How ’bout those Hawkeyes?!!
As most of you have already seen, Rosenthal is reporting that it’s Ludwick, Schumaker, Boggs being asked for in a deal for Holliday. While that is quite a bit of cost controlled years worth of talent going to Colorado, how much talent is it really? Without another pitch, Boggs is at best a 4th starter or a decent middle reliever. Schu has blossomed into a fine player and all, but he opens the door for Colby. And we’ve already discussed Ludwick versus Holliday. A lot of you think this is an awful deal, it’s only awful if it they can’t address other needs, which is why I would hope the Braves would reconsider trading Escobar.
Arizona
- Steve Hill showed off his greatest strength and greatest weakness in one game yesterday. At the plate, he went 3-for-5 with two homers and five RBI. Behind the plate, he allowed three stolen bases in five attempts, and was charged with an error for a missed catch.
- Brett Wallace went 1-for-5 with a double and two strikeouts.
- Shane Robinson went 1-for-5 with a BB.
- Bad Tyler Norrick was back: 1 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 HR. Box.
Hawaii
- James Rapoport went 2-for-4 with a stolen base.
- Arnoldi Cruz went 0-for-3 with a sac fly and two strikeouts. Behind the plate he threw out the speedy Cub prospect Tony Thomas attempting to steal 2B. Box.
Dominican
- Apparently the opposing team’s catcher had a mask made out of kryptonite. Amaury went 0-4 with 2 K’s. Box.
Puerto Rico
- Bryan Anderson went 0-for-1 with drew two walks which led to two runs scored. Box. :Warning!: Bill Pulsipher sighting in box score!
Venezuela
- Apparently David Freese has been sent home. He went 7-for-35 in his last 10 games with 17 K’s and 3 walks in last 10 games. He finished his season with a disappointing .235/.273/.451 line. Nice power, at least.
Entries (RSS)
Freese has been “sent home”? Details?
If Hill “allowed” 3 SBs out of 5 attempts, that also means he caught 2 out of 5. A catcher who guns down 40% of would-be base stealers is generally considered to be excellent at stopping the running game; see Molina, Yadier. This sounds like a positive development to me. I’ve always wondered why Steve Hill gets so little attention; the man can hit, and bats find a place to play.
That’s an excellent point, Bill. 40 percent of runners thrown out would put Hill amongst the best catchers in that stat, at least. The error? Well, it can’t all be good news. That’d be boring, right? Right?
Freese was dismissed by his team for poor performance, according to the guys at the Birdhouse, but there have also been some murmurs from a couple of the American players that there were problems with their paychecks being late and things of that nature.
Full story over at the Birdhouse, but it’s subscriber content.
Alright, you have me there. 2 of 5 is not bad. But why are 5 running on him? I guess that is what struck me. Have we ever even seen 5 players try and steal on Yadi in one game? No. On average, they try and run on less then every other game. You see teams trying to steal that often on catchers of the ilk of Josh Bard, Mike Piazza or Victor Martinez. There is a reason why they are trying to run on him. Maybe he can change those scouting reports if he keeps this up.
I agree, Hill is a bit of an unheralded prospect. But if he can’t hack catching, he’s headed down a career path similar to mike jacobs or josh phelps.
I wouldn’t be too bothered by the number of attempts, Erik; that game was an offensive explosion (final score 16-15, 12 runs scored in the 9th inning!) and there were vastly more opportunities for SBs than in a “normal” game. They were also playing Scottsdale, the “runningest” team in the AFL with several individual racehorses (Emmanuel Burriss, etc.).
I’d really like to see Hill get more time behind the plate so that we can see just what they’ve got there. To me the passed-ball totals are more worrisome than the steals. How’s he been doing on that count in the AFL?
I think the two biggest problems many have with that trade offer for Holliday is that (1) the Cardinals are using their best trade assets this off-season for another outfielder, and (2) resigning Holliday–which would have to be necessary to make the trade worth it–could hurt the Cardinals down the road in resigning Pujols and other players.
I’d rather they use one of Ludwick, Ankiel, or Shumaker to address the middle infield, like trading for Escobar. Trading two of those guys for, at best, the fourth highest priority this off-season doesn’t make much sense.
Holliday trade is dead. Yea!