Talent and Experience

[wildcard]

Of course you must realize that Brady was very, very atypical. The vast majority of players who have 0.7 career WAR on their 26th birthdays end up with a couple of WAR for their careers. Brady's top comp on bb-ref through age 26 was Bobby Del Greco, and at 25 was Stan Jefferson.

If you tell me that someone's just like Brady through age 26 my first thought is he's a long shot to have any kind of a career, not that he'll surge forward with experience and end up with 34 WAR.

I think you are making my point.

[DrungoHazewood]

I think you are making my point.

Ok, you lost me. You said you have to give players experience before they can grow as players. You gave Brady as an example. I told you that most players who're given 1000 PAs through age 26 and don't produce won't ever produce. Are you saying 1000 PAs isn't enough? I guess you are, since you think Adam Jones will transform his game after 2419 plate appearances and six years in the majors.

[wildcard]

Ok, you lost me. You said you have to give players experience before they can grow as players. You gave Brady as an example. I told you that most players who're given 1000 PAs through age 26 and don't produce won't ever produce. Are you saying 1000 PAs isn't enough? I guess you are, since you think Adam Jones will transform his game after 2419 plate appearances and six years in the majors.

Its JMO but I think that a guy that is 26 in August of last year and will play most of the year at 26 in 2012 is still young enough to improve no matter how many at bats he has received.

I am not willing to say at this point in Jones career that he will never hit lefthanded pitching well or be able to lay off the low outside pitch which are the two things he needs to do to improve.

[osfan83]

Its JMO but I think that a guy that is 26 in August of last year and will play most of the year at 26 in 2012 is still young enough to improve no matter how many at bats he has received.

I am not willing to say at this point in Jones career that he will never hit lefthanded pitching well or be able to lay off the low outside pitch which are the two things he needs to do to improve.

I believe that Jones, Markakis and Reimold are about as good as they are going to get....sure they may have a career year sometime in the next 3 or 4 years...but as an average, I think the next 4 years from these guys will be pretty close to what we have already seen.

[canonfaz]

The argument of Talent vs. Experience got me wondering about how many potential all stars we have on our team. Last year Wieters was our only all star, while Boston had 6, New York had 8, Tampa had 3, and Toronto had 2. I realize that the All-Star selection process is far from a perfect way to determine how good a player is, but there is no way we are going to the playoffs anytime soon with only 1 player being a true all star.

How many of our guys this year have the potential to put up all star seasons? My guess is 3: Wieters, Jones, and Hardy. I would love to see any of our starting pitchers make the All Star team. When is the last time that happened? Mussina?

2011 AL East All Stars:

BALC 	Matt Wieters, BALBOS1B 	Adrian Gonzalez, BOS *DH 	David Ortiz, BOS *P 	Josh Beckett, BOSP 	Jon Lester, BOS3B 	Kevin Youkilis, BOSOF 	Jacoby Ellsbury, BOSNYY2B 	Robinson Cano, NYY *OF 	Curtis Granderson, NYY *P 	David Robertson, NYYP 	Mariano Rivera, NYYP 	CC Sabathia, NYYC 	Russell Martin, NYY3B 	Alex Rodriguez, NYYSS 	Derek Jeter, NYYTBP 	David Price, TBP 	James Shields, TBOF 	Matt Joyce, TBTOROF 	Jose Bautista, TOR *P 	Ricky Romero, TOR