Revisionist history
I was working my way through the morning paper when I ran across two articles in the sports section that essentially boiled down to - Joe Mauer is headed for the All-Star Game, he is becoming a great hitter and defensive catcher and Mark Prior is injury-prone. Ha ha...
Let the record show I have nothing against Mauer. Granted he screwed me when he junked his knee in his rookie first week and left a hole behind the plate in my fantasy team that year, but I did pick him as a rookie to start for me. That's a great deal of faith.
To now go back and rub everyone's noses in it because Prior has struggled with health issues seems a little classless. I'm not going to go off on too much of a rant, but on the day both players were drafted, people thought that the Twins made a nice move because they grabbed a local kid, filled a need on their roster and had a quality player on the cheap.
The rumor was that Prior floated word to Minnesota that he'd never play there and they took a cheaper, more fan-friendly option. When all was said and done, no one thought the Twins were stupid or had a bad draft, just that Prior was a more explosive player and was a safer bet to be a star.
To go back now and pull this nah-nah crap is pretty stupid.
* The Angels are up 14-0 in the 9th and I'm still tuned in. The Girl just asked, "Dude, is it even worth airing the rest of the game?" Nonetheless, she's sitting down to watch the last inning. I think I've corrupted her sensibilities about these sorts of things.
Woo!
* Has anyone heard what the ESPN crew was alluding to earlier that the D-Rays were trying to change their name, but missed the league's deadline?
Can we get more info on this?
* Also in the morning's sports section was the World Cup preview (two whole pages!) where they were comparing soccer players to pro baseball players. Just thought that was a stretch and kinda funny.
Soccer fans already know and sports fans will pick it up as they go along. If you haven't followed a World Cup wire-to-wire, I highly recommend it. I wouldn't give back a moment of sleep from the Korean Cup a few years back. Not a single wink.
* Good for me, bad for me with the Albert Pujols injury. My real interests with the Cubs dictate that the team might be able to make up a little ground with the Cardinals missing their Poo-holes for two weeks.
My fantasy interests cringe at having to slot in Justin Morneau as my 1B for two weeks.
My baseball side says that the Cards will still win half their games, the Cubs will lose three quarters of theirs and my fantasy team with earn it's first loss this season. It was a good run.
Let the record show I have nothing against Mauer. Granted he screwed me when he junked his knee in his rookie first week and left a hole behind the plate in my fantasy team that year, but I did pick him as a rookie to start for me. That's a great deal of faith.
To now go back and rub everyone's noses in it because Prior has struggled with health issues seems a little classless. I'm not going to go off on too much of a rant, but on the day both players were drafted, people thought that the Twins made a nice move because they grabbed a local kid, filled a need on their roster and had a quality player on the cheap.
The rumor was that Prior floated word to Minnesota that he'd never play there and they took a cheaper, more fan-friendly option. When all was said and done, no one thought the Twins were stupid or had a bad draft, just that Prior was a more explosive player and was a safer bet to be a star.
To go back now and pull this nah-nah crap is pretty stupid.
* The Angels are up 14-0 in the 9th and I'm still tuned in. The Girl just asked, "Dude, is it even worth airing the rest of the game?" Nonetheless, she's sitting down to watch the last inning. I think I've corrupted her sensibilities about these sorts of things.
Woo!
* Has anyone heard what the ESPN crew was alluding to earlier that the D-Rays were trying to change their name, but missed the league's deadline?
Can we get more info on this?
* Also in the morning's sports section was the World Cup preview (two whole pages!) where they were comparing soccer players to pro baseball players. Just thought that was a stretch and kinda funny.
Soccer fans already know and sports fans will pick it up as they go along. If you haven't followed a World Cup wire-to-wire, I highly recommend it. I wouldn't give back a moment of sleep from the Korean Cup a few years back. Not a single wink.
* Good for me, bad for me with the Albert Pujols injury. My real interests with the Cubs dictate that the team might be able to make up a little ground with the Cardinals missing their Poo-holes for two weeks.
My fantasy interests cringe at having to slot in Justin Morneau as my 1B for two weeks.
My baseball side says that the Cards will still win half their games, the Cubs will lose three quarters of theirs and my fantasy team with earn it's first loss this season. It was a good run.
posted by Matt G at
9:52 PM
1 Comments:
The 20-20 hindsight of how a baseball draft should have proceeded isn't nearly as important as it is in the NBA or NFL. Even among high first round picks in baseball, there are historically relatively few players that end up being average big league starters, much less stars. However, if you mess up a high first round pick in the NBA or NFL, your organization will directly feel the repurcussions for years (i.e. Curtis Enis, Cade McNown, Rashaan Salaam, and others that should burn in hell).
What's more important in baseball is how well the organization develops its players after the draft. The Twins' strength in maintaining a healthy farm system certainly is a huge factor in Mauer's development. Meanwhile, the Cubs have had an abysmal record in turning its draft picks into average starters, much less All-Stars:
http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cs-060605baseballdraft,1,321108.story?coll=cs-home-headlines
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Tuesday, June 06, 2006 2:46:00 PM
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