Goldstein on Borbon's defense

…denied he doesn’t have a good arm.

I think where I’ve taken issue is when people have suggested his arm is so weak as to be a significant liability in CF, a la Juan Pierre.

we don’t trade any of them.

I don’t think he’ll ever be a “great” CF because they Griffeys and Sizemores are much better players than I think he’ll ever be. I do think that he could be the kind of guy who has a 10 year ML career and sneaks into an AS game here or there. The absolute upper level of what I think he could be is Ichiro in a down year without the awesome arm. And who knows maybe he sees a Reyes of sunshine and figures out this whole walking thing.

He was Detroit’s #1 prospect after the 2004 season. Here’s BA’s strengths/weaknesses for him:

Strengths: Granderson is a classic line-drive, gap-to-gap hitter. He has a quick and compact batting stroke, a good grasp of the strike zone and identifies pitches early. He made an adjustment to become more selective upon reaching Double-A, as reflected in his career-best 80 walks. His gap-hitting approach seems tailor-made for Detroit’s spacious Comerica Park. Once labeled as a corner outfielder who wouldn’t have enough power to play every day in the majors, Granderson nearly doubled his previous career high in homers and made defensive strides in center field. He gets good jumps and takes correct routes to the ball. His range is average for center and above average on the corners. Granderson’s arm is accurate, and he’s a smart player who throws to the right base. His makeup and work habits are outstanding, as evidenced by his decision to complete his college degree after signing as a junior. He shows the potential to be a clubhouse leader if he continues to perform on the field.

Weaknesses: Granderson isn’t going to produce big-time power. He benefited from playing his home games at Erie’s cozy Jerry Uht Park, though 13 of his 21 homers and 27 of his 48 extra-base hits came on the road. Another rap on Granderson was that many scouts considered him a fringe-average runner who lacked the speed of a true center fielder. Now there are just as many scouts who say that knock is overstated, however, and that his speed may actually rate a tick above average.

He was also named the prospect in the Tiger organization with the best strike zone judgment.

So I guess that makes him a Li’l Abner?

Heh.

…‘fraid he’d hurt himself – Nollie’ll fix that, tho – all the pitchers are going to hold their own water this year. They GOTTA be tougher… !

when you’re a lefty that can throw a fastball in the 93-95 mph and have the secondary pitches he does. The guys you listed had a decent slider or curveball or whatever, but nothing as good as Harrison’s. None of them also had anything like the fastball Harrison has.

I definitely read this out of context at first:

“I’m old enough”

he lasted like another 90-100 picks after Borbon was taken due to his contract demands. The Angels took him but didn’t sign him.

Harvey was off their board at that point. I think they’ve even come out and said that they didn’t view him as signable, and he obviously wasn’t as it turned out.