Comments on: Every team in baseball passed over Nelson Cruz, including the Rangers

By: cosanostra71

cosanostra71 — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 03:15:26 +0000

I know that Betancourt was a solid enough defender early in his career with the Mariners. Never was much of a hitter though, still isn’t. Is he any good defensively still or no?

By: Alex K

Alex K — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:18:10 +0000

He wasn’t a great prospect and he didn’t immediately light the majors on fire, so people branded him a AAAA player. Maybe his tools don’t match his numbers? There is any number of ways that a guy can be missed.

Albert Pujols is probably going to end up one of the 5-10 best players in MLB history and he wasn’t drafted until the 13 round! There were and are questions about his age, but still a lot of people missed that boat. So I guess the best way to say it is – it happens.

By: foreverchipper10

foreverchipper10 — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:11:01 +0000

Why are there no sports headlines about this series being on Cruz control?

By: byjiminy

byjiminy — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:32:23 +0000

But Melky Cabrera was a Yankee! He even started! So having him is like having a real live Yankee on your team! Of course you start him!

(Betancourt, on the other hand, is a mystery.)

By: Kyle

Kyle — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:09:08 +0000

Or, in other words, OPSing .913

By: humanexcrement

humanexcrement — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:30:03 +0000

How is it with all the experienced scouts in the game, and the different approaches to analyzing young talent in the wake of “Moneyball” that a guy this good can be outright disregarded by every team in the game? I’m not being rhetorical here, I would really love to see someone answer that question. I guess some players just mature later than others. And yet Melky Cabrera and Yuni Betancourt never went a minute without a guaranteed roster spot. Weird.

By: cur68

cur68 — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:06:26 +0000

Sooooo…the Jose Bautista story isn’t exactly new, eh?

By: SmackSaw

SmackSaw — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:49:55 +0000

He’s batting a strong .207. Real strong.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:19:12 +0000

That’s what the idiot gets for painting a big red X in lamb’s blood on his door. Next time you’re throwing a birthday party, just tie some balloons to your mailbox.

By: Alex K

Alex K — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:07:44 +0000

You got me by three minutes with a version of bias post. My claim wasn’t just a Texas bias, it was a whole middle of the country bias.

By: El Bravo

El Bravo — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:03:09 +0000

It’s Admiral Hindsight to you, buddy. The point being that it’s a good story how he finally made it to the MLB, pretty much right after his “prime” years. It’s a good story b/c he’s kicking ass right now. It’s topical. Surely, you see this.

By: El Bravo

El Bravo — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:00:27 +0000

Three Rangers posts in a row! Damn, Texas bias! BAHHHH! Go ahead, tell us something about Jim Crane now, why don’t you?

By: stoutfiles

stoutfiles — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:00:05 +0000

What’s your point? Any team could have traded for troubled outfielder Josh Hamiliton after his Tampa stint. Any team could have drafted Albert Pujols before the 13th round.

Other than the rare 1st round success stories, you could plug every player into a story like this. Evaluating a baseball player is the ultimate crapshoot. Don’t be Captain Hindsight.