D. J. Stewart Debut Thursday vs. Staten Island

[Rene88]

What I am saying is, by your use of language, you are dismissing him.

Those are dismissive terms you are using.

Is this grammar and tone 101? Do you have a point here?

I don't think it was a good pick. I am not the only one that feels that way.

I am interested in hearing what my buddy thinks. I will let you know.

I thought Hobgood was a bad pick as well. I laughed when they drafted Givens as a position player when few if any had him sticking there. It makes me doubt the decision making of the scouting.

All the money you get worked up on saving for Cruz's extra year. Imagine if we spent a tenth of that on more scouts? What if we went out and paid premium salaries from some of the really good veteran scouts out there instead of an extra year of Jimenz?

Just a thought. That's what I would do. I would overpay for the best (and most) scouts in the game. It costs little in comparison.

[Can_of_corn]

Is this grammar and tone 101? Do you have a point here?

I don't think it was a good pick. I am not the only one that feels that way.

I am interested in hearing what my buddy thinks. I will let you know.

I thought Hobgood was a bad pick as well. I laughed when they drafted Givens as a position player when few if any had him sticking there. It makes me doubt the decision making of the scouting.

All the money you get worked up on saving for Cruz's extra year. Imagine if we spent a tenth of that on more scouts? What if we went out and paid premium salaries from some of the really good veteran scouts out there instead of an extra year of Jimenz?

Just a thought. That's what I would do. I would overpay for the best (and most) scouts in the game. It costs little in comparison.

I am actually on record as being very upset at the Hobgood pick and being against Givens as a position player. You can actually find the threads where I expressed those opinions, on draft day.

It would be harder but you could also find threads in which I talk of beefing up scouting and development.

If you can find an example of me "getting worked up" on the Cruz contract I'd like to see it. I disagreed with signing Cruz for four years but I don't think I ever got emotional about it.

And to swing around to the start, you said folks were not writing him off, I think, by your words, that you have written him off already.

[weams]

What I am saying is, by your use of language, you are dismissing him.

Those are dismissive terms you are using.

Purposefully dismissive. But, we all like who we like.

[Frobby]

Is this grammar and tone 101? Do you have a point here?

I don't think it was a good pick. I am not the only one that feels that way.

I am interested in hearing what my buddy thinks. I will let you know.

I thought Hobgood was a bad pick as well. I laughed when they drafted Givens as a position player when few if any had him sticking there. It makes me doubt the decision making of the scouting.

All the money you get worked up on saving for Cruz's extra year. Imagine if we spent a tenth of that on more scouts? What if we went out and paid premium salaries from some of the really good veteran scouts out there instead of an extra year of Jimenz?

Just a thought. That's what I would do. I would overpay for the best (and most) scouts in the game. It costs little in comparison.

Of course, we have no idea what we pay our scouts, or how good they are. I know there were a lot of changes when Duquette took over, so I don't find Hobgood and Givens very relevant to what is happening today. I can't say the results of the 2012-15 drafts have knocked my socks off so far, though. So far only Gausman and Walker have made it to the majors and the only draftee who seems remotely likely to see major league time in 2016 is Mancini. Maybe Hader (chosen 2012, 19th round) or Brault (chosen 2013, 11th round) will see time in the majors at the end of 2016 -- which won't help us, since they're with other organizations now. To be fair, we went heavy on high school kids in 2013 (Harvey and Sisco are promising) and didn't have a 1st or 2nd round pick in 2014.

[Rene88]

Purposefully dismissive. But, we all like who we like. Rene is wrong more than even I am.

Is that so? Like I said we needed to be sellers? Like this wasn't a playoff team? Like Hobgood was a bad pick? Like Bundy will never stay healthy? Like the Parra trade was a mistake? Like Rangers probably will get 2nd wildcard? Like Lough stinks? Light Parmlee and Alavarez could provide a spark? Like you thought DD wasn't distracted in the offseason?

Got it

I am wrong a lot too: I thought Cabrera was a good signing. I loved Bud Norris. I thought Brian Matusz would be a stud starter.

I am not infallible, but I think I have a decent handle on things.

Could it be possible that you are too personally close to some of these players to make a fair assessment? You like everyone it seems.

I am not saying you are wrong about anything, I'd appreciate the same respect.

[Can_of_corn]

Is that so? Like I said we needed to be sellers? Like this wasn't a playoff team? Like Hobgood was a bad pick? Like Bundy will never stay healthy? Like the Parra trade was a mistake? Like Rangers probably will get 2nd wildcard? Like Lough stinks? Light Parmlee and Alavarez could provide a spark? Like you thought DD wasn't distracted in the offseason?

Got it

I am wrong a lot too: I thought Cabrera was a good signing. I loved Bud Norris. I thought Brian Matusz would be a stud starter.

I am not infallible, but I think I have a decent handle on things.

Could it be possible that you are too personally close to some of these players to make a fair assessment? You like everyone it seems.

I am not saying you are wrong about anything, I'd appreciate the same respect.

Just an FYI, I mistakenly tried to play the respect card earlier this week and got handed a crying towel for my trouble.

And I deserved it.

[eb45]

Stewart is not a singles hitter. That is ludicrous. Maybe he doesn't hit 30 HRs (I think he can), but he has plenty of power for LF or 1B. Please stop acting like your opinion is just as valid as that of people who have actually seen him play dozens of times.

[Rene88]

My scout friend said this (he hadn't been a scout now for a while, but father is):

He's talking about Stewart.

Watched the video. I think his swing isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. A lot of moving parts but has good weight transfer and hands are in launch position at right time. Lefty so I wonder if he can flat out run too. But agree that he doesn't strike me as a first rounder.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[LookinUp]

Re: Stewart's results in the NYP league, it's not promising, but the evaluation (for me, looking at stats) stops there. I played baseball like most of you. If you did play, you probably know how hitters can get red hot and ice cold. Timing can get screwed up. Your "feel" can get way off. If you don't know this, you probably didn't play much and probably don't understand why sample sizes matter.

I'm guessing that professional coaching, new bats, a new team, a new environment and new competition can throw things off a bit. I'm also hopeful that professional instruction can shorten those cold spells. Therefore, I take from Stewart's season that he had a cool stretch. Nothing more. Nothing less. I hope he's capable of much more against top notch competition. Hopefully the people who picked him made a good read. DD sure spoke highly of him when drafted, so they obviously think he has more upside than some of this board think. Time will tell.

[Rene88]

Re: Stewart's results in the NYP league, it's not promising, but the evaluation (for me, looking at stats) stops there. I played baseball like most of you. If you did play, you probably know how hitters can get red hot and ice cold. Timing can get screwed up. Your "feel" can get way off. If you don't know this, you probably didn't play much and probably don't understand why sample sizes matter.

I'm guessing that professional coaching, new bats, a new team, a new environment and new competition can throw things off a bit. I'm also hopeful that professional instruction can shorten those cold spells. Therefore, I take from Stewart's season that he had a cool stretch. Nothing more. Nothing less. I hope he's capable of much more against top notch competition. Hopefully the people who picked him made a good read. DD sure spoke highly of him when drafted, so they obviously think he has more upside than some of this board think. Time will tell.

I have mad respect for anyone that played pro ball. Hats off to you sir. Hardest sport to play at that level.

That is why I look at someone like Mark Hendrickson that played both pro basketball and baseball and I am just amazed.

[clapdiddy]

I have mad respect for anyone that played pro ball. Hats off to you sir. Hardest sport to play at that level.

That is why I look at someone like Mark Hendrickson that played both pro basketball and baseball and I am just amazed.

Look at Bo Jackson...All Star in both!

[McNulty]

I always love people who 'read' things and make conclusions based solely off of that.

Watch the player a few times, then make a statement that it was a bad pick.

[weams]

I am not saying you are wrong about anything, I'd appreciate the same respect.

Yeah. I show you a lot of respect. We could call up each other's post from the last year and it would a cage death match on who could be more wrong. You or me.

[Stotle]

I like Blandino more, but he likewise went in the back-end of the first round. He was better than his debut numbers showed, and came out strong this year in HiA in his first full season:

2014 1st Round Pick (29th Overall)

2014 Low A Midwest League (I'm ignoring rookie ball because he was way too advanced for that league)

.261/.329/.440 over 34 games

2015 High A Florida State League

.294/.370/.438 over 80 games

I wouldn't pan the pick based on NY-Penn numbers, though Stewart certainly needs to step up in 2016.

[weams]

Re: Stewart's results in the NYP league, it's not promising, but the evaluation (for me, looking at stats) stops there. I played baseball like most of you. If you did play, you probably know how hitters can get red hot and ice cold. Timing can get screwed up. Your "feel" can get way off. If you don't know this, you probably didn't play much and probably don't understand why sample sizes matter.

I'm guessing that professional coaching, new bats, a new team, a new environment and new competition can throw things off a bit. I'm also hopeful that professional instruction can shorten those cold spells. Therefore, I take from Stewart's season that he had a cool stretch. Nothing more. Nothing less. I hope he's capable of much more against top notch competition. Hopefully the people who picked him made a good read. DD sure spoke highly of him when drafted, so they obviously think he has more upside than some of this board think. Time will tell.

I blame Scott Boras. He should have signed for slot first week as the player wanted to.