Ask Baseball America By James Bailey
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- March 21, 2000
March 23, 2000Since Tuesday I got some further information on Omar Beltre's situation. You might recall we had a question about him then. Beltre's signing bonus from the Rangers was $650,000, which is just about smack dab in the middle of the $400,000 and $1 million range that Evan Grant gave me. But there's more to the story. Beltre and his agent Don Nomura had apparently come to a verbal agreement with the Reds on a deal for around $300,000 last fall, but the Reds were hoping to delay the signing and count it against this year's budget. Unfortunately for them, in the meantime Beltre picked up a few mph on his fastball, putting him in the 93-95 mph range. Nomura opened the bidding back up and eventually got twice as much money from the Rangers. In another development on another Tuesday question, the second player to be named in the Hideki Irabu deal was sent to the Yankees. The Expos sent righthander Christian Parker to New York to complete the deal that had earlier cost them righthander Jake Westbrook and lefthander Ted Lilly. Parker, 24, spent most of last season at Double-A Harrisburg, going 8-5, 3.65 with 45 strikeouts in 89 innings. He's not regarded as as much of a prospect as Westbrook or Lilly. A couple of readers wrote in saying they thought the Expos had given up too much. I didn't want to weigh in on that until I saw who the last player was. It hurts a little to give up young pitching of the caliber of Westbrook and Lilly, but I don't think this was a horrible deal for the Expos. It can only help Irabu to get as far away from the Yankees as possible, and Montreal fits that bill. He showed flashes of brilliance in his two-plus seasons in Yankee Stadium, and maybe he can put things together out of the spotlight. If Ed Yarnall keeps struggling for the Yankees, they might begin wishing they had Irabu back. At least they knew what they were getting, and he did post a winning record over the past two seasons (20-16). That's more than most clubs can say for their No. 5 starter. What's the story with John Roskos? He's tearing the cover off the ball this spring (yes, I know it's only spring), and his numbers with Calgary last year were really solid. I know he's 25, and he can play a few positions, but what's his background, and does he have a spot with the Pads, or will they move him? Thanks, John
There must be something about the Southwest that brings out the best in Roskos. According to the Marlins 1999 media guide, he hit .600 over his last two years in high school in Albuquerque. He's shown an impressive bat at-times in his minor league career as well. Last year at Triple-A Calgary he hit .320-24-90 and led the Pacific Coast League with 44 doubles and 68 extra-base hits (tied with Salt Lake's David Ortiz). That was enough to earn him honors as the Marlins' organization player of the year. But after seven years in the Florida system, Roskos opted for free agency this winter. He signed with the Padres last November. Roskos is versatile enough to be a valuable utility player for the Padres. Drafted as a catcher, he played four different positions last year. He spent 85 games in the outfield, 31 at first base, seven at catcher and two at third. Given that and his spring it seems like the Padres should try to find a spot for him on the Opening Day roster. But he's not the first guy to tear it up in spring training and history is rich with guys who couldn't keep it up once the games counted. With Milwaukee struggling to keep their rotation healthy what are the chances that Ben Sheets will be called up this year? BerlerD@aol.com I certainly wouldn't bet against Sheets reaching the big leagues this season. Last year Ryan Rupe (Devil Rays), Jeff Weaver (Tigers) and Kip Wells (White Sox) all made their major league debuts the year after they were drafted. Sheets and A's lefthander Barry Zito seem like good bets to do so this year. Sheets finished last season at Class A Stockton and I'd guess he'll start this year at Double-A Huntsville. If he's on a roll after a couple of months, it's not out of the question that he could work his way into the Brewers rotation. Incidentally, the Brewers had some good news this week on the pitching front when it was determined that Jamey Wright would not need surgery to repair damage to his right rotator cuff and labrum. The Brewers think now that he'll be able to strengthen the shoulder through exercises and could return to action in as little as six weeks. I am trying to find out what happened to Chad McConnell. He played for Creighton and was on the 1992 Olympic team. He got drafted in the first round (1993?) by the Phillies, I believe, and I haven't heard anything since. Thanks, Brian Ludeke McConnell was the Phillies' first-round pick in 1992 and began his pro career in 1993. He played four seasons in the Phillies organization, spending his last 2 1/2 years at Double-A Reading. He sat out the 1997 season following back surgery and that pretty much ended his pro career. March 21, 2000I'd like to thank all the Red Sox fans who took time out of their busy schedules to write us with their concerns about our major and minor league talent rankings. I don't really have the space or inclination here to go through everything again, so I won't. But I would just like to say that we don't have anything against the Red Sox and we are not part of any global conspiracy to denigrate Boston and its fans. The most passionate fan of any team in our office would be John Manuel, who has been a diehard Red Sox fan since he was a small child. John, in fact, is so devout a Sox fan that he served time in detention in high school for body-checking a friend who had the audacity to make fun of Bill Buckner following a certain game that all Red Sox fans remember. It's always possible that our ranking of the Red Sox won't prove accurate in time. If so, it will be simply because we were wrong, not because of our hidden agenda. Now onto new business . . . The Rangers have recently signed a prospect out of the Dominican Republic named Omar Beltre for what has been called a "significant" bonus. Do you have any information about this signing and how Beltre could affect the team? Thanks, David
Also significant, Grant says, is that the Rangers plan to start Beltre out in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League this summer, skipping him over the Dominican Summer League. Grant also reports that Jorge Diaz, who finally made it to camp last week, is working out with Triple-A Oklahoma and will remain in minor league camp. So his visa snafu cost him whatever slim chance he had at making the Opening Day roster. Veteran Luis Alicea has the second-base job for now, but his grasp is not firm, with Frank Catalanotto nipping at his heels. I am a senior at Wittenberg University and upon graduation this May I will begin working for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in the NY-Penn League. I am trying to find out complete information on seat licenses. What are they exactly and what are they designed to do? If you have any information on this topic available, I would be most appreciative. Also, I am writing a paper in my Economics of Sports class concerning the relationship between a team's success on the diamond and their continued success at the ticket office. Do you have any information related to this issue. Anything you have would be helpful.
Jason Kidik Seat licenses have come into vogue as a way to help finance new stadium projects. A seat license buys a fan the right to buy season tickets. It's not really a deposit on the tickets, because it doesn't go toward the cost of the tickets. It's a brilliant scheme on the part of team owners, and also a way for fans to help finance stadiums without using public money. You might wonder why a fan would pay $1,000 or whatever, just for the right to pay more money to buy season tickets. But why do alumni donate money to their college athletics departments? It's a way for some fans to support something they truly enjoy. As for attendance, we've concluded over the years that winning and attendance are largely unrelated in minor league baseball. There may be some correlation at the higher levels, but at the lower levels winning doesn't really draw fans to the park. And minor league playoff games are poor draws as a rule. Let's take a look at last year's league champions and where they finished in the attendance race in their league.
*Wilmington and Myrtle Beach were declared co-champions of the Carolina League after Hurricane Floyd forced the cancellation of the final series. I guess if you want your team to win the league championship, you'd do well in most cases to keep people away from your home games. Maybe teams concentrate better in a quiet ballpark. Actually, the truth is, minor league fans don't go to games because they care if the team wins or loses. They go for the promotions, because it's a reasonably priced family outing and it's fun. They also go to show their support for the team and the players. Like in the major leagues, a new stadium is just about a guarantee that a minor league team will draw. But unlike big league fans, minor league patrons don't seem to worry about the results. The Expos just included Ted Lilly in the Irabu trade, as one of the two players to be named later. You guys had him rated 6th on the Expos prospect list. But he did get bombed in the major leagues late last season. How do you see him fitting into the Yanks pitching prospects? Is he a starter or reliever? Also, who do you think will be the other player when the deal is completed? A third pitcher? On another matter,could you explain slugging percentage? How is the stat figured mathematically, and what does it really mean? Thanks, I love your magazine and Website.
Greg Herczeg Yes, time on the DL counts as service time. The only exception is that it doesn't count against Rookie of the Year eligibility. So when Chipper Jones spent the 1994 season on the disabled list, he got credit for a year of service time, but was still a rookie in 1995. What exactly is a simulated game? You hear about pitchers on rehab participating in simulated games but I've never got an explanation. Thanks. John Ewing A simulated game is basically a structured practice, where a pitcher will throw to hitters, simulating a real game experience. Pitchers will generally throw simulation games as one of the steps of their rehab, before they go on a minor league rehab assignment and throw in an actual game. 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? (Jim Joyce) gabp mlb -> Wednesday, September 23, 2015 headlines: Verrett stumbles in the fifth as Mets lose to Braves 6-2 mlb -> All-Star History In what city was the first All-Game played? (Chicago, 1933) Baseball & Pop Culture mlb -> Los angeles dodgers clips mlb -> Los angeles dodgers clips mlb -> Los angeles dodgers clips mlb -> The Impact of Television Revenue on Major League Baseball mlb -> Los angeles dodgers clips Download 1 Mb. Share with your friends:
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