When Hype is Just Sad

by Charlie on Sep 16, 2008 11:57 PM EDT Comment 51 comments

As if you didn't have enough reason to be depressed, I point you to two sad articles from Pirates.com--one about Nyjer Morgan, and one about Neil Walker. You know you're in the midst of a really bad year when the mothership has to resort to articles like this. Morgan first:

However, Morgan seems to have left Pearce behind him, becoming a top-of-the-order catalyst that has forced management to rethink where the speedy outfielder may fit in the Pirates' long-term plans.

"He's taken advantage of the time he had to go down to [Triple-A] Indianapolis to the time he's had to come back and has done some very good things," manager John Russell said. "He's put himself in position to get some looks."

Morgan won't give some fancy formula for his sudden success -- he's reached base in 19 straight starts, posting a .258 batting average during that span. Yes, hitting coach Don Long has preached a "slower" approach to Morgan since the outfielder was recalled on Aug. 19, but Morgan attributes a mental adjustment to his recent offensive success.

Yes, who needs "fancy formulas," like "power" or or "patience" or "ability to hit Class AAA pitching" or "any ability to hit whatsoever" or "ability to run the bases without looking like an idiot" when Pirates.com can simply say you've been successful, whether you actually have been or not?

Of course, it's likely that the entirety of the Pirates.com writer's research for this story consisted of walking up to John Russell and saying, "Hey, say something nice about Nyjer Morgan," but there's still the fact that Russell keeps starting him. Why? He never did anything interesting in the minors, he's 28, and here he is starting in the majors nearly every day, and he's still not doing anything good. He has a .667 OPS. And yet these arguments in favor of Morgan often seem to take for granted that Morgan has somehow blown Pearce out of the water. Actually, their hitting has been pretty similar so far. The differences between them are the same as they've always been: Pearce is much younger and and has far more upside.

I'm actually kind of shocked that the new management team, which has seemed pretty progressive and astute about a lot of things, hasn't told Russell to knock it off and stop playing Morgan.

By the way, a tip: "top-of-the-order catalyst" should be read as a euphemism for "he's terrible." If you want to learn about a player and you don't know anything about him other than that he's fast, just Google his name along with the word "catalyst." If you run into more than a few people trying to praise him that way, you'll know he's terrible. You won't even have to look at any numbers.

(By the way, one potentially interesting point in the article: Russell thinks that Morgan "wasn't quite prepared" for Spring Training. Other players who've been accused of not being ready to play--Salomon Torres, Josh Sharpless--have been shipped out or faced pretty severe penalties. This is the first time we're hearing about this with regard to Morgan, right? If so, I'm surprised.)

Now, as for the Neil Walker article:

Back in Spring Training, Neil Walker vowed to turn what he viewed to be unfair criticism of his physical conditioning in 2007 into incentive to finish strong in 2008.

To do so, Walker altered his winter workout habits so he could avoid the second-half swoon he endured in '07 during his first full season at Double-A. This week, speaking from PNC Park, where he is spending three days with the big league club, Walker seemed pleased with this year's end result...

That second-half offensive fade was non-existent for Walker this year. Despite finishing the season with a modest .242 batting average, Walker's best month was -- of all months -- August. The converted third baseman hit .275 with 17 RBIs in his final month of the Triple-A season.

Aside from its being the beginning of a beguiling Buddhist koan--"If Neil Walker faded, how would you know?"--this is just pathetic. I wouldn't even bother mentioning it, but Dejan Kovacevic also recently said that Walker finished the season well.

I suppose that, by ignoring inconvenient statistics and setting arbitrary endpoints, you can make the numbers say a lot of things. But here's Walker's OPS by month:

April .640

May .716

June .795

July .587

August .725

September (one game): .500

Statistically, Walker's August was barely his second-best month. Yes, he had a higher batting average than in any other month, but he also tied July for fewest extra base hits in a month, with seven. To put that another way, his two worst months for power were his last two. Insofar as Walker's August looks like a strong finish, it's mostly because it looks reasonable compared to the horrible year he was having before that. The evidence for it, though, just isn't there.

Of course, this isn't the first time Pirates.com has tried this with Walker, so it's not surprising that they'd try again. What's surprising is that it actually appears to be the conventional wisdom this time. The argument for Morgan seems to be picking up steam as well.

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I guess we`ll just have to see

Mr. Excitement`s smiling face for a few hundred more ABs in 2009, during a 100-loss season.

When Nyjer Morgan flubs up repeatedly at the plate, in the field, and on the basepaths, we`ll be bombarded by, “He`s still a project in the works at age 29. He`ll be even better from age 30!”

by patthatt on Sep 17, 2008 12:20 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

patthat

I really don’t understand you and many other posters on this board. Just yesterday you and others defended Rullell from my criticism of Russell of he and other baseball managers for not thinking for themselves and today you people want to lynch him for playing Morgan. Which is it? Do you just defend him when responding to me so you can be argumentative or do you really think he’s doing a poor job. Get off the fence.

by Illinois Pirate Fan on Sep 17, 2008 10:21 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

IPF

I think most posters on this site have been consistent with their non-support of Nyjer Morgan in a Pirates uniform.

He stinks. We know it.

I`m not a fan of JR. I never said I was defending him. I only responded that managing a baseball team successfully takes quite a bit more skill and intelligence than you seem to think in your post on the other thread.

“Just yesterday you and others defended Rullell from my criticism of Russell”

What language is this?

by patthatt on Sep 17, 2008 11:35 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

"Super" Utilityman

I’ve gotten a kick out of the Pirates calling Luis Cruz a “super utilityman” in recent weeks. Since when is a utilitynan super? When he was released by Cincinnati before the season? I’m with you, Charlie, on Morgan but I’ve thought that the Pirates might do well to procure some speedsters because they typically don’t make huge bucks, even when they become competent major-leaguers, something the Pirates could afford. I still haven’t given up on Walker. I still believe he lost some development time with his broken wrist and he’s still relatively young for where he’s at. My favorite hyping is when a Pirates batter comes to the plate. The scoreboard finds to put a positive spin on any Pittsburgh batter in any situation.

by JimBibbySweat on Sep 17, 2008 12:24 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I haven’t given up on Walker either, I just think some of the articles about him were worth calling out. His season hasn’t been good in any way.

by Charlie on Sep 17, 2008 12:26 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, Walker is still a prospect.

But trying to present his 2008 as anything but a serious disappointment is just mindless spin. Almost to the point of being insulting.

It actually concerns me a bit that they’re presenting his last month as his best, since he hit for no power in it, and power growth was the one positive development for him this year.

by Vlad on Sep 17, 2008 1:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not quite fair

He had 80 RBI and 48 extra base hits in 505 ABs

Jason
The Hanging Curve

by poorboywilly on Sep 17, 2008 6:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Very Depressing

The comments on Morgan and Walker by the Pirates concern me a great deal.

Morgan has not learned how to utilize his ONLY asset - SPEED. Until he does, and until he learns how to play the game the right way, he is virtually worthless.

Pearce has not gotten a fair shake.

Who knows what Walker can become? I think that another year at AAA, especially at his age, will tell the Pirates if he truly is a prospect.

I continue to be very disappointed in Russell and am very concerned about the Sugar Boys in the front office.

I don’t really see where they are headed, especially based on Morgan’s playing time.

by thegunner on Sep 17, 2008 1:05 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

And last night is even more disturbing.

If you read DK’s article this morning…it’s pretty obvious that most of the team quit last night…if not well before that. Enough for Doug to take a healthy walk around the stadium before being interviewed.

Even more embarrassing…JR was asked why he didn’t argue on the blown call at first…he said something along the lines of “You don’t argue the routine play.” W-T-F!!!! It was so routine that Freddy picked up the ball a step and a half before the runner got there and the ump still blew the call. Frankly…I think THAT is exactly when Russell lost the team last night. If he isn’t going to battle for them…they aren’t going to battle for him.

Mr. Nice Guy has lost the team, and I’m not sure that he hadn’t lost it before last night. I’d rather see Lloyd back, quite frankly.

The Pirates may as well trade Steven Pearce, and watch him become successful somewhere else. They are so blinded by Mr. Wonderful’s (Morgan) speed…they can’t see that he doesn’t know beans about baseball. He’s reached base in 19 straight games (but hit ONLY .258 in doing it), with an OPS around .667. Pearce’s OPS is close to that, and he’s started 5 games in 2 weeks.

by Thunder on Sep 17, 2008 8:23 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

By all means

bring back Lloyd so he can steal first base again and throw stuff in the clubhouse and body slam umpires who make bad calls. That worked so well the first time around. I’m more inclined to think that if the team has quit on Russell it’s more because he doesn’t recognize Nyjer Morgan can’t play baseball but keeps running him out there. Why doesn’t Minky the Brave call him on that?

I like Minky as much as the next guy, but for all his great attitude he’s slugging .375, on a bad team that averages .404. Has a pretty good OBP, though. Bottom line, though, is if you’re giving 34-year-old, .375-slugging Minky close to 300 at-bats in a season your team is terrible, and you can stomp around and argue and call people out all you want, you’re not going to turn a poodle into a piranha.

by bucdaddy on Sep 17, 2008 9:49 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Minky's contributions ...

are waaaaaay overrated.

by thegunner on Sep 17, 2008 10:56 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

What I always love about this veteran presence drivel is that, when the Pirates were winning some dramatic games earlier, Mientkiewicz got a lot of credit for leadership or whatever, but now that they’re mailing it in, that’s not his fault. Can’t have it both ways.

I don’t mind Mientkiewicz, but only because he’s a bat off the bench who can get on base, which isn’t a common commodity.

by WTM on Sep 17, 2008 3:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Short of a major injury stretch...

Minky shouldn’t be seeing 300 AB a year. Then again…neither should Nyjer Morgan. And some of the guys that should be getting September appearances are not.

For instance…if it is true that Tabata needs to be added to the 40 man, per DK (along with Walker)…why isn’t he up now? You don’t burn an option until they send him down after spring training, which they would have to do anyway. Same with Walker…and I’ve railed on about Cutch often enough.

Am I being fair about Russell?? Maybe not, but I am not seeing ANYTHING that indicates an improvement from anyone on the roster…at least that couldn’t have been seen before the beginning of the season (McLouth, Doumit, Maholm).

by Thunder on Sep 17, 2008 11:23 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Thunder

Well said. I’ve been saying this about Minky all year long and it’s nice to finally have someone agree with me. He’s not part of our future and we’re wasting valuable ABs by letting him play.

I also agree with you about Tabata and Walker. These are exactly the people that should be playing now but management is more concerned with saving their time than they are with determining if they can play at the MLB level.

The reason Russell hasn’t shown us anything to indicate the team has improved is because they’ve gotten progressively worse since the Bay/Nady trades. He’s done nothing to instill confidence or motivation and needs to be held accountable for his inaction. There is no reason for this team to have played this poorly since the trade. The sad fact is they gave up and he allowed it to happen.

by Illinois Pirate Fan on Sep 17, 2008 11:55 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I really, really want to see...

…you defend the idea that Walker is ready to play in the majors. Go ahead. Give it your best shot.

by Vlad on Sep 17, 2008 1:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Tabata & Walker have to be added to the 40 man AFTER the season, not now.

For instance…if it is true that Tabata needs to be added to the 40 man, per DK (along with Walker)…why isn’t he up now? You don’t burn an option until they send him down after spring training, which they would have to do anyway. Same with Walker…and I’ve railed on about Cutch often enough.

by ElliottBayBucco on Sep 17, 2008 1:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I see that you miss the point here...

both EBB and Vlad. I’m not saying that Walker or Tabata ARE ready, by any means. They have to be added to the 40 man after the season to prevent being lost in Rule V. Why not bring them now. You don’t burn an option bringing them up…only when sending them down. Why not give them a taste. Would you rather JVB be pitching right now? Or Belisario? Are we, or are we not, building for the future?

Are we playing any games that have any relevance for either team right now?? No. Now is exactly the time when wins and losses are irrelevant to this team. Assessing talent should be the Pirates ONLY concern right now. And hustling and fundamentals are two of the things that should be assessed.

Are players like Minky, Michaels, Gomez and Rivas part of the bigger picture? Do JR and the front office really need to see any more of them to assess whether to bring them back next year?? If they need more time, then they have been sleeping all season.

by Thunder on Sep 17, 2008 1:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

One reason that the Pirates may not want to

bring them up now (besides them probably not being ready) is that they will accrue major league service time which counts towards free agency. Big market teams who can resign most of the players they want ot keep anyway don’t have to worry about this issue but the Pirates do. If the team manages a players ML service time correctly, they can retain his services for about 6 2/3 seasons before he is eligible for free agency. So why waste some of that ML service time now when it clearly does not matter, when it might be needed later when it will or at least could matter.

by WestCoastBuc on Sep 17, 2008 2:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, Walker already IS getting a taste.

He (and Cutch) are in town this week, working out at the stadium and hanging out with the players. If neither one was going to play much anyway, since there are other players who need looks at their positions, it seems like they’re already having the same experience that they would’ve if they’d been rostered. They just aren’t listed on a piece of paper.

Not sure why they didn’t bring Tabata to town too. It seems odd to leave him out. Maybe they want to work with him on media relations before throwing him out there in front of the TV people?

by Vlad on Sep 17, 2008 2:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe they are only bringing the AAA kids to Pittsburgh?

I know that Daniel McCutchen was here prior to Cutch and Walker.

by ElliottBayBucco on Sep 17, 2008 2:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Or are you saying the Pirates

will expose them to the Rule V draft, because they aren’t ready now?

by Thunder on Sep 17, 2008 1:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

No, they would not be exposed to the Rule V draft unless they are protected

at the start of the 2009 calendar, which happens after the 2008 season. Why make such an impatient, impractical rash roster move when it has absolutely nothing to gain in a lost 2008 season? Only 12 or so games left until this wasted amount of impatient calls to promote anyone viewed as a prospect up comes to an end for 2008. Then the calls to sign everyone as a free agent will begin again.

‘Sigh’

by ElliottBayBucco on Sep 17, 2008 2:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No, they HAVE to put them on AFTER this season ends.

Or they will lose Walker and/or Tabata in the Rule V. They CAN put them on before that, without costing them an option. Yes, it could cost the Pirates a little of their service time, but if they are sending either or both to the minors after spring training, that washes out the few weeks they’d be up now.

by Thunder on Sep 17, 2008 2:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Did I not say that?

No, they would not be exposed to the Rule V draft unless they are protected
at the start of the 2009 calendar, which happens after the 2008 season.

by ElliottBayBucco on Sep 17, 2008 4:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

too little sleep...

they have to be protected after the season, I know.

by ElliottBayBucco on Sep 17, 2008 4:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It does seem like...

the team is quitting on Russell. Remember how the whole attitude was going to be different this year? Actually,it is kind of different. It seems worse!

by rissaldar on Sep 17, 2008 2:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Wow

On his current “hot” streak Morgan has a .258 BA over 19 games. Someone better notify Cooperstown.

The only question here is whether this is a normal pirates.com BS press release about anyone who’s on the 25 or 40 man roster, or if it actually represents the thinking of Huntington and JR.

If this is what PBC management truly thinks, then they’ve been out for too many drinks at the Jim Tracy “speed is everything” Bar. Nyjer Morgan does not belong on a ML roster.

The guy can’t hit, can’t run the bases, has no arm, and when he does get the ball back to the infield can’t throw to the right base. And is amused by own mistakes.

As for Nyjer Morgan – his value can be summed up in the following minor league stats. 1 HR in 2008, 1 HR in 2007, 1 HR in 2006, 1 HR in 2005. Juan Pierre laughs at Morgan’s power numbers.

This has nothing to do with Steve Pearce. Morgan just plain sucks.

by WstCstBucco on Sep 17, 2008 3:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

A base that Morgan has slid past has been sent to the HOF

by ElliottBayBucco on Sep 17, 2008 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nope...no accountability with this team.

Only changes for tonight’s lineup are Bixler for Cruz, and Adam for Doug. Look under the Clemente Bridge…that might be where Pearce is stashed. Guess we’ll see another 8-2 lackluster loss tonight.

by Thunder on Sep 17, 2008 4:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

In fairness...

…neither of those guys are in the lineup at the expense of Pearce. He should be starting in RF.

by Vlad on Sep 17, 2008 5:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What I am saying about Pearce...

is that he’s flat out been buried…and that under the Clemente Bridge would be the first place to look. After the display that Moss put on last night…and the one Morgan’s been putting on since he got called up…it’s obvious that in the last 11 games we’ve got left…Pearce will be lucky to start 3. They have no intent of looking at Pearce any closer than they have. Morgan is just like Duffy, Redman, Davis and several others. A few bearable weeks…and they will have him on the roster next April, making 8 million outs. If they want Juan Pierre so bad, why don’t they just trade for him and overpay him.

Not like they are sending a message to Morgan or Moss. I’m sure whatever, if anything, was said after last night’s game, went in 1 ear and out the other…since in both cases, it wasn’t the first occurrence, and won’t be the last.

by Thunder on Sep 17, 2008 6:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Could Nyjer playing so much actually be a good idea?

I just punched his numbers up just to see how horrific they are. And they are. Don’t confuse this idea with me being a Mr. E fan because I’m not.

However, since he was recalled, he’s OPS’ing .793. Yeah, it’s BA-driven and a small sample, but whatever. The point is, there are still a few GMs that like this type of player. If NH can move Nyjer for anything at all, could all this playing time end up being a good idea? And even for a smarter team, might Nyjer be sold as a 4th/5th OF and a throw-in in a larger deal for, say, Jack or Grabow?

Just sayin’. His value the last month or so has been more than comedic, and I hope to God the idea is to make some other sucker think he can sustain it.

by azibuck on Sep 17, 2008 9:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree

  And I would point out that Nyjer’s OPS is better than Pearce’s now, despite all those HRs Pearce hits — and that he batted .299 last year in 107 ABs.
  Doesn’t it make sense to find out if Nyjer could bat leadoff until McCutchen is ready? Wouldn’t you rather have Nate batting third? Wouldn’t it be good to have at least one fast guy on the bench to pinch hit/pinch-run late in games?
  These things are easy for me to say — I see the Bucs on TV only when they play the Cubs or Reds, and thus I’ve seen Nyjer overslide second base only once. But to me, all those ABs Minky gets as a corner infielder with no power hurt the Pirates more than anything they do in the outfield.

by Zadoras on Sep 17, 2008 10:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't know why so many are so hard on Minky who

clearly makes up for his lack of power with a high OBP. With his triple tonight he raised his OPS+ to 100, which means he is essentially an average hitter. Why do you expect more than this from a bench player?

by WestCoastBuc on Sep 17, 2008 10:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

We already know whether Nyjer can hit leadoff.

He can’t. He doesn’t have enough bat. He’s not hitting all that well now, and it’s still well over his expected baseline from his minor league numbers.

If they want to use him as a fifth outfielder/defensive replacement/pinch runner, that’s fine. That’s his ceiling, though, and it’s not a commodity for which anyone else is going to give up anything of significant value. Guys with that skill set are available for free on waivers all the time.

If they see him as a future bench player, they should be using him as a bench player right now. Not giving him starts in left field.

by Vlad on Sep 18, 2008 9:33 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

"Significant" value may miss the point

Willy Tavaras was traded after the 2006 season in a package, and Gathright was traded (with Fernando Cortez, no one special), in the 2006 season, while OPS+’ing 45, for JP Howell. I don’t think these are extreme examples. I don’t have a memory for this type of stuff, but they’re the first two guys I thought of. I had to punch them up at bbref to see this info. I’ll bet there’s more.

They might still be looking for depth. They don’t have to get high ceiling prospects in every deal they make. They also need guys better than Ronald Belisario.

by azibuck on Sep 18, 2008 9:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You're forgetting age.

Taveras was 24 when he was traded. So was Gathright, who was actually ranked as Tampa’s #3 prospect that spring, thanks to his ridiculous athleticism (remember this video of him jumping over a car?).

Nyjer is 28. He’s already at his peak. There’s no forward projection there. With someone like Taveras or Gathright, you can talk yourself into him growing and improving, which is why Houston and Tampa were able to find someone willing to overpay.

by Vlad on Sep 18, 2008 11:35 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He's at .353/.378/.447 over the last 28 days

I would call that hitting pretty well now.

Also, aren’t you forgetting we picked up Matt Morris for Rajai Davis who has a similar skill set to Morgan’s.

by WestCoastBuc on Sep 18, 2008 10:50 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If we're going to trade Nyjer for Matt Morris...

…I’d rather just cut him now.

by Vlad on Sep 18, 2008 11:27 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The only reason Davis was in that trade was that the Commissioner’s office won’t approve cash-only deals. If the teams could have done a trade that was just Morris in return for the Pirates picking up his salary, and nothing else, that’s how it would have been done.

by WTM on Sep 18, 2008 2:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Of course I was kidding about the Morris trade being an

example implying that we might be able to trade Morgan for a player we might actually want.

That said, I notice that Morgan had two more hits, a double, SB and two runs today so far. Even so, I can understand the lack of enthusiasm for him here.

But I can’t quite see why so many are infatuated with Pearce. He had an excellant year in the minors last season but it was mostly in A+ and AA as a 24 year old. Isn’t that kind of old for a real prospect to be playing at those low levels? This year, at 25 he has hit .251/.312/.417 in almost 400 ABs at Indy. Can one of his supporters at least supply a few examples of players at that age hitting so poorly at AAA that went on to be decent major league ballplayers?

by WestCoastBuc on Sep 18, 2008 3:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sure

I’ll even do an all-Pirate edition:

Matt Stairs, 24 in AAA in 1992: .267/.351/.426
Kevin Young, 25 in AAA in 1994: .276/.327/.447
Jeff King, 24 in AAA in 1989: .254/.299/.414
*King only had 169 AB in the minors that year, but since he hit .255/.325/.414 in a full season at AA the year before, I think it’s a legit comp.
Brian Harper, 26 in AAA in 1986: .262/.317/.407
Jeromy Burnitz, 24 in AAA in 1993: .227/.301/.404

Probably more, too, but that’s what jumped to my mind.

by Vlad on Sep 18, 2008 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I also think that people are wrong...

…to dismiss Pearce’s AAA success from 2007. He slugged .557 in 122 AB at that level last year (9 2B, 1 3B, and 6 HR in a month-and-a-half of PT). If he were just totally overmatched, there’s no way he would’ve been able to do that at the start.

He might have some adjustments he needs to make, or he might just have been frustrate about not making the team in spring training, but either way there’s legitimate talent there. Seasons like his 2007 don’t happen by accident.

by Vlad on Sep 18, 2008 3:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

OK, thanks for taking the time to post that

Let’s hope for Jeremy Burnitz and getting the front side of his career instead of the last year.

Any thoughts on why Pirate management is doing what they are doing? I don’t think they are stupid or ignorant of the ramifications of the two players’ minor league stats. Is it just JR making the decision because Morgan has been hitting well lately and without giving any consideration to the long-term interests of the team? Or could there be some logical and good reason for the course of action chosen? I can’t help but suspect that they know something about the two players that is not apparent from an analysis of the stats.

by WestCoastBuc on Sep 18, 2008 7:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

From what I've been able to put together...

…they’re upset with Pearce about his approach at the plate, and they want him to change something that he doesn’t want to change. Ergo, they bounced him out of a possible AFL bit (Dejan had a blind item about an OF in that situation a few weeks ago, and I don’t see anyone else it would fit) and they’re not playing him much in his callup, because they’re trying to squeeze him into following their guidance.

Without knowing what exactly they want him to do, I don’t know whether it’s a good idea or not. And it’s possible that his line this year is in part or whole a function of him changing his approach, like Crotta with the pitch restrictions in the lower minors.

by Vlad on Sep 18, 2008 8:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Vlad

Prior to Pearce’s first home run about one week ago, I could have sworn I heard one of the tv announcers say that he hadn’t even hit a fly ball as far as the warning track? Can that possibly be true? If so, I’m sure management’s concern centers around his total lack of power. One has only to watch him flail helplessly as curveballs down and away to see he’s got a big problem.

by Illinois Pirate Fan on Sep 19, 2008 10:44 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I heard that as well.

As little PT as he’s received, though, I don’t know that it’s got any real predictive value. A sample of under 100 AB is almost indistinguishable from a wild-ass guess.

by Vlad on Sep 19, 2008 2:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

WTM

O.K., but why did DL also include minor leaguer Stephen MacFarland in the deal? Why trade both guys?

by patthatt on Sep 19, 2008 8:02 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Because he was a moron. Sabean was ecstatic to get rid of Morris’ entire salary. The best offer he’d had until then was for a fraction of it. He probably would have sent along a PTBNL himself and forgotten about Davis and MacFarland if he could’ve gotten the deal by the Commissioner’s office, but he had himself a complete tool on the other end so he got what he could out of it.

by WTM on Sep 19, 2008 10:04 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

A Lot Of Future Stars...

flail at good down and away sliders when they first come up. Matt Williams was one of them and he was NEVER cured of the problem but still had a decent career.

Most sliders that are hit are hanging sliders … not the good, crisp, sharp-breaking down and away sliders.

by thegunner on Sep 19, 2008 11:14 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs