Yahoo!: Passan: Clayton Kershaw’s great expectations

A terrific look at Clayton Kershaw and then you come across the real Public Enemy No. 1…Ned Colletti (Quick, somebody dig up Anna Sage’s red dress…it’s almost movietime at the Biograph!)

“People can become enamored watching prospects play in the minor leagues,” Colletti says. “It’s always been there. It’s heightened with the way communication is now. The Internet. Cell phones. The interest is overwhelming.”

The cult of the prospect is one of baseball’s great phenomena. It is why the impatience of Cincinnati Reds fans grows every time Jay Bruce hits a home run at Triple-A and why Tampa Bay earned universal praise for signing Evan Longoria to a potential nine-year deal only six days into his major-league career and why every blue-clad Angeleno wonders in what parallel universe starting Chan Ho Park over Clayton Kershaw is a good idea.

“What can be lost on them in the excitement of accomplishment is how good the big-league player is,” Colletti says. “I believe it’s difficult to play in the big leagues. I always try to measure what I’m seeing myself and what I’m hearing, and how that will play in a different environment. I have to hold back from time to time.”

Thanks to 6-4-2.