More leftovers from "Z"
Here's Part II of the extra material that Jeff Zrebiec sent along from his interviews with Jim Callis of Baseball America and Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus, which are the subject of a more in-depth story on this Web site. The following evaluations come from Goldstein, who analyzes minor league talent for Prospectus:
On Matt Wieters (right): "He’s certainly one of the top prospects in the game. I’m not sure I’d put him No.1, but it’s a single digit ranking for sure. Any time you can find a catcher who also projects as a middle-of-the-order hitter, that’s a special prospect. He’s going to be a really, really good player."
On Brian Matusz: "I do like Matusz quite a bit. There were a number of players that they could have taken [with the fourth overall pick]. They could have taken about four guys and you wouldn’t have gotten too much of an argument. I thought they got a great deal on Matusz. People were surprised about the size of the deal. They thought that it would cost more. Most people thought that he was the best college pitcher. He’s a No. 2 or No. 3 type of starter. He’s very polished and I think he could move pretty quickly."
On the Orioles number of pitching prospects: "Tillman looks like a guy with refinement that could be a No.2 starter. [David] Hernandez could be a four. Bergesen a five, and Arrieta maybe a three. [Brandon] Erbe is still a guy with a tremendous amount of potential. If everything works out, they have the whole future rotation in the minor league system. There’s a ton of depth there. Starting pitching wise, they’re up there with the top third of baseball. Teams go decades without having this much pitching in their system. They have a ton right now."
On the Orioles lack of position prospects: "The problem is having a balanced system. Their pitching is probably in the top 10 in baseball, but their position-player wise is below average. There’s not a whole lot after Wieters. Reimold is a nice player and if you want to believe that Snyder is back on track and might do something, I might buy that. But there’s not a whole lot after that, especially up the middle."
Says that he hasn’t gotten great reports about Billy Rowell: "He’s a huge guy with a whole lot of raw power. But it’s still really just that. His swing is long, he chases pitches. He has a whole lot to work on. People thought potentially he could be a 30-plus home run guy in the big leagues and he’s still very young. But it’s just not translated so far."
Associated Press photo
Comments
Based on his comments about us having a lack of position players up the middle, it is imperative we make some sort of offseason deal to bring in a young SS. Pack your bags BRob???
Posted by: Cereal Blogger | September 16, 2008 10:16 AM
I'd be surprised if Roberts gets traded unless they get someone who can replace him right away, which equals out to getting a ML ready 2B and a SS that might be ML ready...I'll bet the O's will stick with a light hitting SS like Castro, because the offense does not lack any pop this season, and hopefully it continues into the next.
Scott Moore and the rest of the AAAA players at Norfolk don't equal an adequate replacement for Roberts, unless its opposite day.
Posted by: Chuck Diesel | September 16, 2008 1:12 PM
It always comes back to the problem that it is safe to draft pitching because of the old adage,"You can never have enough pitching". Unfortunately, the front office does not move quick enough on trades or the waiver wire to stumble on hitting. Players like Cantu,Rajai Davis and Ty Wigginton, to name a few, would have played. To rely on "below Mendoza" Castro and actually charge to watch him is silly. Some say it isn't fantasy baseball but maybe it is better than being an engineer as a GM
Posted by: Beeb | September 16, 2008 3:43 PM