We're not early on with Adam Jones. People griped about his first full season in the Midwest League without understanding what the Midwest League does to hitters. By the time he was Tui's age...well wait, Adam Jones was a gold-glove winner and plus contributor up the middle in the bigs at Tui's age.
We're 6 years down the line with Tui, and his swing is no more indicative of success than Dobbs' was, or Reed's, or Morse's. Is Tui a bigger guy than they are? Sure (well not Morse, but the other guys). Does big = big-league power? Ask Gabe Kapler. But at least Gabe tore up the minors in some way before going on to hit like Randy Winn in the Majors.
Tui hitting like Randy Winn at 2B is acceptable. At 3rd it's no better than what Casey Kotchman is doing with his pretty swing at 1B.
I've seen Tui play, as you have. I'm still not impressed enough to slot him where you do, so we must be looking at different things. Could he lock it in at 26 and have a few interesting years? Sure. Garrett Atkins comes to mind.
But Garrett is busy falling like a stone too.
Three stages on for Tui = him playing for a different team. If we weren't gonna wait it out with Wlad, why would we wait it out with Tui? If we can't find a 3B option I could see it...but Chone is here for 4 years, and Tui's not playing SS. That leaves 2B, where the #2 pick in the draft and our #1 international signing of the last few years are slotted to play.
How are we getting to 3 stages on with Tui here? He gonna replace Hannahan as the super-sub type?
I guess I can't see how we get Tui to perform for us before we run out of options, patience and space for him. If he does break through I would think it would be an Ibanez sort for another team. Unless he does it this year or the other 2B options either suck or can't play 2nd.
How do you see it panning out for Tui? You said you could get him some ABs off the bench this year. Where does he play next year, and will he have jumped enough stages in your opinion to warrant a significant chunk of playing time?
We're a season and a half, two seasons from the expected debuts of Ackley and Triunfel if they are who we think they are. It could be sooner, but it's not likely to be later. Is Tui the backup plan for if they fail? If he's #2 in the system, then no he's not. He deserves a spot on the roster and a place to play every day, just like Adam Jones got in Baltimore.
And I guess I just don't see him getting that - or at least that it's a long-shot. Why do you think he'll get the ABs that Wlad and Clement couldn't get?
~G
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