Who would you take...?

[BatsareBugs]

Re: Who would you take...?

No, no Matt Cain.
Dude is a career .500 pitcher andhis ERA is misleading considering the ballpark he pitches in. Way too many other pitchers that are better than him.

Cain was drafted by the Giants, like hell he has a say in the ballpark he pitches in (and where players play for half their games is becoming a increasingly ridiculous argument point, in that case, there isn't any position player a person should pick other than Matt Kemp). And I'm not even going to go into a team-dependent like wins and losses, unless you think Felix Hernandez was a terrible pick for Cy Young a couple of years ago.

Matt Cain is the type of pitcher that would succeed in any ballpark given 12-19 starts a year there. He has a mid-3 ERA in GABP FIY. For reference, Kershaw has a slightly higher ERA at GABP. Then again, both pitchers have a small sample size but if you're going to disqualify one pitcher for that, then you shouldn't consider pitchers who pitch in similar pitchers parks then.

[lonewolf371]

Re: Who would you take...?

So you are just basing it on this year? Kershaw doesn't have an innings count this year. When he was winning the Cy Young last year, where was Strasburg? Thats right, the DL for 75% of the season.

Playing a full season is the only thing Kershaw has on Strasburg. If Strasburg finishes this season he'll have that too.

Go back to Strasburg's rookie season; his rate stats then were better than Kershaw's Cy Young season, same as this year. The guy's been nothing but brilliant since he stepped on a mound in the majors.

[letsgopens66]

Re: Who would you take...?

Playing a full season is the only thing Kershaw has on Strasburg. If Strasburg finishes this season he'll have that too.

Go back to Strasburg's rookie season; his rate stats then were better than Kershaw's Cy Young season, same as this year. The guy's been nothing but brilliant since he stepped on a mound in the majors.

Strasburg's durability is certainly an issue. He can be the best pitcher but it all is moot if he's an injury risk.

[lonewolf371]

Re: Who would you take...?

Strasburg's durability is certainly an issue. He can be the best pitcher but it all is moot if he's an injury risk.

That's true, but many players get a Tommy John surgery and go on to have great careers.

[TheNumber35]

Re: Who would you take...?

That's true, but many players get a Tommy John surgery and go on to have great careers.

That is very true...I could list off tons of successful big league pitchers who've had the surgery.

The problem with Strasburg is that his delivery is so mechanically unsound, its inviting another Tommy John in 4-7 years. Not saying it will happen, but to start my team, I'd rather take a guy who I have confidence in his ability to stay on the mound every 5th day (or even on short rest if I need him.) Strasburg just scares me to death with that "inverted W" elbow and just his awful mechanics in general. They place more strain on his body than throwing 100 mph usually does, which isn't good for his durability.

Ya know, there was an excellent article on this from ESPN a couple of months ago...comparing Strasburg's mechanics to Greg Maddux's and there was another one that talked about TJ surgery.

Just found them:

Tommy John Surgery Piece

Strasburg vs Maddux

[Amoo316]

Re: Who would you take...?

Just found them:

Tommy John Surgery Piece

Strasburg vs Maddux

I actually really enjoyed reading these two pieces. I was honestly a bit let down by the approach they used in the Stras v Maddog article. The whole article they talked about Maddux being in better position to generate power... A lot of us got to see Maddux in his prime, and one thing we all would agree on is 90MPH was not a regular occurrence. I understood what they were trying to say in the article, just a bit of an unusual approach.

On Topic:
I've actually been thinking about a response to this thread for a few days. The first name that came to mind was Stanton. I did some time looking at numbers and watching a few games, and it really would be hard not to pick Harper. He can play a good center field and I personally love to build solid defense up the middle.

What surprises me are so many people talking about taking Hamilton. The guy is a really great player, and his teammates all really like him, but he's not even the leader on his own team. Not saying he couldn't be, he just isn't. Couple that with the fact that he's spent a lot of time on the DL and I would be hard pressed to take him.

If I was looking to take a proven power hitter (read a little older then 25), I would probably look towards Votto or "Little" C. Fielder has turned around his slow start in Detroit and Votto is just consistent. Really couldn't go wrong if that was the direction you wanted to go.

[lonewolf371]

Re: Who would you take...?

I actually really enjoyed reading these two pieces. I was honestly a bit let down by the approach they used in the Stras v Maddog article. The whole article they talked about Maddux being in better position to generate power... A lot of us got to see Maddux in his prime, and one thing we all would agree on is 90MPH was not a regular occurrence. I understood what they were trying to say in the article, just a bit of an unusual approach.

On Topic:
I've actually been thinking about a response to this thread for a few days. The first name that came to mind was Stanton. I did some time looking at numbers and watching a few games, and it really would be hard not to pick Harper. He can play a good center field and I personally love to build solid defense up the middle.

What surprises me are so many people talking about taking Hamilton. The guy is a really great player, and his teammates all really like him, but he's not even the leader on his own team. Not saying he couldn't be, he just isn't. Couple that with the fact that he's spent a lot of time on the DL and I would be hard pressed to take him.

If I was looking to take a proven power hitter (read a little older then 25), I would probably look towards Votto or "Little" C. Fielder has turned around his slow start in Detroit and Votto is just consistent. Really couldn't go wrong if that was the direction you wanted to go.

Stanton has good power, but what I don't like about him is his terrible plate approach. His contact rate is 69.6%, which for perspective is fifth-worse in the major leagues among qualifiers. He is quite hacktastic.

As for Maddux, I think the mechanics stuff isn't so much about throwing harder as setting up your body so no energy is wasted in making the throw. This allows you to avoid weird contortions that lead to injury.

[Chrisksaint]

Re: Who would you take...?

There's the concern obviously, but it seems a lot of guys have had Tommy John and went on to be great still.

Josh Johnson had it in '07, came back to have a solid half of '08 then AS years in '09/'10 before going down in '11 with shoulder inflammation problems or whatever. I'm sure there are other guys recently too, just don't feel like looking that up lol

[lonewolf371]

Re: Who would you take...?

There's the concern obviously, but it seems a lot of guys have had Tommy John and went on to be great still.

Josh Johnson had it in '07, came back to have a solid half of '08 then AS years in '09/'10 before going down in '11 with shoulder inflammation problems or whatever. I'm sure there are other guys recently too, just don't feel like looking that up lol

Yeah but I guess it depends on how bad Strasburg's mechanics are. That was pretty good post earlier on that with some good articles, although I'd bet a number of major leaguers have healthy careers with bad mechanics. Of course, that doesn't mean Strasburg's career can't be derailed by them.

[24]

Re: Who would you take...?

Clayton Kershaw. A young Dominant Lefty with amazing stuff does not come around often

[brett the jet favre]

Re: Who would you take...?

Stanton, and the King, but if i could choose a player that's not in the majors yet, it'd be Taijuan Walker.

[Travis40]

Re: Who would you take...?

but if i could choose a player that's not in the majors yet, it'd be Taijuan Walker.

Really? You'd choose Taijuan Walker over Jurickson Profar or Dylan Bundy?

[ImTellinTim]

Re: Who would you take...?

Really? You'd choose Taijuan Walker over Jurickson Profar or Dylan Bundy?

If you're looking for the reason, it's because those guys aren't in the Mariners system and Walker is.

As for the topic at hand - I'd take Kershaw. My team's dominating, young lefty broke his arm and head, so I want one of those on the team again.

[bkrich83]

Re: Who would you take...?

Really? You'd choose Taijuan Walker over Jurickson Profar or Dylan Bundy?

He also guaranteed a Mariner World Championship in the next 2 years.

[BatsareBugs]

Re: Who would you take...?

If I had to take one minor league pitcher, I'd re-sign my position as armchair GM for picking an unproven prospect over an established major league veteran.