UK1679666180

Warp, it's going to be a heck of a game next week.

UK is 8-1 in their last 9, 2-0 vs. Top 25 teams, 1-0 vs. Top 10. I can't think of 25 teams that deserve to be there ahead of UK.

One more thing, please consider UK when doing the top 25. I noticed Clemson is 20th. :) Coach Brooks has proven me wrong these last two seasons.

C.............A...............T...............S Cats Cats Cats It kinda feels good to ruin Championship wishes. That was a lucky win.

Is he the Rich Hill clone? Better control and command than Hill, his FB isn't as deceptive as Hill's. Has a better change-up than Hill as well, plus, he's from the area.

(a) and (b). He has a hole in his swing and big leaguers are bound throw offspeed pitch after offspeed pitch now that it's been exposed. I can't help but think the HGH controversy has gotten to his head too. He has struggled under pressure in the past too. It'll be a huge test for him, for some hitters it's the toughest thing to overcome. As Thome gets to #500, beyond the raw power, his greatest strength was his mental toughness at the plate. He's adapted so many times to how the pitchers have pitched differently to him throughout his career.

I can understand why this is, but I hope it's not really a mistake. I know hockey has been there and done this and found that the local rivalry thing is advantageous. It's not an accident that teams are moving *to* Quad Cities and Rockford from spots further west. Perhaps the business models are different. It would be a great opportunity to build a great facility that could be shared with Heartland (or IWU or ISE) and a team. Interesting to be sure though! Heartland is going to put up some nice baseball facilities, they have a hell of an Athletic Director there who I know will get it done. I love Wesleyan's field, the worst one of the group would likely be Redbird Field. Minor League Baseball would do well there. As far as territorial rights, baseball did well in Rockford and Beloit, now it's not doing as well in Beloit since Rockford left.

It's two fold... you're not drafting in the now as we seen with Harvey, he was raw even by HS standards, raw power, strong arm, unknown future speed after the knee injury (which is the easiest to project), somewhat long swing, and fairly agile. He was drafted with two definite pluses and 3 unknowns, although I consider approach for position players as a 6th tool which at the time was likely unknown/aggressive. Scouting isn't just about driving around and looking at ballplayers, you have to get to know the kids, know their demands, know who'll sign at what slot and who would go to school. You have to know whether or not he's soft mentally, work ethic, etc. If you don't factor signability, you'll be fired quickly. You have to know what other scout think about kids and where they'll draft a kid. You have to fight for your guys the week before the draft, go back and forth with the scouting director and the area guys to determine how it'll likely go. It ain't easy to pick up, beyond what I mentioned, the mechanical side of the game in regards to progression is very difficult to pick up. It takes about 6 years of scouting before you actually have a complete grasp of you're doing. Scouting for the now is pretty easy, scouting for 5 years from now that is difficult. Baseball is won by superstars, to be a superstar you have to have tools to do so. It's up to the scout to see those tools early on, make a correct OFP and draft accordingly and then turn him to the developers and have them progress his tools into future production. It's not either or, the development and the scouting side of the game need each other to do well to be successful.

Good rivalry between them and Peoria, I'd rather one see up in Lake Cty, but there are enough non-supported MWL teams to merit possible moves.

I wouldn't consider Hill a late pick or luck at the stage of the 4th rd. That's where you select a avg. major league player, for a starter that a #4 spot. He's likely exceeded that but not to the point where it's luck moreso than a player slightly doing better, especially with the flaws he had at Michigan. teams may be looking for a guy who can be an average ML player or a #4, but in reality the odds of them getting that guy in the fourth round are roughly 1 in 20. Looking from 1990-96 drafts in the fourth round here are guys that I included to be average ML guys. 1996 0 30 1995 2 30 Russ Ortiz, Adam Everett* 1994 1 27 Danny Graves 1993 1 28 Billy Koch* 1992 1 28 Joey Hamilton 1991 3 28 Terry Adams, Brian Boehringer, Paul Byrd 1990 3 26 James Baldwin, Garrett Anderson, Mike Meyers 11 197 Koch and Everett didn't sign so they may have been tough sign guys who slipped. There are a couple solid players there, but I am including LOOGYs....as average ML players and success picks. They may be looking for a guy who can be an average player with the fourth pick. They won't get it very often. So in effect, they only get it if they're lucky or rich. It might be 1 in 20, but most years there will be guys rated with an OFP of 50 still around in the 4th that are there not only b/c of signability but b/c of a deep draft.

Play him or trade him, his value will get even lower thru another half season on the bench or at Iowa. As far as right now, Jones seems to be getting hotter as of late, like most avg. hitters, he's going to be streaky.

Yes, espec. being from the NE. Of course, he faced pitchers topping out at 80 and he hit with the ping.

Unless they find some extra money under their cushions, yes.

I know the writer (KenTremendous) is an intelligent person and a gifted writer but if he was trying to cont. or comment on a stats/scout debate in his article, I think he came off as a narrowminded ass.

I don't take offense to how he is critical of the writer/article, but when he starts ripping on LaMacchia's scouting techniques, that's what gets on my nerves.

Good for you. It doesn't mean anybody else has to buy this fluff nonsense about giving his life. You're hurt because somebody who runs a website dedicated to poking holes in the terrible baseball media poked holes in a crap article that happened to mythologize a guy you happen to mythologize as well. Sorry, but that doesn't make the guy a pinhead. I don't think I put him on a pedestal, if respecting and defending what he has done against someone who knows nothing about him makes him a mythological creature, then I guess there are plenty of occupied pedestals around.

This is what KenTremendous wrote at the end, and he's right. Plaschke is an idiot and a horrible writer. Let me how that statistical value helps LaMacchia when he's scouting HS kids? I don't like most of Plaschke's work either, some of it's real good as far as how he paints a picture, I don't think this article was any good nor was how he treated DePodesta.

What he has done is a big deal to me, I respect his work.

He has, you spend 51 years of your life doing something whether it's scouting or working in a factory, you've given your life to it. Between his time playing, scouting (signing players pre-draft), and coaching he has given alot to this game.

Sure he was, he was critical of his methods of scouting...

He knows more about the game than the writer ever wishes he could. Sure it was a fluff piece about the man, if he was a younger scout, the article never gets written. The man has dedicated his life to the game, one article and one instance where it glorifies him is fine by me, regardless of how everyday that action is for a scout. Of course it is followed by some pinhead on a statistical rant tries to belittle his work. Frustrates me that someone that has given so much to the game gets thrown over the fire b/c someone wants to turn it into a scout/stat debate.

Such a great read: http://www.firejoemorgan.com/2006/08/best-ever.html What a [expletive] douche that writer is, trying to discredit the work LaMacchia does. LaMacchia has forgotten more baseball in a week than the writer, I, or anyone on this board will ever know about the game.

Combo of that and the league has figured him out, with his uppercut and slow bat, they learned how to pitch him and aren't speeding up his bat with offspeed and breaking balls anymore.

I'm all about added recovery time for pitchers, espec. late in the year, so obviously I'm opposed to this.

I wouldn't consider Hill a late pick or luck at the stage of the 4th rd. That's where you select a avg. major league player, for a starter that a #4 spot. He's likely exceeded that but not to the point where it's luck moreso than a player slightly doing better, especially with the flaws he had at Michigan.