MLB

[philpritchard]

Hey Skitch, let's talk Anthony Gose.

Anthony Gose=Better than Carrera.

Devon Travis = better than Goins

Everybody wins!

Basically, yeah. Tigers Outfield defense was so. so. so. bad last year. Getting a D-first CF is fine with me.

Don't forget he's a defense first CF who really, really can't hit.

[@SkitchP]

Hey Skitch, let's talk Anthony Gose.

Anthony Gose=Better than Carrera.

Devon Travis = better than Goins

Everybody wins!

Basically, yeah. Tigers Outfield defense was so. so. so. bad last year. Getting a D-first CF is fine with me.

Don't forget he's a defense first CF who really, really can't hit.

Oh thats just fine with me. Our defense up the middle is actually really good now! Avila/Kinsler/Iglesias/Gose.

[Chris_H_2]

Like Keith Law said: it's the battle of the non-prospect v. the failed prospect.

[@SkitchP]

Like Keith Law said: it's the battle of the non-prospect v. the failed prospect.

Exactly. Being the best prospect in the Tigers system is like being the hottest chick in Samwise's phone book.

[philpritchard]

Oh thats just fine with me. Our defense up the middle is actually really good now! Avila/Kinsler/Iglesias/Gose.

To be honest, I love Gose. He's a fun player to watch; outstanding defense, crazy arm, really fast. 37 bunt attempts in basically one season's worth of at bats, and you know even if he doesn't get on it's going to be an exciting play because he's just so fast. It's too bad he hasn't been able to figure it out with the bat. This year was weird because he finally started to get on base for the first few months of the year, but his extra-base power completely disappeared, then he was just totally useless in August/September.

Also, the puns. Be prepared for the puns.

[@SkitchP]

Also, the puns. Be prepared for the puns.

Oh man, you totally need to be on twitter, and following old skitch.

[Chris_H_2]

Like Keith Law said: it's the battle of the non-prospect v. the failed prospect.

Exactly. Being the best prospect in the Tigers system is like being the hottest chick in Samwise's phone book.

I liked the comment the guy made this morning about being the best song on a Nickelback album.

[philpritchard]

Like Keith Law said: it's the battle of the non-prospect v. the failed prospect.

Exactly. Being the best prospect in the Tigers system is like being the hottest chick in Samwise's phone book.

I get what Law's saying there, but it's kind of classic Law. From everything I've read, he's the only prospect evaluator who feels that way.

[Chris_H_2]

Oh thats just fine with me. Our defense up the middle is actually really good now! Avila/Kinsler/Iglesias/Gose.

To be honest, I love Gose. He's a fun player to watch; outstanding defense, crazy arm, really fast. 37 bunt attempts in basically one season's worth of at bats, and you know even if he doesn't get on it's going to be an exciting play because he's just so fast. It's too bad he hasn't been able to figure it out with the bat. This year was weird because he finally started to get on base for the first few months of the year, but his extra-base power completely disappeared, then he was just totally useless in August/September.

Also, the puns. Be prepared for the puns.

My Twitter timeline was littered with Skitch's puns about 30 seconds after the trade was announced.

[Chris_H_2]

Like Keith Law said: it's the battle of the non-prospect v. the failed prospect.

Exactly. Being the best prospect in the Tigers system is like being the hottest chick in Samwise's phone book.

I get what Law's saying there, but it's kind of classic Law. From everything I've read, he's the only prospect evaluator who feels that way.

Don't confuse "prospect evaluator" for baseball writer. Most baseball writers lazily refer to every minor leaguer as a "prospect."

[philpritchard]

Like Keith Law said: it's the battle of the non-prospect v. the failed prospect.

Exactly. Being the best prospect in the Tigers system is like being the hottest chick in Samwise's phone book.

I get what Law's saying there, but it's kind of classic Law. From everything I've read, he's the only prospect evaluator who feels that way.

Don't confuse "prospect evaluator" for baseball writer. Most baseball writers lazily refer to every minor leaguer as a "prospect."

I'm not. I'm talking about places like Baseball America, who ranked Travis the 84th best prospect in baseball last year, and Baseball Prospectus, who described him as an above-average hitter and defender, and things like Fangraphs Steamer projections, which project him to be a league average hitter in 2015 if he makes the team.

I'm not suggesting he's going to be some kind of star or anything, but it really seems like Law is going way overboard in calling him a non-prospect.

[Chris_H_2]

By the way, I just deleted my post because I mis-read Phil's post.

Edit: Here's Law's take:

"Travis is just a few months younger than Gose and has yet to reach Triple-A; he's a below-average defender at second base, and his bat doesn't profile anywhere else he might play. He has leaky hips and starts his swing from a dead stop with his hands loaded low, making up for it a bit with strength, something that won't work as well against major league pitching.

I'd rather roll the dice on Gose, since the players are the same age and Gose's tools can already give him some value off the bench."

[EJ]

Who will win the Yoan Moncada sweepstakes?

[philpritchard]

By the way, I just deleted my post because I mis-read Phil's post.

Edit: Here's Law's take:

"Travis is just a few months younger than Gose and has yet to reach Triple-A; he's a below-average defender at second base, and his bat doesn't profile anywhere else he might play. He has leaky hips and starts his swing from a dead stop with his hands loaded low, making up for it a bit with strength, something that won't work as well against major league pitching.

I'd rather roll the dice on Gose, since the players are the same age and Gose's tools can already give him some value off the bench."

Again, the non-Law reports I've read have generally referred to him as a very good defender. It'll be interesting to see how the swing translates when he reaches the majors, but he's had a ton of success in his two years in the minors, so it hasn't hampered him yet. Also, I get the point he's making about their ages being so similar, but age is a complicated issue when you're comparing high school and college draftees.

Anyway, Gose makes more sense for Detroit and Travis makes more sense for Toronto. That's all pretty obvious.

[BigRedLedbetter]

Also, the puns. Be prepared for the puns.

Oh man, you totally need to be on twitter, and following old skitch.

Skitch is a good follow

[philpritchard]

AJ Burnett turned down a $12.75 million guarantee from the Phillies to sign for $8.5 million with the Pirates. For the most part, money is everything when it comes to signing free agents... but once in a while, someone surprises you. That's a pretty big sum to turn down to play somewhere you want.

[numbers]

AJ Burnett turned down a $12.75 million guarantee from the Phillies to sign for $8.5 million with the Pirates. For the most part, money is everything when it comes to signing free agents... but once in a while, someone surprises you. That's a pretty big sum to turn down to play somewhere you want.

I might be wrong, but didnt Burnett do the same thing either last year or the year before?

[BigRedLedbetter]

Royals are flirting with Lester. They can probably afford him if they don't resign Shields and with Butler off the books.

[philpritchard]

AJ Burnett turned down a $12.75 million guarantee from the Phillies to sign for $8.5 million with the Pirates. For the most part, money is everything when it comes to signing free agents... but once in a while, someone surprises you. That's a pretty big sum to turn down to play somewhere you want.

I might be wrong, but didnt Burnett do the same thing either last year or the year before?

If I'm remembering correctly, he narrowed his options down to only a couple teams prior to signing with Pittsburgh because he wanted to be close to home. I guess that in itself would have limited his market and reduced his earning potential, but he still made $16.5 million per year with the Pirates. And last year I can't imagine there were too many offers better than $15 million + an option.

This one is less about what other teams may have offered or what he could have gotten or rumoured deals... the money was his if he wanted it.

[BigRedLedbetter]

Lets dust off the baseball trivia shall we?

Two players in MLB history have hit for the cycle in both leagues. Name them?

Hint. One if active and recently made news. The other is a pretty popular player on this board.