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=== Trick Question:  What Would You Give for a 24-Year-Old Omar Vizquel ? ===

 I/O from HQ (paraphrased as usual):  Grade 7B.  Will probably become a defensive-oriented ML middle infielder with significant playing time at his peak.

Athletic, wiry-strong infielder whose glam defense is a given; has range, hands, quickness, power arm, everything...

... but whose bat has disappointed even for his age and level.  Intersection of [lots of K's] with [no power anyway] creates serious problems with future projection.

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I/O The Rest:  I thought I remembered that after 2009, and Noriega's 311/360/456 season in short season at 18, that Noriega had been in a lot of people's prospect lists.

But in 2010, Noriega hit the windshield in A ball, batting 227/266/283 in a full season, and his EYE was only 0.19.  Coming into this season, Noriega's on nobody's top 30 or 40.

This again may be a bit of an overreaction to a teenage learning curve.

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I/O Scouts:  To listen to scouts tell it, Noriega has unusual hand-eye coordination and projects to bat .300 in the major leagues -- this, along with his Larkin-like defense, had a lot of people eyeing him as a potential impact major leaguer.

But Noriega has fanned 217 times in 223 games, against very low-minors pitching, and has only 43 walks.  This doesn't synch with the idea of great hand-eye.  Am just saying; it's one piece of evidence.  Of course he may just see the spin worse than other kids his age.

Even Noriega's 311/360/456 line as a rookie, in 200 at bats, isn't as glam as it seems:  he fanned 60 times in those AB's and apparently benefitted from a lucky BABIP to a certain extent.

So there are lizards in the cellar, as far as this reported hand-eye. 

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After reading HQ's saber take -- about lots of K's and few extra-base hits -- I visualized an Omar Vizquel type.  A guy taking a little horizontal arm swing, and yet still missing the ball.  Eee Yuch.

But the 'net vids show a Mike Morse type of athlete, real nice load and centrifugal torque for his age, stays behind the ball ..... a few times he got ahold of one and his back shin was almost parallel to the ground.

So the saber nightmare, a pepper swing with poor contact -- that isn't the case.  Noriega takes a big rip and he just isn't seeing the ball yet.

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SSI Crunch

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