Inside Pitch

Im talking about a Sept call up -- not anything before that. That's not gonna start their clock any sooner than waiting until May of next year.

I think part of why they are keeping his workload so low is because they may bring him up and let him get a feel for what it's like to pitch to MLB hitters.

Profar was seen as massively projectable, he got tagged with the number one overall ranking after finishing his age 19 season in AA where he showed really advanced plate discipline and really above average power despite being all of maybe 170 pounds at the time -- he wasn't striking out much either... Gleyber through age 19 was a full level behind him, his ouput really wasn't at the same level, and there was a lot more swing and miss to him but like Profar the physical tools were all there -- he was top 50-100 guy in my book so his being ranked 41 is pretty much noise. Personally, I never believed Profar was number one overall prospect worthy (top 50 sure), he had not really dominated like a Trout or Vlad Jr, but his tools were such that they allowed him to overcome what to me seemed like pretty obvious issues with his swing. Unfortunately injuries and what I believe was the Rangers mismanagement of him derailed his career to an extent. Profar was supposed to be the next big thing after Mike Trout, and the Rangers disregarded the holes in his swing and brought him anyway, maybe assuming the physical skills were good enough to get him over on MLB pitching - - they didn't. He started pressing, his K rate went up, his walk rate took a hit, and then he blew out his shoulder and lost what amounted to almost two years of prime development time at ages 21-22... He still has a shot to be solid to above league average player IMO, but I don't think anyone still views him as a potential super-star type player. That being said, I think some are possibly underrating him. He's been forced to improve his game at the MLB, and while it's nothing gaudy he has IMO gotten better. His K rate is under control and while his walk rate isn't where it was at age 19 -- he's not Trumbo level awful.

It's okay though -- cause he's actually Japanese. Dude has all kinds of stuff he can get away with. Also -- well played sir.

An example that tends to support your pov is Blake Rutherford. Dude had a nice start to his career as an older HS draftee and was instantly a top 50 guy. Gleyber likewise saw a significant rise in the rankings going from the Cubs to the Yanks... He was always a high end dude but the move to the Yankees raised his profile quite a bit.

Yankee prospects were for many years overrated so much so they've become underrated..... They underwent a significant change, first in the early 90s then again after Steinbrenner passed away. The greatest strength of their system is the sheer number of players who rate out as maybes... They were also smart enough to invest in Latin America before the rules changed.

"Wanna bet?" -- Pete Rose

Since April 28th he's gone .232/.302/.400 - 8 HRs, 30 RBI. Since June he's put up a .643 OPS with an OBP of .273. Dude got off to an incredible start but he's been a .700 OPS guy for two months now.... and he's historically been slightly better in the first half of the season. He also hasn't played since July 2nd because of back spasms -- a recurring issue of his. So, yeah -- he's currently injured. It's gonna be interesting to see if opts out to test free agency.

Jones is more of a mocha Powers Boothe but otherwise agree with your comps.

Actually, Girarid is supposedly kind of a prick. By most accounts MS is a different dude in the clubhouse than he comes across in interviews. TORS probably has some insights here.

FWIW, I don't know if what Dprep80 means when talks about criticism is more along the lines of scrutiny from the media -- which is also what Jeff brings up when he says it's up to them to ask him why he does what he does. I know lots of the local papers in SoCal now sort of work as a larger entity so, maybe there aren't as many people asking questions as in the past, so you see fewer articles than was the case years ago.

Anyone that can take a joke or make fun of a situation is okay by me.

I like this guy...

Let the man talk...

I think it's likely Eppler makes that decision soon, hopefully it's fully his decision to make.. Not sure he's really concerned with having his label on the team, dude is Stoneman level low key. But he couldn't be blamed for wanting his own dude in there.

Seattle used to protect it's stars, not so much it's managers. But I dated a girl who was part of the Seattle media during Griffey's heyday.. it was public knowledge (to them), that he had some extra-marital affairs and at least one love child that ultimately required a pretty large sum of money to keep the woman quiet. The media never covered it, in fact the M's asked them not to make mention of it or risk having access restricted. How much that happens we likely will never know.

Remember when the argument was that MS didn't stick to any one lineup long enough for players to get into a flow? Back when he had multiple options he tried to play them all and there was criticism. He's had fewer options of late -- he's played the same lineups more often. People criticize that too.. Don't get me wrong -- there are moves that piss me off too, remember my stabbing post?, but with MS it really is a case of familiarity breeding contempt. He's been around a long time and it really doesn't matter what he does anymore -- we have all seen him do it before.

So in short. This is a MS sucks thread. When everything is an excuse, and no possible outcome other than he is bad and or makes the wrong decision there is no discussion to be had. I anxiously await our next manager and tip my cap to the innovative approach that was taken in the opening post. Not being snarky, I actually thought it was a good question.

Absolutely -- every manager does.

Except that there was some story about how MS was an antiquated despot per week during the Dipoto era. Funny how that came to a grinding halt the minute he bolted. I think a big reason why you don't see the typical sorts of grumbling is that while there have been some notable exceptions -- Appier, Guillen.... MS has always held a pretty good rapport with his players. The thing about living outside the Angels market is you have no option other than ordering MLBTv... I try to give a listen to at least one of the out of town broadcasts per series -- you'd be surprised how much praise he gets from opposing team telecasts and managers.

May just be that what some people here see as excuses, people with greater access view as legitimate reasons. Living outside of the Angels market, I hear more opinions on how it's amazing the team has not buckled over completely in light of their injuries than I do criticism of management or the front office.

You can hope for the impossible with young guys too -- Mostly, I think the comment about prefer they sputter may have to do with Tots possibly wanting to keep guys rather than see them traded off for some longshot run to make a one game play in.

Taylor Donaldson..

Im leaning this way too -- regaining a pick may be the best option -- this team has done really well with it's second pick under Eppler, making it so it gets to keep it's draft pool intact may be a really smart way to go.