Frequent commenter, Sue Dinem, has a couple of postings over at NationalsProspects.com where the guide from Shandler Enterprises details the Nationals prospects both scouting & sabermetrically.
First, an overview
Next, the hitters
Finally, the pitchers
I used to get all three of the major publications, MiLB Analyst, Baseball America, and John Sickels but have scaled back to just BA and Sickels recently. I’m glad to see a discussion of the third guide.
#1 by Positively Half St. - February 3rd, 2010 at 16:24
I am interested to hear your take on Marco Estrada being claimed by the Brewers. I posted my thoughts on MLBTraderumors.
Thanks for links to Sue Dinem’s interesting work.
#2 by Brian Oliver - February 3rd, 2010 at 16:31
PHS – Not a surprise. Estrada is one of those guys that seems to lack that one thing that allows him to stick in the majors. The fact they lost him in order to improve the bullpen with Tyler Walker makes it more palatable. I’m just glad the Nationals are in a position where they make a roster move and some other team wants their player.
#3 by peric - February 3rd, 2010 at 18:32
However,
As before, Sue Dinem’s understanding, and prognosticating about the effects and nature of AD/HD are mostly wrong. Like many she starts with the premise that there is something wrong with these individuals. It may be why the “act out” as she describes with IF Stephen King. She needs to stick with minor league baseball and steer away from any sort of psycho analyses, she surely is no Viktor Frankl. Guessing about whether the father of that player is “lurking” on the NFA site seems way out of bounds and inappropriate relative to the sensitive topic at hand. If she guessed that I am that player’s father she is definitely completely and utterly wrong.
#4 by Sue Dinem - February 3rd, 2010 at 21:34
peric – I can agree with your sentiment about sticking to baseball, but at no time did I ever “pscyho analyze” [sic] Stephen King; however, you did. At the time of his suspension, I merely pointed out that the drug he was caught for is contained in commonly prescribed drugs used to treat ADHD.
As for my lurking suspicions, let’s just say my sources are more local and more reliable than, say perhaps, a Mac developer in Southern California.
#5 by peric-2 - February 4th, 2010 at 14:35
Sue -
The problem with that logic is that I have spent enough time in Hank Dietl’s to be considered a “local”. I know who the “educated battery” refers to. I worked with Philbin when he was still at the Aspen Hill club. So … I think that may mean I have local connections … ~smiles~ both there and up in Finger Lakes country.
Also, you went out of your way to criticize Mr. King’s “mouth”. Your knowledge of baseball history may have taken a powder. The great Ty Cobb made anything Mr. King said or did look like a simple tantrum by comparison. Something to keep in mind when it comes to competition in any sport whether it be baseball, football, or LAX.
#6 by Sue Dinem - February 5th, 2010 at 09:33
Of course it is, but what’s your point of comparing King to an unrepentant racist? [That's a rhetorical question, which means you don't have to answer]
I would hardly say I’ve gone “out of my way” to criticize King’s mouth; if anything, I’ve gone out of my way to make sure to praise him at the same time I make a critical remark.
The point of bringing up King in the first place was to demonstrate the importance of seeing a prospect in person. He is simply the most memorable (and most recent) example of a player I’ve seen who has difficulty controlling his emotions. But he is hardly the only one.
And I will also say this much: You’re not all that different than the parents who would call me for not mentioning their son or daughter in that day’s newspaper. That doesn’t mean I think you’re related, but that you have the similar impudence of a small-town resident.
#7 by peric - February 5th, 2010 at 13:00
So says the small town reporter who like to report on every glaring idiosyncrasy she sees in every member of the town council.
Sigh, again, as stated in the original NFA post (wherein you found cause to summarily attack both my credibility and what was stated) look at the average age and sex of people currently incarcerated. You are good at statistics, look it up. You don’t have to because we both know it will show that an overwhelming majority are under 30 and male. What does that tell you oh objective reporter?
Testing has also been done for AD/HD was done on a large sample population. Guess what the results were? So, when I tell you to go down to your local homeless shelter it isn’t because I am being facetious … you will indeed likely find that a high percentage of people there fit the AD/HD model. At the same time you can go to just about any National lab and find the same thing.
It is true that Mr. King would be better served in learning not how to control his emotions, instead how he expresses them. Instead of using his mouth, he should use his next at bat. Sports are very emotional endeavors … emotions can be channeled and used effectively to win in sports. However, it is likely that AD/HD types will find this more challenging.
#8 by Sue Dinem - February 5th, 2010 at 13:48
Assuming, of course, that Mr. King actually suffers from ADHD. We have no definitive proof of this fact. But we’re way off topic
So perhaps, my dear friend who’s not observant enough to recognize a phonetic nom de web, and has forgotten that I have a child that has been diagnosed with ADHD (another with autism), perhaps you should take your own advice and stick to baseball. You’d be better off.
And I apologize for dismissing you summarily in the first place. I had no reason to expect you’d be so easily offended.