Friday, February 10, 2006 |
Pickoff Moves, Bedtime Edition
The Sudden, Startling Absence Of Angels Prospects
Oh, sure, Huston Street getting the Rookie of the Year award in a year when a lot of Angels fans thought it would go to Dallas McPherson wasn't a terrible problem; McPherson went down half the year with a hip problem, and Street pitched his way to the top of the heap in a fairly uninspiring year for rookie players*, the debut of still-green Felix Hernandez notwithstanding. But... I sense a disturbance in the force. After years of reflexive huzzahs coming out of Baseball America for Angels prospects, of a sudden, they simply don't exist in some of the preseason roundups. For instance, Nate Silver's latest in Baseball Prospectus, which mentions Jeff Mathis only in passing, and then only in a table among a number of other catching prospects. That table includes a set of scores that Silver uses to rank prospects, and Rob Deer-behind-the-dish Mike Napoli uncomfortably trails only a couple points back of him.Maybe it's because I expect less from ESPN that I read into this Gary Gillette column that the only two impact rookies in the Angels system -- Brandon Wood and Erick Aybar -- won't likely make the team. Hullo, what about McPherson finally getting a full year of playing time, or room being cleared for Kotchman? Well, of course: they make the second page ($$$), but it's weird to see high-profile guys like Kendrick and Wood pushed into the "also-ran" category, even if it's because of essentially fantasy considerations.
* I originally said this was Bobby Crosby, but I confused the 2004 and 2005 RoY winners. Oops.
New Stuff At BPro: Better THR's, More PECOTA Graphs
In case you missed it -- Will Carroll has (or will have) improved team health reports, the biggest of which is that Carroll will no longer be writing the reports all by himself; he's now got a team of three helpers, one for each division*league (i.e., one guy on the Wests, one guy on the Centrals, and one guy on the Easts). He'll need it, considering the backend data fueling his reports has been completely revamped with an emphasis on precision.
Vlad Guerrero's Stars And Scrubs Chart
Bryan Smith Exiles Jim Hendry From The Ranks Of Great GMs
Bryan Smith unloads on former genius, Jim Hendry:I'm no longer willing to unequivocally say he's one of the game's best GMs. It has been awhile -- in fact, since my article was written following the Nomar trade -- that we have seen the creative version of Jim Hendry at the helm. As the Cubs report to Spring Training in about a week, expectations are the lowest they have been since 2002. I've always been the first person to blame Dusty Baker, but this time, Hendry needs to prove to me that I'm pointing my finger at the right scapegoat.I'm not sure the Cubs had much choice for their lousy stand-pat offseason, though. Using the small-sample-size of the outfield as a microscope for the kind of troubles they've had, they shot their wad on Corey Patterson, and after him there was Matt Murton and maybe Felix Pie, if anyone could really ever settle on a value for him. Hendry couldn't execute a lot of trades based on young farm prospects, and the free agent market was both overpriced and underwhelming.
But such stuff comes off as mere excusifying on the North Side, especially after White Sox fans got a full dose of winning last postseason. I myself am not that impressed with Hendry's handiwork anymore, either, after witnessing the prestidigitation in Boston that resulted in a frontline starter in Josh Beckett transliterating from Florida. It's all too easy to imagine the Cubs to be a third or fourth place team this year, as they perhaps fade behind -- gasp! -- the Brewers, who should be an overall more interesting team. As with the Marlins, it may be time to blow this club up and start over. Unfortunately, Hendry may not have that kind of latitude, and he may not have the requisite courage, either.
: 2/11/2006 08:26:00 AMNewer› ‹Older
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