Wild Hogs II? (3.28)
Juan Pierre knows how to return a favor. Grady Little gives up his number for the new CF, and Pierre responds by giving his new skip a Yamaha motorcycle, perfect for cruising Carolina backroads. Feel free to spend the next few hours trying to figure out how to do something nice for Pierre. Apparently, it pays. As does listening to Sandy Koufax, 'cause he was, like, totally good at pitching, as Brett Tomko recently had a chance to do. And Tomko- solid yesterday against the Cardinals- will have time to soak up whatever advice the HOFer delivered, because despite winning the fifth starter spot, the schedule will keep him in the pen until April 10th. Rafael Furcal likely won't be shelved that long, but if he is, Juan Pierre is ready to slide into the leadoff spot.
The folks at www.baseballprospectus.com issued their farm update for the NL West. Below are a couple interesting nuggets regarding your Blue:
"2007 Rookies: Most of the top pitching prospects are at least a year away, and top offensive prospects like Matt Kemp, Andy LaRoche, and James Loney seem bound for Triple-A in deference to veterans who offer little evidence that they'll be more productive than the young talent.
Minor League Road Trip: With top prospects spinning their wheels in Las Vegas-–and there are worse places to get stuck-–the Low-A Great Lakes Loons make their debut with über-lefthander Clayton Kershaw in the rotation and power-hitting third baseman Josh Bell in the middle of the lineup.
Pivotal Season: Three years ago he was one of the top prospects in the game, but two shoulder surgeries later, Greg Miller is still trying to figure things out. The plus fastball/slider combination remains, but his control has faltered, even in a bullpen role. He impressed management this spring enough to be in the mix for the fifth starter job for a few weeks, and while he didn't win the job, he will return to the rotation in the minor leagues."
Particularly interesting, given the sendown of Loney, is the first item. I think there's no doubt that Loney is ready to contribute at the major league level, but am also of the mind that Kemp needs a season at AAA. As for LaRoche (now back to no space between the La and Roche- dude, make up your mind...), I haven't seen enough of him to get a feel for whether or not he's ready, but the thing about all of them is they're young. They have time. And they'll all likely play with the big club this year. Especially Loney. But veterans are like insurance policies. If they don't work, the kids can step in and try to do their thing. Had the Blue turned the keys over to the prospects, if things didn't work they'd be left with few alternatives, in part because better players aren't available, and because the young guys have hurt their own value by struggling. L.A. integrated a lot of young players into the lineup last year. To add two or three more this year while trying to win a World Series? That's a lot of pressure for young players to absorb.
Now if they start trading the young guys away for the Luis Gonzalez types around baseball, then we have a problem. But putting guys ahead of them in the short term? Doesn't bother me.
BK
Subscribe to this Blog | What is RSS?
I would second BK's thoughts, particularly when it comes to Kemp. There's a lot of raw talent there, but he's also quite vulnerable at the Major League level (example, the Pedro Cerrano-like tendencies when it comes to a curve ball) if he's not ready. And in talking with people, the general opinion is that he's not. It does Kemp and the team little good to have him up with the big club playing only sporadically, where he's not helping a whole lot nor getting the reps he needs. Not a fun pill for Kemp to swallow, but it's the right call.
As for Loney (who actually does appear ready), I truly feel his pain, but he's not the first athlete to fall victim to a numbers game, nor will he be the last. His time will come, and likely not too far down the road.
AK
Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | March 28, 2007 at 07:51 PM
I am surprised that Loney did not take the initiative this winter and make an effort to learn the outfield. He knew when Nomar was signed that he would not be the 1st baseman. If he had started working on becoming an outfielder in Nov, he would have made this team. He needs to accept some responsibility and go down to Vegas and learn to play the outfield. He will increase his value to his club and himself. Don't just sit around feeling sorry for yourself and wait for Nomar to get hurt.
Posted by: Jim | March 29, 2007 at 10:05 AM