Comments on: Meet in the Middle – Part 1

By: PJ

PJ — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 19:38:05 +0000

This is strange because of the wealth of top SS in the 90s (Jeter, ARod, Tejada, Nomar, Edgar, Furcal)

By: Forsch31

Forsch31 — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 18:30:22 +0000

I don’t ever recall Kozma being called a “slick infielder” at the time of his draft. It was that while he didn’t excel in any particular area/tool, he was average or above-average in them and was projected to stick at SS. That’s why he was regarded as a safe pick–he was viewed as a guy who had the skill to develop into a major leaguer at his position, but he didn’t have the potential to be a star player.

By: jws003

jws003 — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 18:06:05 +0000

+10000 to you alex.. I feel that exact same way. Koz and Greene have been very frustrating but they’re still relatively young guys with the potential to turn things around.

As I was reading the chain I was really trying to wrap my brain around who are the really good SS’s in the game today and could only come up with a handful of guys (Tulo, Jeter, Rollins, etc.). I mean even Rollins has had trouble offensively, A. Ramirez for the White Sox is unproven at best, Castro still has as long way to go, I’m sure I’m forgetting some but the list goes on. There just really aren’t that many good quality SS’s in the game today, so it’s not a huge surprise to me that the Cardinals are struggling to find one. Think about it, if a guy like Edgar Renteria came around all the time, would we be sitting here wondering why we let him walk to thinking “Man, I wish we still had Renteria.”? That’s no excuse for the poor results from our farm system, but honestly there just aren’t too many young SS who are lighting the world on fire, it’s a real hit-or-miss position and right now it looks like we’ve missed but there is still alot of time for that to change..

By: Felonius_Monk

Felonius_Monk — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 16:55:17 +0000

He can’t hit his way out of a wet paper bag, unfortunately.

By: easy

easy — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 16:32:12 +0000

There were early comparisons to Renteria for Solano but I don’t see anything in his numbers that indicate he could develop that kind of offensive punch.

By: cariocacardinal

cariocacardinal — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 15:42:13 +0000

What difference does it make as long as LArussa is here?

By: PJ

PJ — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 14:10:19 +0000

Andrew Miller—any interest?

By: Gruntosaurus

Gruntosaurus — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 04:32:58 +0000

Bust is as bust does. T-Greene and Koz both qualify for the title on the basis of what they have done, or not done. However, your point about the thin pickings is fair enough, and it isn’t just shortstops. The 2007 draft was particularly top-heavy; the only position player drafted after Koz who has made any impact to speak of so far is Mike Stanton, who’d be kinda blocked at 1B if we’d drafted him instead. This despite the fact that there were several guys drafted before Koz who look like emerging stars (Heyward, Moustakas, Vitters, Wieters — not the superstar some pegged him to be, but still a durn good player). It is one thing to say that Koz has been a bust. It is another thing to say drafting him was a mistake. In the absence of superior alternatives, he may not have been a mistake, just another mediocrity in a generally mediocre field.

Taking T-Greene when Jed Lowrie, Chase Headley, Yunel Escobar (despite his putrid 2010, he’s had a decent ML career so far) were available — well, that one is a little harder to justify. AZ, I’m really looking forward to your second page.

By: alex

alex — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 02:31:11 +0000

Could we be percieving our SS as busts thus far because of the dire need for a quality SS in the majors? Seeing how thin the 2005 SS pool has been, it’s difficult for me to write off a 25 yr old SS/major league bench player as a bust, nor a 22 yr old ticketed for AAA next year even though neither are lighting up the baseball world. Yes they all have their serious blemishes, but shouldn’t we allow them more than three to five years of development before we give up on them or consider them fringe prospects. It seems very rare for a SS to excel to the majors within three years of being drafted and play a quality game. Also, is it a coinicidence that the FA pools of SS is thin every year? Or could it be a real lack of quality SS in baseball currently? Either way, I’d like to give the players at one of the most difficult positions in the game more time to develop.

By: sportsman

sportsman — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 01:46:45 +0000

based on talent, or just who found him, but luhnow has mentioned his upside before as someone to keep an eye on