On this date back in 1996, catcher Chris Anderson delivered a run scoring single for the Hudson Valley Renegades of the short season New York-Penn League. It was the first hit ever recorded by a member of the then-Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization. Anderson was the team's 66th round draft pick that year, but he never made it out of A-ball and hit just .170/.236/.298 in 432 plate appearances before calling it a career in 1999. Every team starts somewhere.
Here are a few links from the baseball blogosphere…
- U.S.S. Mariner dubs the Twins as the favorites to land Cliff Lee this summer.
- Camden Chat likes the Orioles' draft haul, but thinks it could have been better.
- Bernie's Crew uses Milwaukee's roster to show that the later rounds of the draft can be productive as well.
- More Hardball looks at the bang Jonny Gomes has provided for the Reds' buck.
- Liam McGuire's Blog wonders if Adam Loewen is the second coming of Rick Ankiel.
- 1 Blue Jays Way interviewed Tom Filer, former big leaguer and current pitching coach for the Altoona Curve, Pittsburgh's Double-A affiliate.
- Baseball Opinion examines the best and worst picks of the 2005 draft.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.
Forgive me for saying, but don’t the Twins have the 2nd best ERA in the AL?
Aside from the whole “need a pair of aces” rhetoric, is there any reason they NEED a Cliff Lee? Let alone, badly enough to make ti worth Slowey + Ramos?
We don’t NEED him, but he’d certainly be helpful in bettering our chances to make it past the first round. With that said, pitching in the playoffs, minus the bullpen, hasn’t been the problem for many years now. I don’t think the starters did bad last year. I don’t think they did bad in 2006 at all. Pitching in the playoffs hasn’t been our problem in a long time, if ever.
The hitting has been a big problem in the playoffs. They just disappear and that isn’t helped by the fact that they have to take the division at the last possible time so everyone is tired. Then there’s the mental mistakes on the basepaths and defensively. They choke completely, but the starters generally do well and easily keep us in the game.
I’m on the fence really. I’d love Lee, but for Slowey + Ramos + other crap (possibly)? I’d have to say no. I’m trying to figure out why the price is so high. I know we get draft picks and those are very high in value, but weren’t the Phillies going to too if they kept him?
The Mariners traded Tyson Gillies, Phillippe Aumont and Juan Ramirez. I read somewhere that that could be considered the equivalent to us trading Revere, Delaney and Guerra. I don’t do well with player value, especially minor leaguers, but if that’s true than we’d seriously get ripped off if we did Slowey + Ramos + whatever. We’d get ripped off big time. I’d do it for the Revere, Delaney and Guerra in a heartbeat, but the other one just sounds ridiculous.
I agree with EVERYTHING you just said.
Revere is about the ONLY top-5 prospect we have I’d consider in a deal, and that’s only because Delmon finally looks like he’s going to stick around, and we don’t have room for Ben in our outfield.
Ramos should be able to return a much better need, such as filling 3B/2B next year.
And if we’re giving up Slowey, we’re back to having to fill another mid-rotation hole in our staff next year, plus Pavano. Giving up our existing 4 core starters (Liriano/Baker/Slowey/Blackburn) is just nuts. They’re all cheap and under control for several years. Moving one of them for a couple playoff starts by Lee (who’s no sure thing to do much better than our existing staff)? Pales in comparison to the challenge of having to look for TWO starters next season.
Yes, I want to win a world series. But Lee doesn’t make that a sure thing, and giving up a Slowey + Ramos makes it considerably harder to contend next year as well.
I pretty much agree with you, except for the comparing of what the Phillies accepted for Lee and what the Mariners are demanding. At the time the trade happened I thought the Phillies undersold and I’m pretty sure that’s why Jack Z made the deal, I wouldn’t expect to be able to get Lee without a package comparable to what the Brewers gave up for C.C. But then again I don’t know the Twins system that well, does Revere compare to LaPorta?
Revere is like a Denard Span. Upper .300 hitter who can steal but doesn’t offer much power.
We wont do the trade if it means Slowey. If its just ramos and some throw ins, do it in a heartbeat