Knuckle Curve » california_league

White Sox Sign Linebrink

Geoff Young — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 18:15:32 +0000

I’ll have more to say on the trend of overpaying relievers in another venue, but for now it’s enough to know that 4 years for $19 million is an insane amount to give a guy like Scott Linebrink, which is what the Chicago White Sox will be paying for the right-hander’s services.

I happen to be a big fan of Linebrink. I saw his California League debut with San Jose back in ‘97, when he fanned 10 Stockton batters over 6 innings. I’ve followed him closely since then and was ecstatic when the Padres picked him up off waivers from Houston in 2003. He had some good years in San Diego, and for a time, it looked like he might one day replace Trevor Hoffman as the team’s closer.

The main problem with Linebrink now is that most of his numbers are trending in the wrong direction. He’s still a valuable reliever because he’s durable and probably will give a team 70 innings or so of above-average work, but this is not the lights-out setup man we saw in ‘04 and ‘05. I guess nobody told the White Sox.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Justin Upton, Destroyer of Worlds

Geoff Young — Sat, 26 May 2007 23:31:41 +0000

Well, okay, maybe not worlds. But with the way Justin Upton is destroying pitchers, it’s only a matter of time before he sets his sights on the planets.

B.J.’s little brother, the first pick overall in the 2000 draft, is batting .325/.386/.775 in 11 games at Double-A Mobile since being promoted from Visalia. He hit “only” .341/.433/.540 in 32 California League games.

Wait, here’s the scary part: Upton is 19 years old.

Uh, I could make pretty mean arm farts when I was that age. Not that there’s anything wrong with arm farts, but wow. Presumably Upton can’t maintain his current pace (.450 ISO, are you kidding?) all year long, but at this point, you have to wonder how the Diamondbacks are going to keep him of the big-league roster in 2008.

Heck, they might have trouble keeping him out of Phoenix this year. Did I mention that he’s 19 years old?

I’m depressed. Think I’ll go work on my arm farts…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Need Offense? Visit Lancaster

Geoff Young — Mon, 21 May 2007 18:23:34 +0000

While many baseball fans were keeping close tabs on the weekend’s intense interleague rivalries — who could resist the fabled Colorado/Kansas City, Philadelphia/Toronto, and San Diego/Seattle matchups — a three-game series in the Class-A California League saw 83 runs score. Yes, I said 83.

The Lake Elsinore Storm traveled to Lancaster, home of the JetHawks and one of the most favorable hitters parks in organized baseball. The results weren’t real pretty:

	Fri	Sat	Sun	Tot
Storm	30	12	21	63
JetHawks	0	14	6	20

The two clubs combined for 95 hits, 23 of which left the yard. Storm outfielder Yordany Ramirez drove in 15 runs over the weekend, to give him 25 in 42 games on the season. That’s right, a quarter of the way through the season, 60% of his RBI have come over three games.

The punch line? Ramirez didn’t drive in any runs on Saturday.

Lancaster batters are now hitting .323/.417/.568 at home and .256/.361/.416 on the road. Lest you think that’s some sort of fluke, they hit .335/.395/.562 at home last year and .272/.342/.403 away. Not that any of this helped the JetHawks over the weekend, but it’s something to bear in mind when evaluating hitting (and pitching) prospects at Lancaster…

Post from: Knuckle Curve