MLB Youngsters Update

It’s Friday and I’m tired. It’s been a long week, I’m not complaining just laying out the facts, and I’m looking forward to what promises to be a nice weekend. My brother’s daughter has her second b-day party on Saturday – we’re getting one of those bouncy castle things to jump in, and don’t think I’m not joining in – followed by a trip down to San Jose as my Dad and I hope to see the San Jose Sharks defeat the Red Wings to move on to the third round of the NHL playoffs. Then on Sunday we have Mother’s Day (you had better run out and get a gift for your mother if you forgot), and I’m getting together with the family to celebrate the best mom in the world which should be great fun.

With my itinerary for the weekend out of the way, here are some thoughts on a handful of younger ballplayers who have been in the news today.

* Jeff Clement is out of the starting lineup again for the Pirates as he continues to work on his stroke on the side. Many thought that they had a steal if they were able to roster Clement as a catcher eligible player, but it just hasn’t happened. You can read more of my thoughts on Clement at Around the Horn.

* Alcides Escobar entered the 2010 season as one of the potential breakout stars at the shortstop position because of his speed on the base or paths. Escobar stole 34 bags in 2008 and last season swiped 46 bags in the minors (42) and with the Brewers (four), and many were looking at him to once again surpass the 30-steal mark in his first full season in Milwaukee. While it could still happen, it would take a rather monumental shift from the way Escobar has performed thus far. To this point, and we’re talking about 25 games and 99 plate appearances, Escobar has attempted just one theft – and he was caught. It certainly doesn’t help that his OBP is awful at .296, but he has never been a big OBP guy (his career minor league mark is just .333). Mike Cameron said that the Brewers limited his attempts on the bases – could the club be doing the same thing with Escobar this season?

* For those that follow me on the Baseball Guy’s Twitter Page this isn’t going to be news, but here is what the Marlins’ owner, Jeffrey Loria, had to say about the phenom that is Mike Stanton. “[Stanton] will probably be (with the Marlins) this summer. The baseball people don’t want him to come and fail… When he’s ready – June, July. I don’t know. Hell probably be here this summer. But he’s got to continue to keep developing. Don’t forget – that’s a lot of pressure to put on a 20-year-old man.” Reading that it’s easy to see that Stanton doesn’t appear headed for Florida until after the All-Star break barring something unforeseen, though if he keeps hitting 500 foot home runs or keeps pounding the ball into the seats with such frequency – 14 homers in 100 ABs – the team could surely amend their current plan.

* Eugenio Velez of the Giants is a talented athlete, but he has had trouble transitioning his physical gifts to the ball field. With his average down to .186 and without a single steal attempt through 17 games, the Giants decided on Friday to send him back to the minors. In 614 career at-bats Velez has hit .259 with a terrible .303 batting average, meaning the only area he has really helped in is with his wheels which have led to 83 runs and 30 steals. Problem is, Velez is frequently picked off when on base, and his instincts often have him taking a first step in the wrong direction. He might need to be moved to another organization because it appears that the Giants have just about given up on him.

And finally, I know he isn’t a “youngster,” but I couldn’t just let go the news out of Atlanta that Brian McCann is once again having trouble with his vision. McCann, who has already undergone two LASIK procedures, will apparently have to wear glasses when he returns to the active lineup on Saturday. Keep a very close eye on this situation – a simply horrible pun as I’m aware – as McCann has hit under .200 over his last 50 at-bats in what has got to be a rather significant concern for the Braves, their medical staff, those who own him in the fantasy game and for McCann himself.

By Ray Flowers

Twists and Turns

Today is one of those days. It’s 95 degrees outside, I’ve been talking football while writing about the NHL and the NBA all day, and now it’s time to get back to my bread and butter – major league baseball. In what follows you can peruse a few of my thoughts on this fine Tuesday.

Over his last seven starts Edwin Jackson has thrown an average of 114 pitches an appearance and that includes two outing in his last three times on the hill when he only made it through four innings. That’s right, over his last three starts Jackson has averaged 112 pitches a game despite only throwing an average of 5.1 innings per start. His ERA has gone up from 2.49 to 2.79 in that stretch of seven games and though has lost only one outing, but I’m a bit worried about those pitch counts given that he is on pace to blow past his previous career-high of 183.1 innings from last season (he currently has 151.2 IP under his belt).

I gave my take on the Alex Rios to Blue Jays deal in the Daily Dose from Tuesday. I’m glad the team has sent Rios out of town. Now if they could also find a taker for Vernon Wells then maybe they would have enough money to sign impending free agents Marco Scutaro and Rod Barajas. Oh, and I love when GM J.P. Ricciardi said he is not under pressure from management to move money because a team without Rios and Wells would certainly be much better than one with Scutaro and Barajas. What a joke.

The Giants will activate Nate Schierholtz from the DL tonight and with his return the team might have to curtail the playing time of 12 year vet Randy Winn. “Whether I’m in there or not, I want to win and that’s it.” Winn said as he would love to end his stretch of playoff-less baseball (he has never appeared in the “second season” in his career). Normally the Giants would just continue to run Winn out there since he is the consummate professional, but honestly, with Eugenio Velez being so hot, yes Eugenio Velez, there isn’t likely to be a spot in the daily lineup for Winn with Nate S. back in the mix. Just how hot has Velez been? Since begin recalled from the minors he is hitting .417 with 11 RBI and 13 runs in just 14 games. Moreover, dating back to August of last year Velez is batting .330 over 221 at-bats, and don’t even lie to me and say you were aware of that fact.

I’ve watched Jonathan Sanchez very closely for a few years, and I’m just not one bit convinced that he will ever figure “it” out. The stuff if top flight but he key simply cannot repeat his mechanics often enough to throw strikes. They Giants need him today, especially because of the injury to Randy Johnson, but I wouldn’t be at all unhappy if the Giants moved Sanchez this offseason if they could get a bat. I’m already bald and don’t have much hair to pull out when Sanchez is throwing ball after ball.

I thought that Matt Wieters was going to reinvent the game of baseball in his image? Well the rook is hitting .263 with three home runs an a .683 OPS in his 179 at-bat season so far. Huh, that’s roughly the production the Orioles were receiving from, well what do you know, deposed starter and current Ray Greg Zaun who is hitting .242 with four home runs and a .719 OPS in 178 ABs.

Jordan Zimmerman will almost certainly undergo TJ surgery on his elbow. It’s amazing how many guys need to undergo the procedure these days. Think of it this way – if this was 1960 all of these guys who simply be out of baseball either because (a) their arm was so sore that they couldn’t pitch or (b) they would be getting lit up since their pitches would have no oomph to them. Still, I wonder why so many guys in the old days could throw 300+ innings year after year without an issue and nowadays if a guy throws 200-innings in a season a parade is held.

By Ray Flowers

The Day in Deals

Wednesday was one busy day in baseball as a series of deals took place. Let’s hope that this won’t be the only foray in the trade market by many of the teams involved with the trade deadline looming on Friday. Regardless, for now, we have plenty to talk about.

The big deal of the day saw the Phillies add 2008 AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee to the mix when the Blue Jays continued to ask for too much in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes. This marks the second straight year that the Indians have dealt their ace – they sent CC Sabathia to the Brewers in 2008. This is a great move for the Phils who add a terrific arm to their rotation, and they are the team to beat tin the NL yet again. To read more about this deal, give Ted Carlson’s Brother-Lee Love a read.

The Pirates have traded something like half their club over the past few weeks (not quite), and they continued to move parts around with a deal for the future that saw them send Jack Wilson and Ian Snell for a plethora of young talented, players from the Mariners highlighted by C/1B Jeff Clement. To read my thought on all the players involved, let me direct you to my piece entitled Pirates Continue to Tinker.

The Pirates, continued their day of deals by then pulling off another potentially big deal for the club down the road as they traded second baseman Freddy Sanchez to the Giants in exchange for minor league pitching prospect Tim Alderson. Here are my thoughts on the deal.

1- The Giants have greatly improve their lineup the past couple of days by adding Sanchez and Ryan Garko. Neither of these two batters are going to carry the club, but when the alternatives were Juan Uribe/Eugenio Velez/Matt Downs/Kevin Frandsen and Travis Ishikawa, obviously the club is in a much better spot now they were mere days ago.

2- Sanchez, as long as his back and knee are healthy (the knee held up the deal as doctors were consulted), should continue to be what he has always been, and that is a .300 hitter. Sanchez, who let injury and the pressure of a potential deal weigh him down the past few weeks (he has hit .176 over his last 51 ABs), should be invigorated by the move to a club that actually has a chance to make the playoffs. Another reason to expect his average to rebound somewhat is due to the fact that his line drive rate of 22.6 percent is about two percentage points below his career mark. It wouldn’t hurt if he cut his strikeout rate as well since he is currently operating at a 16.9 percent mark, a full five and a half percentage points worse than his career rate.

3- The Giants sent out their fourth ranked prospect according to Baseball America, Tim Alderson, to the Pirates in the deal (he was the Giants first round selection in 2007). A 6’6″ righty who profiles as a #2 or #3 starter at the big league level, Alderson is an extremely efficient hurler who knows his way around the strike zone. At just 20 years of age, Alderson owns a 20-6 record with a 3.07 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in his 249 professional innings. He has also walked a total of just 51 batters, or less than two per nine innings, a terrific number for a youngster with a K/9 mark of more than seven.

This is a fantastic deal for the Giants in 2009, but when we revisit this deal in 2012, I have the sneaking suspicion that this deal will rank right alongside that other fine move of Brian Sabean in which he traded Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano to the Twins for 131 games of A.J. Pierzynski. Say it ain’t so Brian, say it ain’t so.

By Ray Flowers