Oppenheimer speaks about Cito Culver
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Jun 08, 2010 
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Amateur scouting director Damon Oppenheimer is starting a beat writer conference call in about two minutes. I’ll have some updates as we go.
UPDATE, 11:35 p.m.: “I had basically over 100 years of scouting experience go in and see this kid.”
UPDATE, 11:36 p.m.: “We’ve been able to see him play for a long time. We’ve probably got a couple of hundred at-bats from him… We were ahead of the game because we knew so much about him.”
UPDATE, 11:37 p.m.: “We project him to be a shortstop.”
UPDATE, 11:38 p.m.: On the idea of waiting for him to fall into the second round: “The thought crossed my mind and I’m glad I didn’t, because after we did pick him I got a call from one of our competitors who’s very successful, saying he would not have gotten to us.”
UPDATE, 11:40 p.m.: “He really wants to be a Yankee. I think that we’re going to get him. We should get him signed and get him out playing really soon.”
UPDATE, 11:44 p.m.: Conference call is over. We’ll talk to Culver this afternoon.
The basic feeling from Oppenheimer was this: The Yankees saw Culver play a lot. Damon was talking about a couple of hundred at-bats, and that’s a ton to see from a high school kid. Despite speculation to the contrary, the Yankees don’t believe he would have fallen to them in the second round, and it’s hard to imagine anyone had a better feel for this kid than the Yankees. Oppenheimer expects him to sign quickly, and the team plans to keep him at shortstop.
Thanks, Chad!
As to Ken Rosenthal, give me a break. Cano is on the train because the Yankees are playing tonight; he’s hardly going to have time to watch Strasburg.
Betsy – Hughes rules (Pleading the Fifth) June 8th, 2010 at 11:33 am
As to Ken Rosenthal, give me a break. Cano is on the train because the Yankees are playing tonight; he?s hardly going to have time to watch Strasburg.
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Betsy-he was joking.
Betsy-
I think that may have been an attepmt at humor
(Re: cano on the train)
What about a Cano on a train?
(repost):
What does it mean to slow the game down?”
Go back and re-read or re-listen to some of the interviews that Hughes, Joba and Kennedy would give after their games.
One of the single most common things they would say about the obstacles they needed to overcome was “slowing the game down.” They said that over and over and over. It’s a particular issue for pitchers but it’s true at large.
The speed of the professional game – the speed at which plays are executed or blown – especially at the major league levels is so fast that players often talk about getting caught up in a rush when they take the field rather than just going out and playing the game.
When a guy like Oppenheimer says that a prospect “slows the game down” it’s something to take note of. It’s very high praise and a kind of thing infrequently said about prospects.
CR9-here’s the tweet:
KenDavidoff Robinson Cano is on my train. Apparently, even HE doesn’t want to miss Strasburg. #Yankees #Orioles
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okie dokie, i dont see anything wrong with that tweet. Cano probably is on his train. What’s the big deal.
Betsy, thats Davidoff, not Rosenthal.
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“On the idea of waiting for him to fall into the second round: “The thought crossed my mind and I’m glad I didn’t, because after we did pick him I got a call from one of our competitors who’s very successful, saying he would not have gotten to us.”
The Twins ?
KenDavidoff Robinson Cano is on my train. Apparently, even HE doesn’t want to miss Strasburg. #Yankees #Orioles
___
The thing to take from this is that Cano still takes the train. I say, hire a limo or a private plane to take you from NY to Baltimore.
I am getting really excited about my new favorite player, Cito Culver
(I hope everyone is scrolling up and reading Chad’s updates)
UPDATE, 11:38 p.m.: On the idea of waiting for him to fall into the second round: “The thought crossed my mind and I’m glad I didn’t, because after we did pick him I got a call from one of our competitors who’s very successful, saying he would not have gotten to us.”
__
Boston perhaps? NAHHHH they have the AMAZING Jed Lowrie.
The thing to take from this is that Cano still takes the train. I say, hire a limo or a private plane to take you from NY to Baltimore.
—
Whoa settle down there, Cano doesn’t have A-rod or Jeter money..
CB, thanks. I am still having a hard time understanding what it means. How is major league baseball any faster in how it’s played than minor leagues? The ball gets to you the same speed; it’s not like a hard hit ball in the minors is going to get to you more slowly than the same ball hit by a major leaguer. Are you saying that fielders that feel rushed don’t take the time to field their position well enough and they rush their throws? As to pitchers, that still puzzles me. When you take the mound, you’re throwing the ball the same way you do in the minors……..
Cito Culver…otherwise known as CC or C.C.
Hmmm, interesting.
CR9 June 8th, 2010 at 11:38 am
okie dokie, i dont see anything wrong with that tweet. Cano probably is on his train. What?s the big deal
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No big deal at all-other than I really wish I was on that train!!
Boston perhaps? NAHHHH they have the AMAZING Jed Lowrie.
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Rumor is that the other team very serious about Culver was Minnesota
Pretty funny that seeing a couple hundred at bats from Cito Culver is “getting ahead of the game”
Wow is drafting baseball players difficult.
“The Twins ?”
That’s a good guess. The Twin’s AAA team is the Rochester Red Wings.
Whoa settle down there, Cano doesn’t have A-rod or Jeter money..
__
7 Mil a year? Not Jeter/Arod money, but enough to go in style.
I guess i can accept Minny as a competitor.
So one hand I kinda like this kid cause he’s projected to be a SS who always wanted to be a yankee ( this sounds familiar
). On the otherhand, I hate talking about new yankee SS’s. :sigh:
Erica-
I wish he would go by “Chris” instead of “Cito” because that reminds me too much of Cito Gaston who is a big Yankee hater.
Perhaps you could use your influence ?
Is he now your new PBF, or PSSBF ?
Other than that I see no issues.
When does the MLB draft resume? And on what channel will they discuss it. I looked at MLB Network and all they are showing is HR derby replays and All Century team stuff.
Building a stock of CCs. Sabathia, Culver, possibly Crawford in the offseason?
Noon, CR. I’m not sure if it’s on T.V.. Last year they had it live online.
MTU, it probably was the twins. NYYs got him out of their own back yard. Rochester is the location of the Twins AAA team. Somebody’s been watching him.
NYY626
I know the feeling. But one day, we will be without Jeter and Mariano and Jorge. All great things must come to an end.
CR, Mlb draft continues at noon on mlb.com
well if the Twins wanted Culver, he must be good!
and more importantly, he has the Erica seal of approval
Thanks for the info.
Isnt that kind of weird that Strasburg will make his debut tonight, the (2nd) day of the MLB draft, the year after he was drafted!
MTU(aka GBURL) June 8th, 2010 at 11:45 am
Erica-
I wish he would go by ?Chris? instead of ?Cito? because that reminds me too much of Cito Gaston who is a big Yankee hater.
Perhaps you could use your influence ?
Is he now your new PBF, or PSSBF ?
************
I will do what I can.
But its way too soon to make any such major declarations. I haven’t even seen a picture yet!!!! (I just declared myself his biggest fan last night after seeing the horrific initial outrage)
Jeter wants 5 more years. Culver could be ready in 5 years. Works out. But i agree, a team without Mo and Jeter (and posada on a smaller scale) will be very weird.
Another problem has been ID’ed by CR9.
We have Sabbathia who is already CC
And if we get Crawford he will be cc
So how do we designate Cito Culver ?
cee cee, or si si ?
That is really a problem.
Or maybe we just won’t get Crawford ?
I also associate cito with that smarmy manager to the north. The guy who umped and has seen a lot of him says he goes by C. If girardi is still here, he’ll be calling him ‘Citi’.
Betsy – as a nonathlete, I take it to mean that the player doesn’t panic once the play starts, or rush things. Don’t let the adrenaline take over too much.
What’s the expression – make haste slowly….
The draft restarts at noon, EST.
Betsy – Hughes rules (Pleading the Fifth) June 8th, 2010 at 11:42 am
There is more speed of players in MLB is faster than MiLB. The best way I know to explain this is when a ground ball is hit in the infield, the fielder in the minors only has to rush for one or two players. In the majors most teams have 4 or 5 players with speed that disrupts a play where the defender needs to rush a throw or anticipate a Damon like player from taking an extra base.
The balls are hit harder and there is a much smaller window for errors. The mental side of MLB is so much faster because of all the things that opponents can do. The new kids are usually much like a youngster riding a bike. Very mechanical and cumbersome. Once they get acclaimated it is more routine, but the mechanical part makes everything look too fast. A real talent is smooth and doesn’t get hyped up too much on a situation, thereby slowing the game down.
Ted Williams had eyesight of 20-10 so he could see the spin on the ball sooner & so much better than most. His talents gave him an advantage that slowed the pitcher down. Someone who guesses or swings at zones isn’t going to be as successful. But with experience & coaching, the mechanical becomes automatic.
Joe, that makes sense…….for a position player, lol. Thanks!
Betsy– I can’t speak for CB but I know from playing college that “the speed of the game” was certainly a huge factor for my evolution as a player. There’s a level of stress attached to playing in front of larger crowds where more is on the line that can force players to press and not play to their own talent level. When you’re playin in front of 3000 people in Trenton the atmosphere seems much more relaxed than it does down 2 in the 8th inning in front of 45,000 in the Bronx, JMO.
““We’ve been able to see him play for a long time. We’ve probably got a couple of hundred at-bats from him… We were ahead of the game because we knew so much about him.””
There’s always more risk with guys from cold weather climates. They just don’t play as much baseball and the overall level of competition they face is lower than it is in the baseball hotbeds.
And part of the risk is that you just don’t get to see the player all that much because he doesn’t play as much. So part of the risk is experience, part of it is competition and part of it is sample sizes for evaluation.
But that’s a major reason why Jason Heyward lasted until pick 14 for the Braves. Heward was a very patient at the plate in high school. A lot of scouts didn’t know what to make of his hitting tools because they would show up to a game of his in their busy travel schedules and out of 3-4 at bats he might walk 2 times. They didn’t get to see him swing the bat. This is part of the reason why he was described before the draft as a “raw, toolsy, athlete.” Heyward was toolsy and raw but he is perhpas the least “raw” 18 to be drafted in over a decade. His ridiculously advanced strike zone command and plate discipline wound up making scouts draw the exact wrong inference – that he was raw.
And that happened because most scouts lacked the proper volume of information needed to make a correct evaluation. That is most scouts except for those from one organization – the Braves, the team that was literally in Heywards back yard. The braves do this a lot – they scout georgia very hard because they know it and there’s talent there and they gain a significant competitive advantage due to the asymmetry of information. They knew Heyward was a star.
When you pick 32 you have to take more risk. And there’s all sorts of risk – financial risk is not the only kind of risk. The yankees really like this kid. They aren’t just saying these things to make the pick look better.
When I found out he played on their area code team, it made much more sense. That Oppenheimer is talking about the yankees having seen “hundreds” of his at bats – that’s great. When a team like the yankees picks an off the radar guy in round 1 that’s exactly what you want to hear.
I can almost guarantee no one at any of the major draft outlets like baseball america or espn, etc. has seen this kid hit more than 4-5 at bats. The vast majority have probably never even seen him play – not live and not even on video tape.
Essentially the yankees are telling us that they had information on this kid that no one else had because no one else was on him like they were, most likely due to geography.
Chance are he won’t work out. Most #32 picks don’t. But this pick makes more and more sense the more information we as fans are getting.
A big thing now that I want to see is this kid getting signed for slot. Not because I care about the money – I honestly want him to get as much as possible. But because if he signs for slot he will be able to start his professional career now rather than waiting for late August which will ruin the entire season this year for him. And for a kid from a cold weather state that’s a significant issue.
That last post was mine. Stupid Iphone
Nick in SF
Overlooking the appalling spelling, that post you put up last night was truly, seriously funny.
Nice work pal.
The other thing IMO is that when you get to the show most of the fringe guys are gone. Pretty much everyone you’re playing against was the best player at their hs and college. That can be intimidating for a young player and can add to the increased overall “speed. Of the game. Even in the minors there are fringe guys that you can beat up on.
I posted a quote last night from a story about Culver that the Twins had been there to scout him multiple times. Terry Ryan saw (at least)two of his games personally.
“Culver and Mabb have had contact with scouts from at least 12 major league teams, including the New York Yankees, the infielder’s favorite.
Former Minnesota Twins general manager Terry Ryan, now a senior adviser to the ballclub’s current general manager, and the team’s area scout, watched Culver play in two games last week.”
Ray, so most kids are trying to do everything right, so they think too much and concentrate too much on their mechanics? Therefore, everything speeds up for them? If so, ok – I think I got it. It’s like trying to breathe through your mouth when you have a cold (because your nose is so stuffed up) – it’s not natural to think about how you breathe, so when you do, it becomes sort of awkward.
Why not ask him for the name of the team he claims would have taken Culver before Yankees next pick?
Unverifable, essentially meaningless spin if no team name given. The beat guys could verify in about 5 minutes if Oppenheimer gave the other team’s name. No reason not to give a name other than to make it hard to check.
“Pretty funny that seeing a couple hundred at bats from Cito Culver is “getting ahead of the game”
Wow is drafting baseball players difficult.”
To have seen a couple of hundred at bats in person on any high schooler is a big number, to have seen a couple of hundred at bats for a kid that plays in a cold climate and can only plays baseball during the summer is really quite out of the ordinary.
A couple of hundred at bats may be around 40-50 games of at bats. For the yankees to have seen this kid play 40 games is remarkable. That means they must have identified him and locked on to him very hard very early.
To devote those kinds of scouting resources – both in terms of time and money – to this one kid speaks volumes for how much they liked this player.
Tony Sanchez is getting talked about right now on MLB.com. In a positive manner.
There’s been a lot of baggin’ on the Gerrit Cole pick in the last couple threads. Just thought I’d point out that it was far from a wasted pick. On one hand, we took a shot at drafting a kid that had no business being at our draft slot. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. However, it netted us the pick we used to draft Heathcott last year…
Ron, that makes a lot of sense – thanks!
Well, the Yankees certainly like him; Damon’s comments seem absolutely genuine – this isn’t some half-hearted pick.
YankeesWFAN Yanks VP Damon Oppenheimer just said he values “over 100 yrs of scouting experience” his staff has over BA & other publications rankings.
Miguel -
Oppenheimer isn’t going to out the other team executive that called him because he doesn’t want to destroy the relationship with him that he’s apparently built.
2nd round is starting. Picks come fast and furious now.
CB June 8th, 2010 at 11:56 am
Very true CB. Another example of that kind of familiarity is in College football. Most universities have Summer Camps where they get 1 on 1 interaction with an athelete. Quite often they will offer a recruit a scholarship right after the clinic that wasn’t on anyones radar. That kind of interaction (area code) is a great intangible.
7 Mil a year? Not Jeter/Arod money, but enough to go in style.
—
He’s making 9 mil this year which is actually 4.5 mil when you consider taxes. Taking a private jet or limo every time you have an off day is an excessive expense. Whats wrong with taking a few hour train ride from NY to Baltimore and save thousands of dollars?
Speaking of Heathcott, he seems to be doing well at his new level. Headed in the right direction.
Is Heathcott a reliever or a position player?
Stop thinking BA is some kind of expert gospel. They aren’t.
“Miguel June 8th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Why not ask him for the name of the team he claims would have taken Culver before Yankees next pick?
Unverifable, essentially meaningless spin if no team name given. The beat guys could verify in about 5 minutes if Oppenheimer gave the other team’s name. No reason not to give a name other than to make it hard to check.”
And you obviously know nothing about being a GM. The minute Oppenheimer reveals the team, the other GM’s stop talking to him. What, he should tell you the name of the team just to please you?
We need to raid the international market. This is where the big bucks can hammer the competition and make them cry that we just can’t compete with the yankees money, blah blah blah. Well, too bad. I hope Yanks flex their financial muscle to get the best young talent from other countries.
“Is Heathcott a reliever or a position player?”
OF
Currently in Charlestown. He’s played about a half dozen games and is hitting well thus far, with only one game without a hit and three multiple hit games.
“Is Heathcott a reliever or a position player?”
possible 5 tool CF
“And you obviously know nothing about being a GM. The minute Oppenheimer reveals the team, the other GM’s stop talking to him. What, he should tell you the name of the team just to please you?’
…obviously I meant Scouting Director – but the point is the same. Some fans just…don’t…get it.
pat,
hopefully there will be some major revisionist history in the future by the various publications.
Betsy – Hughes rules (Pleading the Fifth) June 8th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Exactly Betsy! Plus most of these youngsters have stage fright as well. When Yogi asked how can you think and hit at the same time, he was as always ever so truthful and simple in humorously stating it has to be automatic.
“YankeesWFAN Yanks VP Damon Oppenheimer just said he values “over 100 yrs of scouting experience” his staff has over BA & other publications rankings.”
See and this is just so disappointing and wrong. I would much rather the team I root for, a team that is worth over 1.5B and has close to $450M in yearly revenue would prioritize what a small business with a few dozen employees has to say rather than it’s own internal evaluations.
Is Heathcott a reliever or a position player?
—
He’s a cat
“I had basically over 100 years of scouting experience”
LOL
RayVT-
That’s a very good comparison. The Braves did something analogous to that with Heyward.
Patrick June 8th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
Is Heathcott a reliever or a position player?
?
He?s a cat
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If this has been posted already I do apologize; I’ve been a bit crazed lately and not had much time for the blog. Star-Ledger story about Tex’s hitting woes, says some of it attributable to bad luck:
http://www.nj.com/yankees/inde.....ermin.html
lol Good for Damon……..
The mass hysteria around her last night was worse than the game threads.
If Baseball America asked these morons to jump off a bridge, they probably would. Ridiculous.
The Yankees have seen this kid more than any other team except maybe the Twins. I’d wager they know things an armchair scout doesn’t.
Stetson Alllie to the Pirates.
*here
YankeesWFAN Lets remember that tonight’s starting pitcher Phil Hughes was drafted out of HS 6 yrs ago, now showing his potential. #patience
BTW if Cito Culver made it to the bigs as a NY SS in five years, that’s a reason to be ecstatic. Kid’s a high schooler for God’s sake.
Brandon Workman to the Red Sox.
They are saying he is a big power arm with high ceiling. Could be reliever when all is said and done, but dropped due to signability.
The newest s-bag in baseball!
Gyorko. HAHAHAHA!! They pronounce it Jerko!
CR-
I love the hatred for Boston lol. Every player drafted just sucks lol.
Tyler
It’s more of a joke than anything. I cant judge a Workman without knowing a Workman. But anyone with the name Vitek has to be an s-bag!!
m
I don’t know about revisionist history and publications but I can always count on revisionist history here.
lol CR. Is your name a reference to Ronaldo?
New Post: What the Yankees see in Cito Culver
The Yankees don’t owe the fans anything with regards to revealing their scouting plans and techniques, and how they run the draft.
That’s just entitlement talk. The fans already have enough whining going on with the big league team.
Back to your regularly scheduled Joba to the starting rotation debate!
Tyler June 8th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
I am a Yankee fan of course & let me say this very clearly!
RSox have a great scouting and minor league system. But for some reason, all of their players are overhyped as being on the edge of stardom & their organization is reviewed as being greater than Texas or Tampa in their abilities which isn’t true by any stretch.
Sorry not buying any need to keep the other team in on Culver secret. How would it destroy a relationship to reveal the name of the other team in on Culver? Culver already has been picked so it’s not going to hurt the other team in any way. Even if another team did tell Oppenheimer they were on Culver, it could just as easily be 1) a way to make their friend feel better about making a bone head move, or 2) misinformation.
I think cito will be groomed to take over for jeter in 3 years.
I think cito will be groomed to become a starting pitcher.