When the 2007 season started the top prospects in baseball were names such as Phillips Hughes of the New York Yankees, Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals, Delmon Young of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Justin Upton of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
These were the elite names in minor league baseball.
Young, a five-tool rightfielder, was the only one of the above group to have tasted the major leagues prior to this past April, but two of the remaining three were expected to make their big-league debuts, as were fellow top talents such as Brandon Wood of the Los Angeles Angels, Homer Bailey of the Cincinnati Reds, Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies, Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers and Detroit Tigers left-hander Andrew Miller.
Not enough for ya?
How about adding the likes of Lincecum, Gallardo, Pelfrey, Butler, Garza, another Miller and another Young.
How’s that? Okay, here are a few more…
Bruce, Longoria, Maybin, Breignac, Gonzalez, Martinez, LaRoche, Kershaw…
Pretty good, eh?
Yeah, that’s a fine few dozen or so talents that will surely headline the league over the next 10 years. But there’s a name missing.
Adam Jones.
Mariners center fielder Adam Jones not only belongs in that group, he belongs in the top half of the aforementioned top prospects in all of baseball. He’s polished off his skillset with fluency and strength, and is primed and ready to morph those actions into a long, all-star caliber career in Major League Baseball.
When Jones was drafted 37th overall in the 2003 draft, he was earmarked as one of two types of talents. Most scouts and crosscheckers - including two current GMs that have a great reputation for evaluating talent - saw him as a toolsy athlete with a lot of risk who might be better suited on the mound, where he’s been clocked as high as 95 miles per hour.
Even after his first season and a half in pro ball, many in the game were crooning Jones’ transition to pitching as if it were inevitable, despite a decent offensive showing as a teenager in A ball.
Nothing like the smartest people in baseball eating crow, huh? Because, yeah, that’s exactly what they’re doing right now… choking down some scavenger bird due to the development of one Adam Jones.
No, he’s not the elite, premium prospect that Ken Griffey, Jr. was in 1989, or equal to the likes of Alex Rodriguez in 1995, but the 21-year-old has blossomed into a plus offensive talent at a premium defensive position that he’s handling quite well.
In a memo to GM Bill Bavasi, manager Mike Hargrove and whoever else is required to sign off on the subsequent moves that land the club’s top prospect in the big leagues, where he’d be, at worst, the fourth best player on the roster, I steal a line from Mr. Starsky:
Do it!.
It’s time. Turn the page on the veteran leadership bull, Mike. Forget how bad your manager prefers that veteran crap, Bill. Give the front office the support they deserve, Howard Lincoln, to do the right thing and not feel the sting of your wrath, just because you don’t understand.
Adam Jones is a Major League Baseball player. But because the Seattle Mairners aren’t an intelligent organization, he’s abusing the Pacific Coast League instead of helping the parent club contend in the American League West.
Great stuff Jason. I was one of those calling for him to move to the mound - I couldn’t be happier that I was so clueless.
Totally agree that he’s ready, and if a deal of someone like Guillen, Broussard, Sexson or even Vidro (with his tiniest of tiny value) can get even a #5 starter this team gets better.
If I could edit this comment I would, but I have noticed that Clement as C/DH listed on the top prospect rankings. You are now convinced that he isn’t a full time C?
I don’t know what makes this move happen more. Jones tearing up AAA or Ibanez floundering in LF.
I know the Padres are looking for a right handed offensive upgrade and I wonder if a deal might be struck with them for Guillen? Clay Hensley was recently replaced in the rotation by Germano and doesn’t really have a job anymore. Might help both clubs.
I am not sure if I am being sacrilegious, or anti-Mariner, but I am feeling somewhat relieved that the Mariners are falling out of the race right now.
I am just so down on Bavasi, Hargrove, and the ownership group for the way that this team was put together, with the craptastic off-season that brought us Vidro for 2 years and getting a Dave Fleming past his “prime†pitcher for Soriano.
I do not trust Bavasi and Hargrove to do anything more to “fix†this club. This team cannot be fixed this year and thus we need to start planning for the next few years NOW!
Jones should have been up a month ago. Balentien should be up today. Trade Broussard and Guillen for the fungo bat and jockstrap that Bavasi always receives in his “trades†and bench Vidro in the Brousard “role†(whatever that is).
Lineup
Ichiro CF
Lopez 2b
Ibanez DH
Jojima C
Beltre 3b
Jones LF
Sexton 1b
Balentien RF
E-6 SS
I agree with Mr. Sandwich about being somewhat relieved with their recent losing. I’m not interested in seeing Jones or a combination like Wlad + Clement sent away for three months of Mark Buehrle.
I was wondering… We all know Jones should be in Seattle right now, but what do you think will have to happen in order to make it so? Would the M’s have to be a certain number of games below .500, or behind Oakland & Detroit? Would it require to have Hargrove fired first? A trade? Or do you just not see it happening until August or September, because the M’s are idiots?
Thanks.
These are just my thoughts, not necessarily what I think would REALLY have to happen for Jones to get called up.
1. Because it’d be pretty much impossible to trade Jose Vidro - or Sexson for that matter - I look to trade Ben Broussard.
Ben is a better hitter, and he’s a lot cheaper - by 2.5 mil this year and without guaranteed money in 2008 - but not by a significant margin in the batter’s box, and this is really the only way to open a spot.
2. To avoid replacing a left-handed bat with yet another right-handed bat, Jose Guillen is toast. He’s been okay at the plate, done the job in the field and has been a plus - surprisingly - int he clubhouse.
But Sexson is virtually untradable, Beltre isn’t going anywhere and Yubet and Lopez are not two kids you want to deal just to make room for another one.
I’d make the best deal I could for Guillen, probably for the best AA or AAA arm I could, reliever or starter, doesn’t really matter since there’s no chance you get an impact guy anyways.
Slide Ibanez to right field and play Jones in left everyday.
I’d also designate Jason Ellison for assignment and call up both Mike Morse and Jeremy Reed and use them on the bench, replacing Broussard and Ellison.
Reed is having a solid season in Tacoma, albeit without a lot of power, but he is making consistent contact and can play defense in any of the three outfield spots, serve as a decent pinch runner and gives the team a better chance at a good at-bat than Ellison.
Morse is a decent option versus lefties when the club wishes to spell Vidro, and can play 3rd a little bit and left field for an inning or two.
The Lineup:
1. Ichiro
2. Lopez
3. Johjima
4. Ibanez
5. Beltre
6. Vidro
7. Sexson
8. Jones
9. Betancourt
The Bench:
1. Burke
2. Bloomquist
3. Reed
4. Morse
The bench is more versatile with just as good outfield defense and better offense, leaving Willie to the role best suited for him — pinch runner and backup defensive infielder/emergency outfielder.
The lineup isn’t necessarily better offensively in swapping out Guillen for Jones, at least immediately, but the defense is better with a more range-effective left fielder to cover the cavernous gaps at Safeco Field, and the club gets their best prospect into the mix.
The move doesn’t make the M’s instant contenders or anything, but it does set up the Mariners lineup for 2008 with just one thing to add instead of having to break in a rookie in Jones on opening day.
Hey, look at that bench, it looks like one that we’ve been advocating for months now.
If only Vidro could move on as well. Morse could DH at least that well.
Agree with most of your recommendations but wouldn’t the best solution involve getting Raul off the field and into the DH role?
Seems the easiest answer is to simply DFA Ellison call up Jones and start him in LF. Raul would DH against RHP and Vidro vs LHP.
Defense would be improved. Offense would likely be improved as well.
What would you do with Balentien? He’s out of options after this year no?
I would be very willing to include Balentien in a trade this summer — or early in the winter — because, yes, he’s out of options, sadly, and the Mariners really can’t go with two rookie-type outfielders on the ‘08 team unless they’ve solved the offense at first base and DH, which is highly unlikely.
The Mariners shouldn’t give him away, because he’s a solid prospect, but they shouldn’t be planning on starting him next year if they plan on contending.
All by himself, Wlad doesn’t net a whole lot, but put into a package with another young player or two and the Mariners could get themselves a useful bullpen arm or two.
If you DH Raul, you have to use Vidro on the bench and there’s no way Hargrove goes for that after he’s just given in on replacing a veteran in Guillen with Jones.
But yeah, that’s ideal. But we have to be realistic first.
Also, if you remove Vidro from the starting lineup and use Jones everyday, your lineup has one less lefty bat… something to think about, too.
See, I’m not as against Vidro, sans the money, as some are. Sure, Morse would probably slug at least as well as Vidro, but he’d also probably hit into as many DPs and he’d strike out more.
And the only way to get rid of Vidro is to eat the contract — 6 mil in 08 and the 3.3 left in 07.
I’ve heard rumblings of Wlad being connected to rumors in Florida and San Francisco, by the way.
Mangini and Gallagher debuting in Everett tonite
Yep, we got that taken care of at the right, blowgun.
Jason,
Good story. Do you think there is any way the M’s could call up Jones to play in LF, slide Raul to DH and then try to bring Junior back to play RF? I know that would be taking on a lot of money, but it would be money better spent than on guys like Vidro. What if we offered Cincy someone like Rob Johnson and a decent young arm for Junior and some money? Would you even want Junior back? One last thing, how untouchable is Jones? I pray that they don’t trade him, but I get nervous that Bumbling Bill will give him up for a mediocre starting pitcher. Please tell me that won’t happen!
I’m just glad there’s someone else out there who understands that Sexson is untradeable. No team wants a guy batting around .200 with a HUGE contract. So many people are just like ‘well try and get a semi-decent arm for him’, while ignoring his contract. Sure if he was making Broussard money it’d be easy, but fact is he’s not.
Really? Balentien would only net you an interesting RP if part of a larger package? For a guy who’s shown improvement every year in BB/K dept and showing in AAA at age 22 that he can still hit for power, I would expect more in return
Seth, nobody but an idiot is ignoring Sexson’s contract, most people were saying that the GM should at least explore what it would take to move him off the team.
When you are talking about trading Wlad for proven MAJOR LEAGUE talent, Matt, yes.
Bullpen arms are at a premium right now and nobody is trading the good ones away.
Jason-
Let us know if you hear anything about Raul’s injury and how that might affect how the team handles one Adam Jones.
Well, if Raul goes to the DL, Jones is probably the easy choice to call up.
But the word on Ibanez is that he’s day-to-day, and you know, after seeing how they handled the Beltre injury, how far they’ll drag out the borderline injuries.
The team really takes a step back offensively if Ellison fills in for Ibanez and takes a step back defensively (hard to believe it’s possible) if Broussard fills in for him.
If Bavasi truly wants Jones on the major league roster, this provides and excellent excuse to bring Jones up. Once he tears the cover off the ball for a couple of days, he can feed the press a line about how Jones has forced his way onto the roster. If Jones flops, he can be sent back to AAA and Morse or Reed can be brought up. I don’t see how either or those players has less value to the club than Jason Ellison.
Jones was not in the lineup tonight for Tacoma down in Tucson. Day off? Already on his way up before the Ibanez injury?
Jones was given the day off.
He’s still with Tacoma as of game time tonight.
Damn. Mangini 1-5 with a double tonight in Everett. Gallagher (not the hilarious comedian) 4 IP, 1 hit 5k’s.
“Bullpen arms are at a premium right now and nobody is trading the good ones away.”
Sure glad Bavasi traded Raffy Soriano for crap.
Premium he got a bad armed lefty that isnt nothing…well i guess it is.I dont see the Bumbling one bringing up jones anytime soon unless there is a major injury.We need more v etran leadership and we definetly need turbo to get enough atbats so he can have his 9.5 million in 09 kick in.
Why not bring up Balentien before Jones?
Stay with me for a minute.
- Balentien is ahead of Jones in every offensive category except slugging (slightly less XBH). Particularly has a better BB/K/AB ratio.
- Balentien has played all outfield positions. Jones has played almost exclusively in center.
- Balentien still does have options this year so use them while he has them. If he is overmatched you can send him back to AAA. If he excels, albeit in a short sample size, he has more trade value (not that I want to trade him).
- Jason, you said you didn’t see the M’s using two rookies in the outfield next year. But what if Balentien is the 4th outfielder / part time DH next year, used much more frequently than Hargrove would use him? Hargrove wouldn’t do it that way but maybe Hargrove won’t be the manager. Balentien could be especially useful to platoon with Ibanez. Presubeably Vidro will still be here and Balentien can take bats from him.
- The time to test Balentien in the Majors is this year not next year, right? Sure Jones has more up side but he is the insurance if Ichiro walks. We can keep him in AAA working on Center until Ichiro’s position becomes clear. We don’t ask Ichiro to move back to right field in mid season and we don’t have Jones playing an outfield position he has barely played in the minors.
Just throwing this out there as another option.
-
Interesting hit and run. Haven’t heard that approach. I just don’t think that you can keep Jones in Tacoma, fans/Hargrove/Jones wouldn’t like it. If the M’s make a move to open up an outfield slot then it has to go to Jones.
Just my two cents.
>Ozzie
I understand that Jones might not like it, but at the same time, I don’t think Wlad would like the fact that Jones who has very similar numbers to him is getting called up before him. Their stats at AAA this year are very similar, with Jones bringing much more value with his defense. But their offense has been comparable.
Never thought of bring up Wlad first, but hit and run has a good point. Wlad needs to show something if he wants a spot next year, or else he is only trade bait, and without any major league experience, his trade value will be limited. Even it is very brief, if he can show something in the majors, his value can possibly go up.
What if you bring him up and he fails like most rookies do there first time up?Then the trade value is gone.Sorry for being negative just trying to give you the bumbling ones quoyes before he gives them to us..lol
Jones would have fail pretty miserably for his trade value to polummet.
And that’s a ridiculous reason to not call up a prospect that’s ready to help the team.
“You want to see a pitcher who dominates not just from at-bat to at-bat, but from inning to inning and game to game,” Colletti said. “You don’t want to promote someone who might struggle at the next level.
“The next level he’ll be facing older players, better players, better hitters who won’t let him do things he’s used to doing at a lower level. If there’s a chance the player will struggle at the next level, we won’t move him up.”
Sigh…other organizations are rational with their prospects.
I wasnt talking about Jones it was Bad Vlad that was on my mind.If they trade Jones there should be a linching at the safe!My opinion is Jones should be playing LF are RF everyday in seattle right now no questions asked.What they should do is sit Vidro move Raul to dh and let Jones play everyday.The 9.5 million for 09 on Vidros contract wont kick in if he doesnt get enough atbats.I know Vidro is hitting 290 with no pop and cant really run are play defense so we are investing money and time on a guy that is a singles hitting dh when we could have are best position player prspect since the Griff playing everyday.Jones has done all a guy needs to do in the minors to earn the right to play.For Colletti to say you dont want to promote someone who might fail at the next level is stupid.This game is built on failure a great hitter fails 7 out of evey ten times.The good ones figure it out and the other ones find new jobs and thats the bottum line MR COLLETTI!
Jones still has the better tool set and show better ability to make improvements year to year, and therefore has much better odds of being able to handle the majors right now. That being said I see where you are coming from in trying to get both of them playing at a suitable major league level. I think the better option is to bring up Jones, asap, and see how well he handles mlb pitching. If he puts up an OPS north of .800 for the rest of the year, I would no longer consider him a “rookie” in the “whats this guy gonna give us?” sense. Then I look at giving Balentien a shot next year, after he has continued to fill in the holes in his game at AAA for the rest of the year.
And to get Jones up now, how about Guillen and maybe Mateo or Rorhbaugh to the Dodgers for Brazoban?
38
The Dodgers have Matt Kemp, Juan Pierre, and Luis Gonzalez in the outfield, not to mention Andre Either. I don’t see them trading for Jose.
San Diego on the other Hand needs Jose
SD is who we need to be talking too.
I’d love to pry Marmol from the Cubs as well.
Mario Martinez homered today, while playing SS again..
I would rather have Guillen than Vidro, too bad we can’t bump Vidro to make room.
Dont worry no one will take Guillen because he has been trouble everywhere he has been.
Except Washington and Seattle.
Jason,
What prospects would we have to give up to bring Junior back? If we took on all of Junior’s salary do you think the Reds would take Guillen and maybe a fringe prospect? Would you make a trade for Junior if you were the M’s?
Jason, do you know anything about Juan Diaz? Triunfel’s injury replacement doesn’t have any hype (that I’m aware of), but he’s succeeding at 18 in ‘Sconsin where more hyped/older ’spects have fallen apart. Is he anything to get excited about?
Jones is outta the line-up againn
hope this means something
^^^Only if that something is a spot on the big league roster.
What would it take to get Junior back, gret question. At 37, Griffey isn’t the player he used to be, he is expensive, and injury prone.
According to Cobb’s this is the structure of Griffey’s contract through 2009 is the following.
00-08:$12.5M/year,
09:$16.5M club option ($4M buyout)
in addition $57.5M in salary deferred at 4% interest, is to be paid 2009 through 2024, reducing contract’s present-day value at time of signing to between $9.2M and $9.3M annually, according to Reds management sources.
So technically the Red’s, or whoever aquires him is on the hook for another 57.5 million to be payed between 2009-2024. this is what we call backloading.
You don’t have to give up anything to aquire Griffey if you pick up the 85 million, plus interest due to him till 2024.
The question is how much is anyone, including the M’s will to contribute toward the defered part of the contract.
Re: Diaz,
Last year, as a 17 y/o in the Dominican Republic, he was a supremely flawed hitter who had no concept of how to use his legs, and a lazy defender who obviously had the tools to play a competent SS.
I’ve heard good things about his glove this year, but the hitting is a surprise, and I’d be shocked if he doesn’t come back to earth in the next couple of weeks. His line right now is basically being propelled by a good 5-day stretch.
Re: Jones, he had a collision with a center field wall on Friday. His absence isn’t a sign that he’s been called up.
John, it is odd that read that the acquiring team would be required to pay deferrments for years that he didn’t play for them. Especially odd considering that contractually the Reds already were required to put funds in escrow for the deferments.
Thanks Jeff. Not what I wanted to hear about Diaz, but not too surprising either. Hopefully they’ll fix his hitting mechanics.
Nice start for Paredes tonight– 7 innings, 2 hits, 1 ER and 6 K’s. If the kid can add a couple MPH it would be huge.
Mangini went 2-4 with a couple singles too.
You better check your facts on washington jason.Im not a genius but when things go bad here watch what happens.A old wise man told me once A LEOPARD DOESNT CHANGE HIS SPOTS!
#45 Guillen allready burned his bridges in cincy!
53 - Add to all that Paredes threw 13 groundouts to 3 flyouts, and did not issue a walk.
Obviously you always want added velocity, but I’m not convinced the kid’s not a prospect right where he’s at. It’s way early, but he’s exhibited great control to go with some serious groundball stuff, while still striking out a decent amount.
I’m not going to get too excited yet, but he’s gone from completely off the radar to worth tracking in a hurry.
“John, it is odd that read that the acquiring team would be required to pay deferrments for years that he didn’t play for them. Especially odd considering that contractually the Reds already were required to put funds in escrow for the deferments.”
In past discussion about Griffey that has always been the question for any team that would aquire him, and that is how much, if any of the defered part of the salary they would have to pick up. Nobody would touch him if they had to pick up the entire load of his defered payments. Due to the structure of the contract most people don’t think Junior will be available till his current contract ends unless the Red’s were willing to eat a significant portion of the contract. Count me as a guy who would like to see Junior retire as an M, and it will be interesting to watch.
Jones is a little sore from losing a battle with the outfield wall in Sacramento.
wow john, i never heard of any of this deferrments stuff. is that always the case, or is junior’s contract just special. can u explain the who deferrment stuff again, i didnt follow what u said earlier
58 - on more than one occasion Junior deferred multi millions of dollars so that money could be freed up for the Reds to add talent. Essentially, Junior loaned the money to the Reds. However, it’s attached to his current contract. If anyone takes over this contract, they take over the deferments. If they wait until after this contract is over and sign him, the deferments are the Reds responsibility.
Actually, DNC, that’s not necessarily true.
The contract stipulates that “if” the contract is traded, the club, meaning the Reds, can also negotiate to transfer the escrow on the “deferred money with interest”, but there will be a penalty that either Cincy or the acquiring team must pay, that is a minimum of 2% and a maximum of 4% of the total deferred monies over the life of the deal.
It’s NOT automatic that the M’s or any other team would take ont he deferred payments, and you can bet on the Mariners never ever ever agreeing to take on Griffey if the Reds don’t make the deferred payments on their own.
No way in hell.
Re: Guillen/Washington
I know two players, one pretty well, that spent most of 2005 and all of 2006 with the Nats and he swears Guillen was no more of a problem than anyone else… says he has “a bad attitude about accountability” but that was it.
Michael Wilson has shown back up in West Tenn today going 1-4 with a HR, 3 RBI, and a K.
This after some proclaimed he was done with baseball.
Casey Craig is off to a nice start in West Tenn as well.
Pareda with another fine performance. Should he be moved up at all? Wisconsin might be a step down in competition, and High Desert just sucks, how about a try in West Tenn?
Junior’s contract was special, he was willing to bend quite a bit so his home town team could afford him. Griffey basically gave the Red’s a hometown discount in the early years of his contract which in theory would allow the club to sign other players who would make the team more competitive. He’s averaged 12.5 per year since he was traded to the Red’s which would have been a bargain if he was healthy the entire time. Seattle offered quite a bit more with none of the money deferred.
I just want to add that 2009 would be the likely year for Junior to return. I don’t see how they can make room for him in 2008. 2009 solves a lot of problems.
63 - promoting Paredes to Double A is crazy. Where do you get the idea that Wisconsin would be a “step down” in competition? Wisconsin is a big step up from Everett - ask Ogui Diaz (or Greg Halman).
I could MAYBE see sending Paredes to ‘Sconsin if he keeps up this performance for another month. Sending him to West Tennessee is so far out of the realm of possibility the M’s wouldn’t even consider it.
im not too big on the idea of Griffey back after the 2009 season. he’ll be 40 yrs old and im not sure how much he can contribute
i would love to have him back, but i would think it would work out better if they acquired him now. just need to find someone to take on vidro’s contract..
For those who think otherwise, let me fill ya in on something.
Griffey has very little defensive value anymore, left field, right field, whatever. He’s lost three steps and his arm has lost some zip.
Trading for Griffey would be all about his bat. Is it worth it?
they traded for vidro, so its not a problem from the M’s
Well, I’m guessing there will be alot more seasoned hitters in the NWL once the draft picks start signing.
Wisconsin is probably the logical choice, but if that’s the case, just leave him in Everett.
I certainly don’t want him in High Desert.
Of course it was a small sample, but Pareda more than held his own in AAA for a day.
It probably sounded insane to promote Mark Lowe last year as well.
Griffey as a DH in 2009 makes sense. Griffey in the field this year, or next does not. For sentimental reasons we all want to see Junior back here for at least one last year, and at DH he can add something to the club. From a flexibility standpoint he could also play in the field on occasion something that Vidro really can’t do. I would wager that Griffey is still an upgrade over Ibanez defensively, but that isn’t saying much. Anyway I think Ken can be a very productive DH at Safeco.
Hey so I was at Safeco on Friday for Juniors welcome back and standing behind the Mariners bullpen I was almost sure I saw Mark Lowe back there. Is he back or is there somebody who looks identical to him also pitching in our pen?
Mark Lowe started in the Cali league last year, and made 13 appearances, striking out 14 batters/9.
He also did it while showing above average command of 3 major league pitchers.
The comparison is beyond absurd.
Doug Fister pitched 5 perfect innings and struck out 9 last year in his midwest league debut. Michael Schilling allowed 4 baserunners in 7 innings and struck out 7 on Everett’s opening day last year.
Let’s wait a little bit to see if Paredes can handle pitching to guys who have a book on him before we start speculating on sending him up to Double-A. 2 decent starts from a 20-year-old in the Northwest league, and people are ready to declare him the next big thing.
Er, Fister’s *Northwest league debut.
70 - if you’re guessing that the NWL will end up with better talent than the MWL, you are guessing wrong.
The idea that short season A has stiffer competition than full season A is silly.
2 decent starts in AA, and one nice long relief effort in Tacoma.
And I think you are jumping to conclusions about my thoughts on him. Where did I say he was the next big thing?
OOPS, 2 decent starts in the NWL.
9 blowgun says:
June 19th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Looks like the kid is really throwing a great game. I like what I hear. Jason, where do you think he’ll go from here?? Couple more starts in Everett, then try him in Wisconsin for the rest of the season?
10 Jason A. Churchill says:
June 19th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
That’s tough to say… In those “couple” starts does he throw shutout baseball? Then yeah, they won’t wait too long.
They want him to pitch and the difference between Everett in Wisconsin isn’t a difference in talent, as much as experience. Typically by the time July rolls around, the NWL is filled with draft picks that have college experience.
============================================
Guess I’m not alone in my guessing.
Sorry I was having thoughts with the resident minor league masters around.
Jason said it’s not a difference in talent “as much” as experience.
1) He didn’t say there’s not a difference in talent.
2) He said there IS a difference in experience, which runs contrary to your conclusion that there will be more seasoned hitters in the NWL.
Regardless, this is beside the point. Whether the MWL or NWL is more difficult has nothing to do with whether Paredes will be promoted to Double A this season. There’s just no chance in heck that that’s going to happen.
“2) He said there IS a difference in experience, which runs contrary to your conclusion that there will be more seasoned hitters in the NWL.”
and goes on to say that “Typically by the time July rolls around, the NWL is filled with draft picks that have college experience.” which pretty much makes it a wash.
There are alot of things in this organization that have no chance of happening, doesn’t mean that some of them shouldn’t. Plus, I never said move him up today, and probably should have said that. Once again, what happens when you assume? You make an ass out of u and me.
There is not much difference in talent, in fact in some years the NWL team may be more talented than the MWL team depending on how the draft goes, who signs early, and how the M’s slot players. An extra year of experience is a huge factor. As far as talent goes this year, both teams are currently lean even though there are a few bright lights out there. Just my opinion.
Hey, maybe my island is turning into a peninsula.
Jason,
How many guys from this years draft could be Top 50 prospects for the M’s next year? Just to clarify, I mean for the M’s organization and not in all of baseball.
slack, im sure that’ll b pretty easy