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Sunday, December 26, 2004
a's
skip bayless on billy beane.
found the link on athletics nation, which i followed from the hardball times.
but the thing i thought was interesting was beane's assertion that daric barton's numbers were "pujols-like". cause it's funny, i thought the same thing. when i looked at the numbers. yes, i'm as smart as beane.
no, i really did. let's see if there's a good reason for it.
barton:
year age aab w k hr 23 level
2003 18 175 39 48 4 10 rookie
2004 19 316 77 44 13 23 a
barton was born aug 16, 1985.
now that other guy:
year age ab bb k hr 23 level
2000 20 395 38 37 17 38 a
2000 20 81 1 8 2 9 a+
2000 20 14 1 2 0 1 aaa
pujols was born jan 16, 1980.
so do the numbers compare? you bet they do. both of these guys---the year to compare is the year in a-ball---hit for contact and power, with patience. pujols had a lot more power, and more contact, but barton had a lot more patience, and he's seven months younger. people have said you couldn't see pujols coming. that's because they didn't know where to look.
hey, look! word is out.
One Midwest League pitcher told me this summer that Barton was basically impossible to pitch to; he could hit anything you threw at him, and never reached for a pitch outside the strike zone.
apparently he may move to first base. sickels says his bat is so special it may be a waste to use him anywhere but dh. that's a stretch of logic, but kinda fun.
he also had this to say about dan meyer. that link is empty. if anyone can find the link to sickels' column about dan meyer, that'd be great if you could send it to me.
another thing to be found on athletics nation is a comment that scott hatteberg should be shipped to toronto. even the a's fans don't know what they have.
luckily they're not in charge. yes there's talk of dan johnson. johnson struck out 93 times last year in 536 at-bats. at the age of 25. he will have trouble adjusting to the majors, and he will never be more than a guy. hatteberg, on the other hand, is a special player. he makes great contact in one of the toughest places to hit in the majors, has great patience for his contact, and plays great defense. his power is average. so what. we can't all be albert pujols.
it's clear that it's time for a review of first basemen.
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