Our old guys.......Who are killing it.

[davell]

Between Brad Snyder, Robinson Chirinos, Thomas Diamond, and Austin Biben-Dirkx, are we going to find a future regular or two out of this bunch? I'm starting to think it's a distinct possibility with how they keep doing personally.

 

Snyder will be 29 when next season starts and is conceivably blocked as it is. Maybe if Fukudome is dealt though, he could become a 4th OFer type? At least until Brett shows up and moves Colvin to that role......

 

The blurb on Chirinos about people seeing him as an everyday catcher in the majors was very interesting to me. I know he's spent tons of time in High A and AA already, so it certainly tempers excitement over him, but it does seem like he's started hitting after getting switched TO catcher. Which is odd, in itself. But, catchers do tend to take longer to develop(Soto included). I think there's a relatively solid chance that he is our backup catcher next season. I like him more than Castillo(sorry toonster) and it makes sense to pay someone the minimum than to pay Koyie Hill around a million or so, especially for a guy with zero upside, like Hill has.

 

When we signed Thomas Diamond, I think we were all intrigued, to some degree. I half-expected a version of Andy Pratt, once he started pitching. But, while his velo isn't what it used to be, it definitely appears as if he's learned how to pitch, instead of just throw. His numbers have been great so far and I definitely think he'll be in the mix for a spot in the rotation next season. In fact, I'll go as far as to say that assuming Lilly is dealt, the only guys who definitely have a spot next season are Dempster and Silva guaranteed. While I think at least one of Gorz or Wells will be in the rotation, I could see where Gorz gets dealt and Wells is beaten out, leaving us 3 spots up for grabs(one of which would assumably be gotten thru trade or FA) and the other 2 to be fought for between Wells, Cashner, Samardzija :twisted: , Diamond, Jay Jackson, Bibens-Dirkx, Coleman, and possibly Carpenter......

 

Bibens-Dirkx is probably the guy that's most surprising for me right now actually. He tore up Peoria last year, but I didn't even expect him to skip High A, much less do excellent in AA and be moved to AAA already this year. Hell, he's only 8 months older than Carpenter is. I still have no clue as to what his repertoire is, but at some point, I think we have to start considering him as being a legit prospect.....With the pair of him and Diamond, I can't see but one OR the other making it longterm, but I feel fairly decent about the odds of one of them coming thru anyway.......

 

Anyway, if I'm ranking these guys in order as to who I think will have the biggest impact longterm on the major league club, I'm going with Diamond, Bibens-Dirkx, Chirinos, and Snyder(who's the only one I don't think will ever be called up personally and will probably hook on somewhere else next year, assuming he's not added to the 40 man.......

 

The other 3 though, I fully expect BA to have them all in our top 30 next year, even at their ages......Diamond could even sniff our top 10-15 range possibly, if you ask me......

 

Anyway, just curious as to what people's thoughts are on these guys and if anyone else is starting to think they may actually have a future with us.

[Little Slide Rooter]

In the right situation, I would very much like to see what Snyder, Diamond, and Chirinos could do, and to a lesser extent, Castillo and LaHair. Problem is, all of these guys are very well blocked. Chirinos has the best chance next year. Theres no reason to keep Koyie Hill around when we could use Chirinos or Castillo as backup catcher. I dont know why we keep messing around with Chris Robinson instead of promoting Chirinos to Iowa.

 

Snyder and LaHair are basically the same guy. Former top prospects and left handed outfielders in their late 20s who beat up on AAA pitching. Theres really nowhere to put them though. Theres no reason to take Colvin out of RF, and Soriano isnt going anywhere. Nadys will likely be traded, and If we could find a taker for Fukudome as well, Id think that Snyder would deserve the shot, although stupid Lou would probably bring in scrappy Sam Fuld.

 

If we could trade Lilly and/or Silva, theres really no reason not to bring up Diamond, another former top prospect. Cashner has the higher ceiling by far, but hes been in the pen too long, and if he goes back to starting, it will be next year, I hope.

 

Darwin Barney, though not an old guy is another one Id like to see. Mike Fontenot is by no means a backup short stop. Darwin Barney is. Between Font, Theriot, and Baker, we dont need all 3.

 

My list of September callups would be:

 

Snyder

Chirinos and/or Castillo

Barney

Fuld

Hoffpauir

Diamond

maybe LaHair

maybe Dubois

maybe Samardzjia

whoever from the carousel of AAA relievers that arent already up at the time.

 

I guess it all depends on how many open 40 man spots we have by then.