Diamondbacks Bullpen

[tmar]

Hopefully the FO is a little more aware of bomels "weakness" and guides his move a bit more in 07.

Hopefully they're looking to showcase Hairston this year and then possibly use him as a trade to an AL club or so as a DH.

Lastly, as for Hairston's 2004 season, he was also on line to hit over 20 HR if given 550AB's. Not bad for a rookie season.

[foulpole]

[levski]

[csktech]

[stu]

Here is Rob Neyer's expnaltion of the Millar and Japan and waiver scenario:

Aside from Pudge Rodriguez, right now the best "available" hitter might be Kevin Millar, late of the Florida Marlins.


We put "available" in quotes because it's been reported that Millar's contract has actually been sold to Japan's Chunichi Dragons, which of course would make Millar something less than "available" to the other 29 major-league clubs.


However, nothing's official yet. With a player's permission, a major-league team can sell his contract to a team in Japan. Typically, the MLB franchise will receive a significant sum -- in this case, perhaps $2 million -- and the player will negotiate a new deal with the Japanese team.


There's a technicality, though: as a part of the process, Millar must pass through waivers, at which point another major-league team has every right to claim him. There is a gentlemen's agreement among GM's to not claim such players, but of course gentlemen's agreements are made to be broken.


So what happens if somebody -- the Braves, let's say -- claims Millar? Probably nothing. Claiming Millar would give Braves GM John Schuerholz only the right to negotiate with Millar, who is still free to head off for Japan if he chooses.


As of early Friday afternoon, the Marlins still hadn't put Millar on waivers. So for the moment, this is all academic.

Green had a wonderful year at Tucson, but he was never a prospect. Hairston is and has always been recognized as a major league caliber hitter. Don't get too caught up on minor league stats. They have value, but can't always be taken at face.

[levski]

[stu]

Eric Byrnes was never a prospect either.

Lev, you are becoming the Swift of the board for satire. I can't figure out if this is satire or not. It broke my sarcasm meter even at the UNC Steve setting.

However, it tweaked my memory or lack thereof. I think I remember Byrnes in several ST games for the A's before he came up full time and thinking that he had a chance to be a regular outfielder for them I am sur ehe was fighting for ajob a number of those years and I want to say he was in the 23-24 range when that started. Can anyone educate me here?

In any event, Bynres made a major league appearence when he was 24 and was a regular by 26. Green will be 30 this July and we know what he has done and the chances (or lack thereof) that he was given.

[TAP]

[Pilgrim 33]

As for Eric Byrnes not being a prospect, he was the all-time hits leader, runs scored leader, and doubles leader for UCLA while posting a .331 career average. He also tied the PAC-10 doubles record and was twice First-Team All Pac-10. He helped lead UCLA to the College World Series and was drafted in the 8th round by Oakland in 1998 after bypassing a 4th round selection by Houston the previous year. He posted solid average and stolen base numbers coming up through the A's system and had a very good 2001 in Triple-A Sacramento with 20 homeruns, 25 stolen bases, and a .289 average. I remember reading about him in fantasy baseball reports at the time as one to keep an eye on, but think he lost a good portion of 2002 to a viral infection if I remember correctly. While he may not be considered a can't miss prospect, I would say he was fairly high-profile given his collegiate pedigree. At 6'2", 210 pounds I think he certainly projected as more of a major league type by scouts than 5'9", 180 pound Andy Green (who looks to be closer to 165-170 pounds).

[levski]

[levski]

Granted, Andy Green was never a prospect either. That's usually the case when you are drafted as a senior, and the organization views you as nothing more than organizational filler... until you have your career year at age 27.

In fact, the front office screwed up big time (and screwed up Andy Green big time too) by failing to either trade him OR sell him to Japan last year, after his breakout season in AAA. I'm sure the Dbacks would've gotten a lot more than $280K from a Japanese team, and Andy would've gotten a bigger contract, if the Dbacks hadn't jerked him around in 2006...

[stu]

Thanks, Pilgrim. (Felt like John Wayne there). I'm glad my memory wasn't too bad.

Lev, I thought we were comparing Byrnes to Green. I agree Hairston has always been considered a better prospect than Byrnes, but for a player to even crack the 100 is pretty good. My guess is that Green never sniffed BA's top 100.

There are certainly good major leaguers who were not on BA's top 100 list, but I thought we were discussing how much patience you have with these players and what you expect from them.

I agree that Green could have been handled better, but you can say the same for Hairston and a number of others. As long as Melvin is given his druthers, I don't think we should expect to see young players handled properly unless they are clearly stars and he is forced to play them.

[Dangerfield]

we probably would of won the division last year if Andy would of been our left fielder, in Aug.
_________________
My wife is always trying to get rid of me. The other day she told me to put the garbage out. I said to her I already did. She told me to go and keep an eye on it

[stu]

Did you see who was ranked number 91 the year before Byrnes?

91. Miguel Cabrera, ss, Marlins

[stu]

we probably would of won the division last year if Andy would of been our left fielder, in Aug.

Not to pick, but good teams (and organizations generally) sweat the small stuff. The odds are that what the Dbacks did with Green is not going to make a big difference, but maybe if he got some more PT, he would have fetched the 91st prospect on some prospect list. Maybe they get an extra 500k from Japan and they use that to bump up a bid for a Drew type draft choice.

[levski]

[stu]

Still both 91. This is BA's ranking the presumably takes age into account.

[levski]

[foulpole]

[levski]

[EvilJuan]

[tmar]

My prediction is that Byrnes is so butt-hurt he didn't get a multi-year deal that he gets traded before the trade deadline just to get him out of town.

[XB3]

[EvilJuan]

[foulpole]