Of course every prospect list is going to have players that don’t pan out. The problem is, I guess for you, that I put more stock in respected reputable scouts then your opinion. And it’s not just one scouting report I like to look at- I read whatever I can get my hands on. Multiple scouts watching him a multiple games. Again, not claiming that he’ll be an ace but I’m not ready to write him off because you say he can’t pitch. I’ll give you an example why here:

In a game this season:

Player A: 4IP 7 H 4BB, 1K 7ER
Player B: 8IP, 4H, 1BB, 8K 0ER

Crap. Player B is better because of this one game.

Player A is Lincecum, Player B is Mike Leake.

For what it’s worth Keith Law had him ranked 35 in his midseason prospect update.

Yep a game. Pitchers are perfect all the time. 100%. Yep. Good.

But I should defer to you…..got it.

You don’t want to take my comments seriously, that’s fine. I will tell you that I saw Carlos Santana play in the minors an said he was not ready to catch in the majors and had no baseball instincts. That has panned out. I will also tell you that the Indians love of Chisenhall is also off base – he is an average hitter that might hit 20 HR’s but he has no position that he can play and hitting .260 with little power is not the best credential for a DH.

As far as my seeing a player for “a game”, yes, it can be done. Were the guy hurting or something that would be different.

As fa as “Baseball America” as a reference, go find some 2-10 year old copies of that rag (or any of the others that rank minor leaguers) and see if you remember eve 1/4 of the prospects they list. And then see if you can find this years All-Star players on those lists, and where they ranked.

Baseball America is like ‘Jimmy The Greek’ was on CBS before football games – his predictions were terribly off-base, but they put him on week after week an people that did no research thought he was a guru. The rest of us found him comical.

2) I’m glad you can make a judgment on a player after seeing him at one game. It’s always prudent to compare one start of a pitcher against another. I’m also glad that your impressive credentials as a scout can be shared with us here. For what it’s worth, he was ranked 14th by Baseball America at midseason. I’m not saying he’ll be an ace but you can’t write him off either.

3) I’m not saying skipping AAA works, I was just passing along information that I found interesting that I heard an actual scout/baseball person talk about

While I don’t expect him to overwhelm MLB batters he doesn’t have to right now. Just show he can be competitive, minimize walks and big hits, show he can strike out big league hitters and give his team 6-to-7 innings.

Ubaldo Jimenez will do better things in Cleveland down the road. The Rockies need Pomeranz to become a no. 2, White a solid back-end guy or strong bullpen piece and Joe Gardner to make it at least as a quality reliever.

Colorado Rockies Prospects Report
http://www.coloradorockiesprospects.com

You serious?

A pitcher know the objective is to get the batter to hit the ball into the way the defense is set-up. Most outs are recorded by fielders, not strikeouts. Pitchers set-up hitters and get the batter to hit the pitchers pitch.

You don’t know this?

If you’e a “phillyphreak” you surely have seen Cliff Lee pitch.

As far as guys skipping AAA ball, sure, it happens at times over the years. No big trend. It’s like moving good you hitters to be catchers. It happens for a while until the trend followers realize that the taxing physical demands of the position cut down on the players ability to hit. The real baseball people never fall for these gimmicks.

The step between AAA and the big leagues is monsterous. Many don’t make it. Going from AA to the majors is fine for a few guys, but it hasn’t worked with any degree of success when tried in the past.

My point – I don’t think Pomeranz is that good, and the expectations and jumping from AA to he majors is plain nuts. Heck, the Indians were holding him to 5 innings a start in the minors this year.

Look at Andrew Miller now with the Red Sox. 3-4 years ago this guy was a can’t miss pitching prospect with the Tigers. The Marlins insisted he be put in the Miguel Cabrera trade and many though Miller was the ey to the deal. The guy washed out at the major league level and not the Red Sox are trying to get something out of him as a bullpen guy, where he has a 5.27 ERA this year to go along with his 5.75 career ERA.

This whole Pomeranz thing is nuts. Talk about Jimenez losing speed of his fast ball this year – fact is that Pomeranz lost 3 MPH off of his fastball the last half of last season in college.

When I see this guy become a phenom I’ll believe it. Trust me, this is not Stephen Strasburg II here. As bad as the Indians front office is, even they would have held onto him if they thought he was another Stephen Strasburg.

The game I saw, the AA hitters had success going to the opposite field against him.

Anywhoo @tash, I was listening to Keith Law on the Baseball Today show last week talking about how teams are now starting to have their star prospects skip AAA and join the big leagues. Interesting point to consider..and to see if that continues.

Why?

One guy gives up almost a run an inning, ant the other guy hasn’t even own a game at Triple-A..

A thrower not a pitcher. He was outpitched by a Pirate farmhand.

Doesn’t change speed well. Control is not good enough for the majors.

There are a list of prospects that overpower hitters in AA and AAA, only to hit a wall in the majors.

This entire Jimenez trade is looking to be a wash. Jimenez hardly looks like an ace, White has given up almost a run an inning against 2 terrible hitting teams, and now the Rockies are desperate and want t start Pomeranz.

Good luck with that.