On this date in 1966, the Braves signed Tom Seaver out of the University of Southern California. The contract was later voided because the Trojans had already played two games, but Seaver also lost his college eligibility since he'd signed a pro contract. After threatening legal action, Seaver's rights were entered into a special lottery among teams willing to meet the terms of his contract with the Braves. The Mets won the lottery and signed him, officially starting his Hall of Fame career.
Spring Training is now fully underway, so let's round up the latest from the blogosphere…
- Athletics Farm interviewed A's GM Billy Beane (part one, part two).
- Disciplines of Uecker wrote about Ryan Braun's bittersweet victory.
- Pine Tar and Pocket Protectors analyzed Braun's appeal case.
- Talkin' Sox with Dan said thank you to Tim Wakefield.
- Chicken Friars wrote about Mike Cameron's retirement.
- Rox Pile isn't thrilled about manager Jim Tracy's indefinite extension with the Rockies.
- Brotherly Glove wrote about the Phillies' reported interest in A.J. Burnett.
- Over The Monster wonders if the Red Sox can move John Lackey like Burnett.
- Midwest Sports Fans gave White Sox fans seven reasons to be optimistic for 2012.
- More Mariners doesn't like the idea of Ichiro Suzuki hitting third.
- MLB Reports wonders what's in store for Aroldis Chapman.
- Warehouse Worthy predicts a breakout season for Chris Davis.
- LA Angels Insider mused about Mark Trumbo becoming a utility player.
- Capitol Avenue Club doesn't think Mike Minor's comments are a big deal.
- Rising Apple thinks R.A. Dickey could become a trade candidate.
- I-70 Baseball wonders if Kyle Lohse can have a big contract year.
- Lasorda's Lair looked at the Dodgers four out of options players.
- Baseball GMs comes up with some trades involving out of options players.
- MLB Depth Charts listed some platoon possibilities around the league.
- Brewers Bar broke down the Brewers non-roster invitees (infielders, catchers, pitchers).
- Dr. Strangeglove analyzed Pirates' prospect Robbie Grossman.
- Bronx Baseball Daily asked six questions about the Yankees' rotation.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here. Only one email per week, please.
The Trumbo author needs to invest in spell checker. It was pretty brutal.
It was indeed. Looks like it’s been fixed.
The Trumbo article is also terrible in that it is theoretically a poor idea to use a player like Trumbo as a utility man. It seems like a power hitter with poor contact skills and a low walk rate needs to see more at bats in order to maximize his skills at the plate. He would also need to be on the field in one position in order to develop competency. The Angels need to trade him, because he will be a disaster as a bench player. They will squander the skills that he has if they use him like that.
Not sure that makes the article terrible. More or less the idea terrible. Also, I’m all for using utility players to fill a void within the lineup. As it stands the Angels have enough small-ballers that get on base. They need a sledgehammer and Mark Trumbo hits the ball as far as anyone in baseball.
I’m sorry, the article itself isn’t terrible. I didn’t mean to say it like that. The idea of using a hitter like Trumbo as a utility player, and thereby limiting his at bats is a terrible idea. Players like Trumbo (power hitters with mediocre contact skills and low walk rates) need to see consistent at bats in order to improve their approch at the plate. As it stands, Trumbo isn’t a great hitter because he doesn’t get on base enough. If he were to develop more discipline, he could be a better offensive player. He won’t develop that if he doesn’t get consistent at bats, though. In fact, limiting his at bats would probably decrease his production at the plate.
LOL you don’t have to change your mind just because I wrote it. Trust me I’ve been called worse than a terrible writer. I think that’s what the Angels are trying to do, get Trumbo consistent AB’s by playing him at 3B as well as DH and RF. And for the record, I agree. Power hitters especially usually need to be in the lineup everyday to find that groove.
I’m not sure why my first post didn’t go through…
Anyway, I was just clarifying that I didn’t dislike the article as a piece of writing; I simply disagree with the idea. I’m not really changing my opinion as much as clarifying what I intended to write.
What is Lackey(ing) from from even supposed Sox based site articles, is that Lackey pitched most of 2011 needing the TJ surgery he got only after the season and very few pitchers would have gone as long as he did without shutting down.
I find it baffling that all of these sites, even supposed Red Sox ones continue to ignore that fact.
No matter how you slice it Lackey was a terrible signing for the Red Sox from the get-go. Carl Crawford, too. Instead of sticking with the principles that won two titles, the Red Sox have tried to emulate the Yanks with those signings, and the results speak for themselves: $220 million down the drain. They are acting more like the Cubbies under Jim Hendry than the intelligent operation they once were.
I wouldn’t call Lackey 85m down the drain quite yet and certainly not CC.. those 2 are not even close to Soriano, Bradley..Should I go on quality.
Lackey had a good track record in Anaheim, pitched 1 below average season at fenway, then started out last year good and then seemed to get hurt and was bad the rest of the year.. necessitating the TJ..
I don’t know how CC is bad.. This has been one of the most explosive players in the game over the last few years and yep.. he was brutal last year. was he worth 20m per? Nope, but he is a very solid player, who once moved back up in the batting order should return to his TB rays form.
edit:
Check out the Sox home grown farm players on the team and also the farm rankings and how much they used to spend on development/rule4 draft before the new CBA.. they always were in the upper 3rd.
boston never wavered in developing talent via the farm one bit and still are ranked from 10-17th in various 2012 reports, even after giving up 3 top prospects in the Gonzalez deal.
Maybe saying this is in bad taste, but there is also the situation with Westmoreland. He would have given the organization a huge boost in the rankings the past two seasons. The organization might lack pitching at the moment, but the quality of the position players is very high.
OMG an effective article for Capitol Avenue Club? Be still my beating heart!!!!
I never knew this story about Seaver. The Mets were really lucky.