Quote:
Originally Posted by ShagVT
Wow - is Sosa going to hit 80 HR in Coors Field? If Jeter can hit .420, one can only imagine.
Two questions - did you give any attention to ground ball ratios with the new pitchers? And to what extent do you evaluate players based on scout ratings versus on-field production?
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I won't predict 80, but I can definitely see Sosa hitting 60. I like our offense, I think it's shaping up nicely.
Pitching on the other hand...I did pay attention to ground ball ratios when selecting pitchers, although in some cases there were other factors. Picking Nomo first was a reach, but I really wanted a pitcher. It basically came down to Nomo or Justin Thompson, who had a slight advantage. I had a hard enough timing passing up Vladimir Guerrero and Nomar, so I had to go with Nomo who looks to be a better pitcher.
It played a larger factor in selecting Schmidt and Matt Beech. Based on his ratings I want to call Beech a sleeper and one to watch. I won't rule out having a bad scout because I don't even recall the name, but he's a ground ball pitcher with decent ratings. Both Cook and Downs are ground ball pitchers, but I won't pretend they were good. They were cheap, and potentially capable of eating inning.
Pulsipher is definitely not a ground ball pitcher, but was better than expected. Carlos Perez was perhaps our best ground ball pitcher last year, before his injury. Pitching will be an adventure again, but I'm hoping that three of Nomo, Schmidt, Beech, Pulsipher, and Perez will show enough progress that I'm only needing to fill two rotation spots next year.
For the most part I like to look for production on the field first and place more weight on that. Because it seems like I'm always broke I will go a couple of years back with guys like Sosa and Darren Lewis to see if they've had success before and are coming off a down year, or look for something that stands out that says they may be a better player than they've shown. I'd rather pour my money in to amateur scouting, and trust my scout there.