Is the knowledge that a) he's got legit talent and b) many other guys who do what he did have gone on to great careers.

So now we need to find another one.  Paxton might "only" be a LH Morrow, but I'd take that.  If he has the feel on his curve he's just devastating.  The Ms could always give the standard "his change-up needs more work" but with what Pineda did I think that's a hard justification to make if the other two pitches are mowing big-leaguers down like sheafs of wheat.

I have Paxton as the leader out of the gate, since he's had his minor league time to prove just how good he can be while Hultzen has none.  Can you name me some starting pitchers who skipped the minors in the last 30 years or so?

I'm not getting any good ones coming to mind.

So I would think that Paxton has pole position, with Hultzen trying to prove he deserves a late May / early June look.

If both of them prove they do...that would be outstanding.  We need our mega-talented kids to bring it out of the gate this year.  

Most of our hitters got the change to knock the kinks outta their games last year in the bigs (Montero excluded) but the arms that can make an immediate impact need to if we have an shot at an over .500 year.

It's all right if they're not ready.  But if we want to have a contending year instead of a rebuilding one, then our young pitchers will have to be awesome.

That Iwakuma wildcard fascinates me as well.  We could have such a fabulous staff this year, even without Pineda...

~G

Ha, me too. I've never paid hardly any attention to spring training, not really taking any interest until just before the season started. For one thing, normally every position was already filled before anyone even got to camp, which meant there wasn't any uncertainty about who would make the team let alone get a starting role. Second, most of the guys who were dissapointing the year before had little chance of improving. We could hope that Jose Lopez or Richie Sexson or Chone Figgins would do better, but that's all it was, hope. Now, I'm hanging on every word and have been since the first players showed up in Arizona.

This year there are tons of position battles. In the rotation, three spots are up for grabs with at least 8 people with a real chance of taking one. That alone makes things far more interesting than any other spring training. Add in third base, backup infielder, backup outfielder and the last couple spots of the bullpen, the result is that a third of the roster is undecided.

Then there are the guys who have a legitimate chance of improving on poor performances. Gutierrez for sure is going to be a lot better. If there's ever been anyone you should feel comfortable betting on based only on reports of him getting into better shape in the offseason, it's Guti. Robinson, Wells and Saunders also have reasons to be looking up. In addition there's Hong-Chih Kuo who is a total wild card and could be tremendous.

I don't have a clue how things will shake out, but I'm not really concerned about who exactly will make the opening day roster because I believe the org will go with the best players, and with all the quality options available that means the chosen guys should be awfully good. So while I'd prefer to see players like Paxton or Seager, if the coaches go with Millwood and Guillen it likely means those vets can still be productive. The only guy I really don't want to see is Shawn Camp, but since he'd just be the 5th or 6th reliever it's not a big deal.

Hey Doc

Did you catch this interview on KJR with Taijuan Walker?

http://www.sportsradiokjr.com/player/?station=KJR-AM&program_name=podcas...

He comes across very, very well in this interview.  In my mind he put to rest some of the lingering T.O. attitude questions. Most telling to me is that he referred to Paxton as being like a big brother to him. Actually this speaks well of both young men.  That Walker would look to some college aged white guy, as a mentor is a surprise.  And that Paxton would take Walker under his wing while he himself is still focused on getting to the show is also a nice surprise.  It takes a nice balance of humility and confidence to take on the dual roll of student/mentor.  My favorite type of person.

Also loved the competitive fire that was apparent in the interview.  He wants to make the club out of spring training.  He’s not just saying “What an honor to be invited” type stuff. Said during the season, he wanted to go out and get more strikeouts than Paxton had the night before.  Great stuff.

Matthew