Spring Training means many things. It means the snow is melting (well, mostly). It means I have a non-political reason to pay attention to what goes in in Arizona and Florida. It means, above all things, hope and hype. We know all about the former and the mythology that goes along with it. Perhaps mythology is a strong word, but every year we hear that Spring Training means everyone has a shot; it’s everyone’s year! We know that’s false, but it’s still fun to put the blinders on every so often and buy into that stuff. What’s dangerous, though, is when we buy too much into the hype.
For that reason, I’m asking that we avoid buying into–and using–hyperbolic language. We’ve heard a lot about two guys in particular: Manny Banuelos and Jesus Montero. There is good reason for this, obviously. The former has had a great spring and the latter has all the upside you could want, and the probability to back it up. Still, while listening to the radio and watching the games on TV, I’m not exactly loving what I’m hearing out of the mouths of hosts and announcers.
Despite his vehement denial of this position, people are still wondering if Brian Cashman will let Banuelos break camp with the team. They acknowledge what Cash has said, but then always follow with “Oh, well, we’ll see him at some point this season.” I don’t necessarily disagree with that position. The likelihood of Banuelos reaching the Bronx at some point in 2011 is at least decently high. But if he doesn’t make the Majors in 2011, would that be awful? Consider, friends, that the dude just turned 20. And, he’s never pitched above AA and has limited innings there as it is. There is some great polish on Manny already but there’s growing left to be done ans seasoning left to be had. I have a feeling that many will be disappointed if Banuelos isn’t in the Majors quickly in 2011 and that would be a mistake. There’s definitely stuff to back up the hype surrounding him, but we can’t let that distort our perceptions of prospects and what’s good for them as well as the team.
Last night during the game, Buster Olney relayed that some scouts were going and comparing Jesus Montero to Edgar Martinez. Now, I’m sure that’s just meant in terms of hitting style, but the announcers twisted the statement in such a way that they may’ve been comparing Montero and Martinez in terms of results. Things like this make me cringe. It doesn’t make me cringe for myself or the people reading this. Chances are if you’re reading this page, you’re more than just a casual fan of baseball and the Yankees. It’s for those people that I cringe. This isn’t to insult their intelligence, but if a casual fan hears a bunch of pretty well-respected baseball men on ESPN mention Jesus Montero and Edgar Martinez in the same breath, that fan might get ideas. That fan might be disappointed when Montero comes up and doesn’t have an all-time great batting line. I guess, though, that blame falls on the announcers. They should know better than to say things like that. And if they do slip and say things like that, they need to learn to qualify their statements. Quickly.
There’s nothing wrong with hoping prospects are going to live up to the hype surrounding them. There’s nothing wrong with getting a little gaga over them. There is, though, a problem when that sort of language becomes pervasive and begins to distort the fan’s (or analyst’s) view of the player or of the current baseball reality. If we cannot shake our heads and release ourselves from those thoughts, that’s dangerous. And it needs to be avoided at all costs.
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8 Responses to Avoiding Language
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TIQ IQ
I remember when Phil Hughes was supposed to be the next Roger Clemens. Also when Chase Wright was being compared to Andy Pettitte.
I love all the press that Banuelos and Montero are getting, I just hope fans don’t get too carried away.
Thus it has always been with prospects, and thus it shall always be. Fans love to believe that a kid is the next great thing to come along, so they get excited and begin to dream. Nothing anyone can do to stop it.
my only issue with this post is that it has now been pretty well established that keeping talented young sps in the minors longer has almost zero correlation to improvement down the road. If at some point in june manny banuelos is one of the 5 best sp the yankees have in the system he should throw innings in the ml rather than letting him “develop” or “mature” players aren’t wine. they needn’t be kept corked until they age.
I’m not so sure that’s true. The research on that is pretty unclear and filled with noise.
thats exactly what I’m saying Moshe. Seems to me if you’re going to rationalize not using your bst players you better have some rock solid data. anectdotal evidence if anything strongly favors agressive promotion for top prospects. i think bill james has been pretty on the money on this issue
Banuelos is a 5’10, 160 pound 20 year old he isn’t a 6-3, 240, 23 year old you need to treat the 2 players differently, we have medical data showing tendons and what not don’t fully strengthen to around 23 years of age or so rushing young physically smaller pitchers can be dangerous.
Even if Banuelos was the 5th best starter on the team he can still only throw 140 or so innings this year so if you call him up after 100 pitches how many starts will he really have?
WELL first of all I don’t think Banuelos should start with the team. I do think that after he has 40 ip in AA he should go to AAA and after say 40 IP there if he is suceeding then being 20 years old is meaningless to me. If his final 60 IP can be thrown in the ML then do it. I don’t see the downside, i’m not a believer in the ruining a guys confidence thing. If you are the type whose confidence can be ruined by failure you were doomed anyway.
Also Banuelos is LISTED at 160 lbs. I am 6′
169 and looking at BAnuelos Im guessing he is now more like 5′ 10″ 170. Likewise I’ve never seen the data that says guys who weigh 250 are more durable or less likely to be injured than guys who weigh 160. This is all idea’s that have never seemed to make sense to me. And if a guy who weighs less is less likely to be durable doesn’t that then even more call out for aggresive promotion? You want to squeeze every bit of success out of a guy
I really see nothing wrong with it. I watched the game and listened to the same statement but at no point did I hear or think they were implying Montero was going to hit 300 HRs in his career, or that he was going to be on a hall of fame ballot (I wouldn’t vote for Martinez but that’s a different story). Buster was simply saying what scouts saw in Montero, it’s not like he was telling you what he saw or what some guy at the hot dog cart saw, they were scouts.
I tend to find that the people who are going to demand Montero be Martinez or Frank Thomas and scream and bitch if Banuelos doesn’t pitch at the major league level this year are never going to be happy and are the same people who spit on others at ball games, or scream steroids when Arod bats or holds up a giant foam needle when Giambi hits. In other words they don’t know much about the game but like being drunk and feeling apart of a winner, most rational people (the only ones you can hope to reach) understands that when I say Manny Banuelos is a Santana light I’m simply refering to pitches, command and presence on the mound and not the end result.