Ask Baseball America By James Bailey
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May 2, 2000One clever BA reader wrote in last week to ask if Nolan Ryan were the worst victim of Baseball America's cover jinx that we could recall. Not to make light of Ryan's recent health problems, but the timing wasn't really the best. We're all glad that he seems to be okay and will make a full recovery. But we started wondering if maybe there really were a BA cover curse when Shannon Stewart went on the DL this weekend. We were aware of his hamstring problem when we chose him for the cover, but believed he'd be back in action by the time the issue hit the newsstand. We were right, sort of. He did get back in action—for one game. Then he went straight to the DL. Again, not real good timing. Just a word of caution to everyone out there. Dump Darin Erstad from your fantasy team while you can. He's on tap for our next cover. I was looking through the stats of two "five tool" players of the future: Wily Mo Pena and Christan Guerrero. However, I was disappointed to see such low OBA and poor BA. Is there any disappointment or concern in the Yankee and Brewer camps over their starts? I know that these types of players take years to develop and are still young, but the Yankees must have Pena on their MLB roster in 2003. Just wondering, Chris Checchin Pickering, ON
D. Cornell II I think D. might have been fed some bad info somewhere. Guerrero is on the disabled list with an ingrown toenail. The Brewers expect him to miss a week to 10 days. They don't believe his injury is career threatening. Breathe easy. I was wondering why I have seen no reference to Alex Fernandez on any of your top prospect lists. Fernandez, an outfielder in the Mariners organization, was not only the youngest player in the Class A California League, he was the youngest player in full season league in 1999. Despite his age, he still hit .282, with 14 homers, 62 RBIs, 29 doubles, 2 triples and 21 steals. In the Rookie-level Arizona League in 1998, he hit .331-5-31, with 11 doubles, 6 triples and 3 steals in 44 games. These stats would be impressive for anyone, but Fernandez is the youngest player in any full season league. He was not even mentioned in the Mariners top 15 prospects. What do you think of him? Krells@home.com I've seen about a bazillion questions on Fernandez since our Mariners Top 10 came out in February. I tried to hint around when asked about him earlier in the year. But here it is with nothing to read between the lines: Maybe he's not as young as you think. I'd like to stress that I have no idea what the guy's actual birthdate is, but I would bet lunch (our usual wager here at the office), that it is not May 15, 1981. What happens when you base your scouting reports solely on a player's age is that when a player turns out not to be a certain age, sometimes he doesn't look like such a prospect, after all. Fernandez' numbers last year at Class A Lancaster weren't bad, but if, theoretically, he were 22 last year instead of 18, would a .282 season with 14 homers in one of the best hitters' leagues in the minors really be that impressive? I would say, no. If he truly is 18, last year's production is highly laudable. Yet, when I spoke with the Mariners people about their Top 10, no one talked the guy up. Not at all. Hmmm. Maybe they know something. Another player who tore up the California League under a similar cloud of suspicion comes to mind. In 1993, Karim Garcia, then supposedly 17, hit .241 with 20 doubles and 19 homers in 460 at-bats with Bakersfield. That would be an outstanding season for someone who should have been a junior in high school. But rumors circulated at the time that he was probably a couple of years older than his listed age. Given Garcia's pedestrian showing in the big leagues, I tend to believe that he really is a couple of years older than he says. What will we see out of Fernandez down the road? I'd guess he'll level off at either Double-A or Triple-A. He's off to kind of a slow start at Double-A New Haven this year, at .234-3-10, but that's just a 64 at-bat sampling and too little to base any conclusions on. Maybe Fernandez will become the next Mariners outfield superstar, but I'd hedge my bets if I were you. Do you have the dates for the 2000 draft and what rounds will take place each day? D. Blair According to Major League Baseball, the draft will take place on June 5-7 this year. That's unusual because June 5 is a Monday and the draft doesn't generally begin on a Monday. But times change, I guess. The draft usually takes just two days, so we're expecting it to wrap up on the 6th. If last year is any barometer, they got through 20 rounds the first day and finished it on the second day. I will be attending my first minor league game on Tuesday, May 9. I know the Dragons have some good prospects in Adam Dunn, Ty Howington and Austin Kearns. Is there anyone special I should Bee watching on Burlington's roster? Thanks in advance for the scouting report. Keep up the great work! Mike Pitt Springfield, OH Mike, the pun almost cost you an answer. But I love some low Class A ball, so I'll help you out. You're just about guaranteed to see a good pitcher with Burlington. The Bees rotation includes righthanders Gary Majewski, Brian West and Jason Stumm and lefthanders Josh Stewart and Dennis Ulacia. Ulacia has been getting knocked around a little, but the other four have been strong this season. Majewski, as I may have mentioned last week, was a second-round pick in 1998 and he led the Rookie-level Appalachian League in strikeouts last year. West and Stumm were both first round picks last year. Stumm, the 15th player taken, throws as hard as 96-97 mph but needs to develop his secondary pitches. West, the 35th player drafted, is another big hard-thrower. As for position players, I'd keep an eye on speedy center fielder Chad Durham, who is 15 for 16 in stealing bases this year; catcher Humberto Quintero, a defensive wiz; and outfielder Spencer Oborn, a third-team All-American at Cal State-Fullerton last year. Second baseman Nilson Teilon, who was impressive in the Appy League last year, owns Burlington's only home run so far this season. Those are the Bees I'd be watching if I were able to catch a game in Iowa. I keep reading about Willie Bloomquist, the second baseman for the Mariners' Class A team in Lancaster, but I was wondering what you think of the potential of Jermaine Clark, who plays second for their Double-A team. I am interested because he is a graduate of the same high school as me, along with Jermaine Dye. Thanks, Michael Vlach Clark is an interesting player. He has always hit for average so far (.322 career average in three previous seasons), but there's something about his uppercut swing that makes some believe it might not serve him well against higher level pitching. He runs very well, so if he is able to keep getting on base, he could be a pest. His biggest drawback is his defense. He hasn't shown good range and his footwork isn't very good either. The key for Clark will be proving he can hit at Double-A and Triple-A. He's doing a good job so far, batting .348 through 20 games at New Haven. If he can keep it up, the Mariners, or some other team, might be willing to overlook his defensive shortcomings. Who were the four pitchers for the Baltimore Orioles where each one won 20 games in one season? David Baird In 1971, Dave McNally (21-5), Mike Cuellar (20-9), Jim Palmer (20-9) and Pat Dobson (20-8) led the Orioles to the AL pennant. Between the four of them they threw 70 complete games. Ten AL pitchers won 20 games that year, with Oakland lefthander Vida Blue capturing the MVP and Cy Young Award with a 24-8 record, a 1.82 ERA and 301 strikeouts in 312 innings. Directory: mlb mlb -> By Ken Gurnick mlb -> Los angeles dodgers clips mlb -> 2010 – What’s the name of the umpire whose errant call cost the Tigers’ Armando Galarraga a perfect game in 2010? 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