Comments on: M’s Sign Steven Baron

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:17:46 +0000

I guess you should never try these below slow deals. Might as well just overpay for someone who has fallen due to salary demands. Thats much better than trying to save money and ending up paying slot+ anyway.

Oh well, if he makes the majors it’ll be worth it no matter what he signed for.

By: Mekias

Mekias — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:38:48 +0000

Is there any evidence that a great game caller/defensive catcher can help quicken the development of his pitchers?

Maybe Pulaski has some pitchers that need that kind of help.

By: Mike Snow

Mike Snow — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:11:41 +0000

Pulaski is closer to Florida than Peoria is. That might have something to do with it, and has about the same importance as the difference between the two leagues.

By: Gomez

Gomez — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:23:02 +0000

The M’s org can work on his swing (if they’re going to do so) in Pulaski just as well as they can in Peoria.

The jump between rookie ball in Arizona and high rookie ball in the App League isn’t exactly chasmic. App League pitchers aren’t exactly polished, complex minor leaguers themselves: That’s why they’re at the Rookie level, rather than A ball or beyond. They’re just a step up the ladder for scouts’ perceptions of their relative talent or relative readiness for pro ball compared to their fellow draftees and org players.

If Baron’s going to struggle against AZL pitching, he’s not going to struggle all that much more against App League pitching, nor would it break him or set him back any more than AZL pitching would.

By: SonOfZavaras

SonOfZavaras — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:03:41 +0000

Peoria would’ve been my guess for where Baron starts out if you’d put a gun to my head and ask me where I think he goes…but hey, if his glove is ready for Pulaski….

By: SonOfZavaras

SonOfZavaras — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:01:35 +0000

Good point, Gerald. Maybe they just want to introduce Baron to pro ball and wooden bats, and figure out where he is and where to begin with said swing-overhaul.

By: Gerald

Gerald — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:56:31 +0000

The decision to send him to Pulaski puzzles me. Wouldn’t a High School kid who needs to overhaul his swing be better off in Peoria?

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:13:52 +0000

Lots of good prospects the Mâ€™s passed up for Baron.

And 80-90% of them will never see the majors. Whether they had signed with the M’s or not. Of course, if you’re going to roll the dice you want to roll them on the best upside shot you can find, but the reality is that it IS a crapshoot and getting too wound up about any particular pick is just a recipe for craziness. And lord knows this team has plenty of other ways to cook that dish.

By: The Ancient Mariner

The Ancient Mariner — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:18:23 +0000

What is is what is. Is he the best player they could have taken at that slot? Probably not, but he’s the one they took; would we really have been better off letting him go unsigned? For such a small chunk of the organizational budget, I don’t see how.

And I have to admit, if Zduriencik and his scouts looked at this kid and said, “His instincts are good, we can fix his swing” — well, not only do I figure they know what they’re talking about, but it makes sense to me. The burn rate on catching prospects isn’t good, so even the best is a gamble, and at least to my untrained eye, it looks like this kid has the physical tools to be a good hitter; he just needs the coaching. I wouldn’t go so far as to predict that he’ll be a good major-league catcher, but it wouldn’t shock me speechless, either.

By: georgmi

georgmi — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:20:54 +0000

I don’t get why folks are upset. The Mariners spent significantly less than one percent of their ML payroll budget more on this guy than we thought they were going to. They wanted him, they got him.

Yeah, half a million bucks is a lot for me, but it’s not that big a deal for this ball club. I promise y’all, the M’s are not going to let some other kid go unsigned because this kid cost more than expected.