His future might be as a left-handed bench bat who can fill in at three positions.
over 2 years ago
Adam J. Morris
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Thats not a bad player to have
Not a world beater, but a nice solid player to have around.
What do voluntary mean?
17th round draft choice
at this point, that is a win. the ’07 draft was pretty incredible
A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings.
1B, RF and P?
Seriously, I doubt he makes it with the Rangers unless they give up on Davis.
|Space for Rent|
One would assume
that Moreland is a bench player, and therefore Davis wouldn’t impact him much. Either Davis will make it as a starter, or not at all i would think. He doesn’t strike me as versatile, and if he can’t hit, there isnt much place for him on the 25.
"I don't condone steroids or any other type of growth hormones or anything else, but I could care less, and, for the most part, I don't think the fans give a (bleep). The people that care about it are the people that probably don't like baseball," - Jim Leyland
Yep
and Davis better start hitting for power again. Nobody wants a James Loney that can’t even hit .300.
The 2009 Texas Rangers offense: sigh...
by Kinslerhomer on Oct 30, 2009 12:44 PM CDT up reply actions
Kind of a moot point due to Smoak
I don’t think the Rangers want a LH hitting back up 1B behind Davis.
|Space for Rent|
even with his plus D?
thats hard to swallow so I hope he figures it out
The bloggerformelyknownasBigBaddBubbaJ
There's not much place on a 25 man roster...
…for a good defensive 1B that can’t hit.
by Adam J. Morris on Oct 30, 2009 3:54 PM CDT up reply actions
Davis is kinda versatile
Filled in at 3rd a bit.
It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops.
Although, so did Laird
It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops.
a little different circumstance
it’s about Davis’ bat, not his D, which is ironic because initially we thought it was about his D and his bat was good
A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings.
No
1B, RF and DH.
The 2009 Texas Rangers offense: sigh...
by Kinslerhomer on Oct 30, 2009 12:41 PM CDT up reply actions
wouldn't be more likely
1b, LF, RF? As DH isn’t really a position your keeping a bench bat for?
What do voluntary mean?
Worth noting
Moreland’s career as an outfielder has always been dependent on his teammates. He played OF in Clinton when Gac was around, moved to 1st when Gac was promoted, and moved back to OF after Smoak signed. In ‘09, he was in the OF mostly because he’s better out there than Chad Tracy. Best to think of him as a 1B who can play OF rather than the reverse.
"It's not a good strategy, but it's my strategy." -- Courtney Lucas
bench bat?
Fuck that. 50 bombs in 2011. By July.
by SaltyGoesYard on Oct 30, 2009 2:17 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
ha, true
id be ok with him as a bench bat, but i wouldnt say thats his ceiling by any means
Feliz says his greatest thrill was striking out Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, one of his heroes. Yet, when he called to tell his parents, his mother had a request: Strike out New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, too.
"So when I did that," Feliz says, "I told my mom, 'There you go. There's your present. Don't ask me to strike anyone else out, OK?'
Mitch Moreland turned 24 in September
In 2006, Carlos Quentin turned 24 in August. He had a .253/.342/.530 line in 50+ major league games, and a .289/.424/.487 line in AAA.
by Adam J. Morris on Oct 30, 2009 3:57 PM CDT up reply actions
Brad Hawpe, Lyle Overbay
I bet Moreland is a solid big league regular. Maybe not a star but there’s a lot of value in that.
i agree
I think he gets the “bench bat” routine because he didn’t start as a high draft pick. He has outperformed everybody in our system this past year (and this isn’t an aberration based on his numbers last year and everywhere he’s been) . I know people want to temper their high expectations, but based on performance etc Moreland is a more significant prospect than Beltre. People just love the toolsy players. I, personally, like players that can play baseball. Moreland seems to be one of those guys.
A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings.
x
I think he gets the "bench bat" routine because he didn’t start as a high draft pick.
Derek Holland and Ian Kinsler were both taken in the later rounds, and were both well regarded Ranger prospects.
I think he gets the bench bat label because he doesn’t have any defensive value, and he’s 24 and hasn’t hit all that great above A-ball.
And he certainly didn’t outperform everybody in the system this past year.
by Adam J. Morris on Oct 30, 2009 4:43 PM CDT up reply actions
Uh
How is .326/.373/.488 in Frisco this year “not all that great”?
"...he wasn’t a good hitter, just a good middle of the order bat that hit a lot of homers." - NYTXFAN
Its not all that great
Not in AA for a future DH/1B.
by Adam J. Morris on Oct 30, 2009 4:56 PM CDT up reply actions
what does he have to do?
hit .400? He’s done the same thing in the AFL as well. He’s hit everywhere.
A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings.
Hitting .326/.373/.488...
…as a 1B/DH in AA as a 23 year old isn’t going get people that excited.
He’s put himself on the prospect map, and he’s a decent enough prospect. But it isn’t the sort of line that folks are going to get worked up about, and that has more to do with him not getting the attention others get than the fact he wasn’t a high draft pick.
by Adam J. Morris on Oct 30, 2009 5:02 PM CDT up reply actions
only one player in Texas League was better
Favorite bumper sticker of all time, seen on a VW bus:
"Gas, Grass, or Ass. Nobody rides for free"
didn't he get the most hits in the minors
or at the time before his foot injury he had more hits than any other minor leaguer. that seems pretty good. the guy has good bat control evidence by his low SO totals. I can understand defensively he may be a notch below others, but there are alot of OF/1B types that are below avg defensively that get playing time everyday.
A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings.
What sort of slash line...
…do you think he can put up from, say, 2012-14 (his age 26-28 seasons)?
by Adam J. Morris on Oct 30, 2009 5:11 PM CDT up reply actions
i'm not a fortune teller
and projections don’t mean much
but he has the tools to easily have an 820+ ops. With his BA and OBP. He could hit 300/ 360 / 470. Of course, he could put up a 250/320/400 line. Some people,no matter how high the prospect, just can’t hit Major League pitching. Next year, Moreland will be in AAA most likely, and maybe he’ll get a call later in the year, and we’ll get a concrete idea of how he handles ML pitching.
A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings.
Moreland has been a Top 10 hitter
in every league he has played in the past two years.
There are exceptions, but the two types of minor league players who are most likely to become quality major leaguers are:
(1) those who are league average or better while being at least two years younger than the average age of the players in the league in which they are competing and
(2) those who are ranked among the league leaders at each minor league level in which they compete.
In my opinion, Moreland’s 2008 breakout was validated by his 2009 performance and justifies a Top 10 ranking in the Rangers’ system. I think that Moreland is as good a bet as Max Ramirez to be a productive major league hitter. Like MaxRam, it is unclear with his offense/defense will allow him to become a major league starter.
Aside from Smoak pre-injury and guys like Erik Morrison...
Who hit better than him?
by LiamP on Oct 30, 2009 5:37 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Moreland's league-adjusted OPS for Bakersfield and Frisco was 124
That was third among Rangers minor leaguers behind Vin DiFazio (133) and Mike Bianucci (126).
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