Kjerstad comes in at #99 on BA Top 100

[makoman]

1 hour ago, CarrRun49 said:

Agreed. Although Rutschman was ill when he first arrived, who here honestly believes he would be a productive major leaguer if he was sent straight to Baltimore?  Hold his own? Maybe. But that's far different than succeeding and being an All-Star level player like you would expect him to after 2-3 years in the minors and a year or two in Baltimore.

I mean, it's all about what you mean by "ready." Manny was productive and not an all star debuting in his age 19 season. And it's not like he was dominating the minors. But he was clearly "ready" and had MVP votes in his age 20 season. If he had starred in the SEC instead of being below average at Frederick would that talent never have come through?

Adam Jones made the majors at 20 and again at 21, though he wasn't all that productive. But looking at his AAA stats he was probably ready... 

Even Ryan Mountcastle probably could have hit adequately last year at 22. 

So why shouldn't a 22 year old Rutschman or Kjerstad or Tork or Andrew Vaughn or Austin Martin be capable of holding their own in the majors? Yeah, it would be an adjustment, but a lot of these guys could figure it out and do ok. Not just any guys, but the top few are supposed to be the very best hitters in their class after all.

Again, this is not to say this would be the best way to develop them necessarily, and certainly is bad for service time, which is why it doesn't happen. But a handful of guys each year should be capable. 

I'm actually curious if it will happen this year, in a year with no minors. Not in Baltimore, we haven't really shown that we would do that. But if Toronto somehow finds themselves contending, and if Austin Martin really has a 70 hit tool, why not have him be some kind of super sub? What if Pittsburgh is doing well and needs a DH, and in BP Gonzales really looks like the guy who OPSs over 1.000 everywhere he goes?

Edited July 2, 2020 by makoman

[CarrRun49]

9 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Brooks Robinson wasn't a good player until 23.  But he spent parts of five years and 1000 PAs in the majors from 18-22.  Sometimes the best way to develop the skills to be a major league player is in the majors.

Leads you right back to the service time argument.  Could he develop at the ML level for 2-3 years? Sure. 

[DrungoHazewood]

2 minutes ago, CarrRun49 said:

Leads you right back to the service time argument.  Could he develop at the ML level for 2-3 years? Sure. 

My biggest wish for the new CBA is scrap the current free agent setup and make everyone a free agent at 28.  You get the best players in the majors much faster (which could help with tanking), and you eliminate the Carlos Ruiz problem, where a guy who comes up late is never a free agent until he's well into his decline.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

My biggest wish for the new CBA is scrap the current free agent setup and make everyone a free agent at 28.  You get the best players in the majors much faster (which could help with tanking), and you eliminate the Carlos Ruiz problem, where a guy who comes up late is never a free agent until he's well into his decline.

Might hurt college baseball but I'm not sure anyone would care.

[DrungoHazewood]

10 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Might hurt college baseball but I'm not sure anyone would care.

Some fans of college baseball.  But MLB cares less about them than they do about the Appy League.

[weams]

This one ran its course.