Just got word from a respected Angels source.
You may be wondering why Maicer Izturis has made four consecutive starts – at shortstop, third base, and even DH. Sure, he’s hitting well (5 for 15 with three steals). But this is Maicer Izturis here folks. He’s a .232/.299/.336 hitter in 300 career ABs. You don’t want him DHing.
The reason behind all the PT for Izturis is that he’s being shown off for scouts in attendance. The Angels are hunting for the right deal to make room for Howie Kendrick by mid-May. If they can’t find something they like for the 25 year-old Izturis, Edgardo Alfonzo may be waived. Not sure exactly how Adam Kennedy’s playing time will be affected by the callup.
One Angels blog is so sure that Kenrick is on his way they are asking readers to guess the date and cause of his callup!
A little background on Kendrick: he’s an absolute hitting machine. The 22 year-old second baseman boasts a minor league line of .359/.404/.555. He doesn’t draw walks, but he doesn’t need to. Through 57 ABs in 2006, Kendrick’s .386 average ranks 8th in the Pacific Coast League.
PECOTA calls Kendrick the best prospect in baseball. Said Baseball Prospectus’s Nate Silver:
"Since 1998, there are 54 players (including major leaguers) who posted a translated BA of .300 or better in a season in which they were age 22 or younger (minimum 300 AB). Only seven of those players made the list twice:
Sean Burroughs
Miguel Cabrera
Howie Kendrick
Joe Mauer
Albert Pujols
Tony Torcato
David Wright
Cabrera, Wright, Mauer and Pujols presently rate among the ten most valuable commodities in baseball. Burroughs and Tony Torcato were abject failures, but Kendrick has significantly more power and runs significantly better than either of them. In any event, those are pretty good odds."
