According to ESPN.com, Albert Pujols is encouraging the St. Louis Cardinals to sign future Hall of Fame slugger Manny Ramirez. While there has been no other sign of communication between Ramirez and the Cardinals front office, the prospect of adding arguably the scariest hitter last season into the line up with arguably the scariest hitter ever is certainly raising some eye brows.
The article says that Pujols speaks to Manny a few times a week on the phone, and the two of them cannot figure out why Ramirez can’t get a deal anywhere.
The answer to that conundrum is simple, unfortunately Manny is too busy being Manny to figure it out. It’s your agent buddy. The truth is that Scott Boras (Ramirez’s agent) refuses to come to terms with a slowing economy as he continues to try and push the market bigger and bigger. So while younger stars like C.C Sabathia and Mark Teixeira can still get mega-deals, teams (who aren’t wearing pinstripes) are being sensible about signing a 36-year-old outfielder with baggage.
His talent, and even his work ethic are unquestionable. His desire to play into his 40’s, be a leader in the clubhouse, and whether or not he knows where he is the majority of the time is. But with that uncertainty there is one unquestionable truth:
If Manny Ramirez dumped Scott Boras, lowered his asking price to 2 years for 40 million dollars, he would be on a team tomorrow.
It’s amazing what green (money, not the herb) colored glasses will do to ball players. It seems so simple for us fans and executives, yet it’s so hard for the players to understand. Yes Scott Boras will demand more money, but no, teams won’t want to deal with him. The players must think we can’t understand what it’s like to turn down all that money to play baseball. Maybe that is why it took Warren Buffet in the summer of 2008 to convince A-Rod to drop Boras, the only person Mr. A-rrogant would listen to is the richest man in the world.
Manny needs to pull back his deadlocks and see the light. It’s February and he has no team. No one has budged to bite the bullet and sign him to a contract the think is unfair, in fact the Dodgers retracted their first offer. The Mets are showing no interest, the Yankees are spent, and the Red Sox are off limits. The Cardinals are an intriguing option but do they really have that kind of money? It’s time for Manny to suck it up, take 40 million dollars, and go play some baseball. It’s what he was born to do.
Manny in Washington?
At first glance that question may seem ludicrous, especially in bold. Why would the Nationals sign an old outfielder who has no leadership ability to a big deal?
Well…because we can. If you loyal readers remember I was adamantly against the Mark Teixeira deal. Not because I didn’t like his talent, or because I didn’t think we needed a 20 million dollar a deal player on the roster, but because I didn’t like the length of the contract. Don’t pay for fan excitement now if it will hurt the team when they’re ready to compete.
Ramirez however is different. He will likely only play three or four more years, and will be out of town by the time the team is competitive. In the mean time he will provide excitement with his bat, his fielding (not necessarily positively, but it will be exciting!) and his antics. This would not be a move for our future, but one to hold us until we get there.
It will also give Nats fans a little bit of history and a little something to be proud about when Ramirez gets inducted on his first ballot into the Hall of Fame. Not to mention he will be closing in on 600 homers in the not so distant future, what better a place than Nationals Park?
So Mr. Bowden, go ahead and let Manny distract us while you prepare the future. Let Manny come into our clubhouse and show young players how you really prepare for a season and game. Show Ryan Zimmerman what it’s like to see a fastball when he hits in front of one of the best hitters of all time. And let Manny remind Nationals fans what a feared hitter looks like wearing a curly w.
“I’m sick of following my dreams. I’m just going to ask them where they’re going and hook up with them later.”-Mitch Hedberg
"From the first day of our 12 week program we noticed an intensity usually reserved for guys who are trying to make a team or add years to their career," says Dean on Lannan's work ethic."The last thing I want to think about in later innings is fatigue and the trainers at Performance have taught me how to prepare. I have never felt this good in my life," said Lannan.
"WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Nationals lowered individual-sale ticket prices on 14,000 seats for 2009 on Wednesday after ranking near the bottom of the National League in attendance during their new ballpark's debut season.Thank god. I was honestly starting to get worried. The ticket prices were high in general, much less for a team that didn't field a product anyone wanted to see. I couldn't see the team matching even the poor attendance they had last year with the current economic recession if prices stayed the same. People are going to be cutting back on luxuries, and a $25 upper deck outfield ticket is certainly a luxury.
The team didn't raise prices on any of the 41,888 seats in Nationals Park.
Prices were not changed for the stadium's most expensive seats, including those right behind home plate that cost $300 or more and often were empty when providing a backdrop for TV cameras.
The Nationals, whose record of 59-102 was the worst in baseball, averaged about 29,000 fans per home game in 2008, when they moved from RFK Stadium to their nearly $700 million new home. That put the team 13th in attendance in the 16-team NL, and 19th in the 30-team major leagues.
Individual-sale ticket prices were cut by $10 or more in more than 4,500 seats, including 3,000 in the ballpark's lower bowl."
He has shared the same mound as flamethrowers Dwight Gooden and Baltimore Orioles closer Chris Ray. He has roamed the same outfield as sluggers Garry Sheffield, Carl Everett, and yes, Elijah Dukes. All of these names leave Michael Burgess as currently just a blip on the radar of immense baseball talent to come from the Hillsborough Terriers.
Fortunately for Burgess it’s no new thing to join elite company. The young super athlete rarely has been the first to do anything in his legendary baseball community. Instead the outfielder is always evoking the names of past greats that have achieved greatness before him.
In the 5A Florida State Championship finals Burgess pummeled a 470-foot home run to centerfield that cleared a 60 foot centerfield wall, a shot to make Mickey Mantle blush. The colossal shot thrilled fans but shocked none. The Sarasota crowd had seen it before; Bo Jackson, Frank Thomas, and Ken Griffey Jr. had all done it during their tenure.
That summer Burgess was in the midst of leading his summer ball club, the Cincinnati Redskins, to a 56-5 record. He was playing for the legendary Joe Hayden who had tutored the likes of Barry Larkin, Griffey Jr., Mark Mulder, and Corey Patterson. During one batting practice Burgess delivered a shot to right center that landed on the roof of the sporting complex close to 500 feet away.
Hayden would later tell reporters that he had only seen one other player do that before, Ken Griffey Jr. But Griffey did it three times.
“Plenty of players come out of the area, but how many are going to make it that’s the question. I think about it before I get on the field, and I try to play my heart out to be the next player out of Tampa, Florida to make it to the major league,” Burgess told Sports Illustrated’s Lucas O’Neill.
Hopefully for the Nationals it is the background of Burgess that will push him to achieve greatness. A background like Burgess’s forces humility, it forces drive, and most importantly it forces a talented young man to understand that god given talent just isn’t enough.
The six foot one, 225 pound outfielder was on the fast track to be the number one overall pick out of high school. He opened the eyes of scouts his sophomore year when he batted .505 with 10 homers and 20 stolen bases. He got them to salivate when he batted .511 with 12 homers and 24 stolen bases his junior year. Numbers like that made ball clubs even forget about his 95 MPH fastball and his 0.67 ERA in 20 innings that same year.
He has a build that reminds you of Bo Jackson, and an athletic skill-set that’s not too far off either. In high school Burgess ran a 6.8 60 yard dash and could squat over 600 pounds.
Then his senior year something happened. Burgess had been rated as the nations number one high school prospect, and had won the Jackie Robinson Award for the nations best high school player, yet his senior year he couldn’t muster more than a .338 batting average with only two homers in 25 games.
Burgess had become high school baseballs version of Barry Bonds. It wasn’t anything that he was doing wrong that caused the drop off in his stats, it was the opponents refusal to pitch to him. Pitches in the strike zone became like an endangered species for the young slugger, who saw seventeen intentional walks before his eight game of his senior year.
Burgess’s draft stock plummeted with the lack of numbers and the inability to reach expectations. Many felt that because he would likely slip out of the top 10 picks in the draft, he would attend Arizona State where he had committed to play that fall. This feeling caused Burgess to drop even further in the draft, all the way to the Washington Nationals third pick, and the 49th overall.
The outfielder has had solid success in his first two years in professional baseball. In his first year he combined to bat .318 between the Gulf Coast League Nats and the Vermont Lake Monsters. He Slugged 13 home runs and drove in 42 while reaching base at about .400. Starting in Hagerstown his second season he continued to show improved power but showed way less discipline, batting .249 with 18 home runs and 136 strikeouts.
It looks for Burgess that while he can hit the ball a mile he needs to shorten his stroke and make sure he’s making contact. The bottom line is a player needs to be able to bat over .250 in A ball if he wants to make it to the show, regardless of potential and power. Burgess claims he wants to be, ‘the first player to bat .500,’ so lets hope he put a lot of time in the offseason to improve his plate approach and discipline.
Outside of the batters box Burgess continues to impress. He has good hands for an outfielder and his rocket arm from the mound transfers to an all-star level gun from the corner spots. He has solid speed but not a lot of base stealing potential. He will likely start the season in Potomac and if he can continue to progress in the batters box, the 20 year old may only be a year or two from sniffing Nats Park.
The six foot three, two hundred pound starter excelled at Roxbury Latin high school in Massachusetts, both in and out of the classroom. Often described as an absolute perfectionist, its not surprising that the young man would be able to set up an agreement to have his cake and eat it too.
You see, McGeary had earned himself admission to Stanford University, one of the best colleges in the country. He earned it not only on the baseball field, but in the classroom as well. Many clubs saw McGeary as a lock to go to sunny California in the fall, which is why he fell so far in the draft. The Nationals leadership knew what a great talent McGeary was however, and gave him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
The deal reached by the two parties, minutes before the deadline gave McGeary first round money (1.8 million dollars) and a 200,000 dollar scholarship to attend Stanford. The unique deal not only gave a sixth round pick first round money (much to the dismay of other clubs in the league), it allowed the young lefthander to study four years at Stanford while working out daily and pitching for the club’s minor league affiliates in the summer.
Today McGeary spends his time in his dorm room like many other 19-year-old Stanford students. But instead of going out to the frat party Friday night or sleeping in Saturday morning, he is waking up at 6 A.M to drive to Santa Cruz University to workout on their facilities. Stanford won’t let him use their varsity complex anymore, not after the stud recruit decommited from Stanford, but still decided to attend the university. On some weekends he will spend 12 hours on a plane just so he can get 8 hours of instruction at Vieira Beach, Florida from Nationals minor league scouts. So far the young man has been impressive in his ability to handle both the classroom, and the professional baseball life.
It is however, yet to be seen whether this deal will hurt his development. Almost all young players play year round, on a team. There is a lot to be said for pitching in actual games, playing alongside teammates, and having a coach push you harder than you can push yourself. McGeary wont have that experience, at least not during the school year anyways. I don’t know if workouts alone will be enough to develop the young player, in fact, no one does. It’s a true experiment to say the least, but as Jacks mom said, “If anyone can do it, he can.”
The lefty combines an outstanding curveball with excellent control, and a fastball that shows natural movement. That fastball only reaches about 89-90 right now, but has the potential to be improved as he matures. His large frame (6-3, 200 LBS) suggests that he has the body to be a big league starter and his personal coaches all say he understands the mindset needed to be successful on the mound. Baseball America named him as having the best curveball and the best control in the organization.
So far his performance has been mixed. At the age of 19 he only has 14 professional starts. He’s been hit around a little bit, although not hard. In 66.1 IP he has allowed 70 hits, but only two home runs. He has only let up 21 walks and has struck out 73. Overall he is 2-3 with a 4.48 ERA.
Despite the amounts of hits and runs he is letting up, his high K/BB ratio shows promise. He knows how to get hitters out when he gets deep in the count, he probably just needs to improve his fastball to get ahead early. McGeary could be a major league starter someday, but I believe with his stunted development with his arrangement, it wont be until he is about 26 or 27.
It makes sense.
The greatest leadoff hitter of all-time; who loved the game, the attention, and most of all himself, would be inducted into the hall of fame the first year he was eligible. Just one more thing that makes Rickey Henderson stand out as exceptional in spite of himself.
The same year the much-maligned outfielder, Jim Rice, who never seemed to enjoy the game or the media, would be inducted into the hall of fame on his very last chance. Just one more thing that makes Jim Rice stand out as disappointingly mediocre despite his abilities.
Neither player was particularly adored or held in high respects by the media or the fans. Yet the two outfielders could not be any more different in their style of play, relationship with the press, and career accomplishments.
I remember one spring morning when I was about 11; my father and me went to Port St. Lucy to watch the Mets practice before their game. Back then the complex was essentially a free for all with only small fences serving as the boundary between fan and player. I leaned up against the fence to watch as Bobby Valentine gave a speech to the infielders about the art of bunt defense while my dad wandered off to sit cross legged in the outfield while chatting up Mookie Wilson about 1986.
The infield meeting ended and the players scattered to various parts of the complex. I got some autographs, shook some hands, and felt for a moment that I was part of the team. I decided to walk along the fence that stretched up the left field line to find my father.
Halfway up the line a voice called out to me, “What’s up little dude?” I looked to my right and five feet away from me on the other side of the fence stood a 40-year-old man in a Mets uniform.
“You’re Rickey Henderson!” I yelled out, shocked that any ball player would speak with me, much less get MY attention.
“Rickey knows that,” he replied.
We chatted a bit while walking up the left field line. He asked me what position I played and where I was from. It was an amazing experience for an 11 year old baseball fan but in retrospect it is even more impressive to me now.
No one was forcing, pressuring, or even asking this lock future Hall of Famer to make this kids day. No one saw him talking to me, he got no credit for it from the media or the ball club. Truth be told Rickey Henderson didn’t care what anyone thought about him, much less a lost looking pudgy kid.
Later that day we went from the Mets training complex to go watch the Red Sox play. We got to the park early, I placed myself in the front row, next to the dugout, prime reality for autographs. Some players walked by and said hello, some signed memorabilia. Manager Jimmy Williams even hung around a bit to chat with the fans.
Batting practice came around and getting autographs got harder. Players are professional and they know when it’s their job to play, and when it’s an opportunity to interact with fans. After much petitioning the fans were able to convince Brian Daubach to mosey over and sign some autographs between his turns at bat.
I was next in line to hand him my ball to sign, when a bellowing voice cried out from the dugout. “Get the hell out of here Brian!”
An older figure emerged wearing baseball pants and a coaching windbreaker. I held out my ball for him to sign, but a slightly older autograph seeker grabbed my arm and pulled it back. The older man shook his head at me and turned around, muttering something to himself.
“You don’t ask Jim Rice for autographs,” the boy who grabbed my arm turned and said to me in a Boston accent. “I’ve seen him take away and even destroy things that people have tried to get him to sign, he’s no good.”
That was the difference between Jim and Rickey. Like Rickey, Jim didn’t care what the effect of his actions would be on the media or the fan base. But the difference was Jim didn’t want anything to do with me, the fans, or anything except the game itself.
It was this attitude that kept him from making the Hall of Fame earlier. The same attitude that caused conflicts with the media, the fans, and caused an 11 year old boy to be afraid of big league coaches.
Rickey on the other hand had no ill intent; he was just a little off. He loved baseball and was damn good at it. It was just his people skills that he had trouble with. However when you look back on his 24 year career you realize; his longevity, his willingness to play anywhere, and his dedication to excellence, is all proof to his true love for the game.
In the end Ricky Henderson did it the right way and Jim Rice did it the wrong way, and that’s why there were inducted the way they were.
Here is hoping that in 20 years a 60 year old uniformed man will call over the fence to a lost looking pudgy baseball fan asking, “What’s up little dude?”
Derek Norris is another potential first round draft pick that the Nationals were able to snag in a later round. The six foot, 200 pound, catcher from Goddard Kansas dominated the Jayhawk state his junior year of high school. The right handed power hitter scorched opponents batting .500 with 11 doubles, 3 home runs and 36 RBI's, earning all-state, all-league, all-metro, and honorable mention All-American in 2006.
With their second pick in the 2008 draft, the Washington Nationals selected Destin Hood.
| Destin Hood on draft |
Adrian Nieto's future has never been certain. At the age of 4 his parents had to decide whether or not to take their young son from the shores of the communist nation of Cuba to a new life in the United States. Thirteen hours into the trip the Nieto's found themselves in a 60 year old raft overloaded with 20 people. The group was lost in the ocean, dehydrated and starving. They had to decide whether or not to give up on their quest for freedom. Minutes before turning back to Cuba and what may have been an equally certain death, the group was rescued by the U.S Coast Guard, and taken to Guantanamo Bay.
Held captive in the very same center that today holds the worlds most dangerous terrorists, the Nieto's had no idea what the future had in store for them, or their 4 year old son Adrian. The Nieto's were lucky, they were allowed to go to the states and live with their existing family in southern Florida.
Some say one of the biggest failures for Washington since the team’s creation has been their inability to land the big free agent. Those people are forgetting about Esmailyn Gonzalez.
In 2006 Gonzalez signed with Washington out of his hometown of Pizarrete, in the Dominican Republic, at the age of 16. The Nats beat out many other Major League suitors and inked this talented phenom shortstop to a minor league deal with a $1.4 million signing bonus.
Gonzalez may very well be the brightest hope for what many consider a weak Washington Nationals farm system. He possesses everything you want in a young prospect; he hits for power, average, he can field, throw and has speed, a true five tool player. The most impressive aspects of this young switch hitter however, are his ability to produce, his head, and his age.
At only the age of 18 Gonzalez finished his second season for the Gulf Coast Nationals in 2008. In 51 games he improved his batting average by 100 points from the year before, finishing the season batting .343, winning the Gulf Coast League batting title. More impressively, Gonzalez continued to show excellent plate patience for the second straight year, improving his on base percentage from .382 to .431.
Gonzalez’s Numbers
His Ability to get on base is an excellent sign for his future. Few young players have the ability to accurately select pitches and understand the importance of getting on base. Young players like Gonzalez are often more eager to go out and flash their skills by swinging at every pitch that comes over the plate. While this often works in Rookie and A ball, many young players find these tactics end up killing them when they get to the Big Show. Gonzalez’s plate patience shows great maturity and is a promising sign for his ability to further develop, and quickly.
Jose Reyes vs. Gonzalez
Scouts report that for a young player, Gonzalez hits a way better percentage of line drives than pop-ups. This is clearly evident in his ability to bat .343 last season. Many ‘toolsy’ players receive much attention adoration before they actually put their tools to work. Gonzalez however clearly haw already been able to put it together at the plate, at least for average. This makes him that much more of a promising prospect; his potential is turning into skill already.
Before he is anointed, ‘the savior,’ just yet, lets remember the kid is just 18. Gonzalez has yet to play even a game in A ball and still has a lot to work on. He has only hit two home runs in 82 minor league games, but scouts say his swing and body type should translate to power. His slugging percentage improved from a measly .311 in 2007 to a solid .475 in 2008. His ability to drive the ball for power will need to progress in order for him to move through the ranks.
Most notably, Gonzalez needs to work on his glove. While scouts said that he had very solid hands and smooth mechanics at shortstop, it has yet to translate to on the field success. So far he has already combined for 25 errors in only 79 games at shortstop. This should be a red flag but nothing too alarming. Shortstop after all is the games toughest position and other shortstops have had similar trouble early on. If he can’t figure it out he can always pull a BJ Upton and fill in that centerfield hole in Washington.
Esmailyn Gonzalez may very well be the Nationals top prospect. With another year of success under his belt it’s likely that he will be number one on this list, and within another two years he may be a mid season call up to Nats Park. He projects to be a Derek Jeter type player, who will hit for high average and get on base. The Nationals will continue to be careful with this kid, as he will start the season in A ball Hagerstown next season.
While the list wasn’t supposed to come out until tomorrow, apparently the Washington Times got their hands on an early copy.
1. Jordan Zimmerman
2.Ross Detwiler
3. Chris Marrero
4. Michael Burgess
5. Jack Mcgreary
6. Derek Norris
7. Destin Hood
8. Adrian Nieto
9. J.P Ramirez
10. Esmailyn Gonzalez
1.
Over the next 10 days I will talk about each one of these prospects and analyzing their future and their place on this list.
