Comments on: Cogs in a Machine

By: Steve C

Steve C — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 14:32:19 +0000

Re: oops my bad

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By: Coronado Mike

Coronado Mike — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 13:12:01 +0000

Re: 52...No, no Steve. I said that KG was a "Flashy" Chris Gomez.

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By: Tom Waits

Tom Waits — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 00:52:58 +0000

61: Just saying, there are scouting reports that question his defense there now, and almost all of them say that he’ll have to move if he loses any speed. He’s definitely not a guy with classic CF tools, which is even more true of Venable, so (more in response to Anthony) I don’t see that the Padres had some Platonic notion of a CF that Antonelli couldn’t match. It seems like they really did want him at 2b, which is fine, but not entirely consistent with SA’s stated feelings about how easy it is to find production there compared to elsewhere.

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By: Ben B.

Ben B. — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 00:43:58 +0000

60: No, no, no, definitely not in his first year. That would be downballot MVP stuff in Petco. I meant that could be his peak performance in the eyes of the front office, which would make him very valuable at second base.

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By: Peter Friberg

Peter Friberg — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 23:02:02 +0000

60: If Antonelli started from Day 1 at 2B and played the whole year, I’d expect a .255/.345/.345 type season (and I think he can/will become an All Star @ 2B)…

56: Hunter isn’t misfit @ CF… The question, is whether he grows out of the position (loses speed/range) and if he doesn’t have enough power to play a corner… He plays fine @ CF now…

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By: Steve C

Steve C — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:05:15 +0000

Re: 59 .300/.400/.450 with 20 steals, wow an 850 OPS with 20 steals his first year in the majors and third as a pro? You ask alot out of the kid.

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By: Ben B.

Ben B. — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:58:06 +0000

Re: interchangeability of second basemen I think when talking about the interchangeability of second basemen, SA is talking about the easy availability of guys that are below average but above replacement level. Luis Castillo, Marcus Giles, Tadahito Iguchi, etc. But second basemen that are above average are not just floating around. Guys like Robinson Cano, Chase Utley, Brandon Phillips, and Dustin Pedroia are really valuable because they provide plus offense at a position where others are settling for Iguchi as a cheap free agent. If the front office thinks Antonelli can play a solid defensive second base, hit .300/.400/.450 with 20 steals, that's a huge advantage over the Marcus Giles stopgaps.

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By: Tom Waits

Tom Waits — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:56:37 +0000

57: He had the athletic profile to try it, it was mentioned in many scouting reports before the draft. Same sort of thing with Khalil Greene, the Cardinals wanted to draft him as a catcher after his junior year of college. They did talk to him about it and he had no interest.

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By: Steve C

Steve C — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:40:00 +0000

I rember an interview with Antonelli last off season when I think Coach John asked him if the Pads had talked to him about playing CF, he said that hey had not approached him yet and that he has never played OF at any level. But look at Craig Biggio he came up as a catcher and ended up playing CF.

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By: Tom Waits

Tom Waits — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:17:25 +0000

53: SA was pretty clear about, his quote was something like “In Oakland we had 8 different second basemen in 10 years.”

54: “If the team felt he could handle CF I’m sure they would have tried it.” I see no basis for this. When he was drafted they had to choose where he’d play.

I’m not arguing that they should have moved him to CF, necessarily, just asking if the Padres considered it given their approach to CF. They’re now trying other misfits in CF - Venable and Hunter - so they definitely don’t have some ideal in mind that must be met before they try a player there.

I don’t know enough about Wake Forest’s coach, their home park, and who else they had on the team to inform any remarks about why Antonelli didn’t play somewhere else in college. He was an elite defender at 3rd, a possible future Gold Glover if he’d stayed there.

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