The player A-B comparisons to Gomez probably don't look so hot right now, but I doubt there's anyone in the WGOM readership who'd want to be reading about his exploits everyday. I wouldn't mind that RH bat in the line-up though. Link
This entry was posted by Banjo on Tuesday, August 12th, 2008 at 9:59 am and is filed under WGOM Headlines. It is one of 66 entries by the author. Feel free to write a letter to the editor if you are a registered SBG Nation Citizen. If you are not a Citizen, you can register here.
And just how is that coffee tasting? Perfect.
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Not listening to coaches? Some things never change. Yep, his bat would look good in the lineup compared to Gomez. But, if Span is truly the centerfielder of the future, it's not such a mismatch.
I like how he tries to blame his slow month on being on a new team. It looks to me like his numbers are the same as usual - 2006 OPS .826, 2007 OPS .839, 2008 OPS .847.
And I don't anyone should underestimate the genius of Matt Lawton. He told Hunter to swing at strikes and not swing at balls. The man is a genius! Nobody on this site would come up with that.
Here's the template for performance after signing a big free agent contract with a new team.
Yep, his bat would look good in the lineup compared to Gomez. But, if Span is truly the centerfielder of the future, it's not such a mismatch.
It would be a pretty large f-up on Radcliffe, Smith and whatever scouts were involved in deciding to make Gomez the centerpiece of the Santana trade if Span is this good. Certainly they should have gone in another direction if that was the case, Span has an advantage over Gomez in that he is truly a "ground up" product of the Twins organization as was indoctrinated into the system -- he probably has a better idea of what the Twin's organization wants from him.
Gomez on the other had - has all his bad habits from his Mets days. If I were I betting man, I would say Gomez will be eventually be a bust. The guys has skills, but he seems like serious head case. I'm not sure they are ever going to contain those "raw skills" into something that's useful on a consistent basis.
I agree with you on Gomez. I've never seen anyone with a lower apparent baseball IQ playing on a major league roster. It's like the kid has never played the game before, ever. Span looks way, way smarter, way smoother and just flat out better. S3T, but he looks like a kid who can play. Gomez looks like he has a $.50 head on a million dollar body.
I'm not optimistic that anything will pan out in the Santana deal. The only return is avoiding the risk associated with handing him $150 million. In retrospect, the proper move might have been to let Johan play out his contract and then collect the two picks. We'd probably be up a couple of games in the standings with a chance to make a run for a WS title.
I agree with you on Gomez. I've never seen anyone with a lower apparent baseball IQ playing on a major league roster.
I would assert that Casilla looked more lost last year than Gomez has looked this year.
That would strongly imply that Gomez needs to go ride the bus for a few months, maybe more.
I don't think Gomez will be a bust; I think he could end up good trade bait before that point. We've got more OF coming up in the minors as it is, so something eventually is going to have to give.
We've got more OF coming up in the minors as it is
You are a bit more optimistic than I about the OFers in the minors. Revere looks good, but is a looooong ways away.
Sickels rated all of ONE OF prospect above C+ -- Revere, 3rd as a "B". Next came Parmelee at 11th and "C+" although he notes that all the C+ guys are "interchangable", which means Parmelee rates between 9th and 19th; the only other sort-of outfielder on his list was Eric Lis -- also a C+, at 19th.
Seth rated Revere third, Joe Benson 11th, Parmelee 14th, Lis 15th, Rene Tosoni 18th, back in June.
Gleeman rated Revere 10th, Parmelee 11th, Benson 14th, Pridie 20th.
Benson is only 20, so there is hope. but he's only hitting 246/323/388 with 74:24 K:BB in his second season at Beloit. That's very similar to what he put up last year. Looong way away, and it's not obvious that he'll be able to hit well enough to contribute.
Parmelee is also 20. He's hitting 236/386/489 at Beloit (85:54 K:BB). I like the OBP and the power is ok, but again, he's got to hit better to contribute.
Lis is 24 and hitting 274/316/455 with an awful 93:27 K:BB ratio at New Britain. Those numbers are bolstered by a very large home/road split (907 at NB, 641 on the road). Not very encouraging.
Tosoni (just turned 22) was very good at Ft. Myers: 325/430/452, but he's out with a broken leg and at 22, you'd like to see him move up to AA ASAP.
Pridie has been ok at Rochester, albeit with a weak OBP: 277/313/453 and a really awful 120:26 K:BB. Minor League Splits puts that at a 247/285/392 MLE. Not at all encouraging.
I'd still send Gomez down to Rochester to work on his leadership or summat. But it's not like there are OF prospects coming out of Jim Rantz's ears.
Just to add to the good news, Parmelee has been out for a while now and will be out for the rest of the season with an injury, AFAIK.
oh, that's right. Broken wrist.
Not like the Twins need OFs. As it is, they'll probably trade one this offseason for an infielder.
"I just was swinging at bad pitches," Hunter said. "I made it a point after the All-Star break to start swinging at strikes and working the count."
I'm pretty sure that's just a recycled quote from '06. When he was out with his broken ankle, he said he watched some of his at-bats and realized he was swinging at a lot of bad pitches.
Didn't he say at some point that watching Mauer taught him how to be more patient...and then wound up doing the exact same thing he'd done his entire career? Hunter can play, but the man does not know when to shut up sometimes.