Another
Q&A will be posted here later tonight. You will want to check back, but
for now, I did want to post a few quick links, thoughts and comments.Thursday Night, January 24, 2008
Quick Notes
Another
Q&A will be posted here later tonight. You will want to check back, but
for now, I did want to post a few quick links, thoughts and comments.
As those of you who have read the site for awhile know, I was a college teammate of Chris Coste of the Philadelphia Phillies. I'm sure you know of his story. From Division III college ball, to the Independent Leagues, to several years at AAA, to his first big league call up at the age of 33. Well, it is an incredible story, to say the least. And now, you can order The 33 Year Old Rookie; How I Finally Made it to the Big Leagues After Eleven Years in the Minors, a book written by Chris. It is his second book. The book lists for $25, but you can already pre-order it at Amazon.com for just $16.50. (Yes, I have already purchased several) On the right, you can see the cover of the book. Take a second look at it. The Foreword is by John Kruk. There is a quote about Coste given by Cal Ripken, Jr. The picture is incredible, and in a radio interview on Wednesday, he said that the swing was actually a big three run homer. I'm not telling anyone to buy the book, but I am sure that it will be very good. And, I have a little inside info that there will be a picture of yours truly in it!!
Here is an article on Coste and the book on the Official Phillies website.
Kevin Slowey blogged some thoughts on his Winter Caravan travels over at MLBlogs.com.
Baseball America's Twins Top 10 List (which has Nick Blackburn at #1) is up on their site now.
I am sure you have all heard the rumor about Ryan Church being involved in the Johan Santana trade rumors. I have been asked for my opinion about that. The reality is that the Mets aren't going to deal both Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez. The Twins had to move away from that expectation. At least the Mets were willing to throw some other options out there. The key to any Mets trade is the Twins acquiring Fernando Martinez. That is a must. I'm not as high on Gomez as many others. I am also not the biggest fan of Ryan Church. However, if you look at his season last year, he hit .272 with an on-base percentage of .348. He also had 43 doubles and 15 homers while playing with the Nationals. He is also already 29 years old. He isn't a great defender, particularly in CF (although he could play LF with Delmon Young in CF?). My biggest concern is that the team decides he can't play CF and they end up taking at bats away from Jason Kubel. I have no problem with acquiring a very talented hitter in Church if it brings in the tremendous upside of Fernando Martinez. The Mets also apparently have put Mike Pelfrey back into the equation. I know he didn't perform to expectations with the Mets, in the big leagues, in 2007, but a year earlier, he was a Top 10 or Top 20 prospect in baseball. He is healthy and that kind of talent and stuff doesn't just disappear, so he is a big league ready, potential #2. If the Twins could get a package of Church, Martinez, Pelfrey, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra, they should absolutely take it.
Reader of the site, Ryan G, wrote to me, "What do you think the odds are that the Mets are regretting trading Lastings Milledge to the Nationals? He could have been that major-league center fielder the Twins want in a Santana deal. " Very, very true, and yet... can you imagine a Twins team acquiring both Delmon Young AND Lastings Milledge in the same offseason!?
The Twins 2007 Awards banquet is tonight. It has to be weird that winners including Carlos Silva, Matt Garza and Torii Hunter will not be there.
This Blogonoscopy YouTube link is hilarious!
John Sickels Controversial Prospect today is a name that Twins fans are fully aware of, Red Sox infielder Jed Lowrie.
That's it for now. Remember to check back a little later for another Q&A! If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me.
|