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Arizona Fall League

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 7:30 am
by DOUGHBOYS
All these NFBC'ers going to the AFL and not one report during or after?

What's the buzz? Any chatter?

Arizona Fall League

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 8:02 am
by Greg Ambrosius
Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

All these NFBC'ers going to the AFL and not one report during or after?

What's the buzz? Any chatter? Most of the guys are flying back today. I got home late Saturday night because I had to attend a family function, but will jump on this thread soon.



The conference was fun and the weather was amazing. 91 on Thursday when we went to an afternoon ballgame and 86 on Friday. Stephen Strassburg was supposed to pitch the All-Star Game on Saturday night in Surprise and everyone was fired up about that, but on Friday afternoon they scratched him because he had a stiff neck after sleeping wrong. :mad: Wow, that upset a lot of folks and certainly can't do any good for the AFL. Bummer indeed.



Give me a few minutes and I'll post some thoughts here.

Arizona Fall League

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 9:38 am
by Greg Ambrosius
I'd like to say thanks to Lindy Hinkelman for coming out to the Arizona Fall League as our guest. Ryan and Charlie and the whole Fanball gang did a good job making sure Lindy felt like the champion he is and we got plenty of pictures of Lindy holding his big $241,300 check for the cover shot and other inside photos. We had Lindy at the Phoenix ballpark with the big check and we even got a nice shot of him holding up a lot of $100 bills. We got a nice photo of Rick Thomas holding the big check as well, so we have plenty of photos to spread around for our upcoming issues. Thanks guys and thanks for hanging with us at Dos Gringos, Dave & Charlie's, and other fine stops along the way. That was a great, great time.



Lindy is already preparing to defend his title and has some prospects in his sights. :D Watch out for him folks because he's all baseball, 24/7, in 2010. ;)

Arizona Fall League

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 9:41 am
by Greg Ambrosius
Okay, I went to three ballgames while I was out there and the most impressive performance was likely the most surprising to the AFL scouts. Colorado's Wilin Rosario, a 20-year-old catcher who hit just .266 with four homers and 33 RBIs at Hi-A Modesto last year, hit three homers in the two games we watched him play. And I mean they were LOOOOOOOONG home runs. He stared and watched his third one on Friday afternoon and got beaned the next time out. It's the first time I've ever seen a pitcher thrown out in the AFL for purposely hitting a batter.



They say he doesn't have enough power to excel in the majors, but he sure can handle a high fastball. That's what he hit all three times. Pretty impressive, from what we saw, right Lindy?!!

Arizona Fall League

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 9:46 am
by Greg Ambrosius
Speaking of catchers, we saw San Francisco's Buster Posey for one game and he looked okay. Everyone is saying that he's worn down from the long season and is really struggling offensively. He's not a very big kid, so I can see how he wears down. You almost have to wonder if he has enough for a full MLB season. He showed quick bat speed when we saw him, but they were lazy fly balls to the outfield.



Most folks believe that he will start the season in the majors, replacing Benjie Molina. He hit .326-13-58 in 80 games at Hi-A San Jose and then easily made the jump to Triple-A Fresno, hitting .321-5-22 in 35 games. He has the skills to excel and seems to have the opening needed, too.



Texas' Taylor Teagarden also joined the AFL last week and hit a home run in the lone game we saw him in. He had a season to forget last year in the majors and at Triple-A and needs to get his swing back in order. I'm not sure he will get the opportunity to do that.

Arizona Fall League

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 9:56 am
by Bob Enzyte
Thanks to Greg, Tom, Charlie and Easy "E" for the great time in Phoenix last week. It was really a blast. The night at Dos Gringos made me wish that I was 30 years younger. Yeah, Greg, Rosario looked pretty good. He even stole a base on Thursday.

Arizona Fall League

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 9:59 am
by Greg Ambrosius
The first game that Tom and I attended we saw Ian Kennedy pitch. He was dominating as he set down like 12 in a row before running into trouble in the fifth or sixth because of bad defense behind him. He really looked sharp, though, and has pitched well this fall from what we've heard. I'm not saying there is a starting job waiting for him in New York, but the Yankees should give him a chance or ship him to a team that could use a pretty good right-hander.



Stephen Strassburg was scratched from Saturday's start, which was a MAJOR BUMMER for the attendees. But the scouts down there liked the way he bounced back from his one bad outing and he's consistently hit the gun at 97-99 mph. Jason Grey said he hit 100 three times in the last game he had him at. He seems like the real deal, too good to be true for some folks.



So, will he start the year in the majors? Most folks think he has the talent to do it, but most agree he would be better off with a half season or more in the minors. Why not start him off at Hi-A, move him to Double-A and let him proceed to Triple-A this year? Why the rush to get him in the majors right now?



I'd say there is a good chance the Nationals do the right thing and start him in the minors before bringing him up before the All-Star break. But the fans will pressure management to bring him up right away, so we'll see how it plays out. I hope they do the right thing with this kid because it would be fun to watch a talent like this for many years to come.



What do you think, will he start in the majors or start in the minors this year?

Arizona Fall League

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:06 am
by Schwks
Why bring him up at all? It is not like they have the rotation/bullpen around him to compete. I'd keep him in minors unless lightning strikes and Nats are somehow competing.

Arizona Fall League

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:25 am
by viper
As a Nats season ticket holder [large group and I get to 10-15 games a year], I cannot imagine him getting called up before Summer if for no other reason than to avoid super-two status. If he plays a bit for the Potomac farm club, I may go down to watch. Moving him through the minor league systems seems smart and something tells me that Rizzo won't bring him up before he gets some experience. Storen may start in the majors however.

Arizona Fall League

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:36 am
by Schwks
I think he will be overdrafted this year and has huge risk factors. Every starting pitcher has risk of ineffectiveness and injury(we know greater then hitter). Strasburg has those two, plus the risk that the team will decide for one reason or another to keep him in minors and finally the risk that he is not ready for prime time...Hanson had already dominated in minors before killing in AFL. With Strass we have no minor league numbers. He starts looking tempting in early 20's rounds, but not before a staff is already built. To me the better risk strategy is to go with a guy who has already dipped his toes (Matusz, Cahill) and shown SOME glimpses of being a stud ...obviously these guys have also shown warts.

Arizona Fall League

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:45 am
by Greg Ambrosius
Originally posted by Schwks:

I think he will be overdrafted this year and has huge risk factors. Every starting pitcher has risk of ineffectiveness and injury(we know greater then hitter). Strasburg has those two, plus the risk that the team will decide for one reason or another to keep him in minors and finally the risk that he is not ready for prime time...Hanson had already dominated in minors before killing in AFL. With Strass we have no minor league numbers. He starts looking tempting in early 20's rounds, but not before a staff is already built. To me the better risk strategy is to go with a guy who has already dipped his toes (Matusz, Cahill) and shown SOME glimpses of being a stud ...obviously these guys have also shown warts. In two industry drafts this year, I believe he was picked 132nd overall and around 240th overall. There will be a wide variance of opinions this off-season until we find out what the Nationals plan to do with him.

Arizona Fall League

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:50 am
by DOUGHBOYS
Stasburg could be one of those guys that is drafted 10 rounds earlier or 10 rounds later during the second week of NFBC drafting, depending on the timing of the Nats decision on what to do with him.

Arizona Fall League

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:54 am
by Greg Ambrosius
Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

Stasburg could be one of those guys that is drafted 10 rounds earlier or 10 rounds later during the second week of NFBC drafting, depending on the timing of the Nats decision on what to do with him. I would hope the Nats have more of a clue on what to do with him before the last week of spring training, but you are right, he is one player who could have this variance. Could be benefits at either time on this player. Interesting.