mikechamp wrote:Sorry. Should I look at his 2.25 K:BB ratio this past season? Or his career 2.24 K:BB ratio (which is more than 3 times that of Pujols)?
Adam Dunn had a K:BB ratio of 2.36 this past season. Mark Reynolds sported a 2.61 in 2011. So he's doing better than those guys.
Heck, BJ Upton owns a career 2.21 ratio. That's only slightly better than Adams. Of course, BJ has been trade bait for 2 seasons now, so maybe that's not the greatest comp... if you like Adams.
Hey, Ryan Howard has the same career ratio! Maybe we have a young Howard on our hands. (Wonder what Philly fans would think of that projection. Would they be envious... or not?)
I don't know if this was in response to my SSS comment, but if it was, you never answered the question....rather you ignore the SSS 9:1 K:BB that you used as a reason to pass on MMGA in the first place and point to his 2.2 career rate and then compare him to Reynolds, Howard, et al...
I'm not his biggest fan, but there has been a lot of discussion about this in prior threads. I think he'll hit at the MLB level but to what extent I don't know. I just don't think you can grab 50 ABs and point to him being a bust....
Sure, it's a small sample size, but it's not trending in the right direction. His first exposure to some of the best prospects, and he goes the wrong way? Maybe he would make adjustments over the course of a full season of at-bats. Maybe he would continue to get shown the pine.
I, too, am not ready to say he's a bust, but his AFL performance isn't pulling me into his camp, and it is making me even more hesitant to consider the possibility that he could be handed the keys to 1B in 2 years.
Colby didn't hit for 3 months and there were people still in his camp when he got traded.
Yeah, apples and oranges. I don't put a ton of stock in the AFL. These guys are also playing more games than they ever have. Play preseason, a full regular season, and then a fall league into November? Thats a lot of baseball. I wish Taveras and Adams were hitting better, but not real worried they aren't.
I'm not even sure Taveras is getting regular playing time. Seems like he is on the bench a lot, but I haven't followed it on a daily basis. That may not be helping, either.
mikechamp wrote:Sure, it's a small sample size, but it's not trending in the right direction. His first exposure to some of the best prospects, and he goes the wrong way? Maybe he would make adjustments over the course of a full season of at-bats. Maybe he would continue to get shown the pine.
I, too, am not ready to say he's a bust, but his AFL performance isn't pulling me into his camp, and it is making me even more hesitant to consider the possibility that he could be handed the keys to 1B in 2 years.
Actually, his trend is fine. His last 5 or 10 games in the AFL, he was on fire.
Very interesting note in Goold's article on the end of the year awards by the Cards orgnaization. Adams won player of the year. Miller won pitcher of the year. Not surprising.
But, then there's this...
The Cardinals' 23rd-round pick in 2009, Adams has emerged as the top power prospect in the system at a position of increasing interest: first base.
Adams is marked to be an everyday player at Triple-A Memphis. He'll hit in the middle of the order, but where he'll play in the field has yet to be determined. That hinges, as so much does this winter, on Albert Pujols. If the Cardinals are able to re-sign the three-time MVP and keep him at first base for years to come, Adams will get opportunities to prove he can play the outfield. If Pujols should sign elsewhere, Adams would remain at first base and fall in line behind the two first base options the Cardinals have in the majors, Lance Berkman and Allen Craig.
"We feel he's going to be a major-league-level hitter," Vuch said. "He'll hit enough to be a major-league first baseman, and if he has to move to one of the corner outfield spots for us, he'll hit enough to be a major-league corner outfielder. You make room for a bat like that."
Adams finished his turn at the invitation-only Arizona Fall League this past month with a .250 average, four homers and 19 RBIs in 20 games. A scout with an opposing National League team calls Adams "the top position prospect they have" in the Cardinals' system.
That has to be pandering/stock building right? There's no real way they can consider that, is there?
What else are they going to do with him? I've always kind of thought that you train a prospect to play for your team. Even if you have ever intention of trying to move a player, you might not be able to -- you're at the mercy of other teams who might or might not want or need your prospect. So, in the meantime, get him ready to play for your team if you need him. If that means running him out to RF and seeing what happens, then what's the harm? Almost none. Maybe he drops some pounds and can be halfway acceptable out there. Maybe not. Either way, there's nothing lost by finding out.
I would have extremely low expectations, though. This isn't Allen Craig we're talking about.