Sickels' top 20 Ranger prospect list revisited
John Sickels takes a look back at his pre-season Ranger top 20 prospect list...
And to clarify, these aren't new rankings, but looking at how he ranked everyone in the offseason, and then looks at how they are doing now...
I deleted the diary because it was a cut-and-paste of the article with no link going back to John's site...
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Cutting and pasting
an entire article is normally frowned on. You normally cut and paste small excerpts, and post the link.
What's the secret to a long life? "I masturbate a lot"-Ernest Borgnine. http://www.bestweekever.tv/2008/08/14/icymi-ernest-borgnine-reveals-his-secret-for-everlasting-youth/#onepage
Hurley
needs a change of scenery? I think John is going to be dropping Hurley a few slots.
Nolan Ryan should be the Rangers president, GM, manager and pitching coach.
Hurley
Almost reads as jilted love…I know Sickels was high on him in the recent past, and then Hurley stubbed his toe on AAA a little. With the flyball tendencies though, the player’s going to have to mind the homer.
He seems to still like JMJ a lot. To think, he’s pushing 25 and still “raw.”
Go Strangers.
by hightowersmith on Aug 19, 2008 11:06 AM CDT up reply actions
4 months shy of 25
with a dad who is a big leaguer, and was able to go to one of the finest baseball colleges in the country, in AA, and still raw.
When I think of someone who is “raw”, I think of a kid from the jungles of Brazil who saw a baseball for the first time 2 weeks ago.
What's the secret to a long life? "I masturbate a lot"-Ernest Borgnine. http://www.bestweekever.tv/2008/08/14/icymi-ernest-borgnine-reveals-his-secret-for-everlasting-youth/#onepage
"Yes, he did try to
hacky-sack the baseball, so you would think his plate discipline leaves something to be desired. But boy can he run and throw!"
Offense doesn't doubt me, but my first and primemost thing is defense and punt return and kickoff return
by Brett Perryman on Aug 19, 2008 12:27 PM CDT up reply actions
hurley has not been good YET in AAA
and as for majors…small sample size
Every pitch thrown to Josh Hamilton is recorded as an E1. -- clark
by knockoutking on Aug 19, 2008 5:04 PM CDT up reply actions
That list
seemed odd at the time, and seems even more so now.
Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.
This teams top 20 can be any number of things at the beginning of the year.
Don’t forget BA, Newberg, Sickels, DMN, no one had same guy at #1. Holland not being there speaks volumes for his meteoric rise. It should be nice to see how it shapes up at end of the year.
+1
JMJ 7th and Teagarden first? With Omar Poveda ahead of Feliz and Beavan and Brendan Garr rounding out the top 20? It somehow feels like there wasn’t a whole lot of work put into the compilation of that list back in November.
We need to hire Chuck Norris to kick the ass of any Ranger fan caught booing one of our young pitchers at the RBiA.
Sickels
is one of those guys who favors results over projection. given that many of our top prospects at the time were either ’07 draftees or very young players (Beavan, Main, Andrus, Beltre, Feliz, etc.) he had a certain bias against them..
At least that’s the only reason I can see for the odd list…
What's the rumpus?
Well, he had Tommy Hunter 17th...
We need to hire Chuck Norris to kick the ass of any Ranger fan caught booing one of our young pitchers at the RBiA.
Yeah Sickels is a notoriusky hard grader that gave out like 20(?) A's total for all the minors
Its extremely high praise to get anything from Sickles if your in Low A. Beltre only got a C from Sickels nad he was mentionin several top 100/150’s.
What is that photo of in your avy?
I’ve seen it before and can’t recall where
by thedudeabides on Aug 19, 2008 2:00 PM CDT up reply actions
the photo
it’s a funny picture of a Dutch kid showing his true devotion (Feyenoord’s his club) as he flips off someone on the field or in the crowd or something…Never get tired of seeing that picture. I think i’ve seen it on here once or twice in one incarnation or another.
What's the rumpus?
I can't figure out
…why nobody is using that picture of One Man Five Tools from Evan Grant’s post last week where he was kissing a lobster. Classic.
the revision is hardly insightful
or worth the read
What do the grades mean?
How does Perez get a B- and a comment like “one the best prospects in baseball”?
The grade and rank was from the pre-season ranking
the comments are just an update. This is just to show which prospects have gained or lost standing in his eyes this year.
Godwin's Law Version 2.0 (Rangers Edition)
"As a Ranger discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Danks, Volquez, or Young approaches one."
by LBBRangerFan on Aug 19, 2008 10:38 AM CDT up reply actions
I do it intentionally sometimes
just to mock those who can’t seem to get it right, including those in the local media.
Someone did it for the DMN not too long ago.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 19, 2008 3:49 PM CDT up reply actions
Wow
So he reprints his winter list with some stats and half a sentence of “insight” per prospect.
Thanks, I guess.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
He's been doing this for all the teams lately.
I guess it helps as filler for the dog days.
Signature! I don't need no stinking signature!!
by DerekSTheRed on Aug 19, 2008 11:09 AM CDT up reply actions
yeah, that and i think in a way its a way for him to fish to make sure he isnt screwing anything up royally.
This way, he will get the people who actually follow a particular group to chime in and argue one way or another instead of having to do every piece of analysis dry.
Right, some
and I think he’s smart to do that. Some people on that blog follow prospects slavishly, and occasionally provide insight or news. Most just go “are you kidding?!?”
Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.
I dont fault him one bit for doing it
Hell his current 2008 book is 460 pages long with over 1200 player covered. Regardless how much you see or how many reports you read, its good to see some form of analysis to double check.
You know how easy it would be to miss that player “X” has been playing through an injury and drop a guy to fringe status because so. Just a great way to make sure your evaluations for next year are on track
Sickels...huh?
He has Villalona number 1 for the Brewers, but then he says this about Beltre…
Oh, I should have put him on there. He was a Grade C in the book, a grade for which I took much flak….but I thought people were really overreacting to Boston and Texas propaganda about how great he would be. He looked like another raw tools guy with strike zone problems to me.
and this…
Beltre is a raw tools outfielder who could barely hit .200 in the Gulf Coast League. He did better after the trade, but there are a LOT of raw tools guys out there. Why is he so special? Grade C with higher potential. I want to see him hit outside of Arizona.
Then he says this on Villalona this past week…
248/.298/.400 with 13 homers, 18 walks, 111 strikeouts in 407 at-bats for Augusta in the Sally League. Horrible strike zone judgment, but just 17 years old most of this season.
Am I missing something here, or is that a little inconsistent?
to me, abortion is not a religious issue, it's a common sense one...
Sickles seem to be a big Twins fans, so he is overly casutious with anything that comes from Bos or NY
I guess that includes alot of the hype about Beltre as a prospect.
CC
anyone mention anything about his game yesterday?
C Sabathia 130-88.
The Brewers are going all Stanford with John Hudgins on him…
to me, abortion is not a religious issue, it's a common sense one...
If they are truly pulling a Stanford
then Sabathia will also start Wednesday’s game and then pitch in relief a couple more times this week. As much as I love college baseball, there are a bunch of coaches that don’t give a damn about their pitchers health.
i don't doubt that may happen if the brewers get to the playoffs
to me, abortion is not a religious issue, it's a common sense one...
I think
straight to pros is probably a better development path for a young pitcher. I don’t think some schools, like Rice for example, have done their students much good.
What's the secret to a long life? "I masturbate a lot"-Ernest Borgnine. http://www.bestweekever.tv/2008/08/14/icymi-ernest-borgnine-reveals-his-secret-for-everlasting-youth/#onepage
you mean?
an organization that specializes developing youth for the purpose of contributing to the major leagues is better for a pitcher long term than an amateur program that could care less about what happens to your long term dev after you graduate?
shocking…
"I’m sure you’ve seen Kiker before but I’ll just reiterate that the kid is mean on the mound. He is only 5’10’’ but he is an intimidator. He looks like he hates hitters. He has the juice for pressure situations."
-Jason Parks on Jul 22, 2008 10:08 PM
Yep
Kenny Baugh threw 171 pitches in a game against Nebraska while he was at Rice. That is certainly a little far over the line, like say 50-60 pitches too many. I don’t know how much Graham contributed to it, but Humber, Niemann, Townsend, Skaggs and Baugh (the five first round pick starters I can think of off the top of my head) have all had surgery since leaving Rice.
If I had a kid who was good enough to go pro or go to college, I would suggest pro ball all the way. He may still get hurt, but the team is concerned with only one thing, getting him to the big leagues which means keeping him healthy. The college coach is paid to win games. Not saying that means all coaches will win at all costs, but some of them certainly do feel that way.

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