The 2008 Minor League Pitcher of the Year Was... Who?
by Charlie Wilmoth on Feb 10, 2010 2:23 AM EST
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PrintUpon reading Chuck Finder's reminder that Jeff Sues was the Pirates' 2008 minor league pitcher of the year, my thought was, wow, really? Jeff Sues was the Pirates' minor league pitcher of the year? And the answer is yes: Sues pitched out of the Lynchburg and Altoona bullpens, struck out a bunch of guys he was older than, and won the award. Good for Sues for battling back from what seemed like several lifetimes' worth of injuries, but man, that's bleak. It doesn't look much better when you consider who the other candidates might have been. Jimmy Barthmaier, maybe? Jesse Chavez? Kyle Bloom? Ron Uviedo? Tony Watson? Barthmaier and Watson's seasons were probably the best by starters who pitched the whole season, and that's not saying a whole lot. This is worth thinking about before blasting Neal Huntington for the Pirates' not getting better immediately in his tenure. The farm system was just so bad.
Remember who their overall minor league player of the year was in 2008? Anybody? I'll wait. It was Jim Negrych, who had a good year with the stick but was a bit old for his levels, can't play defense and isn't really a prospect. Oh, and how about this one? Who was Indianapolis' Most Valuable Player in 2008? It was Neil Walker, who posted a .280 OBP. How about Altoona's 2008 MVP? The immortal Jonel Pacheco, who posted a .774 OPS. Lynchburg's? Jared Keel.
At the minor league levels, "most valuable players" and "best prospects" don't mean the same thing. But it's telling that most of these guys are irrelevant now. Sues and Negrych are very marginal prospects at best; Walker is still trying to hack his way out of AAA purgatory; and Pacheco and Keel aren't even in the organization anymore. This is just where the Pirates' minor league system was then. And we haven't even addressed the debacle at State College, where the Spikes went 18-56 thanks largely to a terrible collection of ballplayers left over from the Dave Littlefield era.
Wow, what a mess.
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A great reminder.
Of what kind of mess Neal Huntington inherited when he took over in 2007. It’s taken two drafts and trading off a bunch of average and below average players to really rebuild the minor league system to be at least somewhat respectable.
except
malholm, duke, Mcutchen, and doumit were littlefield guys and our best players. Lets just wait a few years until we make coon-huntington our savour ’s.
'position flex-ability, yea baby' austin powers
Actually, you're wrong.
Doumit was drafted in 1999, which makes him a Bonifay guy. Duke was drafted in 2001, and since Littlefield wasn’t hired until a month after that draft, that also makes Duke a Bonifay guy. Though really, Mickey White was the force behind those drafts.
The complete list of Littlefield picks who have (to date) made the majors: Bullington, Eldred, Capps, Dave Davidson, Chris Demaria, Nyjer, Maholm, Gorzelanny, Craig Stansberry, Josh Sharpless, Neil Walker, Brian Bixler, Andrew McCutchen, Brent Lillibridge, and Steve Pearce. There are also a few prospects from the ’06 and ’07 drafts still in the system, with Lincoln being the only one of real significance at this point.
Would you rather have...
Paul Maholm or John Danks?
Andrew McCutchen or Jay Bruce?
Neil Walker or Jered Weaver?
Bullington or BJ Upton?
Lincoln hopefully will be better than Brandon Morrow. Cutch and Jay Bruce might go either way. The others are no contest at this point.
If only Littlefield had looked on the paper of the person sitting next to him in class…
by MarkInDallas on Feb 10, 2010 2:18 PM EST up reply actions
I'd rather have Cutch
I’ll take the 5-tool player with the .365 OBP and 30-30 potential over the one who strikes out twice as much as he walks
"Straight ball I hit very much, but curveball, bats are afraid." - Pedro Cerrano
Just looked at each of those six drafts
with the exception of Nyjer Morgan going in the 33rd round in ’02 and Rudy Owens going in the 28th round in ’06, the rest of those drafts pretty much fall off a cliff after the top 10.
Also, one could argue he was already hanging from the side of the cliff before he leaned over the speakerphone to make his first pick in ’07…
"Straight ball I hit very much, but curveball, bats are afraid." - Pedro Cerrano
Falling off a cliff
Considering how he did with the first ten in most drafts, it was about like standing on a phone book in the bottom of the Grand Canyon and jumping off.
Duke and Doumit were drafted by Bonifay
As for Maholm and McCutchen, blind squirrel, nut.
And anyway, way to miss the point. WHOEVER succeeded Littlefield would inherit a mess. This post has nothing to do with FC and NH.
I think I might've found you a new avatar, mate...
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on Feb 11, 2010 7:36 PM EST up reply actions
Cutch
I would say that was a pretty deep draft (2005) — that were a lot of nuts for our blind squirrel to find that year!
Just looked at that list
Those first 7 picks… WOW. It’s no shock a guy like Cutch fell to DL at 11th
"Straight ball I hit very much, but curveball, bats are afraid." - Pedro Cerrano
Those 8-9-10 guys are no slouches either.
Townsend got hit by injuries, Pelfrey figures to keep improving, and Maybin has yet to bust out. When he does, he’ll be pretty darn good.
Looks like quite a few misses after Bruce, though.
Hey, an out is an out - unless you're Mario, in which case it's probably two outs. -UtesFan89
Why can't Mendy bust a long TD run? We could use it.
Since we're talking about old-time draft picks...
…I figured I’d mention: Rico Washington just signed with the Kansas City T-Bones.
Rico was one of our picks back in ‘97. He put in his time, and finally got to spend a few weeks in the majors as a 30-year-old rookie back in ’08. He is also, from what I’ve heard, one of the nicest guys in the game. As such, I’m happy to see him tie up with a club for next year, even if it is indy ball.
also
guys we received in trades from littlefield and or bonifay assets should be half for huntington and half for littlefield and bonifay. so really he gets credit for 2 drafts, free agent signing and 50% of the traded players we got in return for assets of previous gm’s.
'position flex-ability, yea baby' austin powers
Not sure how he gets credit for half of those
Considering he would’ve either re-signed those guys to bad contracts or let them go for nothing.
debits and credits
you can’t add up all the credits with out accounting for the debits. also wins are the only things that count and coon- huntington have not won . so lets put the kool aid down wait a few years before we praise to much.
'position flex-ability, yea baby' austin powers
And anyway, way to miss the point. WHOEVER succeeded Littlefield would inherit a mess. This post has nothing to do with FC and NH.
Just thought I’d repeat Azibuck’s comment, since you don’t seem to be catching on.
Look out
Any more refutation of this fellow’s posts and he’ll throw the ol “I’ve been a fan since the ’70s so I have a right to my opinion” defense.
I’m not saying he’s that old, but that usually seems to be the case with these types of people.
Hey -
some of us have been fans since the 60’s, and…
Hey, you kids! get offa my lawn!
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on Feb 11, 2010 7:31 PM EST up reply actions
Are you talking about
when Littlefield is up for HOF consideration? What’s the waiting period for GMs?
by MarkInDallas on Feb 10, 2010 7:01 PM EST up reply actions
huh
what we know right now of performance on the field and what we don’t know about prospects, huntington is under performing littlefield and littlefield was horrible. But its really early in the huntington administration
'position flex-ability, yea baby' austin powers
I don't recall
mentioning how great Huntington is in my post, or calling him an HOF-bound exec.
by MarkInDallas on Feb 10, 2010 7:32 PM EST up reply actions
Double huh?
In what way is huntington underperforming in comparison to littlefield?
by smokedpretzels on Feb 10, 2010 9:22 PM EST up reply actions
That statement is beyond baffling.
It’s a GM’s job to build an organization and set up the major league team for long term success. NH is doing that. Littlefield was busy watching cartoons. Give it time. Huntington isn’t God. It takes a bit longer than two years to make a MLB team out of dust.
No no
You see, things like this need to happen immediately, and things like this work in absolutes. Huntington is worse than Littlefield because Littlefield wasted money and prospects on veterans to squeak out a few more wins per season, but since he got those few extra wins that makes him a better GM.
Instant gratification is way better than future planning, don’t you see?
MarkInDallas
Are you talking about when Littlefield is up for HOF consideration? What’s the waiting period for GMs?
I’m more interested in if there’s a statute of limitations due to expire because I think we could make a pretty strong case for criminal neglect of the farm system and fraud perpetrated on the fans, to name a couple of things.
He'll have to be content
with being in the Chicago Cubs’ Hall of Fame
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