. . . and the Contenda
=== #1 On Your Scoreboard ===
FLIP: Seattle is still distinctly underwhelmed by Matt Tuiasosopo.
Looking around at several prospect rankings, we see that Tui --still!-- is locally ranked as a pedestrian prospect even within the M's own system.
One notable site, for example capped his reasonable ML ceiling at 2.0 WAR (in English, that means perfectly average-mediocre regular) and ranked Greg Halman (among many others) a better prospect. Granted, that was done some months ago.
But we haven't seen any updated opinions there or anywhere around the 'net. The only conversation we have noticed is the occasional yawn or even annoyance at Dr. D for his enthusiasm on Tui.
Check me on that, if yer can link us to an article going, "Hey, this Tui kid is looking like a beast these days!"
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CHOP: At this point, the Tuisasosopo disconnect is becoming Dr. D's constant source of amusement.
We remember watching Ichiro before he started play in the U.S., and Roger Jongewaard guaranteeing, quote, "He'd come over here and get two hundred hits a year for us," and MOST of the best talent evaluators in the business guaranteeing that Ichiro was a 4th outfielder in the bigs.
We remember Tim Lincecum coming out of college as being probably the safest #1 overall since (say) Alex Rodriguez, and the most trusted evaluators around questioning whether he should even be taken in the entire first round.
I just didn't know what to say to Ichiro and Timmy naysayers --- well, okay, you got me there -- and most people were Ichiro and Lincecum naysayers. The level of disconnect, for D-O-V, was just unreal.
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Tui's situation isn't quite that epic -- Tui isn't a mortal lock the way that Ichiro and Lincecum were -- but it'll do until the next Ichiro/Lincecum situation comes along.
With Ackley being a special case, Matt Tuiasosopo is of course the Mariners' #1 prospect, by a long ways over anybody except Triunfel -- and yet he's typically ranked #6, or #9, or #12 -- compared to guys like Halman, not compared to the world.
#6 or #9 or #12 would more appropriately be Tui's ranking in baseball. I'm not going to trade you Matt Tuiasosopo for Alcides Escobar or Justin Smoak or Aaron Hicks. Four years from now, neither would you.
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Not sure how you watch Matt Tuiasosopo for three games and not see what Jongewaard was talking about. The level of disconnect is just awesome. :- )
And it isn't just Dr. D's opinion. You know what Wakamatsu thought of him in March.
Tui might not pan out -- only about 30% of blue-chippers become ML stars. Pedro Alvarez and Dexter Fowler will probably not become stars in the big leagues -- the odds are with the house.
But you could see Tui coming three years ago. Why Seattle isn't enjoying the show at this point, somebody give me a clue.
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M's fans should be jazzed. Those 9 homers and 8 doubles in August were just a taste.
Word is that Tui won't play much this September, even though they'll need to decide on his April 2010 role. Considering the M's devotion to tryouts this fall, that's a whale of a concession to a lame-duck vet, ain't it?
Cheers,
Dr D