'94WorldChamps

We're talking pitchers, not hitters, I thought. Borchard? Reaction-time more suited for foothball than baseball. Now there's your headcase, JimH. Crede on the other hand? Fooled me and a lot of other people. It happens, you know. One minute Joe is confident beyond his rookie statute, and is displaying Nomar-esque plate coverage (2002)... the next - slow bat; trying to pull and elevate everything; no adjustments in sight. Make me wonder if his back problems don't date all the way back to 2003. But whatever. Willie Harris's noone's Durham, but Hawkaroo's.

Indeed. Ok, tell me which "talent" Gload so obviously lacks. Willie has been given plenty of chances and the verdict is in: can't cut it in the bigs. Not the same boat as Gload who waited patiently behind Helton, Vaughn, Gracie for many years, then succeeded the only real chance he got, then injured his shoulder and was practically decommissioned. And Brown's numbers pale in comparison to Gload's right now. Blum is a joke. Barely enough range to handle 3B, let alone 2B/SS. Can't hit to save his life the last two years... Hmmm. This organization is known for occasionally putting petty politics and front office egos above the interest of the team. And Ozzie isn't anybody's judge of talent. So I don't see the "if he was so good, how come he is rotting in AAA... It makes no sense!" line of reasoning as some kind of arguement-ender that many of you apparently do. To each his own.

It's not the same, though. The headcase is guaranteed to fail, while the asshole not only might succeed, but may overachieve. Pre-injury Rauch IMO had what it takes - perhaps not as early as 2001, but he was no Danny Wright when it came to make-up and finesse. We agree on Honel in principle; but I want to see if him in 2006 first, though. All Allen had was a fastball. And he was a RH. Whisler probably won't make it, just thought I'd point that he's still more of a "pitcher".

Just between you and me, I went by 'Mustafa_Kemal_Ataturk".

I may not convince you, but I may convince somebody else not to buy what you're selling. I may be wrong in the end, then so be it.

You're welcome. There is a difference between an asshole and a headcase. Pre-(career-ending labrum) injury, Rauch had the frame, the velocity and two very good breaking pitches, not to mention the poise, to succeed in the bigs. After the injury, his stuff and swagger were gone, and outside that one outing against the Twins in 2002, never showed much. Cotts has finally matured, and long-term he will be a success as a starter (not an ace but a #3-4). For now, his change-up isn't consistent enough. Honel? Rose from the dead. Let's see what he does in 2006. MaCarthy, Broadway, Gio, Haigwood, Lumsden if he ever gets back... All are talents. Not El Felix-type sure things but they have a decent shot if they stay healthy and put in the work. Whisler was a project from the start, and using him to crap on others somehow strikes me as not completely fair.

I merely brought up Diaz as an example of someone who failed not because of his 90 mph fastball, but because all of the sudden he lacked everything else that made him successful in the minors. I am not a fan, to say the least. MaCarthy, Gio, Broadway, Lumsden aren't guaranteed s***, but to write them off already is beyond preposterous. I don't buy the garbage time arguement, not completely anyway - it's simply not as easy as you're making it out to be. Bigs are bigs. And it's not Gload's fault he was given a chance in late August. Great undiscovered talent? What's next? A 1st-ballot Haller? Seriously, the guy has a low-maintanence, compact gap-happy swing from the Left side, and he can run and field better than your average 1st sacker. He's clearly a man among boys in Charlotte. With injuries to Everett and Podsednik, he deserved a second shot. He didn't get it.

Yes, I am an apologist for our minor league system. But only when the opposite POV is half-uninformed and half-kneejerk-doom-n-gloom. I didn't praise Diaz. In fact, quite the opposite. Read. Gload has only been give ONE shot to become an everyday player... and he did! High-800 OPS as an everyday player in August-September of '04. So try again. And how easy do you think it is to dominate AAA to the extent that they do? Giving up 2 HR in 60 innings in that bandbox alone is worthy of some kind of medal. What's with the (organizational) inferiority complex? Jenks was totally given up on by "them". Ditto Garland. And Cotts. Hence, they're ours. Not that it makes a difference.

Matt Lawton or Ray Durham anyone? (too late on the former)

Can't speak for the board. So do I. BS. He may not. Or he might be Kolb circa 2004.

Most were bleeders, placers or bloopers like Ichiro, Winn, etc. Not saying Jeff was on top of his game by any means; wasn't his usual poinpoint self, velocity was down by an mph or two. But he definately didn't look "out of his league" as is the implication here, especially considering he was far from 100% health-wise. The logic that he must of not made a connection with Ozzie flat-out doesn't work for me. I trust my eyes. It doesn't matter if Adkins can go 4 innings if he gives up 2-3 runs, ok? If need be, do away with a useless shlub like Blum and promote yet another reliever. Get creative with the pen. "Baj" can go 2-3 innings if the game is not out of reach. All the talk of Gload or Bajenaru not being able to translate their performance to the bigs is a bit puzzling. Along with Jenks, they might actually be the two most ML-ready players we have in the minors. Yes, ahead of MaCarthy, ahead of Anderson. All you're going by keeping a superior player in the minors is sending an ambiguous message to the rest of the affiliates/ML clubhouse. Excellence should always be rewarded. Timo, Ozuna, Willie, Blum - dreck, positional "versatility" or not. Anyway, I am curious if you at all agree with my previous post, on Page 43. Thanks.

He better be. Or we in trooooble.

During the 6th inning of the fateful Oakland start, Mark's ERA dropped to 2.30. Now thinnk about it: about to go to 11-1....ERA+ of about 200.... just 26 years old, historically the BEGINNING of pitching prime. Our expectations were too effin' high, in retrospect. Mark is not Maddux at his peak, he is not Pedro. Not yet, anyway. He was bound to come down to the mortal coil at some point. Now that he has, with his change-up/curve-ball totally betraying him, people are once again starting to hum the "he's a glorified #3" tune.... It's time for Mark to reel off 6-7 straight wins, finish Top 3 in Cy Young voting, sneak up on the overconfident A's/Sawks sluggers in October.... and shut the M'Fing doubters until at least 2008 when he decamps for St. Louis.

And how exactly did you come to that conclusion? Based on 8 meaningless innings which he logged with a torn groin? The only hard-hit ball was by Vlad, btw... Considering the second and third chances afforded to irredeemable losers by this organization in recent memory, you'd think the guy would be rewarded for his mL dominance as part of the Grinder Plan... What Adkins did today - go 2 innings - Bajenaru can do with his eyes closed. And he won't give up a month's worth of rockets in the process, either. And we seem to agree that Ozzie is a moron who gets credit for so much s*** he has little to nothing to do with. So why do you put so much faith in his ability to judge talent/make wise personel decisions when it comes to either Bajenaru or the gap-demon Gload? Look at the junk we have on our roster, for crying outloud!

Lance "Dirk Diggler" Broadway tops out at 92, not 90. Doesn't telegraph his intentions, either - unlike Danny Wright, Jason Grilli, Gary Glover among countless flaming-throwing losers who have graced our mound. That's for starters. Secondly... Allow me to explain how this pitching thing works: location, changing of the speeds, movement, more location. Velocity is a diiiistant fifth, unless you're 97-100, and even then it ain't everything. Broadway has an excellent hammer and a nice change-up, and lately has shown he can pound both corners with the best of them, which led to the meteoric rise of his stock pre-draft. Carillo isn't entirely devoid of talent, either; definately livelier/heavier fastball and sexier frame than Broadway's, but in the long run, that don't mean s*** if he lacks the Poise and the Touch - which most do. Time will tell. The reason Felix Diaz and Arnie Munox failed has nothing to do with their lack of a mid-to-high-90s fastball with otherwordly movement. Nada. They choked - which is a far more frequent occurence among talented prospects than most teams would admit. When faced with 30K-strong crowds and the media circus, Diaz all of the sudden couldn't locate, couldn't throw a change-up or a slider to save his life. Basic scheme: fall behind, groove one, get ahead, nibble, groove one. The one start he looked like his AAA self - against the Cubs - he shut them down. Arnie was even worse, just a total s***ting of the pants, with release point going to hell, which killed location, change-up floated, curve rolled, ugly... Whereas Broadway, MaCarthy and Gio are all tough as nails mentally, with a legitimate 3-pitch arsenal (even if Brandon couldn't control the curve and didn't even feature the change-up - brought up a year too early; could use a sinker more than a cutter in the future, as well), and even though all three could very well bust out - such is baseball reality - there's definately a reason to be optimistic. You can add Haigwood to the list, as well. The worst farm system in the majors? Not even close. Also: Before his shoulder came apart, Rauch was absolutely the real deal. Likewise, Kip Wells is also nothing to sneeze at when he was 100%. Kris Honel is all of 22 and has only recently regained his stuff. Cotts is no longer hopeless, either. So don't exaggerate.