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hiaspire · February 19th, 2007, 10:33 PM

We can't compare the Rox to big spenders, but they are recognized as having some of the best young talent in the game and excelling in that area (rightfully so). Let's put them up against some other teams on the field within that reasonable measurement of baseball building ability that is critical to our success down our chosen path.

I'll start with the OF since that was recently mentioned in an Ask BA feature a couple weeks ago. They know more than myself, but I have my own opinions there also.

BA would take the D-Rays as the best young OF with Carl Crawford, Delmon Young and B.J. Upton -- or Rocco Baldelli if he stays and Upton doesn't move to the OF as expected. Elijah Dukes would be a wild card there (stress the "wild" part) who probably will either be great or nothing at all if he flames out.

Divisional foe AZ probably has us beat also with Carlos Quentin, Chris Young, Carlos Gonzalez, and Justin Upton - as well as Gerardo Parra making a nice debut.

They also mentioned Cleveland with Grady Sizemore, Trevor Crowe, Brian Barton, as well as John Drennen, Brad Snyder and maybe Shin-Soo Choo. Blue Jays get note with Alexis Rios, Adam Lind, and a strong young 2006 draftee bat in Travis Snider along with Vernon Wells of course and Ryan Patterson. The initial questioner talked up the Mets with Lastings Milledge, Fernando Martinez and Carlos Gomez in addition to Beltran being established there.

No mention of the Rockies in their discussion. Our projected 2010 OF according to BA is Holliday, Fowler, and Stewart. That's not too bad at all (assuming a Stewart move to OF certainly helps out OF upside), especially if we still hold onto some hope for Hawpe and/or Baker to break out at some point offensively. Seth Smith, Chris Nelson (CF move?), and Matter Miller provide some depth there with Salazar, Gaetti, Czarniecki, Christensen, EY2, etc.

Decent, but probably not the same impact possibilities as many of the other teams listed. Defensively, I don't think we shape up very good other than Fowler who sounds like he'll be a strong defender. If we didn't sign him due to circumstances, we would be completely lost there down the road.

Jim Armstrong has recently been saying that he fully believes that if the team is improved this year that the owners will spend some money on a real CFer on the market next year when some good ones could be available. You would also think that finding an OFer to put up decent numbers in Coors Field (even affordably) wouldn't be too difficult to find if future holes needed filling. They also like to move guys to the OF, but that certainly doesn't help with our defense which is so important here and especially with a shift back to pitching importance.

Who else might be better than us there in the future?
TB - Crawford, Young, Upton, Dukes
AZ - Young, Quentin, Gonzalez, Upton
CLE - Sizemore, Crowe, Barton, Drennen, Snyder
TOR - Wells, Rios, Lind, Snider, Patterson

OAK - Buck, Sulentic, J.Mitchell, J.Herrera (4 of their top 6 according to BA), N.Swisher, M.Bradley, R.Robnett
SEA - Ichiro, A.Jones, W.Balentien, Ibanez, J.Reed
ATL - Francoeur, A.Jones (if stays), Salty (if moved), B.Jones, C.Jones or one of their young 3B if moved
KC - Lubanski, Dejesus, Teahen (when moved), B.Butler, Maier
MIN - Hunter (if stays), Chris Parmelee, Cuddyer, J.Benson, D.Span
PIT - Bay, Nady, McCutchen, Boone, Corley
STL - Jay, Rasmus, C.Duncan, D.Jones
WAS - Kearns, Marrero, Casto, Church, Snelling
FLA - Hermida, Willingham, Hickman
HOU - Hunter Pence, Scott, Burke, Anderson, Iorg, and Carlos Lee entrenched

The Rox are maybe late top 10 if we count Stewart moving to the OF and keeping Holliday (?) or someone else emerging to fill his offensive void, but this isn't an aread where we shine especially bright in terms of development at an area that is perhaps more important here than most other ballparks. Arguably not enough emphasis placed in this area, but perhaps not needed if they can make due otherwise.

They were fortunate to get to sign Fowler (who almost slipped through their fingers if not for a Walker deal), and I can't give them a ton of OF credit by moving guys out of position. So I'll give them a grade of C- here for now, but with room to move up if the OF shapes up as projected with personnel maneuverings.

Anybody think our OF development is stronger than that amongst other player development standards around the league? OF was a rougher start for us, but we should be better in some other areas.

February 19th, 2007, 10:33 PM	#9 (permalink)
hiaspire Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 481	Best Young Outfield Overall We can't compare the Rox to big spenders, but they are recognized as having some of the best young talent in the game and excelling in that area (rightfully so). Let's put them up against some other teams on the field within that reasonable measurement of baseball building ability that is critical to our success down our chosen path. I'll start with the OF since that was recently mentioned in an Ask BA feature a couple weeks ago. They know more than myself, but I have my own opinions there also. BA would take the D-Rays as the best young OF with Carl Crawford, Delmon Young and B.J. Upton -- or Rocco Baldelli if he stays and Upton doesn't move to the OF as expected. Elijah Dukes would be a wild card there (stress the "wild" part) who probably will either be great or nothing at all if he flames out. Divisional foe AZ probably has us beat also with Carlos Quentin, Chris Young, Carlos Gonzalez, and Justin Upton - as well as Gerardo Parra making a nice debut. They also mentioned Cleveland with Grady Sizemore, Trevor Crowe, Brian Barton, as well as John Drennen, Brad Snyder and maybe Shin-Soo Choo. Blue Jays get note with Alexis Rios, Adam Lind, and a strong young 2006 draftee bat in Travis Snider along with Vernon Wells of course and Ryan Patterson. The initial questioner talked up the Mets with Lastings Milledge, Fernando Martinez and Carlos Gomez in addition to Beltran being established there. No mention of the Rockies in their discussion. Our projected 2010 OF according to BA is Holliday, Fowler, and Stewart. That's not too bad at all (assuming a Stewart move to OF certainly helps out OF upside), especially if we still hold onto some hope for Hawpe and/or Baker to break out at some point offensively. Seth Smith, Chris Nelson (CF move?), and Matter Miller provide some depth there with Salazar, Gaetti, Czarniecki, Christensen, EY2, etc. Decent, but probably not the same impact possibilities as many of the other teams listed. Defensively, I don't think we shape up very good other than Fowler who sounds like he'll be a strong defender. If we didn't sign him due to circumstances, we would be completely lost there down the road. Jim Armstrong has recently been saying that he fully believes that if the team is improved this year that the owners will spend some money on a real CFer on the market next year when some good ones could be available. You would also think that finding an OFer to put up decent numbers in Coors Field (even affordably) wouldn't be too difficult to find if future holes needed filling. They also like to move guys to the OF, but that certainly doesn't help with our defense which is so important here and especially with a shift back to pitching importance. Who else might be better than us there in the future? TB - Crawford, Young, Upton, Dukes AZ - Young, Quentin, Gonzalez, Upton CLE - Sizemore, Crowe, Barton, Drennen, Snyder TOR - Wells, Rios, Lind, Snider, Patterson OAK - Buck, Sulentic, J.Mitchell, J.Herrera (4 of their top 6 according to BA), N.Swisher, M.Bradley, R.Robnett SEA - Ichiro, A.Jones, W.Balentien, Ibanez, J.Reed ATL - Francoeur, A.Jones (if stays), Salty (if moved), B.Jones, C.Jones or one of their young 3B if moved KC - Lubanski, Dejesus, Teahen (when moved), B.Butler, Maier MIN - Hunter (if stays), Chris Parmelee, Cuddyer, J.Benson, D.Span PIT - Bay, Nady, McCutchen, Boone, Corley STL - Jay, Rasmus, C.Duncan, D.Jones WAS - Kearns, Marrero, Casto, Church, Snelling FLA - Hermida, Willingham, Hickman HOU - Hunter Pence, Scott, Burke, Anderson, Iorg, and Carlos Lee entrenched The Rox are maybe late top 10 if we count Stewart moving to the OF and keeping Holliday (?) or someone else emerging to fill his offensive void, but this isn't an aread where we shine especially bright in terms of development at an area that is perhaps more important here than most other ballparks. Arguably not enough emphasis placed in this area, but perhaps not needed if they can make due otherwise. They were fortunate to get to sign Fowler (who almost slipped through their fingers if not for a Walker deal), and I can't give them a ton of OF credit by moving guys out of position. So I'll give them a grade of C- here for now, but with room to move up if the OF shapes up as projected with personnel maneuverings. Anybody think our OF development is stronger than that amongst other player development standards around the league? OF was a rougher start for us, but we should be better in some other areas. Last edited by hiaspire; February 19th, 2007 at 10:44 PM.