We knew that a blog post about the Nats was coming (based on Law’s chat on thursday), and it arrived today at his blog link on espn.com. Keith has been rather anti-Nats over the past few years (perhaps more accurately anti-Bowden), and had some so-so commentary about two of our more high visibility prospects.
It may be insider only; if so I’ll summarize here:
- Ross Detwiler’s ceiling is a 4th starter; Law has some criticism of his velocity on the curve and his control.
- Ian Desmond has bat speed, power and promise, but the scout in Keith noticed a bad weight transfer in the box.
-
But, he notes both are young and can make the adjustments to succeed at the MLB level.
#1 by estuartj - September 26th, 2009 at 20:12
Every review from Keith Law and his ilk are the same, every prospect is either and can’t miss next best thing (and thus Law is great for noticing andyping them first) or over-rated and flawed (and thus Law is great for giving you the “real scoop”). Never mind that they are the sam guys who hype the guys they then call over-rated.
I especially love the B-rate prospect analysis with BS semi-scout buzz words like problematic weight transfer and curve velocity with the ridiculous caveat that they are “still young” (if they were 34 we wouldn’t be talking about them at all jack-ass!
These guys are NOT professional scouts, they work in sports ENTERTAINMENT!
End rant.
#2 by Steven Biel - September 26th, 2009 at 20:34
Law was a scout for the Blue Jays. I think he deserves a lot greater consideration than a Mel Kiper, Jr.
#3 by Andrew Stebbins - September 26th, 2009 at 22:06
Keith Law is an industry joke, known for frequest press box scouting.
#4 by Bill Wagner - September 27th, 2009 at 05:04
Law is a first class buffoon so his opinion is meaningless. If he was worth a crap he would be working for a team instead of being a stupid journalist.
#5 by gmo - September 27th, 2009 at 06:26
I’m a journalist, and I’m not stupid. Usually.
#6 by Sue Dinem - September 27th, 2009 at 06:28
Keith Law is not a journalist, but I’ll agree he’s a first-class buffoon. [Rant] Working in the media does not make one a journalist any more than working at a hospital makes one a doctor. [/end rant]
I don’t know why folks insist on getting their panties in a bunch over him. Your anger only validates his position because let’s face it kids: ESPN is about personality first and quality 43rd.
#7 by estuartj - September 27th, 2009 at 08:54
U18 team beat Argentina 14-0, but no box score available or news story to see how Bryce did (we are on a first name basis now).
Aruba and Argentina aren’t much of a test, but starting today we play Panama, Columbia (monday), Cuba (Wednesday), Venezuela (Thursday) and then the Semis on Friday and Medal round on Saturday so in the next week we’ll learn a lot about are young phenom.
#8 by Todd - September 27th, 2009 at 09:38
In re KLaw: i’m of mixed opinions. He was indeed a scout and then an assistant GM so you cannot argue against his industry knowledge in some capacities. Despite this its obvious he has some ego flaws and a mighty high opinion of his own word.
estuartj; i’ll start a thread for the U18 tourney including the links and gamers and updates. Now if only I could find the same for the instructional league :-)
#9 by estuartj - September 27th, 2009 at 09:50
box score for usa u18 vs Argentina is finally up;
Harper went 2 for 5 with 2 doubles, 2rbis and scored on a wild pitch. Final score was 14-0 after 7 innings.
Here is the link;
http://web.usabaseball.com/teams/index.jsp?team=2494
#10 by Roberto - September 27th, 2009 at 11:43
The part about panning the same guys you hyped is so true. The 2007 Nats draft was hailed as the best of that year, now the people who made it so “great” are now regarded as, at best, number 4 starters (Detweiler) or possible busts (Smoker, McGeary). This may be true — I fear that it is. At the same time, I wish the Law, Callis, and company would be a little more humble with their future pronouncements.
#11 by Jeff E. - September 27th, 2009 at 11:47
Mel Kiper of the MLB????? numbers overanalysis has brought the oakland A’s what??? anybody think rebuilding includes targeting Carl Crawford or getting more athletic such as giving Fred Lewis ( SF) a try as a fourth OF???? anything else going to break down on Christian Guzman??? does he need dentures next??? fyi- high schoolers take longer to rise up the pipeline.
#12 by peric - September 27th, 2009 at 21:00
They may be better off continuing to draft college pitching versus going for Harper?
#13 by VladiHondo - September 27th, 2009 at 23:37
True Law has been harsh on the Nats, particularly Bowden. But he provided some harsh criticism when we were being fed alot of Pie-In-Sky BS by Bowden. And that has been proved closer to truth than what we were fed.
It’s great being a fan and a supporter of the Nats farm system, but let’s try being realistic. We could have had MUCH better drafts, we could have done ALOT more in the Caribbean. We could have had a REAL presence in Asia – but we failed at all that because we stuck with a retread GM when we should have gone out and got OUR GM for the future. Law was critical of that and he was correct.
Brian actually interviewed him on the site and he replied to criticism from posters. Gotta give him some cred for that.
#14 by Sue Dinem - September 28th, 2009 at 10:01
Even if he was, shall we say, both churlish and childish – kind of like pointing out he has a face made for radio (wait, did I just type that out loud?)