Smoak >> Jesus MonTERo ?! (part 2)
Q. Why are the Yankees being so shrill?
A. There are umpteen times, in negotiations in all walks of life, when you ask a business partner to make a really paaaaiiiinnnnnnful concession. The only way he will agree to do that, is if you incentivize him. Big time.
The only incentivization the M's reasonably had, was to say "the deal's done if you say Montero", and sure enough, this is what the Yankees allege that they did.
As one of the GM's in the Sherman articles pointed out, what the M's should have done (and maybe did do) was say, "Okay, if Montero's in, let us check back with one club real quick and after that check, we'll wrap this up within an hour." Then everything would have been ethical.
Maybe the M's did do that. The Yankees flatly state that they did not, and it sounds to me like the Yankees are being frank on this one. They're the ones who are coming out public, and the M's are the ones staring over in stony silence.
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You drop your pants and say, "okay, you win, let's get this over with," and the other guy says, no, just kidding ... that's maddening. Have had it happen. Am a calm guy but at those moments I want to break something. Using the other dude as the instrument.
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Q. If the Yankees' story is true, was it worth it? Did Capt Jack get nice return for his cred points?
A. I was stunned to read Sherman's report that 5-of-6 GM's preferred Justin Smoak to Jesus Montero. Have been kinda noodling on this weird report all week.
Look, Jesus Montero at the age of 19 was a better hitter than Gary Carter, Jose Canseco, probably better than Mike Piazza at 19 ... and that's despite playing defense first!
... It's not just the (awesome) performances saber-wise. Jesus Montero is Frank Thomas: a big hulking guy who is light on his feet, a natural hitter, a guy who can turn on a ball and crush it 440, or who can easily line the ball to RF on a hit-and-run ... Edgar or Piazza plus 30 lbs. Again, Frank Thomas if the Hurt were a free swinger.
The only hitting prospects I've been more impressed with have been ARod, Josh Hamilton, Cesar Cedeno, Junior, that kind of guy. But Montero is right there with anybody else.
And the GM's are saying Smoak is better than Montero ?! That's like hearing 5-of-6 GM's say that Ichiro is nothing compared to Dustin Ackley. So, who's this Ackley guy then?
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Q. Maybe the GM's prefer Smoak because of Montero's off year at 20?
A. They can't be serious. Smoak is one level up, struggling at the age of 23. Does that deter them? Are they that sensitive to curb appeal and last week's games?
No, they know better than that.
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Q. Why then?
A. The GM's simply think Smoak is better than The Next Frank Thomas. This includes Jack Zduriencik, who paid dearly not to obtain Jesus Montero. That is kind of like watching the HAL-9000 computer put its neural net on the line, because it wanted to upgrade from Stephen Strasburg to something a lot better.
Why do the GM's like Smoak so much better than Montero? They think that Justin Smoak is going to be Stan Musial or something. That's why.
Having looked at Smoak from touching distance the last week, I'm not real quick to rule Stan out for the kid.
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Be Afraid,
Dr D
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