I actually hope I am wrong and everyone piles on me because I went over board but just looking at his age, numbers and injuries(MSN makes a valid point about injuries) its only expected that his numbers start to decline. He had an avg to bad 07, not a good second half of 08 and IMO disappointing 09 in the time he has been playing which leaves a stellar 1st hlf of 08 but thats it in three years. My original point was that Smoak would have been the ideal guy to replace Puma in a couple of years instead of Castro as Offensive catchers are a luxury but big time 1st baseman's are essential.
Um, 2006 was the best SLG year of Albert's career. The point is, if he's having a normal year and he misses 20 games, his numbers would be a lot lower. Look, I don't mean to be rude... but it's 2009, not 1950. If you really believe in evaluating baseball players with numbers like RBIs, runs and batting average, it's not worth my time to debate. Those numbers are flawed and ridiculous.
What are you talking about? Berkman played 153 games in 2007, and 159 games in 2008. To go on the DL, you have to be out 15 days. Berkman did not go on the DL in 2007 or 2008 -- in fact, his trip this year was only the second time in his career (and the first from a baseball injury). http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bb/6543923.html Before this year, Berkman was an opening day starter in nine seasons. He played at least 152 games in eight of them, and the only one below - 2005 - was solely due to a freak offseason injury that caused him to miss April. He came back and played the duration of the season. This is the first year of his entire career he's had an in-season injury that has caused him to miss time. He's been in the majors since 1999, and been on the DL twice. And you're acting like this is a bad thing?!?
Berkman will be 34 next year. the overwhelming majority of players decline at that age, whether due to slower reflexes or increased injuries.
That may be true, but to declare the guy injury-prone after only the second trip to the DL in his 10-year career is quite extreme. And seeing as how his numbers are virtually identical to 2003, 2005 and 2007, I think it's extremely premature to suggest his 2009 indicates a decline.
Smoak with 2 more HRs tonight. I've lost count on how many he's hit in just a handful of games. I think it's 5 or 6. He's hitting .444 and his OPS must be nearly 1.500. Castro is still hitless in the tournament.
Unreal, Smoak with another HR. He went 1-for-2, HR, 2 BB today. He's hitting .450 with about 7 HRs and a bunch of BBs in just a handful of games. Castro still 0-for-the tournament. He did walk once today and once or twice in preivous games. He's the only player without a hit I believe.
Regarding Castro over Smoak - From comments made at the time, I infer that it was more than a choice of Smoak or Castro viewed in isolation. At the time, Heck or someone else said that choosing Castro "was part of their stragegy for allocating resources" or something similar. Castro's bonus was about $2 mil. Smoak's was about $3.6 mil. The same year the team went way over slot for two picks in the early rounds - Lyles and Seaton - and someone else (Dydalewicz?) later on. Based on the way things turned out, I have to imagine that if they had chosen Smoak, they wouldn't have taken Lyles or Seaton or the third guy. I think a strategy of saving a bit on the first pick to spread it around on guys with signability issues but top talent in later rounds is a very defensable strategy.
Its time to get over it Brooks. Its all in the past and it doesn't matter at this point. And Castro may end up being a HOF player while Smoak becomes Carlos Pena. Of course Castro could become nothing and Smoak could by Ryan Howard.
I'm guessing Smoak is just crazy hot right now. He only hit 12 homers in almost 400 at bats this season.
He was rated considerably higher than Castro before the draft. He's been rated considerably higher than Castro since the draft. There is really nothing to get over. I'm just observing the performance of the two players and will continue to do so, particularly when they are playing in an international event together.
Bobby Heck stated that the reason for picking Castro is that he felt Castro was "all-around" player and that Smoak was "one-dimensional". The Astros were in badly need of a true catching prospect (this was before Koby Clemens decided to flip the switch) and saw Castro as a player that could move through the minors quickly, and foremost they believed he could learn how to be field general and handle calling games for a staff. I wouldn't worry about Castro not doing well for Team USA. He has caught quite a few games, maintained a .300 BA through both Hi-A and AA and looked great most of the minor league season. Smoak struggled when he got to AAA and has hit his groove lately. While it would be nice to have Smoak (I was also mad at the Astros for passing him up) I am excited to have Castro come up to the majors. I do wonder where the same philosophy of "allocating resources" went this past draft. The Astros signed just 25 of their first 26 picks, many right away. And while that in itself was awesome, they didn't seem to take chances like they did last draft with Seaton (who fell because he was considered a lock to Tulane), signing Dydalewicz for over slot and giving Lyles over slot as well. I thought they might have gone overslot for Greg Peavey out of Oregon St. considering he is looked at as a possible first rounder this upcoming draft. I believe Heck and Wade are doing their best to rebuild the farm, but I hope they look at talent first and signability second. I do wonder though
The biggest positive I sense about Castro so far is that he has a good head on his shoulders. Statistically, his power numbers went down drastically between Lancaster and Corpus, as expected. Lancaster is one of the most hitter-friendly parks in the minors while the wind current is apparently not favorable for lefties at Corpus. He does seem to be a patient hitter who will get on base at a decent clip, something that would be a welcome addition to this team. Corpus OPS: .747 in 239 ABs (.385 SLG) Lancaster OPS: .916 in 207 ABs (.517 SLG) According to every resource I've come across, Smoak has far more upside but we shall see. All of them could be wrong.
Smoak just won't stop. 3 more HRs in the last 2 games, 9 total in the tournament. His numbers are staggering. I have to imagine he's putting up a near record individual performance for the BWC. Castro finally got a couple of singles but he's still having a pretty bad showing. Here are the cumulative stats for Team USA: http://web.usabaseball.com/news/sta...key=recap_usab&gid=2009/09/21/ausint-usaint-1
