He's been talked-down and called 'overrated' so much I think he's back to underrated. I personally have little to no expectation of him; he's another Luhnow lotto ticket. If he hits, great. If not, no harm done. I'd trade that half a season of Carlos Lee for Dominguez and Rasmussen every time. Not that I've heard of. Haven't watched any minor league games though. He did have one of the worst major league swings I've ever seen though. No power loading, poor hip rotation, almost all upper body swing. I'm really surprised he's gotten as far as he has without serious swing work.
@brianmctaggart: Tom Lawless has been named manager at Oklahoma City. He was roving infield coordinator. #Astros
One of those amorphous positions that's basically a guy flying from team to team giving personal instruction but has no formal day to day responsibility. Most of the time it's just a part-time gig. Glen Barker was base-running coordinator for the Padres. Ausmus said he's special assistant to GM and flies out once every two weeks or so to give instruction on catching. Or if you'd like to think of it that way, he coordinates the round-up of all the roving infields that have gotten away.
Delino DeShields now has 100 steals in the crosshairs. He's stolen 2 tonight to give him 89, and the single-season record in the system, which was previously held by Lou Frazier. Frazier had 87 in the 1988 season.
Am I crazy to think that Jacob Goebbert should show up on one of our prospect lists now? He's in the top 10 of the Texas League in OPS (http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/leader.cgi?type=bat&id=0c632c88), and he's 24 (the Texas League's average age, so it's not like he's doing it an at advanced age). Seems like he deserves a year in AAA next year. Could profile as a potential bench guy for the outfield in another year?
What do y'all think the minor league SS situation is going to look like next season? OKC: Villar CC: Mier LAN: Fontana LEX: Correa Even though Mier has been injured most of the season, he has been killing the ball in Lancaster in the time he has played this season. Why not give him a shot in CC?
He's slightly old for a prospect. The average ages of AA/AAA are skewed by the career minor leaguers and AAAA players. You're right on two counts: he'll see AAA next year and his ceiling is probably major league bench player. Nothing to write home about (esp. with all the new players) but a fun player to follow. It's looking like that. Wouldn't be surprised to see Correa start anywhere from Greeneville to Lexington. Lexington as an 18 y/o might be overwhelming (see DDJ). My personal favorite, Chan Moon, is going to be squeezed into a backup/utility role somewhere.
It's looking like Oberholtzer is starting to get adjusted to AAA now. 3 very nice starts in a row and it's pretty telling that he only got touched for 2ER last night despite giving up 10 hits in 7.2 innings. Promising.
The River has just hit his first professional home run. His 2-run shot in the 1st gives Greeneville a 2-0 lead over Elizabethton. Francis Ramirez is starting.