Wanted: M's fans vs. Sox fans discussion
By my monniker and the title of this thread , I think you can tell what I'm about and looking for. (Obviously) I'm an M's fan who's looking for your reactions/impressions on the Garcia trade. If this discussion is popular and some of you are interested ... I'd LOVE to set up a thread over on the site that I post at. I can promise that it would be lively from the M's fans there. What I can tell you about myself is that I'm NOT here to talk trash!!! That's NOT my style!! Above all, I believe in good sportsmanship and being respectful I try very hard to be as objective as possible in my assessments of players.
I last talked with some White Sox fans in the offseason (around January) on the MLB message boards and had some discussions about a hypothetical Garcia deal at that time. Now that it's finally happened ... I want to get your impressions as well as scouting reports and takes on the players that the Mariners got back in return.
For those White Sox fans who've actually SEEN Reed and Morse, I'd especially love to get your takes. I know that they'll be plenty of you who can comment on Olivo.
What's your personal scouting reports for each of these players (offensively, defensively, personality, etc.) I'm interested in knowing ALL the positives and negatives surrounding these players. What are your takes?
As an M's fan, I'll try to answer any questions you might have about Garcia and Davis. Here is my quick .02 on both ... stuff that you may or may not read about:
Freddy Garcia: As a brush-up, I decided to read ESPN's scouting report on Garcia (to get a bit of a reference point). Their take on him is that although he's got a great fastball, he tends to fall in love with his breaking pitch. That scouting report's right on the money. He's got a GREAT fastball (can hit 97 mph) ... but to me has never seemed to fully trust his stuff.
For those of you who haven't paid close attention to what's happened with him in Seattle, his contract situation has been quite a fiasco. Though he's desired a multi-year deal for several years now, management's refused to give it to him. The reason for that ... perhaps Gillick said it best indirectly at the start of the 2002 season: His offseason goal was to get a #1 starter. I.E. -- he didn't believe Garcia was one. Many Seattle fans are in agreement with this -- he's a VERY good #2 that when he gets hot ... look out!! He can be dominant (as you guys well know) and can take over a game. However, there have been many that see him as psychologically fragile at times. In the past, he's shown that he CAN be rattled!! (but obviously, not this year). There's a poll out right now in the Seattle Times sports section asking about Garcia --- last I checked, 64% of fans said dealing Freddy was the right move.
The local scuttlebutt surrounding him ... is that he and Carlos Guillen hit a few too many nightclubs together (if you know what I mean). Local media allude to this ALL the time and many fans believe that this is why Guillen was dealt. However, much of this could be attributed to the fact that Garcia (in many ways) is still fairly young and acts at times like a Big Kid. He recently got married -- which probably has tamed him down a bit.
Ben Davis: A blue-chipper talent catcher who's got all the tools. If he can ever get it together, he can be an All Star. Good switch hitter that seems to hit better hitting from the left side. During the first half of last year, Davis was on an absolute tear -- hitting .290. His second half was a tale of 2 cities.
Here's what you may not read in the papers ... fans and those close to the team who were at Spring Training say that Davis' ineptness behind the dish was THE talk of Spring Training. There was a great article written about this in the Tacoma News Tribune during Spring Training. The gist of the article was highlighting a conversation between a Padres scout and an M's scout who were both watching Davis. The M's scout apparently made a comment to the Padres scout, pointing out the flaws in Davis' game calling. The Padres scout reportedly answered: "I know ... we saw 4 years of this. That's why he's your problem and not ours." Bob Melvin (himself a former catcher) even called Ben out after 1 game -- saying that he made several BAD CALLS. Some fans on our board (who were at Spring Training) reported this BEFORE this article ever came out. Besides his lack of offense, that's why he ended up at AAA.
There you go ... sorry if this was a bit of a negative posting. It wasn't meant to be. I just was trying to be completely honest, sharing some stuff that you may not hear. These guys DO -- BOTH have loads of talent - enough to be fixtures for you -- esp. Garcia. He's young and has the POTENTIAL to develop into a #1. If there's anything else that you want to know, just let me know.
So ... those are some of my comments on Garcia and Davis -- what are your scouting reports on Olivo, Reed, and Morse? I'd love to hear what you guys have to say (the positives and negatives) on their offensive and defensive capabilities/skills. How do you guys feel overall about the trade? Let me hear ya.
MA
