Plenty to follow in Florida Instructional League

Many of the Phillies’ top young prospects, and a number of surprise faces, were invited to participate in the annual invitation-only league.

Pitchers: Gabriel Arias, Phillippe Aumont, Jesse Biddle, Lisalverto Bonilla, Jacob Borup, David Buchanan, Garett Claypool, Jarred Cosart, Jacob Diekman, Sergio Escalona, Craig Fritsch, Perci Garner, Nick Hernandez, Mario Hollands, Steven Inch, Colin Kleven, Tyler Knigge, Derrick Loop, Mike McGuire, Marek Minarik, Brian Morgado, Jon Musser, Hector Neris, Miguel Nunez, J.C. Ramirez, Juan Sosa, Ethan Stewart, Kevin Walter; Catchers: Angel Chavarin, James Klocke, Chase Numata, Cameron Rupp, Sebastian Valle; Infielders: Chris Duffy, Edgar Duran, Maikel Franco, Harold Garcia, Anderson Gonzalez, Cesar Hernandez, Stephen Malcolm, Geancarlo Mendez, Cody Overbeck, Joe Savery, Francisco Silva, Jonathan Singleton; Outfielders: Aaron Altherr, Miguel Alvarez, Zach Collier, Kelly Dugan, Kyrell Hudson, Jiwan James, D’Arby Myers, Brian Pointer, Domingo Santana, Jeremy Slayden.

Mathieson: According to PhuturePhillies.com, Scott Mathieson has also joined the roster and will not return to the big club this September. Mathieson had been on the DL with a lower back strain.

Notes: After his early July demotion to Clearwater, Aumont struck out 77 batters in 72 1-3 innings. Biddle debuted in the Gulf Coast League, where he went 3-1 with a 4.32 ERA. Cosart enjoyed a terrific, albeit injury-shortened, year at Lakewood, earning a nod to the Futures Game before heading to the disabled list in June. Escalona, who spent five separate stints with the Phils last season, notched 10 saves at Reading. Savery will try to channel his inner Rick Ankiel as the former number one pick continues his transition from pitcher to position player. Savery hit .348 with 22 total bases in 46 at-bats at Lehigh Valley. Collier, a first-round pick in 2008, sat out this year with a hand/wrist injury. Dugan was sidelined for the early portion of '10 with a foot infection, but returned to action with Williamsport in late August. Slayden, a non-roster invitee a season ago, announced his retirement from baseball late in '09, but it appears he’s giving it another crack at age 28.

(Roster provided by the Phillies, notes compiled by Matt Grassie for Beerleaguer)

Comments

[CJ]

This post has Beerleaguer written all over it!

[MG]

No surprise that Hewitt wasn't invited. His line of .202/.243/.327 with just 11 HRs and 158 Ks in 465 ABs has solidified his 'bust' status.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Totally random - saw Chan Ho Park pitch today. Also got to say hello to Pedro Feliz since you can easily score free tickets behind the dugout at PNC in September. Not sure what happened to Park since last year but, he didn't have a fastball. Out of 20 some pitches, I saw one fastball (or one pitch over 90mph) and a bunch of curves/ change-ups. Pete Happy rode the bench while No. 63 played 3d and collected 4 hits.

[MG]

No Singleton?

[Fatalotti]

Phillies all the way up to #1 in Sports Illustrated's Power Rankings.

Exactly where they started the season.

Full circle.

[Lake Fred]

Maybe they can make Savery be a pinch hitting reliever. What a waste of a top pick.

[Roy]

no Tyson Gillies?

[clout]

What, no Matt "The Solution" Rizzotti?

[Roy]

Singleton the last name under Infielders

[Zudok]

I see Jeff James didn't get an invite either.

[MG]

Pittsburgh and stink:

There road record is 15-59 and I think if they lose a few more games it will be one of the worst winning pct. by a team on the road since the Modern Era.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

MG- I recall seeing some figures that would indicate that the last team to win at a worse clip on the road was the '35 Braves (Babe Ruth's last team).

I've been to 8 games at PNC this year. Pirates went 6-2 in those games. Unfortunately, two of those were against the Phillies. They should give me my own box.

[Willard Preacher]

clout, clearly we've established that Rizzotti doesn't need any "instruction." He's the real deal now, if not for being blocked. To send him to the Instructional League would be an insult for the next Babe Ruth.

[clout]

WP: Excellent point. Plus he's old enough to be father to some of those kids.

[Willard Preacher]

Not to beat the dead horse and re-raise the ludicrous JRoll trade "speculation," simply by mentioning his name, but can we all agree that although he needs to get as many real AB's (simulation aside) in real games, starting JRoll against Dickey would be the absolute 100% worst thing Cholly could do for the guy?

When we say he wants to get 6-7 starts before the postseason, surely they mean OTHER than that game, right? Right??

[clout]

Zudok: I assume you mean Jiwan James, one of their best tools prospects and one who might actually make it. He's on the list.

[Willard Preacher]

Plus, sending Rizzotti to the Instructional League would give Bastardo pause to reconsider his apt-owned annointment as the next Santana. BLer's are NEVER wrong about prospects.

I have to say I'm SHOCKED that Mathieson - the next Mariano Rivera, only with better gas - is joining the team. Surely it's only because of the injury.

[phils and nova]

don't how much this has been discussed or how out of the loop i am, but what happened with savery?? what position is he transitioning to?

[clout]

Roy: Gillies is spending the winter with the Phillies' entry in the California Penal League.

[Willard Preacher]

"Roy: Gillies is spending the winter with the Phillies' entry in the California Penal League."

Hilarious!

Too bad he's not a quarterback. Legal run-ins are anything but a roadblock from being a starting QB in the state of PA. Both sides of the state, in fact.

[Bay Slugga]

Aumont seems to be destined for the pen.

[clout]

Huh: What's the story on Andy LaRoche? He was a hot prospect a few years ago, was never able to bring his minor league skills to The Show and has now been made redundant by Alvarez. Will they try to trade him or is he just not a major leaguer?

[clout]

That was supposed to be addressed to Hugh.

[Little Ollie]

Have to love in SI's power rankings the comment about Matt Diaz "earning . . . the rare distinction of being a visiting player to receive applause from Phillies fans."

[jason.tp]

clout/zudok: i think it was meant as a joke to say Jeff Jackson - thats how i took it. Altho i guess Jiwan could be what he meant to.

[Lake Fred]

Wow, no. 1 in the Sports Illustrated Power Ranking? It is true. Coughing and rolling sounds heard near George Steinbrenner's grave.

[Andy]

Savery is moving back to first base.

Jiwan James, former pitcher, has good speed and an absolute gun in the OF.

[Jack]

Clout: Laroche seems to be of the Brandon Wood / Andy Marte school of 3B prospects who destroy minor-league pitching and can't hit a lick at the major-league level. Just happens sometimes it seems like.

[Jack]

James has all the tools, but had a .686 OPS in Low-A as a 21-year old.

He's a prospect, but he's got a LOT to prove.

[Zudok]

clout/jason.tp: Yep, meant to say Jeff Jackson. Maybe I'm finally forgetting that the Phils preferred him over Frank Thomas. The Hewitt situation reminds me.

[Andy]

Ollie - The only reason the fans clapped is they thought the guy in the red suit was Santa Claus.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

clout: I am pretty sure the Pirates shopped LaRoche pretty aggressively once they drafted Alvarez but, found no takers. One would think they would have tried to get his bat on the field at 2B but, he never made strides in that direction and now they're playing a converted catcher there. He strikes me a as a guy who had all the talent but, did none of the work - born on 3B and thought he hit a triple.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Pedro Alvarez, btw, will not make it as a 3B in this league, even if he gets off the Tastykakes. He's awful out there.

[Conshy Matt]

wow indeed! #1? a NL team? can't be! Dave Cameron must be rolling over in his basement!

[clout]

Jack: Totally agree, but given the position switch, developmentally he's like a 19-year-old. And his OPS vs. RHP was .712. I would not put him in the Hewitt, Golson, C.J. Henry category quite yet.

[clout]

Hugh: I don't think LaRoche is arb eligible, he's cheap, you'd think some team would take a flyer on him. I'm guessing the Pirates would dump him cheap.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

clout - I agree. He's still of use until he uses up his arb years but, given the Pirates' need to cycle some volume of potential contributors through their system (esp. pitching), I can't understand how they didn't move him already. I thought he was in the mix as an insurance policy until they cut Iwamura and didn't replace him with LaRoche. Now, I just think he's stranded there.

[Willard Preacher]

"Dave Cameron must be rolling over in his basement!"

You mean his parents basement, right?

[Conshy Matt]

willard - thanks for the editing!

[jason.tp]

I just heard on Comcast that Wednesday re-set the record they set on Tuesday - which topped the previos record of Monday.

[CJ]

On Sept. 1st, the Phils trailed the Braves by 3 games. That means we could have let the Brewers and Marlins both sweep us that first weekend/week of September (an additional 5 losses to give us a 7 game losing streak) and we still would have moved into sole first place after last night's win.

If we had been 7 games out with 17 to play (hello, 2007 Mets), we would have moved into a tie for first last night after making up 7 games in just 11 games.

[Willard Preacher]

I hope Comcast is ok with not re-resetting any records tonight.

[phillyinnyc]

wp- maybe some Sinatra vinyl ones

[phillyinnyc]

i think Gilles will replace Charlie Sheen in the release of "Major League III--(Falling Off the Cliff")

[Chris in VT]

Sorry if this has already been posted. From Crashburn Alley, an excellent explanation of why the "trade Rollins to re-sign Werth" idea is a bad one:

http://crashburnalley.com/2010/09/23/jack-mccaffery-wears-bad-idea-jeans/

[PhxPhilly]

Escalona is the most notable as he could be a possible callup lefty reliever. Almost all of the other guys are below AA ball.

Anderson Gonzalez is recent signee at 16 years old so he is quite a surprise at FIL. Maybe he (like Domingo Santana 2 years ago) will go to the GCL next year.

Probable top prospect Brody Colvin is not there. The exclusion of Hewitt as mentioned is quite interesting. Does anyone think he might have trade value? The Phils did take CJ Henry in a trade...

[CJ]

Brandon Beachy made his ML debut at the age of 24 for the Braves amid questions he was ready for the big stage.

Cole Hamels won a WS MVP at the age of 24.

[CJ]

Raul is now batting 421 with an OPS of 1.213 over his last 15 games.

Washed Up™

[Lincoln Hawkes]

Major League III was a 1998 direct to video gem called Major League: back to the minors.

Scott Bakula is coach, Taka Tanaka owns a miniature golf course, and Pedro Cerrano spends most of the movie just waiting for Jobu to get him elected president.

[awh]

Power Rankings are fun, but they are basically good for the same thing as WAR:

Absolutely nothing.

[bay_area_phan]

"I would not put him in the Hewitt, Golson, C.J. Henry category quite yet."

Granted, we're talking about gradations of futility here, but Golson is like Willie Mays compared to Hewitt & Henry. Golson has had a sniff of the majors & looks headed for a career as a AAA journeyman who will see some occasional major league action due to his speed & defense. C.J. Henry never made it past A ball & Hewitt looks like he's probably on the same path.

[Tray]

So for some reason I was looking at Jason Bartlett splits, and I discovered that while he's a .320 career hitter against Sabathia, a .355 career hitter against Lester, a .303 career hitter against Halladay, a .455 career hitter against Petitte, a .320 career hitter against Lackey and a .357 career hitter against Greinke, Bartlett is 0-27 lifetime against ... Nate Robertson. Moreover, Longoria has just one hit lifetime against him; Pena has just two. We should have kept him for the possibility of a Rays series.

[Spitz]

True BAP, but did Golson ever play college basketball?

[Call me Ishmael]

In fairness, Spitz, nothing CJ Henry does on a basketball court could really be considered "playing basketball" either.

[Marley]

N_____ F______ gave up 5 ER in 6 innings tonight. If only...

[rauls grandpa]

Jon Musser, any relation?
Anybody get any ticket lottery news yet?
And why the hell does Jack Maccaffry still have a column? He needs to just report straight sports news, enough dumb opinion stuff...leave that to us. Plus he sounds and acts like the same grumpy bastard pessimistic curmudgeon on the radio too. When I was unemployed and heard him do overnights there was many a time I considered getting ripped and hopping off the Tacony.

[NEPP]

****Clout: Laroche seems to be of the Brandon Wood / Andy Marte school of 3B prospects who destroy minor-league pitching and can't hit a lick at the major-league level. Just happens sometimes it seems like. ****

This. There have been some major misses on supposed "can't miss" prospects at the Hot Corner in recent years. I'd toss in Brett Wallace too (despite the move to 1B/promotion to Houston). He was another of that group of great 3B bats. It just shows how hard it is to draft infielders outside of literally the Top 10 picks of a draft. After that its pretty much a lottery ticket.

[Jack]

NEPP: Wallace will have a major league career, most likely, but he's never going to be the star that many (including Clout) predicted. He's got a decent bat and a good eye, but not nearly enough power to be an impact player at 1B. If he was able to stay at 3B, he might've been an above-average player, but that was never in the cards for him given his defense and body type. At 1B, he's a below-average player--the kind of guy who might start for bad teams, but will never be an impact guy (like a Lyle Overbay or Conor Jackson type).

[NEPP]

****NEPP: Wallace will have a major league career, most likely, but he's never going to be the star****

I agree that he wont ever be a star and he might have an MLB career simply as a result of being on a 2nd division club. I see his upside offensively as James Loney on a good day. I just dont buy it. I think Wade made a mistake gunning for him like that.

[awh]

Marley, yeah that raised his ERA to 3.81. Way to pick on one bad start.

BTW, how many 5 run games have Phils starters had?

[NEPP]

The Braves are about to be tied with the Giants in the WC race. The Giants are up 12-0 in the 7th and are only .5 games back...not looking good for Atl right now.

Those final 3 against us will likely be must win for them.

[awh]

JUst saw that KORod allegedly beat his girlfriend.

Wow, so all those Mets trolls who came here and gave us crap about Brett Myers have their own wonder boy to cheer for.

[NEPP]

****JUst saw that KORod allegedly beat his girlfriend.****

Really??? What a real winner he is. Honestly, the Mets might be better off trying to void his contract. There apparently is a clause in his deal that allows them to convert it to a non-guaranteed deal if he's convicted of any of this crap (and thus be on the hook for just $400 K next Spring if they cut him).

Just a thought, its not as if they're going anywhere anyway. They could use that money to go after Werth or Lee...or maybe just accept that they need to rebuild for a few years.

[clout]

NEPP: Wade dealt Gose for Wallace as I recall. I don't think Gose will be a star (as Jack has predicted) and in fact, I don't think he'll have nearly as good a career as Wallace.

Do you think Gose is special?

[The Truth Injection]

Lincoln: Major League III was released in theaters. I saw it.

[NEPP]

So, Ichiro now has 200+ hits in 10 straight seasons...and 2230 hits overall at Age 36. I have two questions for the group:

1. Do you think he can make it to 3000?

2. Is he a 1st ballot HoF?

He achieved his 2230 hits from Ages 27 - 36...in that same period of their respective careers, here is how the other top hits leaders stack up:

Pete Rose: 2067 Hits
Ty Cobb: 1853 Hits
Hank Aaron: 1801 Hits
Stan Musial: 1962 Hits
Derek Jeter: 1906 Hits
George Sisler: 1900 Hits

Needless to say, his ability to rack up hits is pretty much unprecedented in the history of the game. Even if you go with all time hits guys and look at their peak streaks of hit production, no one matches him.

[NEPP]

****

NEPP: Wade dealt Gose for Wallace as I recall. I don't think Gose will be a star (as Jack has predicted) and in fact, I don't think he'll have nearly as good a career as Wallace.

Do you think Gose is special?
****

Not at all, he's not as good a prospect to have as Wallace. My only point is that Wade maybe should have flipped Gose for something else and maybe moved Carlos Lee to 1B since he's terrible in LF anyway and they're stuck with him. If you'll recall they were trying Lee there before the trade anyway.

Maybe flip Gose for a corner OF prospect that could actually hit for avg/power instead of being a pure speed guy.

[Tyler]

I think Javier Vasquez might be worse than Nate Robertson, so let's continue to count our blessings

[GBrettfan]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100923&content_id=15005854&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

By Todd Zolecki. It's just a review of the moves that have been made prior to or during this season. I found it interesting to read about them all at once; maybe someone else will, too.

[rauls grandpa]

NEPP, he will never get 3000. He may be in perfect shape and can probably gut it out until 42 or 43 but he doesn't have that kind of push. He has said before he plans to wrap things up and head back to the homeland sooner than later. I don't know when his contract is up. But I don't see him being an old fart in Seattle. I also don't think he will make the Hall of Fame, I don't think they include foreign league stats and the few sports writers I have ever read who speak directly of him never talk Hall of Fame.

[Tray]

Even in a five-run game in the 7th inning, when you're fighting for a division championship/best record in the AL, I'm not sure why you would leave in a guy who walks the lead-off man and then hits the next three batters. I would think after the first HBP, or at least the second, you would call it quits.

[clout]

NEPP: Lee is horrendous at 1B, worse than in LF. I was actually surprised that Wade was able to get Wallace for Gose.

At this point Lee is a DH and they'll have to eat a lot of his contract if they can get anything for him from an AL team. I can't imagine an NL team having interest.

[HammRadio]

I think ichiro makes the hall. He has 3508 professional hits between japan and the us. His success here doesn't diminish that fact. Given the international push by MLB and selig, the Wbc, and the real "world series" that baseball is talking about, putting ichiro in will enhance the effort. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if a push to make the hof include international stars like the inclusion of Negro league stars and players who never played in the nl or al.

If ichiro makes 3000 he would pass cobb along the way. And be only 48 behind rose.

[NEPP]

****NEPP: Lee is horrendous at 1B, worse than in LF. I was actually surprised that Wade was able to get Wallace for Gose.****

Its not as if 1B is the hardest position to learn (See Adam Dunn). Given time, Lee might be an average defensive 1B.

I agree on Wallace for Gose. Toronto's GM must REALLY love Gose.

[rauls grandpa]

Hamm, I appreciate where you are coming from but the Hall and the MLB are seperate entities. Selig and the greater US MLB community have nothing to do with the ballot or who gets in. Sure, the Hall honors the "banned" notices but nobody in the MLB offices does anything with the ballots except perhaps "influence" those writers who listen to them and also vote.

[DH Phils]

In honor of the upcoming Mets series, I invite anyone who might be feeling bad for the Mets and their fans to peruse the comments from this thread. Also, note the irony of all the 2008 World Series predictions.

http://beerleaguer.typepad.com/beerleaguer/2008/01/breaking-news-t.html

[Lincoln Hawkes]

"N_____ F______"

Ahahaha. If for nothing else, the whole C____ L__ thing was worth it just to see someone give Figueroa the same under-score treatment.

[Jim]

Ichiro is a no-brainer for the hall...

[Jim]

Not only is Ichiro a first ballot hall of famer, in an era where there is so much speculation on who is clean and who is not clean, he may go down as the best "clean" player of the last 10 years....not only does he have 10 straight 200 seasons, he has is a great defensive outfielder, and he has one hell of an arm!!! He is a complete player, to bad his entire career was in Seattle and lots of people don't fully appreciate his greatness...

[awh]

I was just going over that old thread DH Phils linked.

I miss some of the old posters like lekh tizdayen.

And say what you want about Dom Patrone, but he posted this on the day the Santana deal broke:

""I'll say it again. Santana guarantees nothing. Does he make the Mets stronger? Absolutely. Are they the favorites now to win the East? Possibly.

We all knew Santana wasn't coming to Philly. He had to go to abig money team. The Mets, Boston or the Yanks. The Yanks backed off, and Boston has 6 starters. So where did you think he was gonna go?

But to say the Mets are the biggest winners of the season, I don't know about that. If the Phils can get Loshe (to me that's possible now), maybe Myers goes to the'pen. Benson will probably sign a minor league deal and could be insurance for Eaton. Helms should be moved for a reliever. That's not too bad.

One thing to look at. The Phils offensively have the best team in the NL IMO. With a little more added to the pitching staff, we could be right there. Have faith.

Posted by: DPatrone | Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 05:16 PM ""

Pretty precient.

[awh]

Then, there was this great prediction by TK:

"Wild Card isn't happening, either. AZ, LA, and SD are all better than us.

I hate this team's ownership.

Posted by: TK | Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 05:25 PM"

[awh]

Anf this great one by BL's leading pessimist:

"Why all the pessimism? The Mets may have gotten Santana but we got Chad Durbin.

Posted by: bay_area_phan | Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 05:48 PM"

I love archives. :)

[Jim]

LOL.....and Chad Durbin was a huge factor back in 08, when the pen was the best in baseball!

[awh]

Jim, go read the thread. It's hysterical.

[Jim]

Comment of the day. Re: Rollins simulated game RT @Pat_Egan: did Madson pitch?

From David Murphy's twitter page.....knowing how much people love to complain about how much Madson pitches here on BL...I thought people would enjoy this little joke.

[Jim]

Thanks awh, I will

[Jim]

I'm expecting a wave of Mets fans to lambast us any minute and I say let them...we deserve it...so lets bend over and bite the cork because we're about to be f*cked.

This one kills me!!!!

[Old Phan]

If Ichiro doesn't get into the HoF, then it has no value or credibility anymore.

[Jim]

You've got that right Jason. I don't think the Phils really have enough, but Gillick better be calling MacPhail before that Bedard deal becomes official...

another beauty......had we traded for Eric Bedard it would have sent the franchise back 10 years

[Jim]

Old Phan,

I think the hall needs to change some of the voters to begin with, they all have agendas....how robbie alamour doesn't get in first time around is a joke...

[Fatalotti]

I can't even think of an argument for NOT putting Ichiro in the Hall of Fame.

It's a no brainer.

[Jim]

Didn't anyone realize when that trade was made that he was the only good pitcher the Mets had, and Minaya did nothing after they were one game away from winning the world series to build around there core of Beltran, Reyes, and Wright......every move to fill out there other 8 was a reach, I guess no one saw that at the time.....to me that's why the Mets went south so fast, and I guess no one saw the greatness from Howard, Utley, J-Roll.....and didn't forsee what Werth or Victorino were going to do for us, and what a trade the Lidge deal was......funny to look back at the panic!!

[Jim]

By the way everyone... On Daily New Live, Bill Conlin is PRAISING Feliz and saying that he makes this lineup complete. He also said he is no longer laughing about Jimmy's 100 win prediction because he believes Feliz can help... MY GOD, CONLIN IS AN IDIOT!!!

Feliz was a vaccum for us at 3rd for 2 years, now polly was an upgrade, but Feliz was excellent for us..

@fatalotti

Your more of a numbers guy than me, other than Bonds, A-Rod, Pujlos, and maybe Howard is there a more productive offensive player in the last 10 years?

[Fatalotti]

To be fair Jim, Vic and Werth were great strokes of fortune for the Phillies, and weren't easily predictable that they would turn out to be as good as they were.

In this game, sometimes, fortune like that is needed to put you over the top.

Also, people knew that J-Roll was great, as did they about Howard. At the time, they were the back-to-back reigning NL MVPs.

[Jim]

Oh I know, that's what I meant to say....I think Werth more so than Vic....I think Vic had potential to play great D, and be a pain in the ass on the basepath....I am just joking around about the panic...I do remember not being overly concerned about the trade....because I believe in the psycological aspect of sports and I thought what we did to them in 07 be hard for them to bounce back from

[Jim]

@fatalotti I was talking about Ichiro when I asked if there is a more productive player in the last 10 years, other than the guys I named

[Fatalotti]

Ichiro is a once in a generation talent. "Productive" is a vague word. The guy is a singles machine, which is basically as good as a walk, but he didn't walk terribly much, as his OBP only topped .400 once, (lifetime .376 OBP).

But, coupled with his stellar defense, baserunning abilites, and let's face it, 200 hits 10 years in a row (leading the league 7 of those years). The guy is just special.

By the way, Lee getting roughed up again...Athletics this time.

[Jim]

Yea I noticed that against Lee, I checked my one fantasy team and saw that he was getting pounded...

Colorado is getting crushed, which is great I don't want them in the playoffs...

To me Ichiro is the Pete Rose of this generation, had Seattle been able to keep the team toghether with Griffey and A-Rod, he would be getting much more pub about his greatness....he would have been the catalyst for a team that could have dominated the AL West for years.

[Jim]

Remember Lee did this last year, I truly believe come game 1 of the playoffs he is going to step it up against whoever Texas plays, I think Texas is going to be much more difficult for whoever they play than most people think....Hamilton will be back, Lee will be a beast....the problem will be the rest of their rotation...

[awh]

Fatalotti, Werth was a first round draft pick - 22nd pick that year.

The talent was deemed to be there.