OleMissCub

oh my len, i have to get drunk after this. Screw these guys. This is so bad

SEC? or both conferences? Plus in my initial calculation I left out some of those guys who were on there like Olerud and Vina. Regardless of the number, it's still alot. It surprised me actually.

Do it by college. There is a tab you can pull down that says college. You can pick the college. Look at the number of players from LSU, Cal, Florida, Stanford, USC, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Washington, Washington St, etc. I came up with 111 SEC and 95 Pac-10. Look at the first 5 schools you come across: Alabama - 9 Arizona - 11 Arizona St - 16 Arkansas - 5 Auburn - 11

What? I'm not looking it up but that can't be true. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players You can search by college there. I searched a few minutes ago and added them up, subtracting some of the ones they have on there from last year, like Fernando Vina, etc, and I came up with 111 SEC and 95 Pac-10. Clearly some guys are listed on there who have probably been sent down to AAA. But still, just do a search. It's ALOT.

You know what they talk about? You must know lots of scouts? I guess you know something the scouts I've talked to don't know. Look, I'm tired of talking about this. This is pointless. I was just relating to everyone what I've heard several times from the mouths of scouts regarding how they value SEC and Pac-10 play above other conferences in college. And if you look and see that around 200 of the 750 guys currently in the majors are from those two conferences, it isn't difficult to understand why those conferences are valued by scouts.

Going from your list below, that means we can expect... Stephen Head to put up an OPS in AA approaching 1.000(last year: .696 in A+) Something similar to that from Brian Pettway(last year: .767 in A-) A near .800 OPS from Barry Gunther(last year: .658 in A- at age 24) ~1.5 WHIP, ~6.75 K/9, and ~3.0 BB/9 from Anthony Cupps(last year: 1.83 WHIP, 4.97 K/9, 5.28 BB/9 in A+) Jesus Christ. I don't have the time for this crap. All I'm telling y'all is what I've traditionally heard being in SEC baseball from pro scouts.

As of right now, there are 111 players from the SEC and 95 players from the Pac-10 in the major league. That's about a quarter of the entire bigs. I'll tell you what isn't hard. Stepping outside the box and trying to understand what the scouts mean when they say that the higher echelon college baseball programs are comparable to double AA. That doesn't mean everyone in the SEC or Pac-10 could play in AA, much less at any level of the minor leagues. What they meant is that if you succeed at that level in college, then you are likely already playing at a AA level. Key word: succeed. We're talking about guys who hit above .300 and pitchers with really good ERA's.

I didn't say it means you can start out at AA. It meant that scouts equate what you are able to do in the SEC to how you would likely fare in AA. You didn't play in the college game so you don't know what the scouts talk about and what they look at. The level of talent depends on what team you are looking at. Ok...my last year playing 3rd year, Matt Tolbert, SS, AAA Twins 3rd year, Seth Smith OF, AAA Rockies 2nd year, Stephen Head, 1B, AA Indians 2nd year, Brian Pettway, OF, High A Blue Jays, hitting .314 1st year, Mark Holliman, P, High A Cubs, 21 scoreless innings 1st year, Matt Maloney, P, High A Phillies, 180k's in 168ip last year 2nd year, Barry Gunther, C, High A Giants, hitting .310 1st year, Eric Fowler, P, High A Blue Jays 2nd year Anthony Cupps, P, High A D'backs 1st year, Chris Coghlan(1st rd pick), 3b, A Marlins 1st year, Tommy Baumgardner, P, A Rockies 1st year, Mark Wright, OF, A Mets That's 12 guys. I'm sure most will make it at least to AA.

Ummm....that wasn't my point at all. Not sure where you got that I was trying to suggest that it would make college baseball more popular and minor league obsolete. My point was that it would make some of the stronger conferences more akin to the minor leagues from a scouting perspective. Most MLB scouts already equate the SEC and Pac-10 baseball to AA. I said nothing of fan interest. That's not true at all, rare collegiate talents like Price and Prior, maybe could be at AA level when starting out. Ya, I guess the scouts that came to nearly all our games were just talking out of their ass. And I didn't say that them being comparable means that you could start out at AA, it just means that they equate your ability in the SEC to how you would likely fare in AA. Most do. At least in the SEC. The college game isn't a joke and I think it's ridiculous that you think it is "comical". Look at what one of my teammates is doing right now for the Smokies in high A for the Cubs. Mark Holliman: 21 scoreless innings, 16k's, only 3bb. You don't think he could succeed in AA? One of the other starters I played with in college: Matt Maloney, 2006 in high A for the Phillies: 16-9, 2.03, 168ip, 180k's. My cousin that I graduated with is playing SS in AAA for the Twins right now and is hitting .333

You're going to have to explain that one to me. There are some situations where they are late and able to get the lighter bat into the zone at the last second and foul it off as well as the improved bat control can also foul off a pitch. So a switch to wood means the hitter changes the weight of the bat he swings? That seems counter-intuitive to me. It all depends at what level, many wood bats are -3 (31 ounces and 34 inch length for example), many HS and colleges require a similar rating. Youth bats are crazy as far as ounces/length. The same reason why a hitter would overload train with a heavier bat is the same reason why they add weight when they're in the OD circle. The main thing that separates a wood bat and an aluminum one is the length of the sweet spot, it's about 2X as big on the aluminum. If I was a HS coach, I'd want my hitters practicing with wood. When I played with aluminum in college I used 34/31. In my wooden bat summer leagues I also used a 34/31. It felt a little heavier but not much. And you're right about the sweet spot. Definitely bigger with aluminum.

Ummm....that wasn't my point at all. Not sure where you got that I was trying to suggest that it would make college baseball more popular and minor league obsolete. My point was that it would make some of the stronger conferences more akin to the minor leagues from a scouting perspective. Most MLB scouts already equate the SEC and Pac-10 baseball to AA. I said nothing of fan interest.

There's just as much reason not to trust him at 2b as there is at SS given that he played basically the same amount of games at both positions. He was also a three year starter at LSU at SS, which isn't child's play. SEC SS's need to know what they are doing. I realize SS is a more difficult position, but hell, look at this fielding percentage at SS compared to Cedeno's. .943(189 games: Theriot)>.905(293 games: Cedeno)

OK, Eckstein (sort of) and Young. Two out of 30. Any others? What's your point? Theriot isn't like Young or Eckstein. He isn't a second basemen by trade like they were, he's a SS who was put at 2b for whatever reason.

You'd rather have Floyd than Jones in RF? A Soriano, Pie, and Jones OF would be fine with me for now. Eventually I'd envision Soriano, Pie, and Murton in the OF. No, but Lou played Floyd there. My statement was meant to imply that if Lou would try Floyd in RF, he should surely try Theriot at SS. Gotcha.

Indeed. That's basically why baseball is the only major sport that has that "intermediate" level i.e. the minor leagues.

Pros use wood because they always have, so I guess it's tradition. High Schools, Colleges, and all else use aluminum primarily because it's much cheaper to use than wood, which break often. I think aluminum bats came out around the late 70's.

647 of his 1158 games played in professional baseball have been at SS. He fielded .963 in those games. Which is better than Ronny or Theriot ever did at SS.

Eckstein didn't play SS much at all until he got to the bigs.

No, I don't think so. Because Terry seems to be disparaging the talents of that SS who is going to be converted: That's not always true.

That's not always true. Not at all. Sometimes guys are moved to second out of necessity. You really want to play the guy at SS but there is a good SS already ahead of him, so they move him to 2B. I've seen that happen on numerous occasions.

1st, I'm not sure there is that much of a difference in arm speed required for an SEC shortstop and an MLB shortstop. Arm strength is arm strength. 2nd, Theriot played 189 games at SS in the minors and 206 at 2B. So he was obviously good enough to play SS for at least half his minor league career. 3rd, Theriot's SS fielding percentage in those 189 games was .943. Cedeno played 293 games as SS in the minors and fielded .905

You'd rather have Floyd than Jones in RF? A Soriano, Pie, and Jones OF would be fine with me for now. Eventually I'd envision Soriano, Pie, and Murton in the OF.

I disagree. Theriot certainly had a good enough arm at LSU. Don't forget that he played SS through much of his time in the Cubs system.

Theriot has a better arm. He was a hell of a SS at LSU, and wasn't too bad in the system. Worth a shot. Yes he was. I'm a big fan of trying him out at SS. Every time Izzy comes up I can almost count on him being an out. And all this talk about Theriot being small...5'11 isn't that small. I think he just looks small on TV or something.

I played with aluminum of course in high school and college but also played with wooden bats in summer leagues during college. I definitely preferred the wooden bats. Playing 1st the balls were hit, or seemed to be hit, a good bit softer with wooden bats. I used to be terrified playing in or charging in for a bunt against aluminum bats. I had a buddy who played 3rd base at Southern Miss and he charged in for a bunt and the batter slapped at it and the ball hit him right in the face and broke his nose, knocked his top teeth out, and gave him a concussion. Hitting with wood was always preferable because I wasn't able to hit the ball as far as I did with aluminum. I was never a big slugger, so alot of the balls that would have been outfield fly's dropped in for hits.