|
|
|
|
Baseball Primer Newsblog— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand
Thursday, March 27, 2008
I haven’t seen such love for a Gardner…since the heart pangola-fueled Sinatra paid for all of Ava Gardner’s medical expenses during her final illness!
Much like Chet Lemon did in 1984, Jose Reyes hit nearly 20 homers for the Mets in the leadoff spot. Speed and on base percentage is great, but fans seem to want power as well.
Given the aforementioned, many think Gardner is ticketed to be a fringe major leaguer. According to John Manuel of Baseball America, Gardner being a top prospect is more of “an indictment of the positional depth in the upper rungs” of the Yankees system.
Gardner – and Gotham Baseball Magazine – respectfully disagree.
...Gardner has enough physical talent and baseball intelligence to make it in this game, and it’s not too difficult to see him roaming the new Yankee Stadium outfield, stealing bases to create great scoring opportunities or smiling in a winning dugout with a dirty uniform.
|
Bookmarks
You must be logged in to view your Bookmarks.
Hot Topics
Newsblog: HP: Baseball is leaving the human factor behind (57 - 3:16am, May 26)Last: bjhankeNewsblog: OT: NBA Monthly Thread, May 2012 (1834 - 3:06am, May 26)Last: SpiveyNewsblog: Himrich’s Top Ten Target Field Foods (8 - 2:43am, May 26)Last: Long John McCaine Mutiny on the Bounty (scott)Newsblog: Boston.com: Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios lays off all staff (119 - 1:28am, May 26)Last: Swedish ChefNewsblog: T.R. Sullivan: Of Frank Robinson, Milt Pappas and Jim Palmer (8 - 12:40am, May 26)Last: The Gurus DO NOT BourbonSamuraiNewsblog: Wilmoth: Nate McLouth Designated For Assignment (12 - 12:25am, May 26)Last: TriponHall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1973 Discussion (15 - 12:13am, May 26)Last: DanGNewsblog: Bud Selig -- No need for more MLB replay for now - ESPN (86 - 11:59pm, May 25)Last: cardsfanboyNewsblog: The Hall of Very Good: Former Cards Slugger Critical of "LaRussa's Regime" (4 - 11:26pm, May 25)Last: cardsfanboyNewsblog: CSN to host ‘Phillies at the Beach’ on Memorial Day (18 - 11:25pm, May 25)Last: Fielder's the first baseman, Felder is the fielderHall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1972 Ballot (28 - 11:25pm, May 25)Last: lieiamSox Therapy: A Winning Ballclub? (20 - 11:24pm, May 25)Last: DanNewsblog: Matschulat: Did I Miss The "Paul Konerko Is So Overrated OMG" Bandwagon? (27 - 11:16pm, May 25)Last: baudibNewsblog: TBO: Nerdy Rays head north (17 - 10:07pm, May 25)Last: PreservedFishNewsblog: Dodgers want to host NHL's Winter Classic (22 - 9:38pm, May 25)Last: Cris E
|
|
Reader Comments and Retorts
Go to end of page
Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.
1. RB in NYC (Now with New iPhone!) Posted: March 27, 2008 at 01:30 PM (#2721535)Chet Lemon? Chet was great, but what an odd allusion to pull out of your bag.
Also, really lame blog entry or posting or article or whatever the hell it is. It's got everyhting--steroid accusations accepted as the gospel truth, no statistics to back up ass backwards logic etc etc etc. It's like a how-to for bad baseball writing.
Can you ever really have ENOUGH gritty white guy-ness? Unless you're playing a day game of course.
Also, Chet Lemon never batted leadoff in 1984.
baseball-reference.com is your friend
Plus Chet was a really, really, really good player. Gardner is almost certainly organizational filler. I'm still trying to figure out why Chet was even mentioned in this article. It's baffling.
I did think of this, but then I went ahead and pulled the trigger anyway. I am badassssssss!
Think we can get Micah Owings for Gardner straight-up?
I find that a strange way to describe a player who has top notch speed but is still not considered a great defender because of his poor routes. I guess its probably refering to his ability to steal and bunt well. There are worse 4th OFers out there. Put him and Shelly Duncan together and you have a great player.
I think you mean Mark Healey (Heals9), though Fran is always welcome to drop by and comment on Mr. Silva's sterling character.
I find that a strange way to describe a player who has top notch speed but is still not considered a great defender because of his poor routes.
But he's white. So obviously he has baseball intelligence. Whereas if he was black, he'd have great "raw talent."
Huh? 25-8, 27-3, 24-4. Those are the SB-CS numbers for 3 of the Yankees primary corner players last year. How does that qualify them as "statues" on the basepaths? Not to mention all 3 are about avg on defense too.
Ugh, I just got a really unpleasant Trot Nixon flashback. Maybe Gardner is the heir-apparent to the Trot Nixon/Aaron Rowand school of "convincing everyone you are a good player through unkempt facial hair, ill-advised dives at ball out of your reach, and arbitrarily running into outfield fences."
Here's hoping.
Trot Nixon and Aaron Rowand were and are good players. The Yanks have Melky and Austin Jackson to compete for the CF job for the next 4 to 5 years, Gardner has no chance. I wonder why so many people are writing about him. He's not even on the honorable mention section of most Yankee prospect lists.
Yeah, that's just wrong. Giambi and Posada both run like they're carrying anvils (and Posada is a lousy baserunner on top of that), but otherwise, the Yankees have a lot of team speed. Cano and Matsui aren't fast, but they're not statues, and A-Rod/Damon/Jeter/Abreu/Cabrera are all plus baserunners with good speed. The only truly bad defenders in the bunch are Jeter, Giambi and maybe Matsui, and the latter two will be spending time at DH.
It's true that they have virtually no speed on the bench if both Damon and Cabrera are starting and Gardner's not on the team, but I think they can probably live with it.
Eric Byrnes says hi
So much for that.
Brett Gardner sounds like the next Reggie Willits
The NY media misses Bubba Crosby? Remember that time, just before they signed Damon, when all the talk was Crosby would open the season as the starting CFer? That happened, didn't it? I'm not crazy...AM I?
This is fun for Yanks and Mets fans!
I would be more than happy if Gardner turned into Willits.
The NY media misses Bubba Crosby? Remember that time, just before they signed Damon, when all the talk was Crosby would open the season as the starting CFer? That happened, didn't it? I'm not crazy...AM I?
Yes, yes, yes, and probably.
That not-so-fond makes me like the Johnny Damon contract better.
Why is this guy a "prospect" because he runs fast?
Because he has as much of a chance at having a fluke season like ScotPod 2003 like anyone else?
He's a fast guy, who runs iffy routes and has hit .289/.381/.374 in the minors
His Pecota projection is: .236/.310/.314
Zips: .269/.347/.331
Fun fun fun
Not to defend Gardner, but he probably will be a useful bench player. Yes, he runs strange routes, but I have not seen a single person say he can't hack it in center. A 4th OFer who can play CF comfortably and get on base 35% of the time (Zips projection) and steal a bunch of bases is useful. He's also an excellent bunter. The Dodgers are paying 10 mil a year for less than that.
Cashman talked him up, he's scrappy, a Yankee, and a very different kind of guy than what the Yankees have had.
Also, it seems to me that given NYY's personnel, he would be useful off the bench--maybe even right now.
Well, if there is a school of this ilk the Harvard version would obviously be named Erstad U.
A slow little guy with no power and no natural position who acts like a cartoon character whenever someone hits a HR and stakes out his claim as team enforcer by violently taking out opposing players on double play attempts? Sounds like a great player to me!
You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.
<< Back to main