Salcedo... Age Concerns

[Greg Pappas]

We've discussed his age concerns here recently... well...

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/majors/international-affairs/2008/265806.html

[bluehens45]

I have made the statement a few times that i think this is what has been the holdup. The kid is probally 18-19 years old. If it turns out he's older then 16 i dont really care i would still love to see us take a shot at him. It doesnt matter if he's 19 he is still a 5 tool prospect and a position of need for us. I dont think i would give him the money there asking but i would still have no problem paying 2-3 million for the kid. I mean hell we are paying a 4th outfielder who is almost 40 5 million. AM and PA need to anty up and make a splash.

[Lt Melmo]

Come on...

<img SRC="http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/ucla/sports/m-soccer/auto_action/Salcedo2_092902d86.jpg">

It's a bit obvious... :p

[LookinUp]

Maybe a stupid question...but does this make him more or less attractive to the O's? I know the knee-jerk reaction would say less.

[DennisTheOsFan]

Hey, if they still view him as a potentially terrific hitter, I don't mind that he's 19. That's equivalent to a college freshman/sophomore. But if he's 19 and he's hitting like a high schooler, then I'd wonder about dishing out so much money on him. It all depends on how quickly they think he can climb the ladder.

[CharmCityHokie]

Didnt Ed Rodgers celebrate his 18th birthday three years in a row?;)

[blueberryale77]

Didnt Ed Rodgers celebrate his 18th birthday three years in a row?;)

That's nothing. CindyLuvsBrady has turned 29 about 15 times. :p

[bballchiksinc96]

We've discussed his age concerns here recently... well...

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/majors/international-affairs/2008/265806.html
does it really matter how OLD they are as long as they are good right??

[Crazysilver03]

does it really matter how OLD they are as long as they are good right??

Age matters in terms of maturity, development, and how long you will have their rights while they are in their prime.

[tnsmith90]

does it really matter how OLD they are as long as they are good right??

Also age matters when you try to project what they're going to be in the future; particularly with thei ceilings. It makes sense because if they're younger then they have more time to grow before they reach their prime and start on that downward slope of physical performance.

[Stotle]

Also age matters when you try to project what they're going to be in the future; particularly with thei ceilings. It makes sense because if they're younger then they have more time to grow before they reach their prime and start on that downward slope of physical performance.

Sort of, but a frame is a frame. Some 18-year olds are more physically developed than others. Scouting and defining a ceiling based on physical developments depends more on identifying a bodies type, and then looking at the frame and deciding how much room there is to grow. The actual age of that player, once they've hit puberty, isn't really an issue. You have an idea of what the finished product is going to look like.

[bluehens45]

To me it doesnt matter if he's 18-19. He is still a 5 tool prospect and a position of need for us. If he were in the draft it would be just like taking a freshman or sophmore. He would probally go in the top 15 based on what i have read and if were really 16 maybe even higher. So it would be like getting an extra first round pick and paying him. I just think we need to make a splash and this would open some eyes that we are real players in the latin market and hopefully the pacific rim as well(Yu Darvish anyone?). I would love to land Salcedo but if we did i think it would change our draft stratagey. We would probally focus more on pitching. You would have Salcedo at SS, Snyder at 3rd and move Rowell to 1st or the other way around. Then we could hopefully land Crow or Matusz. Or maybe even better land Alvarez and move him to LF to go along with Jones and Kakes. Damn with some young studs like that and our young pitching depth in 2-4 years we could really contend.

[tnsmith90]

Sort of, but a frame is a frame. Some 18-year olds are more physically developed than others. Scouting and defining a ceiling based on physical developments depends more on identifying a bodies type, and then looking at the frame and deciding how much room there is to grow. The actual age of that player, once they've hit puberty, isn't really an issue. You have an idea of what the finished product is going to look like.

This is definitely true, but even if a guy doesn't grow an inch from the time he's 16 through 19 (which is unlikely), and doesn't grow broader shoulders (also unlikely), his muscular development will improve. As a person gets older from the time their 16 to 19 they get much stronger, faster, etc. So if he's at this level at 16 rather than 19 he has more time to develop into a better athlete during that time frame. Also he has more time to grow in terms of his skills, which is more of what I was really referring to. If he's only 16 at this level he's considerably more talented for his age than at 19, so you'd have to project him to stay around that amount of talent in comparison to his age as he gets older. If he's 3 younger at this level than he projects to be much better. There's no real getting around it.

I do get what you're saying though. And I do think we should atleast make an attempt to sign him regardless if he's 19 or 16. It's not my money lol.

[bej6789]

Internet superstar is what Salcedo is. There's a reason teams aren't ponying up money to sign him. I'm not sure what it's going to take for people to get the fact that he's alot of hype based off of reports that are largely second hand, at best.

[Hutman]

Internet superstar is what Salcedo is. There's a reason teams aren't ponying up money to sign him. I'm not sure what it's going to take for people to get the fact that he's alot of hype based off of reports that are largely second hand, at best.

Callis was asked where he would rank in this draft if he were draft eligible he said that he wouldn't make the top 100. Thats shows you were his stock is.

[allstar1579]

does it really matter how OLD they are as long as they are good right??

The issue is how much to pay him. Supposedly he was asking for $6 mil (what we gave Weiters), which if he is 16, he is a phenom and it's possible. But if he is 18=19, he is just another prospect, and worth less. Given he'd be a good prospect, but not worth that much money when you can draft someone comparable for much less.

At 16 he may get $4 mil, but at 18 you can knock that down to $2 mil, and at 20 you are looking at $1 if that.

[Hutman]

The issue is how much to pay him. Supposedly he was asking for $6 mil (what we gave Weiters), which if he is 16, he is a phenom and it's possible. But if he is 18=19, he is just another prospect, and worth less. Given he'd be a good prospect, but not worth that much money when you can draft someone comparable for much less.

At 16 he may get $4 mil, but at 18 you can knock that down to $2 mil, and at 20 you are looking at $1 if that.

No way I'm tossing that kind of coin at a kid when there are that many question marks. There is a reason he's not under contract already.

[bej6789]

No way I'm tossing that kind of coin at a kid when there are that many question marks. There is a reason he's not under contract already.

Thankyou! If he was half of what A-rod was at age 16, I assure you, he'd be signed already.