Upset over seeing your Syracuse-topped bracket get ruined tonight? Cheer up by reading these news items!
- MLB.com's Bill Ladson thinks the Nationals will make a move to bolster their current right-field platoon. He thinks Jermaine Dye would help the team, though Washington denied any interest in the veteran last week.
- Noel Arguelles hasn't shown much in camp with Kansas City, but ESPN's Keith Law says it's part of the Royals' strategy to take it easy on the 20-year-old.
- Rany Jazayerli of the Rany On The Royals blog looks at how K.C. has only recently gotten back into the habit of drafting local prospects. He also lists some of the local talent that the Royals didn't draft between 1988 and 2003, such as (sorry to mention it again, Royals fans) Albert Pujols.
- The Astros are putting a greater emphasis on foreign scouting, writes The Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice.
- Tracy Ringolsby of FOXSports.com lists 10 notable scouts who could be future general managers.
- The Cubs could wait until the trade deadline before getting their desired set-up man, says FOXSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi.
Noel Arguelles is a future ace. He’s only just turned 20. Give the kid a break. The Royals also passed on Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria, Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Brian Roberts, John Lackey, and plenty more. They are still a great organization though and will soon be able to compete.
Ow, it hurts…it hurts.
Though, I will say that the likelihood of those players developing into what they are now in the Royals organization at the times they were drafted, is fairly low. Look what happened to Gordon.
Well i’d gamble on Ryan Braun over Alex Gordon any day.
If I could go back and change that pick to Braun, I’d probably do it at this point, because the dream is better than the reality…especially when the one infielder Moore has been trying to get rid of (Callaspo) might actually be a better starter at 3B than Gordon at the moment. Still, I’d love to see Gordon develop finally, even into another Joe Randa.
Also, I appreciate the fact there are people like yourself who don’t just say “Royals will always suck why do they bother” and actually have intelligent comments to say about the team. Thank you.
Yeah man. There are a lot of things to love about the Royals.
I guess this also means that the Royals will take Zack Cox in the 2010 draft. Just an idea. I think they’ll take Colon.
WTF IS HENDRY DOING!? We need a set up man BEFORE the trade deadline. I guess I should give up on this season before it starts.
I think Hendry is actually being prudent here for a change. Toronto is said to be asking for too much (and the Cubs aren’t the only ones saying this) when it comes to Frasor. I’d rather they use Esmailin Caridad as a set-up man. He throws 96 mph out of the bullpen with good control. I’m glad to see the Cubs give him a shot instead of throwing a way a good prospect for a relief pitcher they may not even need. If it turns out that the Cubs are serious contenders and Caridad disappoints, then it may make more sense to meet that asking price — but right now it’s too expensive and too speculative for the Cubs to make that kind of investment.
hmm… good point. I retract my previous statement.
Wow. Ringolsby really hates math.
Pardon?
I am referring to his numerous digs at statistics:
“away from the infatuation with Ivy League-educated general managers, who can rattle off the VORP and WISP and whatever statistical analysis is trendy today.”
This quotemine:
“”Maybe there will be a realization that there is a value into what the eyes see,” said Zduriencik, who relies heavily on statistical evaluations but knows the importance of a feel that comes from experience of evaluating”
His lack of perspective:
“They had been labeled DHs. And while they have reaffirmed they can hit, they also have done just fine defensively, Fielder settling in at first base and Braun adapting quickly to the move from third base to left field.”
And my favorite (as though this has anything to do with anything):
“A scouting background requires decisions to be made — and accepting accountability for those decisions — and involves hiring and firing individuals, two key aspects to a general manager’s job that no slide rule can ever duplicate.”
Ah, I thought you missed one of the names in the two-name entry. I agree with you then.
I agree. I laughed so hard when I read this: “It was the ‘feel’ that led Zduriencik to ignore his critics when he was scouting director in Milwaukee and use first-round picks on Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun.”
I’m a Cubs fan so I don’t watch these players every day, but I do see them quite a bit and neither has ever been impressive to me defensively. So, despite this being an article essentially about how stupid statistics are, I went and looked up their UZRs: Braun is a significantly below-average fielder and Fielder has scraped all the way up to “not a liability.”
Wow, Jacky Z sure showed them! They said these players were only DHs but it turns out they can be below-average-to-average at the least demanding defensive positions in the game! Huzzah for scouting! Haha.
Look, Braun and Fielder are both great players and pretty much any team in baseball would love to have them, but defensively the best you can possibly say is “they won’t hurt you TOO bad.” Bragging that a scouting director saw that just makes Ringolsby look like a tool.
He only listed 9 right?
No, he listed 10. Two of them share an entry.
Nope. Damon Oppenheimer, Logan White, Bill Geivett, Bill Schmidt, Tim Wilken, Dan Jennings, Buddy Black, Brad Ausmus, Bob Engle, and Dick Tidrow. Geivett and Schmidt are in the same paragraph though.
A former colleague of his told me that Ringolsby said something along the lines of Moneyball was the dumbest book he’d ever read. Dude hates statistical analysis. He’s the anti-Bill James (which is funny in an odd way, because James ain’t Ivy League, that’s for sure).
I still think Dye would be a great option off the bench, even with his terrible defense considered. At this point he would almost certainly be able to be had for a sum around 1m, or maybe even less. He still has a bit of pop in his bat and can help a team out. Also in regards to the Cub’s pen, I don’t think with the way it looks right now they can wait until the deadline to get a set up man, not that there are many options out there on the free agent or trade market, but still Marmol hasn’t proved himself completely as a closer and with Guzman out there just don’t seem to be many solid arms in the pen. I maybe overlooking someone but that’s just the way I see it.
Considering Pujols was drafted in the 13th round I think we can definitely say EVERYONE missed the boat on that one… not just the Royals
The Royals also didn’t draft Mike Piazza… or warn JFK not to ride in a convertible. Give me a break. Everybody missed Pujols. Even the Cardinals, really. It’s not like they drafted him in the first few rounds.
Too bad Richard Justice’s numbers for signed foreign players last year includes people that the ‘Stros didn’t sign originally. Guys a joke.
But the point that Rany was making was that the Royals SHOULD HAVE HAD MORE INFO on Pujols. He went to high school and college IN KANSAS CITY. None of the other teams had that kind of information on him. I am a lifelong Royals fan, and I totally agree with Rany on this. You need to be looking in your own back yard. We constantly think that the grass in greener on the other side, and forget that the grass under our feet is pretty good too.