Kenny Hates Prospects

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 06:13 PM) TUF Finale tonight My picks: Sanchez Johnson to win @170. Lytle Winner to win @ 155. Stevenson (I'm a Diaz fan, but Stevenson would be stupid if he didn't wrestle him) Agree with all of those picks except maybe Joe Daddy. I have no idea how that one is going to go. Joe likes to stand and trade and if I does that I have to give the edge to Nate. If it goes to the ground it's tough to call though. Joe has some really good sub defense (Florian fight be damned) but Nate is very slick, especially with the triangle. I think that one's a toss up. My only other thought is that if Joe Daddy loses, I really hope they don't cut him. If there's any way he can make 145 I'd love to see him in the WEC. Manny Gamburyan made the cut and I believe he at one time used to fight as a WW. Can't wait to see Diego steamroll Guida. IMO it will be a poor performance if Diego doesn't finish him or at least win every round hands-down in a dominant decision. Edit: I think you're right on what Joe's gameplan should be. He's going to have to get in close to box with him anyway, so he might as well work for takedowns wherever he can. He should be strong enough to out-power him in the clinch but I'd give the edge in the scrambles to Nate. Joe might have to chase him a bit but all he needs to do is score some takedowns and take minimal to moderate damage on the feet, which he can do since he's got a strong chin and Nate doesn't have much as far as power. Joe needs to not pull a Gurgel/Koscheck/Sherk here and make the fight play to his advantages because he really needs this win, not only to stay relevant as a top 155'er in the UFC but also maybe to keep his job.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 02:38 PM) Gotta love the team with the worst bullpen in baseball trying to play smallball with the bunt in the 8th inning. How does Wedge still have a job? Indians doing everything they can to not win this game. Now that Ned Yost and the guy in Toronto is gone (who Cito replaced), Wedge may be second on the list of the worst managers in baseball. Fortunately for Indians fans I don't think he'll be able to catch Dusty Baker.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 04:29 PM) Add B.J. Ryan to the list. But I definitely understand Greg's point, though I always think the lefty vs righty (or vise versa) is overrated in baseball. One of my biggest pet peeves with Ozzie when he does that not even alot.. it seems like all the time now. Yep, and Mike Gonzalez also. There are a lot of examples. I agree that the lefty/righty matchup thing is overrated. It makes a lot of sense when a pitcher doesn't have the stuff to make up for the difference, or if he's a sidearmer/submariner who opens up to righties, that sort of thing. But a guy like Thornton can do it I think.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 04:18 PM) How many lefthanded closers are there in baseball? It doesn't work. Too many righty hitters. IMO those of you who want Jenks gone are kukoo. I repeat who is going to be our closer the next few years? Thornton is a LEFTY. Righties will mash him and he'll have a 60 percent success rate in closing games. Dave Righetti? Sparky Lyle? Thornton is no Sparky Lyle. Fuentes, Sherrill, Wagner.... Thornton is capable of closing IMO. But I still like Bobby and if I move him I do it for salary reasons, not performance/fear of declination reasons.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 03:24 PM) It might just be an admission that they don't have a third baseman they are comftorable with for the next five years. Viciedo will have to improve a lot just to be as good defensively as Fields, IMO. So If they weren't happy with Fields defense . . . Earliest I see Viciedo on the team is 9/2010. He's going to have to show a good deal of development over the next 15 months to make that date. Richard has upped his stock since the Peavy debacle. If you're in the NL and squint you can see a reliable 4th starter, perhaps a 3.5 or 3 with a break or two. You also see cheap guy under control for a bit. That adds to his value. I think Jenks is definitely a player in decline. When he has a couple days off his velocity is mid-nineties, when he's used more often it's low nineties. Not too mention his devastating curve has all but disappeared. Valid point. Since they were willing to take on Money in the Peavy trade, I hope they'd do the same in trading off guys to get the best possible prospects in return. That's not how they conduct business though. As far as Contreras' value, with Peavy and Bedard off the market, there don't appear to be many starters available. This can only help his value. How much have you seen Viciedo play though? I've read that he's making strides. The Sox moved Beckham to 3B in Charlotte to keep Viciedo at 3B when it was clear Gordon could have went straight to Chicago from Birmingham. They also have kept Retherford at 2B to have Viciedo at 3B. I think they would have moved him by now if they gave up on him as a 3B. I agree Richard could be a 4 and maybe even a 3 in the NL but I don't think he has enough value to get us a significantly better player. As part of a package for a significantly better player, yes I would move him. But he's been fine as a short starter and I still think he can be a very good lefty setup man should he return to the pen in the future. He wouldn't be a guy I'd move just to move. I disagree on Jenks declining. I've seen his good CB this year and I've seen his velocity up as well. He's a pitcher and he doesn't need to throw 95+ anymore to get outs. He's absolutely fine pitching in the low-mid 90's as long as he locates. There will be a lot of starters available. Texas is in it, but they could still move Padilla and Millwood. Apart from Peavy and Bedard, you have Washburn, Davis, Garland, Francis, Cook, maybe Cliff Lee in late July plus some of Cleveland's surplus of back-end starters, Pavano, Bartolo from us, maybe some Pirates pitchers even, Penny and Smoltz, Guthrie, maybe Sonnanstine hits the market (though who would want him aside from a few posters here who actually think he's good), on and on. A lot of these guys are much better bets than Contreras. Because of this economy, even though there aren't a whole lot of names out there right this moment, watch for the market to start flooding by the second week in July. You'll have a lot of teams making the decision that they aren't contenders but only a few teams looking to add SP who can also add payroll, and that is going to make for the ultimate buyer's market if you can take on payroll. Count will be one of the last pitchers on the list, and we're not moving him without taking on salary or eating salary. Just think for a second about Wilson Betemit, who hasn't had a whole lot of AB this year so far. He's an accomplished bat off the bench, and even at $1M or whatever small amount he is making, nobody claimed him. Teams do not even want to go $1-2M on a bench bat anymore. Two years ago Betemit is most definitely claimed and acquired for nothing. Even Uribe at $4.5M last year was claimed, and he was nothing but a defensive backup with some pop in a pinch hit situation. Things have changed and we're not going to be able to unload Count, especially not with all the other names that will be out there, unless we pick up a ton. I think it is very possible that in this market you may see some surprises. Like I said above, I think the market will start to flood with mostly mediocrity midway through July, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a team like the Royals throw Gil Meche out there to see what offers are out there. Not necessarily saying he'll be traded, but I could see a situation where contenders capable of assuming salary wait around a little while to see what hits the market when it's all said and done. I don't expect to see a whole lot of activity this year at all, but I expect a s*** ton of rumors.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 02:35 PM) The Brewers need starting pitching A LOT more than they need another bat or even a bullpen arm. I don't see what we could realistically offer them. I see them going really hard after Oswalt. If they get a pitcher I'd imagine they'll pick up Washburn or bring Doug Davis back or something. I doubt it will be anything all that inspiring, although both of those guys are having good years so far. If they think Peavy will be too expensive money-wise I don't see them making a similar commitment to an older pitcher. If they make a splash I'd expect something more along the lines of Bedard, or maybe a surprise acquisition like Jeremy Guthrie, who is in a down year but has been very good in the past and is under team control.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 01:22 PM) 1.) If Fields was in their plans at 3B, Beckham would not be playing there. 2.) Gamel is a left-handed middle-of-the-order bat. Something the Sox definitely could use. 3.) Viciedo is a corner OF'er (i.e. Carlos Lee) 4.) Sell high on Contreras and Jenks and too a lesser degree a guy like Richard. These guys are either not on the next championship Sox team or not vital to it. Basically, get the best player you can for these guys. I imagine the Sox would have moved Viciedo to an OF corner by now if they felt that was his future, especially with Dye probably hitting FA after this season. If the best player the Sox can get for a guy like Richard is somebody with a similar ceiling then there is no reason to move him at all. I don't view his inclusion in the proposed Peavy deal as an indication of his actual value. The Padres are going to get far less for Peavy than what he is worth because of his contract and their desperation to deal him. If Jenks is moved it will in all probability be because of his contract. I don't think "selling high" is a term that is applicable to Bobby Jenks, because it assumes an imminent decline. I don't see Bobby as a declining player at all, and if they have to move him, they should do it when they feel they can't pay him anymore. I still say Contreras isn't going to be worth anything unless we eat salary or take back a bad contract in return. He was unclaimed through waivers once already and I doubt a couple starts are going to change someone's mind about picking up his contract. Seriously, what GM is going to look at 3 starts from a guy who hasn't had one mostly healthy, solid season since 2006, and then not only decide to add another $4-5M to the payroll, but also give up talent in the process?

QUOTE (beck72 @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 07:36 AM) From all accounts, Bowden is right up there with Buchholz. The Red sox can't have both sitting in AAA-their value diminishes by the day and they can't keep throwing them out there and take the risk someone gets hurt. Actually, I could see Clay being more available than Bowden. Despite his no-hitter, he's struggled in the bigs with 18 big league starts and has posted a 5.56 ERA. And he's made comments recently about being in AAA, that haven't endeared him to the front office or fans. Bowden is 2 years younger. Granted he's unproven in the bigs. But his numbers in the minors have been outstanding, as well as his makeup, attitude, etc. I like Alexei. But he's not an MVP candidate, like someone alluded to. The sox will probably build their team around Gordon and Carlos. Making him comfortable in the field, at the plate, in the clubhouse, etc, is in the sox best interests. The kid has taken one for the team, in playing 3b where he had never played before. But starting 2010, he may be at SS. People would then say, put Alexei at 2b and trade Getz. But Alexei would have greater trade value then Getz. Other teams would give up more talent for a SS. Yet for the Sox, Getz might be a better fit to pair with Gordon [Getz' OBP skills-as shown in the minors and in the bigs so far-though he has room for improement;, lefty bat, ability to hit the breaking ball, natural glove for 2b, etc. If Alexei can't improve on his 2008 numbers, and improve on his 2009 decision making, IMO, the sox should look into moving him as a way to build a championship type team. How these guys do in 2009 will give the sox information and answers going forward. Can Alexei improve upon his 2008 or will he take a step backward? What do Getz and Gordon look like at the end of the year? Can the sox count on them as regular everyday players for 2010? The sox do a great job evaluating their own players-both in the bigs and in the minors. I trust them to move guys around, via trade etc. to make a good fit. Buchholz has much better stuff and was rated the 4th best prospect in all of baseball by BA in 2008, ahead of Kershaw, Bailey, Price, McGee, Davis, etc. Bowden is good, but he's not Buccholz. Buchholz isn't even worth talking about anyway, he's almost certainly untouchable. Maybe he'd get moved if the Marlins offered Hanley or the Cards offered Pujols or something, but since that is not happening I doubt he's going anywhere. As for his comments that upset people, whoever got upset by his comments should go f*** themselves. You don't hold on to Brad Penny to block a prospect like Clay. I guarantee there are a lot of Red Sox fans who follow the farm and think what the Red Sox are doing is stupid. Why would the Sox move Alexei to 2B and put Beckham at SS? Hasn't Beckham's range at SS always been questioned? No, Alexei is not ever going to win an MVP but I have no idea why that means he should be traded for a guy like Bowden. Even the Red Sox fans at soxprospects.com still see Bowden as a #3. He does not have Buchholz's type of dominating ace-like stuff. He has 3 good pitches and good control, and he should have a big league career. I think you guys are drastically underrating Alexei's ability by saying things like Kenny would jump at the chance to trade him for a young unproven future #3 starter. I bet he wouldn't, and when he doesn't, you'll still think he would. Buchholz I could see, and the more I think about it, the more I'd do that deal. But it's not happening anyway. But Bowden? Alexei is 27. Someone else said that is not young. He has his Age 28-33 seasons where he should definitely be in his prime. So how is that not young? He's got this year plus 6 more before you start to looking for him to slow down at 34. Just look at what Alexei has been able to do so far. In other years he'd have been ROY but he ended up in the class with Longoria. Coming from Cuba, this is only his second year of professional baseball. He had never seen the quality of competition in American baseball and yet he still tore the league up. He struggled mightily to being the season and has gotten himself back on track the last two months. He's never had to deal with the quality of competition or the lucrative scouting business that is here in America. People who talk about his age are f***ing clueless. He's a guy who has a learning curve and age has nothing to do with it. He's not going to be on crutches soon or anything. To think that because he's this old now means he won't be much better in the future is f***ing retarded. He's adjusting to American baseball. If he maybe didn't come from a communist s***hole he could have gotten here a long time ago and went through the process there. For a guy in his second year of pro baseball I am very impressed with him. Alexei hit for average in May, now his power is starting to come back in June. Look at the positives too. In not even half the amount of PA he has already equaled his walk total from last year while maintaining his K rate. He's on pace to more than double the amount of walks he takes, and if he hits .290 again this year by the time it is all over, his OBP should be a lot closer to .350 than the .317 he put up last year. He's got great batspeed and range and an arm in the field. Good speed on the bases although he's never going to steal a whole lot bags. Yes he makes mental mistakes and can be frustrating to watch when he's struggling at the plate, but he can make adjustments quickly and he's got some real pop. This is not a video game and good players do f*** up sometimes, especially those who are still learning. Alexei is not the second coming of Juan Uribe. He is a very good player at a premium position and the idea that he's not an integral part of our future and is in some way easily expendable for an unproven future #3 starter is ludicrous. I don't think you guys appreciate just how good Alexei is. BTW Getz doesn't exactly have OBP skills. He can take walks, but he makes a ton of contact while striking out very little, just like Alexei. Given Alexei's improved plate discipline it will not be surprising to see Alexei get on at a higher clip than Getz. I like Getz, but Alexei is far and away the better player and hitter. Getz's presence is in no way a reason to deal Alexei. I'd bet anything that our IF in the future is X-Alexei-Beckham-Y. X hopefully is Viciedo with Allen being Y, but up the middle I'm almost positive it is going to be Alexei and Gordon, with Alexei staying at SS.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 12:31 PM) A more realistic person the Sox would be interested in is the hard throwing, pot smoking Jeremy Jeffress. What is wrong with him this year? His BB/9 has always been very high but this year it's insanely bad, like it makes MacDougal's numbers look like Buehrle. Is he hurt or something? He's got a huge arm though.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jun 19, 2009 -> 09:54 PM) And then I would have to LMFAO at you, either because you don't know how good Bowden actually is, or you have no idea on evaluating spects, because I'd take Bowden and run like hell if the Sawks were offering him for Alexei even with Alexei's low cash contract. Maybe it's because of his excellent control and movement. Maybe it's because my cousin played against him in high school in Aurora when he was highly touted and raved about him. I dont know. But Bowden is a stud and a very very good pitching prospect. Now Buchholz, and I saw your second paragraph.. hell f***ing yes, and I'd be LMAO at the Red Sox and Theo. That kid has 0 to prove in AAA anymore, and it's a shame his ass is wasted down there. His stuff is simply filthy, and just needs patience to learn it up here. Didn't he pitch a no-hitter last year? I know Lester did also, thought Buchholz did it before him. And whoever had the numbers on their sig comparing Alexei to Swisher from the "core" argument was genius BTW. Wow, step away from Bowden's nutsac already. Yes, he's a very good pitching prospect, but I don't think he's an ace. And I don't think you trade a player like Alexei who is already very good and very cheap for a long time at a premium position without getting a can't miss ace-level pitcher in return if you're going to trade him for a prospect. It doesn't matter how much you love him, he's nowhere near Buchholz. I don't claim to be some expert on evaluating players, but your comment regarding Alexei being comparable to Swisher is one of the dumbest things I have ever read on this board, so clearly you're no expert either. Are you serious? Really? A young SS who has the ability to both win a GG and lead the league offensively from the position, and who can also run, is in some way comparable to a mediocre offensive 1B/corner OF? How many SS in the American League right now would you trade straight up for Alexei? By contrast, how many 1B/corner OF are there who are a s*** ton better than Nick Swisher? The only SS in this league I can think of who I might trade Alexei for is Elvis Andrus in Texas, and he's still adjusting to MLB pitching as he's only 20 years old. I could definitely consider dealing Alexei for a guy like Buchholz because he is all kinds of awesome. I could see that one both ways, why you would and why you wouldn't. But Bowden is not anywhere near the same category, and if Kenny traded Alexei for him he should be taken out back and beaten with a shovel.

QUOTE (beck72 @ Jun 19, 2009 -> 08:39 PM) I never said "dump" him. But if the price was right, in terms of talent [such as Bucholz or Bowden +], I think the sox would look into it. I'd LMAO if the Red Sox offered me Bowden for Alexei. I wouldn't hang up the phone either; I'd just sit there laughing until the Red Sox hung up on their end. However if they offered Buchholz I'd have to think very hard about it, but I'd end up asking for more. Alexei has proven himself in the Majors. Buchholz hasn't. That would be a type of deal that you could very much regret making or not making. That said, the Red Sox would have to be smoking crack to trade Clay. If I were them I'd trade almost everyone else in the organization before I traded that kid. I imagine getting the Red Sox to trade Buchholz would be like getting the Sox to trade Beckham. It's just not happening, especially in these economic times where elite prospects are worth twice what they were 3-4 years ago.

QUOTE (beck72 @ Jun 19, 2009 -> 04:42 PM) That's what Stoney and Hawk were alluding to in regards to Alexei. Not physical errors but mental errors. But, if Alexei boosted his numbers a bit by the deadline, the Red sox would have to see him as an offensive and defensive upgrade over the Lowrie, Green, Lugo trio. They were talking about getting Jack Wilson for crying out loud. Why would we trade Alexei?

Does the DSL actually qualify as pro ball though? Isn't the level of competition weaker than college baseball? The walks are good and everything, but the pitching isn't exactly that great. The DSL games would be fun to watch if there was a way to watch them, but the stats don't really tell anything. Lots of players have sick stats there and then you don't even see them in short season ball.

Lucas Harrell is quietly having himself a nice season. I really like this guy. Edit: BTW what has gotten into Justin Greene? He seems to be putting himself on the map. Anyone have a brief scouting report on this guy? I've seen him mentioned alongside other toolsy OF'ers like Morales, Gerst, etc. but don't know anything else about him other than his stats which seem to say he doesn't like being in the same place very long.

I think more reasonable targets for a buy low type of thing are guys like Ian Snell, Lastings Milledge, Ian Kennedy if he's out of the Yankees plans, maybe Chien Ming Wang as was suggested here before, etc. Get someone who won't cost us Beckham/Allen/Flowers/Viciedo/D1/D2/CQ/Floyd/Alexei/Poreda who also fits in a spot where we can play him. Either get a SP, because IMO taking starts from either Richard or Count isn't going to hurt us long term, or get an OF that we can play over Pods/BA in the OF.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jun 18, 2009 -> 10:26 PM) 3rd. We move Beckham to 2b and make Getz a super-utility guy. When Viciedo is ready we move him to a corner OF spot. Okay, but then what players do you trade to take a chance on Wood? The Angels aren't going to take scraps for him, and who do we have on our roster that the Angels would want? They see Arredondo as their next closer, and they have Fuentes now, so I don't think they'd trade for Jenks. Who do we have on our MLB roster that they'd trade Wood for, aside from those core guys we won't give up anyway? I don't think we get Wood unless we start giving up really good prospects that we're already counting as part of our core as it is. I mean, Wood is still only 24 and he just slugged .999 in Triple A, his highest SLG% since he had that break out year that really put him on the map as an elite prospect. He's hardly a buy low/change of scenery guy.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jun 18, 2009 -> 10:05 PM) I’d like to clear room for guys like Brandon Allen, and buy young, underrated talent. Guys like Brandon Wood and Homer Bailey. I want KW to take risks, I want to get younger, I want to experience the glory of Danks, Floyd and Quentin all over again. I recognize guys like Freddy Sanchez and Chone Figgins as talents, but I’m not interested in either of them. We need to look towards the future, the future is now. Where would we play Wood? Our IF is set if we keep Viciedo at 3B: Viciedo-Ramirez-Beckham-Allen with Flowers at C. Quentin in one corner, Danks in CF. Our open spots are at SP, DH, and one OF spot. I think we should be targeting top-end SP prospects and one toolsy OF who can play RF very well but also cover CF in case Danks takes longer than we expected.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Jun 18, 2009 -> 08:18 PM) This is probably the correct answer. However, I don't think that needs to be taken in a bad light. Given the Sox catching situation, Flowers just fits in very nicely. From all reports, his bat is ready, but needs some defensive seasoning. I believe where he is at as a player is on the track the Sox want him to be on. He takes all of 2009 in the minors, gets some time with the big club in September, then backs up AJ in 2010. Once AJ,Flowers has somewhere between 200-300 major league AB's, has a feel for the MLB game, and can take over starting in 2011. All along scouts have said if he can stay behind the plate and provide adequate D, he should make a few all star games along the way. I don't know if the Sox would value Flowers a lot higher than other organizations would. Teams generally go nuts over catchers with his kind of bat. I'd definitely deal him though if we can get something really good in return (specifically SP), assuming we don't think his bat will fit at 1B or DH. I just don't like the idea of replacing AJ's defense with more AJ-like defense plus less ability stopping wild pitches and less experience calling games. I'd love to get Yadier Molina here and would definitely overpay for him, but I highly doubt he's available for a price we'd be willing to pay.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 18, 2009 -> 09:37 PM) Then why would any team trade for him? If he was available for "free" (with the condition that the team claiming him would have to pay the 2 1/2 remaining years on his contract), would ANY team in baseball do so in today's current economic marketplace? I don't think so. I don't see a small or middle market team picking it up, but the Yanks would probably take him if they can add salary right now. If not, we could take back a contract in the process. I know Nady has been out, don't know what is wrong with him, but if he comes back maybe that's something to think about with Quentin's status up in the air. I'm not against trading Linebrink because I think we have a shot at finding another good reliever for less money. Or, maybe take Linebrink's salary and offer it to Rafael Soriano over the offseason. But I don't think we need to dump him, and especially not simply because of this game. Linebrink is still a good reliever and when he has s***ty outings like this one it just reminds you how bad the bad relievers are.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 18, 2009 -> 08:45 PM) Also, I wouldn't mind putting Paulie on the DL for a while and calling up either Allen or Flowers to play 1B (probably Allen because we probably want Flowers to focus on catching, and we'd probably prefer a lefty bat to platoon at 1B with Fields). With his hand the way it is, Paulie isn't helping the team as it's obvious he's struggling to swing the bat with any authority and he's all out of sorts at bat. Hopefully this can be cleared up for 2010, because I feel 2010 could be a huge year for us if we do everything right regarding trades and free agency. Also, anyone else think Poreda is a lock to be traded. He has a ton of trade value and quite frankly, I highly doubt we go with 4 lefties in the rotation. I love Brandon Allen and I hope to see him up here if Paulie does end up on the DL. You might be right about Poreda. Hahn commented how calling up Poreda was foolish about a week or two before he was called up. Plus Kenny already tried to trade him once. He hasn't been used regularly either. We might be showcasing him.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jun 17, 2009 -> 10:53 PM) Except for the massive track record that suggests that he isn't. Whatever you want to make impulsive, statistically illogical statements based on one year, go ahead. Where's this massive track record of Swisher's? Swisher's career line of .244/.357/.456 is far from impressive. Kevin Millar has a better line than that. So does Matt Stairs. So does Trot Nixon. Maybe he's not miserable but he's not very good either. I don't want that dude on my team.

QUOTE (wilmot825 @ Jun 17, 2009 -> 07:42 PM) Haren would be awesome Not for what he'd cost us.

Webb is lightyears better than Harden and it's insulting that his name is anywhere near Harden's. Harden will never do anything significant because he'll never be healthy. And for the record I would LOVE to get Brandon Webb here. If we're targeting a low risk/high reward SP then I want Ian Snell. He might be a guy Coop could fix simply because he has a Major League arm and has had success in the past. If he came cheap enough I'd definitely go for it.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jun 17, 2009 -> 06:54 PM) BriSox preview The article talked about the manager and Upchurch, but there was an interesting quote from him: "Hopefully, I won’t stay down here long and get moved up to [Low-Class A] Kannapolis." I like the cockiness. I wonder if it was something they told him if he did well. Maybe they were saving his arm and wanted to keep him away from the hitter's park (and league for the most part) in Great Falls. I don't think it's cockiness at all. He's just a really nice prospect who will probably move quickly once he gets his shot at full season ball.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jun 18, 2009 -> 12:04 AM) A couple of weeks ago I made the case that it would be interesting to realign the divisions in the minor leagues to simulate the major league divisions, to help stimulate rivalry and competition between some of the younger kids. This is from a couple of months back, but when the Cubs and Sox AA teams hooked up, some guy had pretty much the same idea as me. http://whitesox.scout.com/a.z?s=261&p=2&c=867401 Teams like to have all their affiliates close together. Realigning for divisional rivalries would require uprooting who knows how many organizations. It makes things harder for the players, coaches, scouts, front office, everybody, and for what? Most of these players are never going to sniff the majors anyway, and a lot of them that do will do so with other organizations. Things are fine just the way the are.