"If you tell me Chris Marrero is not one of the top 100 prospects in baseball we could have a very spirited discussion on that," Rizzo told Chico Harlan.
I thought Rizzo had a decent argument, so I pinged Baseball America editor John Manuel about Rizzo's comment, and John was kind enough to reply. Here's what he said:
He came close; I also have gotten a report that Marrero came into camp in great, great shape. That said, a lot of first basemen in the minors had big years last year (Lars Anderson, Logan Morrison, Kyle Blanks), and a record number of 1Bs were drafted in the first round of the draft (six or seven, depending on where you consider them position-wise). There were lots of other 1Bs who stood out; he didn't last year. He got hurt and keeps moving down the defensive spectrum. We have liked him in the past; won't be a shock if he proves us right from 2008 (when he was in) and wrong in '09 (when he's not).
2 comments:
Why does the number of other 1B affect Marrero being in the top 100? Do they have a quota by position?
I think the difficulty of determining relative value of a guy on the cusp of being a major league contributer vs a 1st year pro out of HS who might be a star makes all these rankings such a crap shoot that they should have to put a disclaimer on the front saying that these rankings are complete BS and meant for entertainment purposes only.
No, they don't have a quota. But when you have a group of 1Bs who turn in above average seasons (like Anderson, Morrison, Blanks, & Angel Villona) combined with the introduction of some 2008 top pick 1Bs (Smoak, Hosmer, & Alonso, a season like Marrero gets him downgraded when compared to those guys.
Post a Comment