biggentleben
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Everything posted by biggentleben
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And last season that 19 year-old was in A ball, which is why I said similar projection. For a J2 guy one year after his pro debut to be a in a full-season league is fairly unusual, especially for the non-elite guys.
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That all depends on the kid, though. The Braves have a J2 2013 signee knocking at the door at AAA at 19 already. They have a J2 2014 signee tearing up Rome and possibly on a similar trajectory. Interestingly, neither was the biggest dollar hitter in their class, and neither was part of a big-dollar class. The right bat can move very quickly through the system.
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I think this is accurate. Leidner has raw talent that would be desirable at the highest level, but he hasn't translated that on that on the field, and a pro team may watch the tape and believe that's more due to system than Leidner performing poorly. Who knows...
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In his defense, one of the only games he saw of Minnesota this last year was the bowl game, and Leidner played fairly well there.
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Cook had some odd personality stuff that apparently scared off teams. I had no inkling of this and his coach came out strongly against it a few weeks ahead of the draft, but it stuck with teams, perhaps from interviews.
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Little bit of trivia. That pairing is the highest scoring Scrabble battery in baseball history.
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Or it could be the very select genetically gifted able to handle 300 pounds of muscle while still being athletic due to doing basically nothing but working out 24/7. Mark Schleroth and Jeff Hartwick have had very good articles after their retirement about how quickly they lost weight after leaving football due to the simple fact that they were only hitting the gym a few times a week instead of a few hours per day. Hartwick went from a guy who carried 300+ pounds his whole career to 185 in a matter of 18 months. Schleroth lost about 100 pounds when he left football and has stated that he stays about 100 pounds under his playing weight, give or take 15-20 pounds, ever since leaving the game. I have been losing weight and got back into power lifting as part of getting into good, healthy shape as I lose that weight. I had dropped 80 pounds quickly, and I've gained some of that weight back already while still losing fat content in my body just from doing roughly 3-5 hours a week of power lifting workouts. These are guys who typically spend that many hours PER DAY in the offseason adding muscle and refining muscle on their frame. I was the heaviest and leanest in my life when I was working out with the Gophers, getting near 300 pounds for the first time in my life, but having the smallest waist size since I'd hit puberty. I needed no illegal enhancement for that, just a controlled diet that encouraged muscle growth in my body.
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From what is being reported currently, Moniak would sign under by a few million for #3, as he's possibly not going before 8-9 if not #3. Lewis might be a tough sell to sign under slot now, especially with the season he's had this year. I think you might find a few guys willing to sign under slot, especially with the sharp decline in slot numbers just by falling 3 spots in the draft after the top 3.
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Yeah, the Braves were hoping Grilli and Johnson would be solid and bring some value in trade, not necessarily in picks, per se, but in a similar deal that brought them John Gant and Rob Whalen for retreads like Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson. Instead, they've both pitched rough thus far. Hopefully they can pick it up.
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Definitely good news for the Braves, what with Pierzynski and Foltynewicz.
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My bad. It's 74 they can't offer because it's a compensation pick for last season, not 73. Regardless, I think the Braves are more strongly pushing for a pick in the first round of CB picks.
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I had a chance to interview John C. Gant, the father of Braves right-hander John Gant, who you probably know for his crazy windup. http://tomahawktake.com/2016/05/04/journey-to-the-top-interview-with-atlanta-braves-john-gants-father/ It was a very cool bit of insight from a parent that you don't get typically. Thought folks here would enjoy it as well!
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Not if you're the Braves. If you're going underslot, you go hitter. If you're going high school pitcher, you're not going underslot, you're going for Groome or Pint because one (or both) fell in your lap. Garrett would be intriguing as an underslot guy about 3 picks later.
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She would fit well with the Postmodern Jukebox crew
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Shame our legislators don't appreciate teachers the way that they should...but that's a discussion for a more political thread. I'm married to a teacher who is likely leaving teaching after this year due to a number of issues that have nothing to do with her love of helping children learn. One of the multiple reasons is dealing with parents who apparently have no responsibility any longer in the education of their child, so take time to appreciate those who teach, and especially those who teach your children.
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Also saw Devin Mesoraco has a torn labrum. He just may never make it as an elite catcher. He had one shining season...
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It's a Braves focused post, but I did a piece today on Tomahawk Take on how the Braves could manipulate the draft and the word that baseball is looking to overhaul the slotting system yet again due to the teams doing the manipulation I mention in that post. I'll respect the site by not directly linking it, but I don't think it'd take anyone very long if they went to TT to find it.
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One of three reported - Maitan, Severino, and Gutierrez.
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Deep catcher draft - as developmental catchers. Not really any guys who would move quickly.
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Twins can't offer that.
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So many things around PEDs would be wonderful, but the CBA will never allow them due to the nature of the negotiations. I would not consider voiding contracts as something desirable whatsoever in the game. There's a reason we have free agency and the CBA issues we do now, and it's the way owners treated players like pieces of meat for the first 100 years of the game. Returning to that status is not coming.
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As spycake stated, the PED suspension doesn't require a drug test necessarily, as seen in the Biogenesis case. Also, there are multiple indicators in the current testing that the MLB uses that could bring about a false positive. The current testing protocols utilized by Major League Baseball were essentially repealed in the mid- to late-1990s by powerlifting due to numerous evidenced false positives by the scientific community around powerlifting. Baseball doesn't want to have their testing challenged in the same way, so you haven't heard about the false positives that these tests can show. Regardless, drinking and driving even after having 1-2 beers over the course of a few hours is still technically impaired driving, yet a whole lot of people do it, and if they get pulled over and are over the legal limit, they're given the opportunity to get their driver's license back and in some states even have a first DUI fall off the record after classes and so many years without a second instance. Why would we want to be more forgiving of someone who quite literally could have killed multiple other people on the road but not to a guy who was attempting to make the most of his ability to earn a tremendous income? Also, one last thing. I suggest reading up on the studies MLB is doing into PED manipulation on the Rule 5 draft. There is actually incentive for teams to have players get suspended for PEDs in some circumstances...
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I would hope so. I'm also hearing some player scuttle that the Mejia stuff opened the eyes to players on the chance of one substance to end a career by failing three tests before it would leave your system, so the PED policy will definitely be part of the CBA negotiations, but I highly doubt that it will be a logical, intelligent discussion as there is too much to lose on both sides.
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That part isn't hard to regulate, though. Power lifting circuits have done it well. You have extensive testing for true performance enhancers and also for those that are recovery oriented. However, to have those recovery medications, they must have a prescription and their levels must register in the range that prescription would create (something someone much smarter than I has figured out is fairly measurable). How this isn't able to be measured and/or regulated in baseball is beyond me. Let's be completely honest with this - it's possible that these things could be brought in to help the health of players while also being regulated, but both the bringing in of the medications and the regulation of them would have to be negotiating points in what is already shaping up to be a fairly contentious CBA coming up this coming offseason. That is why this is an issue.
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And that part I don't disagree with, but I do believe a discussion needs to happen about why certain substances are banned. What do they do to truly "enhance" performance? How is a medication that enhances the strength of tendons and ligaments any different than Tommy John surgery to replace a ligament? Why one and not the other? Those are some of the questions that should be asked.
