And the new guy…

Blake Beavan. Captain Wonderful. C-Wun. C1.

BITW, bitches. Believe. In. The. Wonderful.

Even if the velocity doesn’t return and the K’s stay relatively low I still think he can thrive as an Andy Sonnanstine/Derek Lowe/Hideki Kuroda/Chien Ming-Wang-type who succeed by inducing lots of weak contact and groundballs, keeping the ball out of the air and never walking a gosh darn soul.

And if the velocity does come back up even just a tick or two… forget about it. If that happens it’d put him on the fast track to becoming the best darn #2-quality big league starter he’s ever seen.

Sharp videos, nice list. Includes Jones, Smoak and Tracy
Matt Wieters – looks like a player from the 1920’s or 1930’s to me.

I think I’ll go with Boscan. I’ve pretty much gone with ceiling over most other factors so far in these polls, so I might as well continue to do so. I still like Hurley too and I don’t want to overlook him, but every time I go back over things in preparation for one of these polls, I seem to find someone else to put in front of him. Whatever that means.

Engel Beltre is also tempting, with all the reports of his raw tools – but frankly I just don’t see any results yet, and that horrid BB/K rate bugs me. Looking at his numbers collectively, I see that his walk rate has been cut almost in half each time he’s moved up a level, and reached a new low this year – I find that disconcerting, especially considering we had him on plate discipline programs this year as well. Anybody have any thoughts to offer on him and his discipline?

I voted boscan last time, but i’ve changed my mind and gone hurley this time

for German Duran to be added soon, but I see he barely missed the cutoff with 143 at bats. It sure didn’t seem like he got that much playing time last year, did it?

Anyway, I know several here (including myself), saw Duran as a ML starting caliber 2B last year, and know it seems like he may not even be able to hold onto the utility job for long if Vallejo is being groomed for that role. Does anybody still see him as ML starter quality? That beautiful 300/346/525 line he posted at Frisco as a 22 year old seems like so long ago.

but I almost voted Hurley and I can certainly see Beavan votes as justified here. Boscan is coming soon for me, as is Ramirez, but I’m not quite comfy with either of them at #10 in this stackededest of systems.

yet again.

to add Pimentel to the list.

but it was a toss up btwn neilram/boscan (who i really really like) and beltre (with beavan right behind them)

And kok can just suck it!

I went with the toolsy OFer here. I know all about his walks, or lack thereof, but hes just so damn talented I had to put him here. Hopefully this year the Bakersfield coaches will move him out of the leadoff spot and into a more power, run producing spot. Ultimately I think thats where hes gonna end up in the majors. While his walk rate still isn’t impressive no matter where he is in the lineup I think it was viewed even more harsher by people due to the fact he was the leadoff hitter last year. He led the WL in hits as an 18 year old which tells you he can put the bat on the ball. Unfortunately out of the two skills, hitting and walking, hitting isn’t something you can teach. You can refine it and maybe get a little better but if you have trouble putting wood to leather you aren’t gonna make it. Plate discipline however is something you can work on. As Borbon showed in AFL this year if you go in making it a focus you can make it better. It may lead to more Ks but as the old saying goes “you can’t walk off the island” I think that holds true in Beltres case. Let his body develop and fill out and put him in the 5 hole this next year and tell him to work the counts more. His strikeout numbers may increase but so may his walks. I envision an OF in 4 years of Beltre, Borbon, Hamilton from left to right. Beastly