4/12/12

Baseball and Stuff – Jordan Norberto, Gerrit Cole, Matt Moore, Ozzie Guillen


Baseball and Stuff –  Jordan Norberto, Gerrit Cole, Matt Moore, Ozzie Guillen

Jordan Norberto, LHP, A’s -  Oakland acquired Norberto, along with Brandon Allen, in last summer’s Brad Ziegler trade. Norberto is a short left-handed reliever with marketable attributes. His velocity is impressive—particularly for a lefty—as his fastball can hit 96.  Norberto has two quality secondary offerings (a diving curveball and a changeup) as well. The big question is whether Norberto will throw enough strikes to merit a roster spot. Since coming to the Athletics, his walk rates have declined, and without a noticeable drop-off in strikeouts. Pitching well in the Pacific Coast League isn’t easy, and neither is pitching well in the majors, but Norberto could find himself at the beginning of a lengthy career as a left-hander with enough stuff to get righties out. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=16418  

Mark Healey@MHealeyBaseball - Love that most people couldn't care less about black managerial candidates getting shaft in offseason, yet are aghast at Ozzie Guillen

Kevin Goldstein@Kevin_Goldstein - Seriously folks, Miguel Cabrera is not a joke a third base. Range is limited, but hands and arm work just fine there

Kevin Goldstein@Kevin - Someone with a lot of free time needs to find every story in the last ten years or a pitcher visiting Dr. Andrews and what % had surgery


Jeremy Hellickson was hit by a batting practice line drive while in the bullpen this morning
Gerrit Cole's formal professional debut on Monday night reaffirmed his status as one of the Pirates' top prospects, while dramatizing why the club has such high hopes for its No. 1 Draft pick. In his first pro appearance outside of the Arizona Fall League, Cole, the Pirates' No. 2 prospect and MLB.com's No. 11 prospect, started for the high Class A Bradenton Marauders at Palm Beach and featured a 97-mph fastball while striking out seven and allowing one hit in four innings. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120409&content_id=28288086&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb&partnerId=rss_mlb

 Trevor Bauer mowing down Double-A batters tonight going 5IP, 0ER, 2H, 4BB, 11K tonight for Mobile

Drew Pomeranz went 4IP, 0ER, 4H, 1BB, 4K tonight for Double-A Tulsa

2010 2nd round pick J R Bradley got hit hard today at Low-A South Bend. 3.1IP, 8ER, 11H, 0BB, 4K, LOSS 

Tampa Bay Rays Matt Moore enters 2012 as the consensus best pitching prospect in baseball. He made his first '12 start against the Tigers yesterday, allowing two runs on four hits in 6.2 innings with four strikeouts but five walks. He looked great last fall, but the hype for Moore has reached Strasburgian proportions. Does he have any chance to live up to expectations? It wasn't always like this for Moore. He was an eighth-round pick in 2007, from high school in Edgewood, New Mexico. He wasn't a premium draft choice, and it took just $115,000 to sign him away from the University of New Mexico, hardly huge money. At the time he was a projectable 6-2, 195 pounder with a 90 MPH fastball, but his curveball and changeup were shaky and his command was weak.  http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/4/11/2939136/prospect-of-the-day-matt-moore-lhp-tampa-bay-rays  

The five-game suspension gives the Marlins a bit of time to find the full scope of the damage Ozzie Guillen has done. It gives the Marlins time to figure out how, exactly, to free themselves of Ozzie. The Marlins, though, hold some blame here. Guillen also has waverd between supporting and not supporting, Hugo Chavez, president of Ozzie's country of birth, Venezuela, and a Castro supporter. They should have taken this consideration before hiring Guillen.  I am sure they will take it into consideration when they decide his fate. If, before the suspension is up, the Marlins announce Guillen was fired in part because he lost the trust of players in the clubhouse I wouldn't be surprised but it won't be the full reason.


No comments: