Comments on: Minor League Free Agent: Ian Snell

By: eccard

eccard — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 12:38:38 +0000

A message to Dave Duncan, you need to turn Ian’s career around in a hurry before it’s too late. Snell! snell!

By: tom s.

tom s. — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:24:52 +0000

i am concerned about his velocity drop, not so much in isolation, but in the context of a drop of his K rate to a replacement value rate, and a jump in his BB rate to the point where he’s walking someone every other inning. if he had remained effective and just lost a mph or so, that would not be as concerning. but with all his other peripherals getting worse in a manner sustained over both 2009 and 2010, i don’t like his chances.

By: Gruntosaurus

Gruntosaurus — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 04:29:58 +0000

If I read the article correctly, the velocity on the junk did NOT drop, which was part of the problem. However, that may be something that a Duncan or other good coach can fix. Or not.

I must admit, I always thought Snell had the potential to be a pretty good pitcher, at least under the right circumstances. Dunc has been “the right circumstances” for more broken-down arms than Snell’s. Unlike the other minor-league deals of the last few days, I think there’s a chance this one may work out. The odds are still against it, but maybe…

By: Steve Sommer

Steve Sommer — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 03:39:30 +0000

It’s not a ton, but it’s also non-trivial http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/lose-a-tick-gain-a-tick/

By: cariocacardinal

cariocacardinal — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 01:55:53 +0000

1 MPH doesn’t sound like that great a velocity drop. Particularly if his off speed also dropped 1 MPH. I also hope in 3 years a pitcher would learn enough to compensate for such a small drop. A very small, nearly undetectable mechanical change or grip change might be able to account for such a small difference. I’m not overly optimistic about his chances but the small velocity drop doesnt worry me much..

By: Wade

Wade — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 23:47:02 +0000

Thank you for taking the other post down. It was scaring me.

By: cariocacardinal

cariocacardinal — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 23:38:14 +0000

Not necessarily, an opt out isnt a guarantee that he’ll opt out. He’ll only take that if his agent thinks he will have other suitors offering more of an opportunity.

By: Indiana Cardinal

Indiana Cardinal — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 23:30:10 +0000

With his June 1st opt out, he will either turn out to be helpful or gone….quickly. No harm in that unless he takes innings away from someone who needs the experience. I guess we won’t know if that happens until we see how things sort out.