning down on the farm. The speed of the game is slower. Your mistakes are no where near as magnified. There’s not the intesity of the media or the fans following your every move. It’s the perfect spring board. But some guys just take it all in stride and can handle being thrown in at the deep end. Only time will tell what Tigers management will do with Perry and Porcello. But my opinion is its definitely too early. Their times will come. Just wait a year, and I’ll sit back and relax and let the excitment and buzz grow as they light up the minors in 2009.
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