Comments on: Don’t be so quick to give up on a player

By: New York Sports Jerk

New York Sports Jerk — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:30:05 +0000

Dustin Pedroia hit at a bigtime college baseball program in the Pac-10 and absolutely tore up the minors.

Brett Gardner went to SoCon and has been a pedestrian minor league hitter. Look at the strikeouts. Gardner struck out 76 times at AAA last year with no power.

Pedroia struck out a total of 77 times in a three-year minor league career.

Oh, and this is the exact absurd logic Mike Lupica used for a column a month ago.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:15:04 +0000

Thank you, Roger and Les Deuz, for injecting reason and clarity in an otherwise stupid and asinine topic.

By: Les Deux

Les Deux — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:35:10 +0000

I feel so bad for Melky Cabrera. He just can’t do anything right. He had EXCELLENT at-bats yesterday. He was 2-3 with two walks. Swisher had the same thing and people were all on his jock while Melky could have done better.

Melky deserves better respect and some of you are truly imbeciles.

I know Pete’s infatuation with Brett is clouding his judgment. Brett Gardner is just NOT a major league baseball player. I certainly don’t expect longevity in his career.

By: Fan Interference

Fan Interference — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:34:00 +0000

These are the “Jokers” in the pen, Veras, Ramirez, & Marte. I think Coke, Albaladejo, & Robertson have upside.

By: TheMelkyWayIsTheOnlyWay

TheMelkyWayIsTheOnlyWay — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:29:52 +0000

When ever I read this blog and it has anything to do with Gardner abd Melky, Melky is always made out to seem like the worse guy. I think that if Melky won the starting center fielder spot and he ended up hitting the way Gardner is, you would quickly jump to the conclusion that Gardner should replace him. The fact is that Melky Cabrera is doing better than Gardner at this point, and he deserves to have a chance to have more AB and starts. Why would you want a player hitting .325 sitting the bench all the time. Just like Melky had to learn, Brett will need to learn to sit on the bench and wait for his time to prove himself again. It’s as simple as that. I also think that comparing Brett Gardner to Pedroia is not right. I bet there are some other players that started out like Gardner and hit like Gardner that are better examples. Also a lot of people believe that Melky will stop hitting after April like last year, but everyone has a bad season. If everyone played the same every year, baseball wouldn’t be as fun. Melky seems like he is more serious, and that is ready to become the starting center fielder. I mean look at Cano, he didn’t do that good last year, but he is on fire now. Just give Melky a chance and believe in him for once.

By: GZA

GZA — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:22:39 +0000

Are you saying that Brett Gardner might one day soon be AL MVP? HAHAHAHAHA.

Gardner and Pedroia aren’t really that comparable. So far, Gardner’s struck out 20% of the time, with zero home runs to show for it. Through his first 60 games, Pedroia whiffed 7% of the time, yet displayed at least a little power with three homers.

Gardner’s overmatched, pure and simple. The kid doesn’t belong in the majors. Even his doubles aren’t hard hit. And as “dismal” as Melky was last year, he was till better than AOBG.

By: Quidam03

Quidam03 — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:07:19 +0000

An earlier comment was correct…….Gardner was never pegged as a “prospect” in the minors.

He has speed going for him and little else.

When he first came up he got a few walks…..then when scouting reports showed that he has absolutely no pop, no power pitchers began throwing strikes at him….daring him to hit the ball….usually an infield grounder. Gardner’s walks have become nonexistent and his strike outs keep going up…..and his hits…..what hits!!!

While he can catch the ball in the outfield…..his arm does not compare to Melky’s.

It does not matter how fast he is, or how many bases he can steal….if he cannot get on base.

Gardner is the so called “forth” outfielder…..a late inning pinch runner or replacement for Damon when his legs are barking….

Melky is the center fielder…..until Jackson demonstrates that he can take over (if that comes to be).

By: a learning opportunity

a learning opportunity — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:53:30 +0000

At this point in the lesson, we might find it useful to ask the student to try to identify the potential criticisms of his own work and the flaws in his own logic, rather than spelling out the obvious for him. If he doesn’t learn to think critically on his own, how will he ever grow?

By: frankiedue

frankiedue — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:38:30 +0000

Gardner would be fine if he could just lay off the high fastballs. He’s always behind in the count because of that. I hope someone would drill that into his head.

By: Yankeegirl49

Yankeegirl49 — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:12:46 +0000

Well, personally..I dont think we have a “cast of jokers” out there now. I think their struggles are directly related to Wangs struggles and over use. The names are basically the same as last year and they did quite well last year. No reason to think they cannot do well this year.

Its funny, before Bruney showed what he could do, the question was “omg, who’s going to pitch the 8th of Joba is starting?”. We find out that Bruney can and it becomes “OMG, whos going to pitch the 7th?”.
For arguments sake, lets say Melancon dominates going forward and becomes the 7th inning guy, to Bruney’s 8th and Mo’s 9th…does the argument then become “let’s make it a 5 inning game and use Joba for the 6th”?

We have an 8th inning guy and we have a closer. Middle relief is middle relief…most middle relievers are former starters that could not get the job done on a consistent basis. Joba has not shown that..and until he does I will never advocate him going to the pen, no matter how bad the pen may be.